Alternative to the Star Naming Scam

[Notrump]

The holiday season will soon be upon us and a friendly sounding person will again slyly invite us to send him money to have our chosen name for a star placed in a "copyrighted" book. Wow - that must surely make it official. Who needs the astronomers' International Astronomical Union when there are slick operators like him who choose similar sounding names for their dubious enterprises.

Of course folks here are not fooled by the star naming scammers. But if you still feel compelled to provide a similar but more legitimate gift for a friend, try this instead: http://home.columbus.rr.com/realnumbers/

[Hokulele]

That's funny!

I have had a few people ask me about the whole star-naming thing as gifts for those who like astronomy. I usually suggest they purchase a gift subscription to a magazine such as Sky & Tel or pool the money to buy a nice eyepiece instead.

[Wolfman]

Of course folks here are not fooled by the star naming scammers. But if you still feel compelled to provide a similar but more legitimate gift for a friend, try this instead: http://home.columbus.rr.com/realnumbers/
Owwwww!!!

The colors on that page hurt my eyes. That link should come with a warning.

[Just thinking]

Gotta love this ... The INR cannot guarantee that another service may provide another name for your number. The INR cannot guarantee or foresee accurately that any particular scientist or researcher will use your particular number-name in any particular work, publication, or presentation. Nor can the INR guarantee that your number will be accepted by any agency or entity other than the INR.

Can it be any more worthless? Of course, there's this to follow ... Despite all this legal jargonese, don't forget, that your number will be important!! It could be the foundation of a new science!! It could be the answer to an amazing problem!! You never know! So make sure that when they find that number, they find it is your number!

This has got to be a joke --- except for the background color, that's no joke. That's borderline criminal.

[UnrepentantSinner]

The holiday season will soon be upon us and a friendly sounding person will again slyly invite us to send him money to have our chosen name for a star placed in a "copyrighted" book. Wow - that must surely make it official. Who needs the astronomers' International Astronomical Union when there are slick operators like him who choose similar sounding names for their dubious enterprises.

Oh God I'd almost forgotten about that scam since I haven't listened to as much radio as I did previous to about 3 years ago. It seems like every station I listen to at night runs the International Scam Registry commercial during every break. Feh.

[Elphaba]

I once actually offered to image a star and make up a "certificate" and star chart for free, for a friend that was about to spend money on one of the star-naming scams that is out there. I tried to explain the scam, but they insisted it was a legitimate scientific operation. She could have saved her $100+ by printing what I offered to send her... and with the investment of a $5 frame from Walmart, it would have probably looked just as good as the crap she got from the scam.

LoL @ buying a number... and only a small amount of numbers are left!!! The star scam is laughable... but the number buying scam is downright hilarious. :D

[Notrump]

Some of you may be taking the number registry website a bit too seriously. Go to their contact page: http://home.columbus.rr.com/realnumbers/contact.html

[lionking]

I recently noticed that I could name a star with my frequent flier points. I must contact my airline (Virgin Blue) to complain. To their credit, however they did withdraw Loose Change Version 2 from their international flights.

[OldTigerCub]

I recently noticed that I could name a star with my frequent flier points. I must contact my airline (Virgin Blue) to complain. To their credit, however they did withdraw Loose Change Version 2 from their international flights.

No wonder they can offer such low fares!:p

(Bolding mine)

[WildCat]

The star scam is laughable...
It's genius actually!

[Starthinker]

I recently noticed that I could name a star with my frequent flier points. I must contact my airline (Virgin Blue) to complain. To their credit, however they did withdraw Loose Change Version 2 from their international flights.

Actually, I'm sure they are glad to see people use up their frequent flier points on stuff like this. Just means they don't have to pay out.

I was thinking of offering to name insects for a fee. For just $59.95 I'll photograph an insect next to a tag with your name on it to prove that it agreed to change it's name. Imagine knowing that somewhere out there is a boxelder bug with your name!

[my_wan]

Personally I don't have an issue with the star registry.


<LI class=faqq>Q: Am I buying the star? <LI class=faqa>A: No. We do not own the star, so we cannot sell it to you.
This is like adopting the star. This star is associated with that special someone. It is something you can point at to know that there is something special out there for you. <LI class=faqq>Q: Will the scientific community recognize my star name? <LI class=faqa>A: No. We are a private company that provides Gift Packages. Astronomers will not recognize your name because your name is published only in our Star catalog. We periodically print a book called Your Place in the Cosmos © which lists the stars that we have named.<LI class=faqq>Q: Can I return the product? <LI class=faqa>A: Yes. If you are not completely satisfied, you may return your product for a full refund. We want you to appreciate our products and if you are not happy, then we are not happy.

It's a unique romantic gift, but ultimately nothing more than a fancy greeting card. The fact that woo beliefs persist about what they actually sell does not invalidate it as a "Gift Package", or the human value of getting/receiving the gift. Of course not many people buy regular greeting cards for themselves, LOL.

EDA: Quote source-http://www.starregistry.com/faq.cfm

[Father Dagon]

Look at the logo! At least this scam doesn't come in a sleek package...

[Uncle Feedle]

Is the lunar real estate scam still going?

[JetLeg]

Some of you may be taking the number registry website a bit too seriously. Go to their contact page: http://home.columbus.rr.com/realnumbers/contact.html

I think that it raises deep thoughts actually.

What type of entities numbers actually are?

What does it mean to say that something belongs to someone?

If all the person in the world would agree that 6 is MY number, would that make it mine?

Is the reason that MY things are MY things any different from the example just above?

When you say that X belongs to socrates, How do you define "belonging"? How do you prove it?