Hivemind: Help me name my new Big Think blog

I'm very excited to announce that I will be moving to my new blog home at Big Think on March 1.

The new blog will be like Majikthise, just on a new site, and a new name. Starting next month the Majikthise URL will redirect automatically to Big Think.

Now, all we need is a new name for the blog. Suggestions? I need to let them know by Friday afternoon. 

Examples of other Big Think blog names include: Brave Green World (Tobin Hack); Think, See, Feel (Lea Carpenter); Novel Copy (Orion Jones); Picture This (Bob Duggan); and Mind Matters (David Berreby).

Comments

[John P]

This is somewhat depressing. Majikthise is by far my favorite blog name. I'll try to think of a new name now.

[Fred]

Thimk.
Put a photo of Rodin's sculpture on it; of couse everyone will spell it wrong.

[Ed Costello]

I don’t have any name suggestions, sorry, but as a long–time reader I have a couple web/SEO suggestions:

- interrogate their web team to find out how the redirect is going to work. i/e are they going to redirect article for article or just everything from majikthise.typepad.com to bigthink.com/blogs/11 (whatever your URL ends up being)
- I really, really, really recommend setting up majikthise.com if you don't have it, or lindsay-beyerstein.com or whatever you want as a permanent archive of your articles online and put a backup of this current site there
- backup, backup, backup this site, somewhere, somehow, but make sure you have all of your articles somewhere

Too many times I’ve seen various bloggers totally LOSE their identity and presence online during such a shift. They disappear from Google's index because the content doesn't get moved correctly, or the new site doesn't include the name/article titles as prominently. The old site (typepad in the case) doesn't necessarily give much granularity to handle redirects. Data gets lost.

Just…congratulations on the move, but take a moment and think of various worse case scenarios and make sure you’re covered.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Thanks, Ed. Very wise advice.

[Ben]

"The Quiet Beyerstorm"

[droog]

How about one or more photography terms that would convey the idea of your work in journalism/politics/social issues?

Tint
Exposure
Developing tank
Parallax error (I like this one but it could attract stray comic book fans)

[Mandos]

Just go with the reliable ones. "Slartibartfast". "Magrathea". "Pining for the Fjords". "Don't Panic".

[Norman Costa]

Lindsay,

Congratulations and good luck.

First, what Ed Costello said. Register the most obvious variations of your name: LindsayBeyerstein.com, Lindsay.Beyerstein.com, etc.

Second, I've spent two years in communications research for marketing and advertising at IBM. So I can tell you that you don't want to squander the name recognition of Majikthise. One solution is to use NEW NAME and Majikthise together on your Big Think home. Initially, NEW NAME is a slightly smaller font size than Majikthise. After one year, NEW NAME is the same font size as Majikthise. The following year, NEW NAME is a bigger font size, and Majikthise is smaller. The fourth and fifth years you continue to make NEW NAME bigger and Majikthise smaller. After five years, drop Makikthise.

Third, you make the second recommendation look like this: NEW NAME, formerly Majikthise.

Fourth, you are re-branding your presence on the web. This re-branding should carry over to non-web venues like public appearances, books, television, endorsements, news print, all media outlets, jobs, etc. With that in mind, think "Rachel Maddow." What sounds better and communicates better as to what it's all about: "The Majikthise Show" or "The Rachel Maddow Show"; "The Late Night Show" or "The Late Night Show with David Letterman"; "Countdown" or "Countdown with Keith Olbermann."

Fifth, if you haven't done it yet, consult with a corporation law attorney, and an intellectual property law attorney. I've been around a lot longer than you, and I can tell you that whatever money you spend on these attorneys will either save you or net you far more money in the end.

Sixth, forgive me if I'm telling you what you already know.

Seventh, may I have a seconding motion or motions from attorneys or public relations/marketing people in the blogosphere?

Eighth, my recommendation for your NEW NAME is "Lindsay Beyerstein". Stay away from names that don't connote you personally, for example, "A Liberal Dose."

Ninth, another congratulations and good luck.

[mitchell porter]

'my recommendation for your NEW NAME is "Lindsay Beyerstein"'

It's an interesting question because a day will come when Lindsay is no longer at Big Think, but she will still be Lindsay Beyerstein. So having a blog name specific to Big Think will concretize that period.

The key to finding an appropriate name may be to reflect on why the move is happening.

P.S. "Big Think" makes me think of the Peter Gabriel song...

[Rob]

how about "LINDSAY ROCKS"

[Alon Levy]

If you don't want to switch to Vroomfindel or another Adams reference, just use your name.

[pj]

In line with Norman Costa's post, 'Vroomfindel and Majikthise' is sort of unbeatable. But really, anyone who knows the 'Majikthise' page knows it is Lindsay Beyerstein. Use your name.

[Pennant]

My suggestion would be "Caveat Beyerstein".

[Autumnal Harvest]

Congratulations!

The "new" blog name can't just be "Majikthise" again? :( I've grown rather attached to the name. Well, if you have to change it, I guess I'd vote for Vroomfondel.

[Matt]

How about "Ideas of Order"? It's from the Wallace Stevens poem. Seems to suit your style, topics and approach.

[Zarquon]

How about "Hivemind help me"?

[Michael Schmidt]

Thighs o' Magick?

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Sadly, the name Majikthise became a problem when I started doing TV and radio because people get the wrong idea when they just hear it instead of seeing it spelled out. Also, it's awkward when I go to a bloggy event and someone yells, "Hey, Majkithise!" across a crowded bar.

[Windypundit]

Yeah, the Majikthise era is over now that you're straying outside the bloggy world. Spoken aloud, it just doesn't scream "careful thought about political issues."

Anyway, let's see, my first thought was to go with Johnny Cash themes: Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, The Ballad of Lindsay Beyerstein, A Girl Named Lindsay, Woman in Black, Blogger in the Sky, Happen That Way...

But I think I like droog's suggestion of photography themes better, because they sound so thoughtful, or at least mysterious: Focal Point, Focal Plane, Depth of Field, Contrast Curve, Hyperfocal, Aspect Ratio, On-Axis Fill, Ambient Illumination...

Or, since you do photojournalism, I kind of like "Decisive Moment".

[Count Zero]

How about "Don't Panic". It's kind of apropos to the discussions that go on, and fits with the whole Hitchhikers theme.

[Norman Costa]

Of course, there is: Majikthise-Master.

[charley]

goddamit, where are the pictures?

that's why i visit.

[Cat Neshine]

Since you cover so many topics , photography, music, medicine, and politics, and work in so many different formats, why not call the new blog, Mixed Media by Lindsay Beyerstein? Or just Mixed Media.

[Autumnal Harvest]

Ha, ha! I've always pronounced it "Mah-jeek-these." It never occurred to me that it could be pronounced "magic thighs," which is indeed, rather obscene.

[Dabodius]

I'd call it "Marble Index," after Wordsworth's lines (Prelude, Bk III) about the bust of Newton in a Cambridge college:

The marble index of a mind forever
Voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone.

But that's too lonely.

LB Sterling? LB-ing Away?

Große Gedanken?