You might have noticed that this most prolific monk had been absent these last few days. I was away from civilization for the weekend (any place that doesn't have DSL is uncivilized), on Isla Cozumel. There are Internet Cafe's on every corner it seems, and it is rather cheap to use. But they use modems and access is so painfully slow (probably bottlenecks at the ISP, not just the modem bitrate) that even checking my email once was too much trouble. That and the Spanish keyboard...

Now, you know how all us Perl affectionados display little symbols, particularly camels? Well, since I took up SCUBA this summer, I've noticed the "diver down" boat flag used as an icon for divers, also used in all sorts of ways, such as on tee-shirts, incorporated into other logos, and otherwise plastered over everything touched by diving affectionados.

My first thought was that the red flag with white slash is much more popular than the camel. That's got to change, naturally. We need to start putting Perl and PM symbols on more things that are publicly visible!

Second, I was enjoying a lobster dinner with the nearly full moon rising over the Caribbean sea, when something else caught my attention. Another diner had a T-shirt sporting a Dive flag on the back, with some kind of silhouette in the middle of it. Much to the amusement of mi novia, I had to pull out my PDA and jot down the idea before I forgot it.

To wit: A Dive flag with a Camel on it. "Perl Divers".

That has such an interesting ring to it that it's got to be done! Cozumel.PM, anyone...?

—John

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Symbols, Icons, Culture, and Community
by davorg (Chancellor) on Oct 04, 2001 at 12:00 UTC

    Do you mean something like this? It's been sold by geekstuff for some time now. I bought one at the 2000 Perl Conference, but lost it again somewhere between there and London :(

    --
    <http://www.dave.org.uk>

    "The first rule of Perl club is you don't talk about Perl club."

[reply]
      That's "Perl Divers" alright, but I think it could have a better logo.
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Re: Symbols, Icons, Culture, and Community
by Maclir (Curate) on Oct 04, 2001 at 01:04 UTC
    You mention a red flag with white slash as a diver down flag. I seem to recall that the international flag for this purpose is the "A" flag - white with a blue swallowtail. Or is this another US / rest of the world nautical difference?
[reply]
      A quick Google search turned up International Nautical Flag Codes and Ship Signals.

      The one I see is what's shown as "DD 1". The "Alpha" on that page is not what you describe, since it's rectagular.

      I also see Signal Flags that shows the blue and white one as "A". That's sometimes used in other countries to mean "Diver down", but it's real meaning is actually "reduced maneuverability", such as an anchored dive boat. My NAUI Worldwide textbook says this is used coloquilly as Diver Down, but really you should fly both flags.

      —John

      The nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from.

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Re: Symbols, Icons, Culture, and Community
by hsmyers (Canon) on Oct 04, 2001 at 19:53 UTC
    Silly question, what is the “PM symbol”?—what does it look like?

    hsm

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