How Valve got Half-Life’s Logo
May 10, 2009 at 10:38 pm by Ruibo
After seeing this image, I can’t possibly get it out of my head. Yes, this may not entirely be how it derived but a crowbar representing the letter Lambda does look pretty cool.
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holy shit i can't believe i'm on The Internet!
Kewl… now head to 4chan
In other news…
It's a pretty interesting notice – the arm with the crowbar is a really important symbol throughout the series with the up thrust hand clenching a crowbar re-appearing in much of the cover art and half life world (graffiti, etc).
It's very likely that you've stumbled upon the origins of it.
Its quite obviously the greek letter Lamba, used in Science and Mathematics… But there is a similarity to that picture yes, but you could essentially replace the crowbar with a long dildo and see the same results!
I really wouldn't see the same results myself…
Well, I ain't got a clue what symbols you've been using in maths and science, but I'd be using 'lambda'.
First Fucko's !
You suck at firsts
That's funny. So lambda, the SI for "half-life" has absolutely nothing to do with the logo.. mere coincidence…
Technically, lambda is not the SI for "half-life" but the decay constant of the material. The half life is a time, denoted by T(1/2).
really? funny idea if it was intended as a joke. You do understand that the logo is based off the lamda?
That crowbar idea has absolutely nothing to do with how they got the logo. That's just what a lambda looks like, and it represents the decay constant.
[FAIL]
hope you know he intended it as a joke, i'm sure he his fully aware of the lambda sign inferred from his comment
It's still a stupid thing to post if this guy is older than 12.
Stop taking yourself so seriously.
you're retarded. take a joke.
Well it's possible that the crowbar could have been derived from the 'lambda' symbol. Don't be such a jerk off and let this kid have an input. I can clearly see the resemblance with the symbol, it could quite possible be derived from the symbol, who knows?
I thought you might like this article (evolution of PC first person shooters):
http://www.lowfps.com/evolution-of-first-person-s…
Retard… they should have a click refund system for people like you…
I'm gonna assume that the Lambda didn't come from that picture. Seeing as Freedman has a background in MIT it's probably one of the frequency constants in metaphysics.
Considering the name of the game is "Half-Life", I think it is safe to assume that the lambda being referred to is not linked to frequency, but to the decay constant used to calculate the time it takes for a radioactive to decay by 50%, aka the "half-life". It's physics, not 'metaphysics'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_life
…Freedman? Isn't it, like, Freeman?
On topic now, maybe the crowbar exists because of the lambda (you know, like the contrary of what you are suggesting)
And yes, I do know that he meant it as a joke.
One of the oldest vidya mindfucks, nice picture though.
lots of talking, not a lot of thinking.
Wow, Ruibo is sooooooooooooo smart and perceptive – he's a goddamn genius.
Who would have guessed that the half-life symbol comes from a hand holding a crowbar. Perhaps super advanced past scientistical smart guys went into the future and saw this and thought, DAMN, HE SO SMART WE SHOULD USE THAT AND CALL IT SOMETHING FAGGY LIKE "lambda" OR SOMETHING. Then they went back in time and named it lambda just because they could and denied Ruibo ownership to the symbol, name and, of course, the game.
I'm in AWE of you.
Dude..Its a JOKE…Geezus people, laugh, have some fun, don't take things so dang seriously!
?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda
Half life is the time in which n/2 of the original amout of atoms react in the reaction
half life=.693/lambda
And here I thought it was inspired by this
http://www.vector-logos.com/logo-en-4552.html
Its a great idea as to where the logo derived from.
However, noticed in the game he holds it the opposite way around? thats the only thing i have against the idea.
i thought that it was a lambda representing the radioactive decay constant with which the half-life of a radioactive isotope is derived…oh wait…that was a humor joke. i see. very funny.
It would cause problems for you at the next United Bigots of America convention.
What the fuck, that's the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
you should feel bad for this.
NOT TRU THE CAKE IS A LIE
fact is the symbol is a Lambda
nothin to do with a crobar nd a dude holding it
Lambda is the constant for radioactive decay or the HALF LIFE in an element
ther I WIN
It's the greek symbol, lambda?
Hello, anyone?
Now imagine Deranged saying that in a Doctor Evil voice
I thought the Half Life logo was the actual scientific half life logo for radiation decay or some$%&£ like that
It would cause problems for you at the next United Bigots of America convention.
Or a similarly awesome but unexpected game. That would be cool, too.
Idiots… Its Lambda, the greek letter. And why the crappy paint drawing if you could have used any other program to do it better
Never ceases to amaze me how people ruin good ideas with bad presentation. Learn to use Curves and Lines in MS Paint
The lambda is used to represent the half-life of an element. Kinda like the $ is used to represent money.
good
A great game none-the-less,regardless of how the logo was derived.
First, thank you for offering the pseudo-intellectuals an opportunity to copy and paste from Wikipedia and pretend that they have a depth of knowledge of physics or the break-down of materials.
Secondly, I've never seen an an arm/crowbar combo that looked less likely to be able to pry anything loose/open/free.
I shat a million bricks…
The logo is just the scientific symbol for gamma radiation turned upside down
also, related to the title, 'half life' which is the measurement of how long it takes for 50% of all atomic particles in a nucleus to be ionised by radiation, gamma radiation being the best at this.