So, every use of the word 'portal' now is going to mean that the person using it was influenced by Valve's game?

Great.

w00t! I went to Griffith uni... although I suppose lots of people have/do, although maybe not so many on kotaku as well.

Still, it meant I got a good job to afford all these fantastic videogames. Hooray!

@UnkleBuck:

They are also using Portals logo in case you missed it.

CSUN has been calling their student's on-line accounts "Portal(s)" for a long time.

[www.csun.edu]

Look in the top right hand corner log-in.

CSUN Wins.

@UnkleBuck: It's not so much the word 'portal' as it is the use of the Aperture Science logo.

Anyway, the whole thing is pretty cool!

@Rexter: I knew spell checking 'Aperture' was a mistake. Sorry for bad timing.

Yeah, I saw the logo... still think it's a rather weak link. I'll get my coat.

@UnkleBuck:
No. It's more the fact it's the word AND the logo. This isn't a case of finding a reference when there isn't one it's a case of finding one that's about as subtle as a brick.

Well, I know that when I was at university I did often wake up in strange places with little idea of how I got there...

Incidentally, my last school has been using this "gateway for student and staff services" for years even before Portal came out. Guess what it's called?

@UnkleBuck: A weak link!? It's the EXACT logo in blue. They even use a similar typeface.

@robotleawesome: It's still a shitty link. These kind of online gateways are almost always called portals. Chances are some programmer thought it would be funny to use the font and logo. I would hardly say the school loves Portal. Odds are that logo will change very soon.

Is it really hard for you people to get? LOOK CAREFULLY! I know your brains don't work that well.
[image.hazardstrip.com]

"Portal" has been terminology used for "gateway" websites for maybe a decade now. I'm inclined to agree that the Aperture Science logo is just an in-joke by a graphic designer.

These university sites are hardly professional, you might as well point to some Portal-themed blog and complain as well. Next year a new batch of student volunteers will revamp the portal and change the design to something more topical. Like Michael Jackson videos.

whoop de do

I think there's a possibility of a joke...but also the possibility of a lazy designer who googled "portal" to find a logo. Either that, or they were familiar with the game and copied the logo anyway.

Either way, that's a lazy graphic designer.

@UnkleBuck: That's the one thing I hated when I searched for information on the game before it came out. All I got were links to site's "Video game portal".

Ummmm...I think a lot of University sites use "portal" (adams.edu for an example - right side of page for referrence), like Klaymen said it's probably just a lazy designer stealing the logo.

*I meant to say they use "portal" as a term.*