Toonbots message board: Standings

Jenn Mon Aug 27 08:09:06 2001 Re: Standings > Wow. Jenn has catapulted into the lead, thanks to the Grim Thread Reaper. > It's always surprising how fairly simple rules can have such unexpected > emergent results. I'm going on vacation next week though. I bet I come back and I've been wiped totally off the board. I think I'm on first just cause the whole bottom of the board right now is from before I got the nerve to click the frightening 'forum here, are you blind' button. Ah, how I've grown and changed. I go back and look at my photo album from last month and just snicker at how young I was. Oh, look! My first defenestration! My first membership card! Gwendolyn eating the card! The trip to the doctor's to get my fingers sewn back on! My second membership card! Ah, the memories....

mouse Mon Aug 27 14:04:42 2001 Re: Standings oh wow...there were rules?

Michael Mon Aug 27 16:16:40 2001 Re: Standings > oh wow...there were rules? There are rules for how the threads expire. At midnight each day, if there are more than 256 posts on the board, the Cursed Thread Reaper awakes. One thread is pruned, always the one which has the least recent final posting. Since the number of posts in a thread is usually large (more than 10 or so) that means that the number of posts active on the board approximate a monthly running average indicator of board activity. The standings approximate the active posting behavior of the Jihad over the last couple of months. If somebody was really active a couple of months ago but has since SLACKED OFF (ahem) then their standings may drop precipitously. That's what I meant.

mouse Mon Aug 27 17:42:02 2001 domination ok - i was afraid i forgot to touch all the bases or something. so does this mean i could dominate the standings by hanging on like grim death to one thread, extending its life beyond all that is natural and good by repeated chantlike postings (using the mystical number of 256!), thus converting it into an zombie-like berserker, and sweeping all before me to destruction and oblivion? (i mean....of course i wouldn't _do_ such a thing.....just, you know, hypothetically speaking)

Chris Mon Aug 27 18:28:20 2001 Re: domination > ok - i was afraid i forgot to touch all the bases or something. All your... never mind. > so does this mean i could dominate the standings by hanging on like grim > death to one thread, extending its life beyond all that is natural and > good by repeated chantlike postings (using the mystical number of 256!), > thus converting it into an zombie-like berserker, and sweeping all before > me to destruction and oblivion? That could *theoretically* work, but remember that the Cursed Thread Reaper works for Michael, and tends to delegate upward rather quickly when people try to subvert him. You'd eventually end up with a wolverine Irony Squad filling up your place of residence with printouts of your postings, and setting them on fire.

Michael Mon Aug 27 21:56:18 2001 Re: domination > That could *theoretically* work, but remember that the Cursed Thread > Reaper works for Michael, and tends to delegate upward rather quickly when > people try to subvert him. You'd eventually end up with a wolverine Irony > Squad filling up your place of residence with printouts of your postings, > and setting them on fire. But actually, the short answer is, "Yes."

Chris Tue Aug 28 01:29:36 2001 Re: domination > But actually, the short answer is, "Yes." Short answers are no fun, though.

mouse Tue Aug 28 12:56:41 2001 clever plan > You'd eventually end up with a wolverine Irony > Squad filling up your place of residence with printouts of your postings, > and setting them on fire. but see, i had a clever plan -- i was going to start a thread of paeans to the wolverines, thus subverting them to my cause.

Brother Emsworth Tue Aug 28 13:28:44 2001 Re: clever plan > but see, I had a clever plan -- I was going to start a thread of paeans to > the wolverines, thus subverting them to my cause. ::wolverines growl and procede to cautiously nibble at the mouse, who Usu suspects may taste like chicken :: Ahem. Speaking as the Jihad's long-standing wolverine wrangler (with Napoleon as proxy wolverine handler, and primary breeder), I'd like to think that the wolverines would not too soon forget which Jihad members have cared and nurtured them (or even depicted them in fan strips) for so long. Plus paeans (even meta-fictional ones) are rarely edible, and far from substantial (Usu is a growing wolverine, after all.)

mouse Tue Aug 28 17:33:56 2001 Re: clever plan did i say subverting? i meant diverting... distracting? disarming??? i never said it was a _good_ clever plan.... (note to usu: mice are more gamy, and have far too high a fur/meat ratio to be substantial. also their whiskers get caught in your teeth.)

Eric Schissel Tue Aug 28 17:44:57 2001 Re: clever plan > did i say subverting? i meant diverting... distracting? disarming??? i > never said it was a _good_ clever plan.... I was thinking "co-opting" might be good, myself, but perhaps propagandizing might be better. And involving their wranglers would be useful, in my opinion. Just to offer advice only; this is your play/move, mouse, of course. -Eric Schissel

mouse Tue Aug 28 18:07:59 2001 Re: clever plan yeah, yeah, 'co-opting', that's good... actually i was just hoping to keep them distracted enough they would forget about burning my place down. (**sheesh** - you pose a innocent little hypothetical question....now i suppose i'll have usu after me until i _buy_ him a chicken, just to keep a roof over my head) besides, if they like being in fan strips, who's to say they wouldn't like a paean or two? O wolverines, hum hum hum hum hum-hum. O wolverines, hum hum hum hum hum hum. Dum dum dum-dum, dum dum dum-dum, as seen in magazines. Dum dum dum dum, O noble wolverines!

mouse Tue Aug 28 18:17:37 2001 Re: clever plan what happened to my line breaks? that should have read: O wolverines, hum hum hum hum hum-hum. O wolverines, hum hum hum hum hum hum. Dum dum dum-dum, dum dum dum-dum, as seen in magazines. Dum dum dum dum, O noble wolverines! with a note that this is still a work in progress. (see this way it is easier to see how nicely the rhyme scheme is worked out)

Eric Schissel Tue Aug 28 21:27:06 2001 Re: clever plan Hrm, nice! I think I might have a go... Praise then Gulo gulo! The great swimmer powerful can go (And much swimming we will have, in the Great South!) The great runner all do know (And much running we will have, in the Wastes South!) The powerful eater who can take down a deer (Not many deer, in the Continent South - Will you settle for Penguins? Seals?) Alaric, Godfrey, Baby Usu too, Your Services are Needed, Your Skills are Prized! Even without deer, will you hear, will you - Perhaps, ... consider? I hear Sea Lions are yummy This time of Year. -Eric Schissel

Michael Wed Aug 29 00:45:36 2001 It's official With the recent addition of Jenn, mouse, and Eric, the forum is now officially less rational than Toonbots itself. Congratulations, people. This is not an easy goal to achieve.

Jenn Wed Aug 29 07:52:12 2001 Official Wolverine Poems! > With the recent addition of Jenn, mouse, and Eric, the forum is now > officially less rational than Toonbots itself. Bah. I'd like to point out that I had nothing to do with this offshoot of the stream, let alone the irrationality of it. Blame the new(er) guys. And no one answered me...does this mean I can move out of the wolverine pens? Since there's two of them, can I skip the back of the stove entirely and move directly to behind the toilet? It's cozy and warm back there...and the wolverines don't fit. I thought for /sure/ that Michael was going to say we now had an official Wolverine song and poem! *wanders off humming that rousing Wolverine chorus...mmmm, hmmm, hmmm*

mouse Wed Aug 29 12:36:41 2001 Re: It's official wow - talk about _pressure_....after todays strip, i may have to start running all my posts thru babelfish first just to keep up... lets see: if i run my paean through spanish i get: wolverines of or, wolverines of the snore-snore or the snore of the snore of the snore of the snore, dum-dum of the dum of the dum of the snore of the snore of the snore of the snore of the snore of the snore, dum of the dum of the dum f the dum, según the sight in the dum of the dum of the dum of the dum of the compartments, wolverines noble of or sorta beats up the rhyme scheme but that 'wolverines of or...wolverines noble of or'...that speaks to me somehow. (altho the wolverines might object to all that snoring). this has possibilities - lets see about French: the wolverines of or, of the wolverines of whirr-whirr or the whirr of the whirr of the whirr of the whirr, the dum-dum one of the dum of the dum of the whirr of the whirr of the whirr of the whirr of the whirr of the whirr, the dum of the dum of the dum of the dum, segÃ..Ã.ºn the sight in the dum of the dum of the dum of the dum of the compartments, noble of wolverines of or oh wow -- whirring is much more exciting.... better stop here - my office mate is starting to wonder why i keep snorting. btw, michael, the german for 'hum' is 'summen' -- hope this helps with your translation. (there doesn't seem to be a translation for wolverine).

Michael Wed Aug 29 13:18:54 2001 Re: It's official > wow - talk about _pressure_....after todays strip, i may have to start > running all my posts thru babelfish first just to keep up... I had always considered doing that as a matter of course on this forum. It might be more entertaining, don't you think? > btw, michael, the german for 'hum' is 'summen' -- hope this helps with > your translation. (there doesn't seem to be a translation for wolverine). Vielfrass (which, literally back-translated, means approximately "something that eats a lot" -- those wacky Germans and their meaningful nouns).

mouse Wed Aug 29 14:42:19 2001 Re: It's official > I had always considered doing that as a matter of course on this forum. It > might be more entertaining, don't you think? i seem to recall your suggesting something of the sort -- it certainly has lots of possibilities, but then i would have to stop reading this at work (which of course means, i would then be left with nothing to do but actually _work_)

Jenn Fri Aug 31 08:46:42 2001 Re: It's official > but then i would have to stop reading this at work > (which of course means, i would then be left with nothing to do but > actually _work_) Hey! They hired you for /my/ job?!? Oh, wait...I suppose I'm possibly not the only person in the world who has all day to post. Or...oh! I've found my long lost twin/clone/parallel universe twin!

mouse Fri Aug 31 13:52:38 2001 Re: It's official technically i am working - see, i start these really big programs, and then rather just stare at the screen while they run, i cruise the 'net. (of course i could do useful things while they run, but this way i am poised for action when they finish [or when i finally notice they finished]) note to all beginning programmers out there (the old-timers already know this) - you know all those tricks they teach you to make your programs run more efficiently? these can actually be sorta reverse-engineered to really slow things down.

Michael Fri Aug 31 14:31:44 2001 Re: It's official > [or when i finally notice they > finished]) > note to all beginning programmers out there (the old-timers already know > this) - you know all those tricks they teach you to make your programs run > more efficiently? these can actually be sorta reverse-engineered to really > slow things down. mouse, I like you a lot.

mouse Fri Aug 31 16:29:14 2001 Re: It's official *tee hee*

Cursed Thread Reaper Mon Aug 27 22:53:18 2001 Re: domination > so does this mean i could dominate the standings by hanging on like grim > death to one thread, extending its life beyond all that is natural and > good by repeated chantlike postings (using the mystical number of 256!), > thus converting it into an zombie-like berserker, and sweeping all before > me to destruction and oblivion? Just try it, mousy. I like a good challenge.

Eric Schissel Mon Aug 27 23:39:57 2001 Re: domination > Just try it, mousy. I like a good challenge. This sounds like a fun game for the whole family (or ...)! The Jihad (and aspirants to) vs. the CTR. On a threaded subject- Domination... ... ..? Today Toonbots, tomorrow a small continent? Sounds good. -Eric Schissel

Brother Emsworth Mon Aug 27 23:47:28 2001 Re: domination > This sounds like a fun game for the whole family (or ...)! The Jihad (and > aspirants to) vs. the CTR. > On a threaded subject- Domination... ... ..? Today Toonbots, tomorrow a > small continent? Sounds good. Well, we can always just continue posting to the same thread into perpetuity, for no diescernible reason. Though of course that just creates horribly winding monster threads, which seem more ravenous then the wolverines before meal time. Still, it has been awhile since we've done anything of the sort, after all.

Jenn Tue Aug 28 07:52:03 2001 Domination of small continents I think Chris said: > On a threaded subject- Domination... ... ..? Today Toonbots, tomorrow a > small continent? Sounds good. Anyone know which is the smallest continent? No reason. It's just time for the wolverine's walk. No, really. No reason. It's good for their constitutions.

Eric Schissel Tue Aug 28 07:59:42 2001 Re: Domination of small continents Jenn writes: > Anyone know which is the smallest continent? No reason. It's just time for > the wolverine's walk. No, really. No reason. It's good for their > constitutions. I think Australia, but am not sure. Or do fictional continents count? I hope the wolverines enjoy their constitutional. -Eric Schissel

mouse Tue Aug 28 12:51:48 2001 Re: Domination of small continents australia is the smallest, but it is full of wombats and australians and other weird beasts, thus making domination risky if not actually unwise. antarctica is next - and actually since we already have the penguin king, we are halfway there. (or would we have to overthrow lenin to be in charge?)

Eric Schissel Tue Aug 28 18:48:14 2001 Re: Domination of small continents > australia is the smallest, but it is full of wombats and australians and > other weird beasts, thus making domination risky if not actually unwise. > antarctica is next - and actually since we already have the penguin king, > we are halfway there. (or would we have to overthrow lenin to be in > charge?) Hrm, maybe we could reach an accomodation with Lenin. (Actually to think about it, when I say we... I'd be too busy badgering him for an explanation of his suppression of the Kronstadt "revolt". Not that I know as much about it as some people.) Wombats! (Had to say it.) Well, I've always wanted to meet a penguin. And sea lions. (Well, maybe not sea lions.) -Eric Schissel

mouse Tue Aug 28 18:58:23 2001 Re: Domination of small continents there are seals too, those are nice (sea lions tend to have big bitey teeth you don't notice till it's too late). and penguins too, of course -- altho i haven't felt exactly the same about them since i learned that they actually don't fall over backwards when planes fly overhead.

Eric Schissel Wed Aug 29 18:00:36 2001 Re: Domination of small continents > there are seals too, those are nice (sea lions tend to have big bitey > teeth you don't notice till it's too late). and penguins too, of course -- > altho i haven't felt exactly the same about them since i learned that they > actually don't fall over backwards when planes fly overhead. They don't? My friend who went on an outing with the Flash Photographers, Small Explosive Manufacturers, Lovers of Bright Shiny Things, Circus Sparkler Concessionaries, & cie., said that the penguins fell way over backwards when his flight went overhead. Maybe the fact that the camera people chose that moment to take pictures, the engine caught fire, a large box of magnesium flares sought company with a lit fuse, the circus sparklers went spinning with a THWIPPSPORT! sound, and the lovers of bright shiny things were much content before everyone who didn't go up in a huge but very bright and impressive ball of light and smoke had to be rushed to the nearest base hospital had something to do with that, though... I haven't really thought about it much. -Eric Schissel (apologies. tasteless.)

mouse Wed Aug 29 18:53:01 2001 Re: Domination of small continents but funny.... i always had this picture of penguins standing around peacefully -- then the sudden roar from above -- the frantic search for the source, the effort to understand and then follow, up, up ... and then the gentle topple backwards, leaving the penguin staring up quizzically, perhaps even pensively, as the intruder drones off into the distance....see, i've had days like that. now, your friend's experience sounds more like my _old_ job.

Chris Mon Aug 27 18:35:44 2001 Re: Standings > There are rules for how the threads expire. At midnight each day, if there > are more than 256 posts on the board, the Cursed Thread Reaper awakes. One > thread is pruned, always the one which has the least recent final posting. This brings up something which I'd meant to mention earlier: There was a single-post thread from February 14 ("Propaganda," posted by Michael) which was never reaped until just recently, even though threads which were more recent by a matter of months were routinely reaped. Did you set the reaper script to ignore that post, or is it just a bug... it's been nagging at me for some reason.

Michael Mon Aug 27 22:55:44 2001 Re: Standings > There was a single-post thread from February 14 ("Propaganda," > posted by Michael) which was never reaped until just recently, even though > threads which were more recent by a matter of months were routinely > reaped. Did you set the reaper script to ignore that post, or is it just a > bug... it's been nagging at me for some reason. Something got out of whack there; I don't know what. I finally just deleted it by hand.