Despite, (or perhaps because of) the fact that the economy has been so-so and is looking uncertain moving forward, online orders are surging, with the result that a full week before Thanksgiving we are already getting the kind of hours we got in early December last year.
That Comment Problem
I've been informed that people not logged into Mee.nu have been getting the following message when they attempt to comment:
COMMENT REJECTED BY AKISMET
I inquired to Pixy as to why my commentors were being harassed by what appeared to be an obscure Egyptian god.
Pixy informed me that he was able to acquire the services of the Egyptian god of what translates very loosely as spam busting for a remarkably reasonable rate.
Unfortunately, this had unforeseen consequences as the contract required that all mee.nu users be registered as "Members of the Temple" and those who are not member be registered as "Unaffiliated". Fortunately, none of our commentors were sent to Duat before the issue was discovered (except for Wonderduck...He got better).
Pixy has made arrangements so that non-menuvians can comment by presenting offerings of hieroglyphics via captcha. Note that since Egyptian gods have not been in the deity business since the abdication of Nectanebo the second, and in any event, as this is "payment" for admission to a secular web service, it is not actually considered apostay.
Anyway...The comments should be fixed and we have captcha now.
Art by Abusoru, who, to the best of our knowledge, has at no point denied this is a representation of Akismet...and that's good enough for us.
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Indeed we do have captcha. I like this kind better than the distorted text kind, and I like it a lot better than the "echo back the advertising motto" kind.
OK
For less than 5 minutes, there was a post here that expressed my extreme outrage at a particularly outrageous outrageousness. Only belatedly did I realize that that the original (and sole) source for this tale of venality was not a Newspaper article quoting witnesses as I had initially thought, but rather a solitary REDDIT post where some Anon claimed to have been at an event and behaved outrageously.
Well...
Here are some aqueducts that are about as well supported as the former post.
Brickmuppet Interactive!
Congratulations loyal readers! As a free perk of reading Brickmuppet Blog, you get to take part in cutting edge technology decision making.
Click here and tell me what you see, what you hear, what browser you are using and if you got the harem ending.
For those who do not wish to partake in such a meta exercise, here is some scenery pr0n.
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In Safari, I don't see or hear anything. Instead, clicking on the link downloads a "webm" file. In Chrome — Dick Dale, Homura and I all expect an apology. At least there's no "harem" ending.
Posted by: Mauser at Sun May 3 02:21:55 2015 (TJ7ih)
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Chrome, duplicate of Don's findings there *in the Chrome tab*.
IE 11 for me directly opened media player with the same file.
No harems were harmed, or shown, in these tests.
Posted by: Doug O. at Sun May 3 04:16:29 2015 (XIFuK)
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I should mention that I don't have WMP installed on my system because it was causing me a lot of trouble. I don't know what a ".webm" file is, and apparently nothing on my computer does either.
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Chrome mobile; I get a prompt to open a media file with either Chrome or VLC. Open with Chrome and I get a streaming Madoka AMV that uses Misirlou and ends on pocky.
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Thanks to everyone who participated. Apologies to Don, Dick Dale and Homura.
.WebM is interesting, but it looks like the support isn't really there yet.
Kind of like .APNG
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun May 3 16:53:29 2015 (ohzj1)
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".WebMis interesting, but it looks like the support isn't really there yet."
IIRC, Microsoft has said they aren't planning on adding support for it in the browser, so it probably isn't ever actually going to get there. (You supposedly can make them work with an extension from Google, but I'm too lazy to try it out.)
Posted by: RickC at Mon May 4 19:24:25 2015 (0a7VZ)
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Also--ugh, sorry for hosing up that comment. I did a copy and paste out of your post, and I guess the editor took the link. I meant to just put in text.
Posted by: RickC at Mon May 4 19:25:01 2015 (0a7VZ)
Oh! Now this is interesting! The comment looks fine to me in Epic. Chrome, Opera and Safari. What are you seeing and what are you seeing it in?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon May 4 22:20:14 2015 (ohzj1)
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In both Chrome and IE, the wiki link survived--I didn't just wind up copying plain text. I didn't realize it until I hit Post, and I was afraid it would cause the kind of ugly bare link that Wonderduck hates.
Posted by: Rick C at Tue May 5 13:53:19 2015 (ECH2/)
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(and, just in case you don't like them either, I wanted not to do it. I forgot that sometimes browsers copy+paste more than just plain text.)
Posted by: Rick C at Tue May 5 13:54:11 2015 (ECH2/)
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It doesn't seem to have been a hack so much as a spoof. The actual E-mail addy is not mine.
OTOH it was good to be reminded after 12 years that I still had a Yahoo account.
Thanks for the heads up though.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Apr 23 09:22:11 2015 (ohzj1)
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The important point was that they managed to steal your address book.
6 More Days
Tuesday is the last day of classes and I still have about 13 pages to write spread over 4 different research projects. Thus, I'll remain scarce for a bit.
In the meantime, here is some mundane mechatronic móe by Sukabu.
After finishing my exams Friday, I got a replacement for the Blackberry that was destroyed during the blizzard. One of my E-mail accounts got hacked within 7 hours of the activation..which involved accessing my AOL account from the Verizon store.
There is an inscrutable, deeply hidden lesson in that story somewhere, but I am too tired to spot it .
Anyway, I've had a week, so, while I recover, here is what appears to be a still from a low budget Kaiju movie.
Browser Compatibility Test
Let's try captioning this picture of Hanako.
Because Hanako is awesome.
Well, the superscript function doesn't work in Midori either.
Now some spoilers...
Holy crap! Blake is a catgirl!
(Who could have POSSIBLY seen that coming?)
Now lets see if we can highlight some quotes without breaking the blog.
The only question is whether this is intended as satire
(hmmm... that didn't work right)
Let's try that again.I filched it from Pixy's blog where it looked like this.
The only question is whether this is intended as satire
The italicized "intended" seems to have broken the attempt to italicize the whole thing...first let's see if we can italicize something in Midori without italicizing the whole paragraph.
OK that worked (at least in the dashboard), now lets try the usual workaround in the quote field...
The only question is whether this is intended as satire
....which broke the blog yesterday.
Finally I'll try another work around that only just now occoured to me....
The only question is whether this is intended as satire
Finally, I'll try the same workaround on a hidden tag.
This revelation about Mikoto's musical abilities may not be entirely accurate.
This Hanako looks a like someone pushed Hetalia Hungary into the campfire. But yes, Hanako is awesome.
OT: I'm guessing your aol email is no longer canon? I wasn't kidding that'd I'd a B-day present for you, but I need a way to get it too you via this series of tubes, filled will rumors.
Posted by: Clayton Barnett at Tue Jan 13 16:50:24 2015 (lU4ZJ)
12/13/14
A couple of people have noted that this is the last time we'll have a sequential date like that this century.
The significance of this milestone cannot be understated, thus, to prevent this post from being a complete waste of time, here is some Christmas cheer from Mana Kakkowara.
Note that although a tiny bit of pulled pork shoulder cooked in the can has been visible over the last few days, I've observed a truly vast number of such comments have been caught by Pixy's improved filters. Of course, most don't see what gets stopped, so be aware that Pixy is slaying the villains for us with considerable verve.
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!
Holy crap! Blake is a catgirl! 
