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The Banter Page
help
If you're wanting to get something off your chest, make general comments about the server, or post lonely hearts ads, then this is the place for you.
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One at a time
[BtD] I'm glad there's something you like! Now, to address your points:
  • Limericks games. Whoever started it (DrQ?) chose "game headings". I can turn these off since I too dislike them. Should I do this?
  • See whole game is there, once the game is long enough (look at the top of this page, for example). As I said, I'll add "jump to the bottom" and "reclothe" when I have a few minutes spare.
  • Auto name labelling was there originally, but I think it disappeared at some point during an "upgrade". I shall attempt to reinstate it.
  • Punchy title. The title was deliberately understated, but I'm willing to hear suggestions.
  • Reshading: this was one of my customisation ideas.
  • Updatable profiles (and possibly encyclopaedia) are On The List. (But note "I have day job" caveat).
  • Caption competition... interesting. Either this could go as a separate type of MC game or maybe a completely different interactive part of my site completely... I shall think about this. Allowing people to upload images makes me feel slightly queasy from a storage point of view, but I could impose a suitable filesize limit I suppose.
Dictat
Since this is a benign dictatorship, I've remodelled the limericks game to make it more user friendly. (Some comments have vanished, but I can reinstate these if people complain about the censorship).
And another thing...
I'll let you guys get on with the chatting eventually, but I thought I'd point out that the game limit on this server is set quite low to avoid treading too much on the other servers' toes. I note, for example, that Dunx has a ticket available for quite some time now, an unusual state of affairs, and I wouldn't wish to draw custom away from the more established places. However, if the demand is there, I can up the game limit at some point.
Re: Points
  • Thanx!
  • Goodie.
  • Goodie goodie.
  • Suggestions above.
  • Goodie goodie goodie.
  • Goodie goodie goodie goodie goodie gum drops.
  • You will need to monitor what is uploaded for content as well as file size. Suggest emailing to you to upload?


Re another thing.
I've always thought that there are too many games on the go on most servers. Good move!

Now all those Goodies have given me an idea for the Beige Allegro game...
PS. This is the first time I've tried a list. If it hasn't worked, none of this will make any sense. Sorry.
exciting colours!
I just wanted to try it to see if it works..woooooohooooo!. what other colours are there?
my eyes may hurt
Is this one?
None
and this?
Sorry...
<
SORRY...
>
Doh
Forget I mentioned it.
*forgets*
Discovers 'Zen' moves aren't allowed. Cool!
Hexadecimalisation
Snorgle you could try this range of colo(u)rs.
ooh hex, that brings back memories..
Cool!But isn'tcolour >misspelt? what if I do this?
Potatoe
Looks like the Americans got there first for a change.
Gee, ain't those colors quaint...
Well, while the WWW is a European invention, the internet and the first picture browsers are American as apple pie. I suppose.
But anyway, I find it more amusing to see what colour various ludicrous phrases are, rather than hexadecimal.
obviously some people have way too much time on their hands..
Why do different phrases come up with different colours? Is it a hex thing?
Enhancement, kinda
Update news: On Netscape 4.76, the CSS is suppressed by default which means that it looks halfway sensible. You can override the default behaviour by adding &nocss=1 to the URL to disable CSS. If you want to explicitly turn it on, put &nocss=0 instead. Now there's still a little buglet regarding the background of some of the images, which I'm going to try and resolve.
Technical point
If some of the buttons (the "pointy things") have a black background, convince your browser to reload them and things should be ok. (On Netscape, you do Shift-Reload, for example).
boggled
Not enough chat. How is the week going for everyone? Mine's fine, bit samey, but a meeting tomorrow may shake it up a bit. I'm going to ask for more holiday. After five years, you'd think I was entitled to a bit more than 21 days, wouldn't you? Insert agreement here...
inserting..
Yes, absolutely! You have my permission to take the rest of the year off, on full pay.
Holiday
*nods vigorously*
re-boggled
21 days? Luxury! I get 21 minutes once every three years and have to be back down t'sewers half an hour before t'holiday begins. I'm so badly paid I had to knit my own swimming trunks out of used dental floss. I get lots of funny looks but at least I smell nice and minty.

Penelope - how did it go?
Gone Away
Hmm. In all other respects, my boss is fantastic to work for. But it's so long since he was employed (rather than being an employer) that he seems to have lost touch with what's what. He didn't believe that most people get more than 21 days a year, forgot that 20 days was the legal minimum, and when we did a quick poll around the office (five people in total, including him, is the entire company) and everyone said they'd had 25 days a year holiday in our previous jobs, he refused to believe us. In the end, we had to poll the postman too. Even Post Office workers get 25 days a year, it seems. So... the upshot is we can either have more holiday, or more pay, but not both. I think I might be taking a few more days off sick this year. (I haven't done so for a year or so as I have perfect health and don't believe in colds, but I have taken a few days compassionate leave over the past year). What's the recommended dose?
Lost time
I've had the misfortune to have found an empty chair in a local government ofice several years ago. The accursed National Agreement gives me 30 days leave, but the worst ignomy is clocking in and out everyday builds up the flexitime which due to its 28 day cut off means another 13 days annually. I just haven't got the time to go off sick.
Hols
[pen] Count me in the 25 day club too - though three have to be taken at Xmas leaving just 22 for spreading around the year. But I'm one of the fortunate ones - new joinees here only get 20 days (less 3 for Xmas).
Apparently (and I boggled slightly when I was told this) the 20 day minimum includes bank holidays - so as there are eight (I think) of them per year, the real minimum allowance is just 12 days. But I wouldn't advise letting your boss know this.
escape time
Holiday? Well, it depends on the definition for me. What does and does not constitute a holiday for an academic (particularly as the nature of the job means that much of the work can be done anywhere and at any time)? If I'm sat working at a laptop computer, is it a holiday just because I'm on a beach in the Carribean? (I'm not by the way, I'm at a desk in Nottingham, but a man can dream, damnit).
But strictly, it's 30 days. Plus public and University holidays. But don't argue for academic style holidays, or your boss may argue for academic style pay...
Lost weekends
Did I mention that I work some weekends without time off in lieu? It's the nature of my job, race meetings, etc. If they fall on a Bank Holiday Monday, we do get the days back, but ordinary Sunday race meetings mean a lost weekend. Now do you feel sorry for me?
Permission
I'm self-employed. The benefits are many, especially as I a mum. However, on occasion a wistful sigh escapes, because I would love to be granted set holidays and have someone's 'permission' to down tools and relax. Goes both ways, I suppose. By the way, hello Penelope and all. Nice site and very easy on the eye. Have been a devotee of Wildpants MC for well over a year [and dabbled in YAMCS] so I recognise a few names.
Holidays
I lose count, but I think I'm on about 140 weekdays holiday a year...
Hi Chalky
I agree. This is a good site. [Re Hols] I don't really get many hols and have to work weekends too more often than not. This is because: a) I work for a not-for-profit org (long hours, low salary - result of overactive conscience) and b) I'm a pillock. I could insist on taking the full 25 days I'm owed if I really wanted to.
Recurring welcome
Welcome Chalky. Pants is one of the sites I don't visit very much (no real reason) so I'm pleased we have some people from there creating a unique blend of something-or-other. [BtD et al] Glad you like the site. I'd like to stress that this is as much your place as mine, so stick your feet up, make yourself at home and I'll try and put any suggestions into place that people want. Apart from the fact I'm supposed to be writing a journal article as we speak, but there you go. I would like to hear suggestions for a site name. Like Dan, I'm not particularly keen on having my name attached to the place (unless there's a good pun lurking...). Other than that I don't have any feelings on the matter, so sharpen your brains and let me know your thoughts.
Holidays
Oh, academic contract, so all these concepts are, erm, academic.
I forgot
As I was reminded this morning, we usually get given three days off at Christmas, so really I do get just about the average quota. My boss actually stuck his tongue out and went 'ner-ner-ner-ner-ner' when he pointed that out this morning, I guess I had him pretty pissed off with my complaints. Of course, then I had to apologise profusely and make the tea... he has now skived off for the afternoon. *sigh* There's one rule for them and another for us...
I am the us...
As an employer, I shall note your comments. Anyone coming to me for an increase in holiday will get the 'ner-ner' treatment and be expected to supply beverages. Thank you.
Vacation
Like rab, ibid, and others I'm an academic (actually now sort of a freelance academic/consultant, but that's another story). It's a job with many advantages, not least of which is a remarkable amount of control over how you spend your time. But -- and this is a big but -- success in academia is primarily judged by your ability to write journal articles and publish them in good places. Which means that when rab says "I'm supposed to be writing a journal article as we speak", he is echoing something that is true for us academics all the time: we are always supposed to be writing journal articles. So -- like Chalky -- we always tend to have the sense that we should be working, and it is sometimes hard to take holidays. There was a cartoon once which showed a professor sitting up in bed and saying to his spouse, "How can I sleep when I know that someone in some other time zone is writing an article right now?"
[Ibid] I don't think I knew you were also in academia. What field?
Holidays
I'd point out that I didn't get any time off over Christmas or New Year at all, and was indeed still at work at 11 pm on Christmas Eve - but I'm too spartan to complain!
Sorta kinda academic
A staff member of an academic institution. Namely, [sys|net]admin of Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh. Combine the occasional perks of the academic life with the drudgery of 8:30-5:00 hours and unpaid overtime. But at least I can evangelize Linux/*BSD to the Micro$oft-haters.
Rab MC titles
How 'bout Mind the rab?
or Blythe Spirit...
I've saved this site to favourites as RabMC. Short and honest.
None
[rab] I'm afraid that, like Bob, I have this bookmarked as rabMC, but if you really must avoid the use of your name how about Mornington Crescent in Outer Mongolia? Or am I misremembering your location? (fx: ducks)
Whereabouts
[BtD, matt] Maybe rabMC it is then. There must surely be something better. [matt, specifically] If you mean outside the M25, then yes...
re:re:re
Beige Crescent? ;o)
MC who ?
I'm afraid you are simply MC 5 on my shortcuts - having taken over the slot originally available for Huxley's late lamented site.
None
MC5 is kinda cool! Like the site, honest and understated. Gets my vote.
RabMC!
Actually, it'd probably be MC 8 by that standard, assuming you include Delphi, YAMCS, and Beer-Powered.

It's been RabMC in my bookmarks since the original announcement.
Five alive
MC5, or perhaps MC5 for that element of millenial chic, might do the job.
Up the arts
And one could also go up that poncey TeX route and insist that the official pronunciation is "mukf" or something... Sorry if that means nothing to most people
None
Yup. Lost on me. MC5 Is good!

Is York! down? I can't get it at the moment...
Whizzy whizzy whizzy
My first post from my new whizzy laptop. Hurrah. Should make maintenance of this site much more easier...

[BtD] Can't get to !York, and I'm on an .ac.uk domain so it's either a server problem, or it's bitten the dust (though if the latter, I reckon jim would've told us.

MC5
As E=mc2 then perhaps Ec3 would be enigmatically fitting.
Empsey Five
Yeah, I like MC5, too. Sounds like a mobile phone network. Not that my opinion counts as I'm hardly ever here.
millennialism
Actually you could make it even more modish, by going lowercase... mc5
yay!
Yay for whizzy laptops!
Right
Looks like mc5 it is then. Hmmm... hadn't catered for the possibility of markup in page titles, so I've got a bit of tinkering to do. But laptop+weekend might make this a possibility.
Ec3
Of course EC3 is an area of London - unfortunately not the one that includes M.C. itself. It is in fact the the area around The Tower.
MC5
MC5 is a great name, but there are 4 musicians from the sixties who might hold claim to ownership of that name. Not that any of them are probably in any state to understand any more. Yay! Kick Out The Jams!
Alperton Einstein
Blob] I’m no mathmagician, but does this mean that mc= √e?
er..
Only if e=(mc)2 - which I don't believe it does.
m5, see?
Finally got round to dropping back in! Going good still - yay!
mc(hup)5 has a ring to it alright... [snorgle] you asked a while back about while phrases come out as colours - I recall a conversation in depth about it elsewhere - can't remmber the server but I read Orange, !York and Outer Space regularly so a search of the full text of their chat games might illuminate (or at least colour-in)
What I remember as the reason is that the first six letters are converted to hex and used as the colour code... not sure if there's more to it than that...
Colours
I think it was MCiOS, but I can't be sure.
Hello!
Has anyone else caught on to 'Celebdaq', the fantasy celebrity stock exchange hosted by BBCi? I'm checking my portfolio every 20 minutes and have already had to ditch all my Jude Law shares this morning. Catherine Zeta-Jones is performing well though - dhe made me about £50 overnight.
Well, Hello!
[pen] No, but sounds a lot more lucrative than the real thing.

Just thought I'd share the latest bit of highly targetted advertising to land in my mailbox, which will make sense to those of you who've met me:

Be Beautiful - Get everything you need for fabulous curly hair. Treat your hair to Curl Friends and get everything you need to achieve bouncy, super soft curls with incredible definition and flawlessly fine shine. Curl Friends caters to your curls concerns with specially formulated hair cures that work great in any combination without weighing hair down. Need more shine, less frizz, something to fend off the fly always? Curl Friends has got you covered with products designed especially for the particular needs of curly hair.
continues in this vein for about half an hour....
Hair
[rab] I just got that one too...
Sell, sell, sell
[pen]Thanks for the tip, I bought some celebs earlier today, I'm down £133 already, but I hope to stop this with Anthony Hopkins.
celebdaq
Yay! I've moved from 71,000th-ish on the leaderboard when I started a week ago to 22,238th today! I've made £7,500 in a week. Now I'm just waiting for my Tony Blackburn shares to go up...
share & enjoy
[pen] looks like great fun - shame the site runs soooo slow (or is that just me?).
Celebs
Here's a link to it.
maintenace
Everytime I've tried to sell this morning, a message appears about the market being suspended for regular maintenace, I want to sell Christina Hamilton and buy Daniel Day Lewis. I'm stumbling around placing 83300.
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