MuseBlog

Since the responses on the Random thread seemed positive, I decided to reboot these threads.

Shiny new rule: No nesties! The conversation will meander from topic to topic anyhow. Also, it adds to the retro vibe.

The last October Incredible Morphing Chameleon thread I found was from 2008. So I purloined the image and the first topic from that month’s random thread. Incidentally, this was also the month I first stumbled upon MuseBlog.

Unlike the random thread, this discussion thread stays on topic until the topic changes or the month ends.

Newcomers should read The Rules and The Guide before plunging in.

Current topic:
Online media: Post-truth cesspit or literal hellhole?
The election and its aftermath
Halloween

Suggested topics: 

Have fun!

Hello MB! Oxlin here. I was watching some Nerdfighter videos on the internet, which made me think how it is really cool that the Green brothers have all these projects, tangible things they have created. I would like to make some projects, but sometimes I have a hard time keeping track of them, or having ideas of what to create. I thought it would make sense to have a thread for that. Feel free to use this for collaboration, posting ideas of what to make, track your progress in a large project, etc.

As you know, MuseBlog likes to do something special to celebrate April 1. Last year, we Administrators have been crunched for time, so we reopened the popular SquidBlog. That’s what we’re planning to do again this year unless enterprising MBers intervene.

Here’s what we’re thinking: As Millennials, you all are famously computer-literate, and some of you even have degrees in computer science. So if you were to collaborate, you could probably cook up a pretty amazing April Fools’ Day website. On the big day, we could redirect MuseBlog traffic to the new site, and at the end of the day we could switch it back. Sound like fun?

Or we could all be space squids again. That option has much to recommend it, too. The way we see it, we really can’t lose. Thoughts?

So, who is involved? KaiYVes, Agent Lightning, Randomosity, fireh, Catwings, ibcf — anyone else?

As before, Robert takes on the world (or at least the world of logged-in MuseBloggers). The twist is that he will keep all of his pieces on “his” side of the board, the first four rows, unless forced across because it’s the only move available. White will be hunkered down for trench warfare; Black will have to go in and dig him out. Ready? Let’s go!
 
 

Ever get the feeling that the whole world was against you? That’s the idea behind this chess game. In a desperate ploy scientific experiment designed to see whether it’s possible to keep a game here moving forward to a conclusion, GAPA Robert Coontz is taking the black pieces and allowing anybody on MuseBlog to move for White. Trash talk, taunts, and analysis are encouraged. Let’s see if this works.

First move, anybody?

The other day Castle made the mistake of asking inquired about the construction of the Uranuary Random Thread graphic. Since I couldn’t think of a short answer and because everyone else runs and hides when I talk about this stuff and there was the chance that some explanation might be useful to those MuseBloggers who do graphics, I thought I’d try this method of providing a few details. Click on the image below to see the large version.

Let me know if this is useful or if anything is unclear.

Game 1 is over. Guess what: MuseBlog won. Congratulations, MuseBlog! Also, condolences, MuseBlog. Better luck next time.

So here we go again. As before, anybody can make a move at any time. You don’t have to restrict yourself to playing one color, but please don’t make more than one move in a row. The game will be over too quickly if people just use it to play themselves.

Just for fun, we’re posting a game in which anybody can make a move at any time. You don’t have to restrict yourself to playing one color, but please don’t make more than one move in a row. The game will be over too quickly if people just use it to play themselves.

As KaiYves describes it, this started with an idea for a story called “I Saved the Titanic.” Then she thought “I Saved Pompeii,” “I Saved Apollo 1,” and several other things worth saving. Then she thought, “Why not make this a thread?” So we did.

Proposed in the Suggestion Box, v. 2010.2.

This group project started on the “Partial Scripts” thread and quickly became popular enough to warrant a thread of its own.

We’ve just installed a plug-in that’s supposed to make the blog look and behave better on iPhones and other small-screen devices. The documentation says you can toggle between the new and old formats.

We have no idea what it looks like or how well it works, so tell us, please. It’s just an experiment.

Thanks,

The GAPAs

In keeping with our theme of tomfoolery, this thread is reserved for pure randomness, pointless posts, and non sequiturs.

Any attempt to have a reasonable, intelligent conversation on this thread will be zapped.

Moose.

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As you may have noticed in the sidebar, the Administrators can now create links that fling you randomly to who-knows-which threads on the blog.

Sound like fun? Try it by clicking here, and then come back and report where you wound up.

GAPA Rebecca has decided to avail herself of Robert’s chess lessons. She’s not a super-confident chessplayer,* so any MBer is welcome to help her by suggesting moves and strategies.

*More precisely: complete neophyte. ~L.B.
 
 
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Robert is going crazy with this chess software. Tesseract, Lovely Lunegood, Adeia, Pseudonym, SudoRandom, and mas0n have all expressed interest in a lesson, in approximately that order.

Tesseract — ready to roll?
 
(Note: “Lesson” games are played in public. Players may comment on their own or each other’s moves; observers may ask questions, which the players may or may not answer. It’s all highly experimental.)
 
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Robert has an idea for a new way to use the chess software: He’ll play a game with one MBer (at a time), trying to create interesting positions for his opponent to exploit. He’ll make comments on the action as it unfolds and will answer questions from anybody on the blog. Sound interesting? Read more »

Ernest Hemingway wrote is supposed to have written a very sad one:

For sale: Baby shoes, never used worn.

What can you come up with? (We’ll also accept summaries, reviews, biographies — anything you can squeeze into this even-shorter-than-haiku format.)

Always looking for ways to improve our beloved blog, the Administrators have decided to try something new: We’re pulling the under-used Muse Academy Student Lounge off the main body of the blog. It will still be accessible to anyone who has been posting on MuseBlog for at least six months (“paleophytes,” if you will). To visit it, you’ll have to register and then log in using a password. Along with the lounge, we’re creating a companion thread for discussing the experiment. Read more »

Continued from Quotations, 2009.1.

Anyone who doesn’t want to argue about the existence or nonexistence of God had better go to Quotations 2009.3.

Reminder: As is the case with all threads dealing with potentially contentious subject matter, this is a place for careful, clear, respectful discussions, not brawls. We expect MBers to be able to express their opinions without attacking others personally, AND to be able to listen to people who disagree with them without feeling personally attacked.

Easier said than done, of course. But, as we’ve said before, MuseBlog is a good place to practice trying.

 
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One nice thing about this new chess software is that it can handle non-standard layouts like these: Read more »

We’ve found some software that lets you enter moves with your mouse, directly on the board. Just click on the piece you want to move, and then on the square to which you want to move it. Easy, no? Try it!
 
 

 
This board won’t save your moves for other people to see. (At least, the documentation says it won’t. We can’t tell.) To make it do that, you need a MuseBlog chessplayer’s account with a password. Then you could log in and play your opponent without having to post your moves for an Administrator to enter. We can make those accounts if there’s enough interest. Note that a valid email address is required.

What do you think? Comments, please: