MuseBlog

A thread for discussing non-romantic relationships.

Continued from Just Friends, v. 2009.

Go on. Get them out of your system.

We didn’t need a poll to figure out we could use a new Polling Place.

Continued from v. 2011.1.

Known Muser birthdays this month*:

12-01 I-Man’s birthday (1995)
12-9 Pax the Hamster’s birthday (1994)
12-25 trust kokopelli’s 5K day
12-26 SudoRandom’s birthday (1996 – bright orange)

You turn 5,000 days old this month if you were born between March 25 and April 24, 1998.
You turn 6,000 days old this month if you were born between June 29 and July 29, 1995.
You turn 7,000 days old this month if you were born between October 2 and November 1, 1992.

You have been on the blog for six months if you started posting in June.

*Note: Listed MBers who have been inactive for several months won’t appear on next year’s birthday calendar unless they show up again.

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As most of you know, one of the fundamental principles of MuseBlog is the GAPAs’ insistence on pretending that the rest of the Internet does not exist. We do this for two reasons:

1. We see MuseBlog as an island of civility in a generally barbaric Internet. We’re not fond of the way online culture has developed so far, and, frankly, we think we do it better here.
2. We don’t want MBers or their parents to think that we’re here to make it easy for them to connect with one another on other websites. We’re not, for reasons including but not limited to those listed in item 1.

Toward these ends, we strongly discourage references to activities on other websites and Internet services, particularly popular ones like Facebook. Just to make things easier for ourselves, we’ve even added the word “Facebook” to our spam filter’s standard “zap list” of obscenities and insults.

As a joke, MBers started referring to Facebook as “Voldynet” — i.e., the Voldemort Network, That Which Must Not Be Named. Some even seemed to think that it was all right to post comments about their Facebook activity as long as they called Facebook Voldynet.

So, to clarify: it isn’t. We still don’t allow any references that might help MB readers (who include a fair number of Mysterious Lurkers along with the regular MBers we know and love) to find you elsewhere on the Internet. That might seem unreasonable and even quaint, but several younger MBers have told us that our stubborn insistence on that rule is the only reason their parents let them post here.

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about Facebook (etc.) at all. It’s part of your world, after all. So you can talk about it, if you’re careful. For example, it’s allowable to say “My friend got in trouble after her parents read some incriminating posts on her Facebook page.” But it’s not allowable to say, “Hey, everybody, go to my Facebook page right away and see the cool link I’ve posted there.” Got it? In between those extremes, of course, are a lot of gray areas, but we’re sure you’re smart enough to negotiate them as long as you remember the spirit of the rule and the reasons it’s in place.

If you understand all of that and still decide to post a comment violating the spirit of the rule, we (abetted by our trusty spam filter) will zap it — and talking about Voldynet won’t help.

Yr. obt. svts,

The dictatorial but ultimately well-meaning

GAPAs

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Continued from v. 3.0, and ready for beta testing.

Just because.

We’ve been at war for most of your lives, yet here at home it’s scarcely noticeable. So here’s a MuseBlog poll: Anybody know any soldiers?

(9 November 1934 – 20 December 1996)

You helped us feel at home in the universe.

A place for careful, clear, respectful discussions of difficult topics. No flame wars, please. This isn’t the rest of the Internet (as you may have noticed).

Continued from v. 2011.1.

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.

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Another month of literary mayhem.

*National Novel Writing Month

(See NaNoBraSto for pre-NaNo brainstorming.)

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.

Known Muser birthdays and “K Days” this month*:

11-01 JLynn’s birthday
11-14 Mago Berry’s birthday (1998 – green and silver)
11-16 Kiwimuncher’s birthday (1992 – green)
11-18 Cello-Playing Mathematician’s birthday (1993 – violet)
11-18 Enceladus’s birthday (1996 – purple, blue, and black)
11-26 starr’s birthday (1996 – purple, pink, and silver)
11-27 Purple Panda’s birthday (1991 – purple)
11-27 Dodecahedron’s birthday (1993 – green)
11-27 Cinnamoon’s birthday (1994)

You turn 5,000 days old this month if you were born between February 23 and March 24, 1998.
You turn 6,000 days old this month if you were born between May 30 and June 28, 1995.
You turn 7,000 days old this month if you were born between September 2 and October 1, 1992.

You have been on the blog for six months if you started posting in May.

*Note: Listed MBers who have been inactive for several months won’t appear on next year’s birthday calendar unless they show up again.

Agent Lightning’s idea:

What about just a general “when I was a little kid” thread?

“When I was little, I thought all the teachers slept in the school at night…” –Doctor Who, Season Two

Tell us when your magazine arrives and/or what you think about it.

WARNING! Will definitely contain spoilers!

To spare MBers reading the “Recent Comments” columns, please paste the following message in at the beginning of any posts discussing things in the magazine:

SPOILER MUSE SPOILER MUSE SPOILER MUSE SPOILER MUSE SPOILER MUSE SPOILER MUSE SPOILER.

When you need a boost, stop by here and your fellow MBers will remind you why you’re wonderful (which, in case you’re doubtful, you are).

We sense an overwhelming demand for this thread.

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A cooler, more secluded annex to the ball.

All is in readiness. Enter!
 
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
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Requested by Castle. They’re in the news, and some of you have seen them up close. What are your thoughts?