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The Great Avatar Joke

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by apotheon

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Someone out there didn't like dpetrak's avatar -- thought it promoted violence and was "unprofessional". Between shellbot and I, a proposal has been hatched: in the week from June First through June Seventh, all TR Insiders should adopt dpetrak's animated Office Space avatar as their own. Go right-click on that avatar, choose "save as" (or whatever equivalent your browser provides), and upload it somewhere useful so you can use it as your avatar for that week.

Go on. I dare you.

[NOTE: I'd appreciate it if this thread got "advertised" to TRI members as soon as possible in one of your mass TRI mailings, Jay.]

104 replies

by apotheon

It occurs to me that some of you may not have somewhere to host the image, and I don't want to impose an unreasonable load on whatever dpetrack is using to host his avatar image. As a result, I've decided that I will host the image for all of you slackers that don't have your own image hosting ability until about the eighth of June (or until I remember to take it down, whichever comes last).

This will only be available temporarily, and I would prefer that those of you with the ability to host the image yourselves do so, because I don't want to become the single bandwidth provider for all links to the supidposts.gif image, but if you genuinely need someone else to host the image so that you can participate in our little joke, I'm here for ya. The URL for the image is:

http://sob.apotheon.org/img/stupidposts.gif

Now you don't have any excuses.

by shellbot

i'll try and get soemthing set up for myself, but if i dont, i may piggyback on you! I'll let you know if i do.

Thanks Apoth!

by rob mekel

And there is me thinking that we would start as of the 1st of june.
[i]must be 1st of june 2005 then[/i] ;)

Rob

by sleepin'dawg

Even if it is a little somber. Very Dungeons and Dragonish if you dig my inference. I like it but you could add more S&M influences.You could also cut the brightness of the background a tad; say 10-15%.

[b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

by tig2

I am willing to make that small sacrifice for dpetrak. I found the BS about his avatar ridiculous and I am happy to further the cause.

Now- can I get everybody to adopt my pink ribbon the week of the Breast Cancer 3 Day??? That would be the third week in August- the 13th (Sunday) to the 20th (The following Sunday and the last day of the event) I will be happy to email the image to anyone who asks for it. I am hosted on photobucket.

by hal 9000

Just ask nicely and use the word [b]Breast[/b] a lot and I'm sure than most here will blindly follow. :^0

Just forget about the [i]What was that other word again?[/i] If you just keep pushing the idea that the [b]Pink Ribbon[/b] is for [b]Breast Awareness Week[/b] most of the males here will just have to jump in though they might complain afterwards that they didn't have anywhere as much fun as they thought they where going to have. :)

Col ]:)

by deepsand

Now, all that's needed is a reminder e-mail at the appropriate time; absent that, I make no guarantee that I'll remember.

by montgomery gator

I clicked on the Microsoft Visual Studio ad at the bottom. Let Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer pay for it, they have lots of money. :-)

by cactus pete

They have all that money because they over-charge for the software, and i would expect them to simply pass on that cost to you as well.

So you're just increasing the cost of all MS products by clicking on that link.

by apotheon

Maybe the climbing cost of MS software will reduce the number of end users running spam bots without realizing it.

by apotheon

It offers very limited bandwidth per month, it often flakes out, and it's just generally sucky.

Maybe I should set up my own free photo hosting service, just to keep people from using Photobucket.

by apotheon

I don't see a flaw in my logic. My logic is never flawed. It's YOUR logic that's flawed. So there.

I responded here because I couldn't reply to your post.

by hal 9000

Just one question here.

Do you want this applied all at the same time and if so what Time Zone will we be working off?

Or will just changing this at [b]Local Time[/b] be sufficient?

Col ]:)

by hal 9000

We all could be told that [b]We Punch Like A Girl[/b]. :D

If I remember correctly that was one other comment about this Avatar that was posted. :p

Col ]:)

by tig2

Punch like a girl. And scratch and kick and everything else like a girl. :) I even look like a girl- which my partner tells me is a good thing... but he's biased, I think.

I should try beating up a printer and see if I punch like a girl when beating on office supplies. Heaven knows the printer gives me plenty of excuses to beat it up!

by apotheon

I say go with GMT unless you're too lazy, in which case you should go with local time. Err on the side of more time. Whatever.

It's pretty informal, y'know.

by hal 9000

12.00 AM 1 June at GMT would be 10.00 AM Thursday Local time that should be quite doable. :^0

I've already uploaded the GIF and tested it so there should be [b]No Problems[/b] though if I do have to make a service call I'll put it on earlier. :)

Col ]:)

by deepsand

Why, wake up man; they're all around us. Well, I know [b]I[/b] can see them, standing right next to the gray aliens; you may not be sufficiently advanced yet so as to have clear vision.

by hal 9000

Do they also throw their spears at you? :)

Much more importantly are their shields [b]Bullet Proof like Batfink's Wings of Steal?[/b] ;)

I only see things like that after a night on the [b]Turps[/b] and then I know that [b]I'm Hallucinating and it is time to drink even more.[/b] :p

But I only do things like that under [b]Medical Supervision[/b] I get as drunk as a Judge at my Surgeons Mates place on his Scotch. What can I say I'm cheap and his Chivas Regal is really nice. ;\

Col ]:)

by hal 9000

Many years ago when I worked for a small little known company called IBM I used to carry around a bottle of [b]Sea Water[/b] which I told everybody who cared to ask that if something gave me a real problem I would just pour the contents of the bottle through it and then I would be certain that it was broken. :p

Or you could get what I got last night at midnight my [b]Darling Mother[/b] rang me up telling me that she couldn't get a toner in her Image Runner 3100 Canon Photocopier which is networked as a printer. When I got over there I found the Black Toner Cartridge in upside down and the cover open so Black Toner was escaping all over the place. I closed the cover and tried for about 20 minutes to remove the cartridge which had a very nice little lip on it which prevented it being removed without breaking the plastic cover. Well I started to pull it apart to get the Cartridge out and my [b]Darling Sweet Mother[/b] who is now pushing well over 76 years walked away horrified that I was going to break something or worse still that I wouldn't be able to get it back together again. :D

When she next returned I had it almost completely assembled and I had left the Toner Cartridge out just to show her how to put it in [b]Again.[/b] She was so happy that she said [i]"All I've got to do now is shut the front cover and I can be off working again."[/i] I suggested that she might like to allow me to finish the job first before she got to carried away with herself as the front cover was sitting on top of another photocopier and she seemed not to notice it missing. :^0

Anyway when I put it back on and shut the thing up she then started to panic that it was now broken and wouldn't be working again that night. Worse still she would have to wait for a Service Agent from Canon to come out to fix it up as it didn't immediately start to print. Several minutes latter when it started to finish off the job that was already programed into it she was as [b]Happy As a Pig in Mud.[/b] But I'm still not sure of just how she managed to force the cartridge in that way without breaking anything. :(

But it's a massive improvement on the previous photocopier which she could empty a Toner bottle into but was unable to remove the bottle from the filler. It used to look so funny when I arrived there to see the poor old photocopier working away as hard as it could with a refill toner bottle stuck on the filler. :D

Col ]:)

by hal 9000

But I do know that the UK, US and AU Breast Cancer Societies use the same Pink Ribbon emblem for the Breast Cancer Awayness Week.

Is there a world wide Breast Cancer Society?

Or is it just something that the UN dreamt up and various countries have followed?

I do however know that all the Federal Pollies here wear a Pink Ribbon at Parliament during Breast Cancer Awareness Week and knowing what skinflints they are I would imagine that they are given them to wear to promote the cause.

I really can not see any of the associated Societies being upset with its use as it is only giving them more exposure which they couldn't afford to pay for.

Col

by jardinier

What's the matter with you people? Has your grey matter seized up or something? Can't you see that by posting that particular avatar you will be playing right into the guy's hands?

He will be flattered to see that you have noticed him. You will encourage him.

Can you squeeze his/her alias into an avatar with the sign of the finger beneath?

Well, have fun, but I think your strategy is self defeating.

by deepsand

how do you suggest that we escape the thought police?

As for the response of he whose complaint initiated this action, I suggest that such will, assuming that he takes notice, depend on his motivation for said complaint.

If such was in fact genuine, then I doubt that he would be flattered; if such was merely a vacuous statement, then he may or may not be flattered, and it may or may not induce a response on his part.

by apotheon

I don't think we have a "strategy". We just want to do something fun. Whee.

If we go out of our way to affect the guy, [b]then[/b] he wins. If we just have fun with this without letting his potential reactions dictate our behavior, [b]we[/b] win, no matter what he thinks.

by shellbot

i suggested it to purely be childish!!!
A bit of fun..some part of me will be pleased just kowing that there is a chance he will log in and look at a post that we have all participated in..

speaking of that guys..we need to start a thread tomorrow..something eye catching..and we all have to post..

by apotheon

I think someone should start a thread called "catharsis" in either the Career or Miscellaneous section. This thread should be about how to relieve stress created by jobs in the IT field, probably related to end users or faulty equipment or software. The person who starts the thread might refer to a cathartic session beating up hardware, or something like that, every once in a while -- and might ask how others at TR relieve stress cathartically.

This thread should be started late tomorrow (the 31st) or early the next day (the first of June). Whoever starts it should post something in this thread to let us know that it's posted, both so we can all contribute to the discussion with our new avatars, and so we'll all know to not duplicate the effort.

If possible, it should be made a Soapbox-tagged discussion to draw additional attention, but only if the topic involves some Soapbox-worthy rantiness (so we don't dilute the effect of the Soapbox tag for TR).

How's that for a plan?

by apotheon

I'll probably host it for free use by whomever, at least for a few months. I'll post a URL for it somewhere once I upload the thing to my webhost.

by deepsand

The shape of the bottle, or flask, makes it easier for unsteady hands to maintain a good grip, thus diminishing the likelihood (sp.? I'm too damn tired to check it.) of dropping the damn thing and wasting its precious contents.

But, in a pinch, I'd not decline Chivas.

As for the Zulu, they wear ordinary black suits, but with the weirdest day-glo ties, and just follow me everywhere, including the bathroom, or privy. Now, if I could at least get to wipe my a** for me, their presence might become a little more tolerable.

by tig2

I am using your link for dpetrak's icon. For some reason Photobucket didn't like it.

Hmmmm.

Thanks!
:)

by sleepin'dawg

Will somebody be so good as to explain why this is supposed to be funny??? Actually feels just a little bit silly and kind of lame. About as lame as the twit who complained about dpetraks icon in the first place.

[b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

by apotheon

Photobucket might not allow animated GIFs, either for patent reasons or bandwidth reasons.

by deepsand

she was able to save it, but it was'nt animated, as she saved it as a .jpg file, which is what she's now using.

by tig2

Stargazerr told me and Col gave me an alternative. Photobucket didn't tell me that it translated the file to a jpg. And I didn't look.

Didn't want to hog your bandwidth- I can see that there are others already.

Thanks!

by deepsand

The omage that you're using is saved as a .jpg (JPEG) file.

Get the GIF (.gif) file, and it should work.

by apotheon

Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC (also called Greenwich Mean Time or GMT), is the zero-hours offset time. As such, it is known in some circles (ham radio, nautical, and NATO member nation military contexts) as Z time. The NATO military phonetic alphabet uses "Zulu" to represent the letter Z, so when referencing zero-offset coordinated universal time in radio communications, it becomes "Zulu Time".

That's why.

by hal 9000

I don't have to bother lifting a bottle at all as I said I do this under [b]Medical Supervision[/b] so the Surgeon pours the drinks. :p

I'm just required to have the glass [b]Superguled [/b]to my hand so I can't drop it. :D

And when he gets too drunk to safely pour from the bottle there is always his wife left who hates the stuff. It's a hard life and a terrible job but someone has to do it and I would hate it to be anyone else subject to this form of torture. :)

Col ]:)

by apotheon

Peer mail is fine. I don't think it lets you send attachments, though -- at least, I hope not. Just send an email with a URL to it so I don't have to try to hunt it down now that it's not your avatar, if that works for you, or post the URL for it here, or something, unless you just want my email address via peer mail.

Whatever. The easier you make it for me to get the image, the sooner I'll get it on the webserver.

by apotheon

Don't you mean Golf? That would be "Tee Time", not "Golf Time".

If they went with Coordinated Universal Time, they'd probably use the UTC initialization, in which case it'd be "Uniform Time", which would become "Uniform Tango", which they'd then want to start calling "Tango Uniform" because of the similarity to the term for something dying. Now that would be confusing.

by rob mekel

Just right-click on TiggerTwo's avitar goto properties and select the adres and do whatever you wanna do with it. :)
Or even more practical, right-click the avitar and select "save as", you can put it anywhere you like.

Or the equivalent on your OS. :D

Rob

ps I know someone else suggested this. Just can't remember who and in what post it was.
[i]mumble grumble does it start that soon this ...mmm what am I wondering about, well can't be important othewise i would have ... [/i]

edited for the ps

by gadgetgirl

not too painful please!

I have a very low pain threshold! (yeah, ok, I know, it matches my height!!! :D )

I've also got T2 reminding me as well, so surely I can remember to change it back to my noooo avatar....although.....depending on the mood, it may change......

Watch this space....!!

Thanks tho, Jaqui! :x

GG

by rob mekel

the lady's and guy's at TR decide to give us all 1 not changeable avitar :(
That will do the trick on us :D
[i]dunno if that is what I like but sure would give them some fun :D :^0

Rob

by deepsand

Entry Word: silly

Function: adjective

Text:
1 lacking in seriousness or maturity -- see GIDDY 1

2 showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment -- see [b]FOOLISH[/b] 1

3 so foolish or pointless as to be worthy of scornful laughter -- see RIDICULOUS 1

by deepsand

Entry Word: funny

Function: adjective

Text:
1 causing or [b]intended to cause laughter[/b]

Synonyms
antic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, hilarious, humorous, hysterical, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous, riotous, risible, screaming, side-splitting, uproarious

Related Words
amusing, diverting, entertaining; clownish, slapstick, zany; facetious, flip, flippant, pert, smart, smart-alecky (or smart-aleck); jocular, playful, waggish; priceless, rich, whimsical, witty; gleeful, merry, mirthful

--------------------------------------------------

One entry found for silly.

Entry Word: silly

Function: adjective

Text:
1 lacking in seriousness or maturity -- see GIDDY 1

2 showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment -- see FOOLISH 1

3 so foolish or pointless as to be worthy of scornful laughter -- see RIDICULOUS 1

by apotheon

Her avatar is currently the Office Space image. We're talking about the pink ribbon.

by deepsand

It's the old brain-hand disconnect, combined with the fact that there's no Preview function here, and I don't always take the time to review my posts and edit as needed.

by tig2

I'm out of bed at 5:00 a.m. CDT. I will post in Misc so as to not raise the ire of "collared professionals". The post title will be "Creative Uses for Office Supplies" and will be based on my belief that if you club your co-worker with a ... well- club, you are promoting "workplace violence". But if you use an office supply, like a printer, it is merely an accident. I will tag this post appropriately and insure that I use the Soapbox as an element.

Will this work?

by deepsand

Or, better yet, perhaps he has a colleague here in the states that you can refer me to.

by apotheon

I don't mind at all. I just don't want to find myself with people using my bandwidth without my knowledge, and don't want to end up hosting an image long after it's no longer of any use to me, when I've forgotten it's even there. Thus, the time limit on it: I have to remind myself to get rid of it and warn people that it'll be going away.

by jaqui

gods it's just too funny...

check your workspace, see how many of your contacts online have the stupidposts image as their avitar,

right now for me it's 4, and watching 4 people "punching like a girl" in perfect unison is hilarious.

by deepsand

If you view a complete list of your Contacts, they're out of synch, which becomes visually distracting to the point of being disorienting quite quickly.

Ah, well, just consider that a cheap high.

by shellbot

yup, no matter how childish and immature, this was definately one of my better ideas!

Fan-frigging-tastic :) :) :)

Now..will anyone take the bait and get annoyed??

Betting is now open...

by gadgetgirl

d'you mean to say you're a voyeur?? !! :p

Tut tut.

[i] Naughty Boy! [/i] ]:)

Now, where can I find a pic of a vibrator to use as my new avatar when all this is finished next week......?

]:)

GG

by rob mekel

I do like the way your mind works :)

But don't you agree that it is a lovely sight to see a man and a woman liking each other?

Rob

by gadgetgirl

(Must be cos I'm having a Friday on a Thursday in here...)

If I leave the whole thing as is, I get "Thief"
If I remove the one, I get the stupid post avatar.....

But, as I'm so sweet and innocent, I was going to use this one, anyway...........

http://tinyurl.com/s8m6e

]:)

GG

by jaqui

respected thing of bandwidth ;)

when people link to images on other sites, they are using it, a lot of websites now have bandwidth thief images to stop linking from remote sites and make the user that tried linking look stupid.

funny thing is, that gif actually looks good in the avatar space. ~lol~

by hal 9000

In GW1 he served on board the [b]Mercy[/b] one of those [b]Dry[/b] US Ships so I would imagine he had quite a few drinking buddies there. :^0

PM me with your general location in the US and I'll ask him next time I ring him up. It's just gone 9.30 PM here so he'll be in bed asleep.

I was actually quite impressed to learn that the Mercy had Gynaecologists & Obstructions on it as well as all the Surgical Disciplines I'm not quite sure what they expected to get but from his accounts they didn't get anything worth talking about. His biggest complaint there was the drills that they had to find their way up form their sleeping quarters in the dark to the open deck without the aid of Torches. To this day he still can not understand that one as he said if there was a Fire on board the smoke would have got you long before the torches batteries went flat. :D

But he did enjoy stumbling around in the dark up 5 decks slightly less that sober. ;)

Col ]:)

by montgomery gator

Congratulations. Your name and the Avatar were on the home page of TR for all to see. Hope the nimrod in question saw it. :-)

by apotheon

The images are available here:
http://sob.apotheon.org/?page_id=59

The largest ribbon image will probably be removed in a couple months or so -- after the whole breast cancer awareness thing, anyhow (remind me what month it is right now, and maybe I'll be able to calculate how long until the event). The smallest is small enough to be appropriate for use as a TR icon without wasting bandwidth on a resized image.

by rob mekel

He was just getting some attention from the TR-people to play a joke on us. :( :D :^0

[i]I love a good joke :D except when its played on me. :( But then again I'm a sporty guy so a good joke is no harm done :) [/i]

Rob

by tig2

The ribbons look GREAT! The 3-Day is August 18th-20th in the Twin Cities. This 60 mile walk actually happens in 18 major cities starting in Boston on Aug 4 and ending in San Diego on Nov 12. If you are interested in learning more about the walk and its beneficiaries, go to www.the3day.org.

I will be walking the Twin Cities for the first time this year, although I also do the Komen "Race for the Cure". Funny- the first time I did the Komen 5K (roughly 3 miles) I thought it was horribly long. This year I still had to walk an additional three training miles after it was over.

This month has me getting to 15 miles. Next month's target is 18/15 back to back. August will be 20 miles a day for three days. You would think at my age, I would know better than to do something like this...

I appreciate you doing this for me. If you don't mind, I would like to add your professor's name to my tee shirt- I am wearing the names of all the people that have been impacted by breast cancer- past and present on the first day of the walk.

Thanks!