BrainedBySaucepans

Hi, just a general request, and pretty low priority at that.

Since joining the site, I've often found myself browsing Canterlot on my phone,¹ and I've started noticing a common problem. Whenever I access the site, my phone starts to overheat, and it burns through battery power like nothing else. This isn't the only site I have this problem with, but it's by far the one I visit most often, so I was wondering, is there a solution to this? Is it me doing something wrong? Should I just try a different browser?

I'd appreciate any input on this.

I've also experienced a tangential, largely unconnected problem. I find it pretty much impossible to comment on any threads, as the text editor is pretty much incompatible with my phone/browser/sausage-like fingers.

I suspect there may be a simple solution to both these problems, but I'm pretty inexperienced in Web Development matters² so thought I'd just present my suggestion for wiser heads than mine to consider;³ does your CMS package⁴ have the facility to implement a reduced-functionality mobile version of the site? This would, to my understanding, put less strain on users' phones, and also perhaps provide a more mobile friendly version of the text editor?

If this isn't available, or would take considerable jiggery-pokery to provide, then don't consider it high priority,⁵ just something I'd live to see in the future.

Thanks in advance.

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¹ May as well include tech specs in case they're relevant to my problem; I have a Samsung Galaxy SII and use the Dolphin HD browser.

² Mucked about with Dreamweaver and Joomla a bit, but nothing advanced.

³ Or to just dismiss it out of hand as the ramblings of an ill-informed imbecile. For all I know this has been considered before and dismissed as impractical, but I couldn't find any reference to it elsewhere so thought I may as well bring it up.

⁴ Or whatever equivalent is used for this site.

⁵ At least not on my behalf. If other people are having the same or similar issues, perhaps it would be worth considering a bit more.

2: "Being a Time Lord would explain your sense of sartorial propriety…" Perhaps i am a living version of Nazdormu, (Warcraft, anyone?) but what in the name of Tartarus does "Sartorial propiety" mean?

Sartorial: Adjective: Of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress: "sartorial elegance".

Propriety: Noun: 1. The state or quality of conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals.

2. The details or rules of behavior considered correct: "she's a great one for the proprieties".

I consider myself to have a highly developed sense of sartorial propriety, considering myself underdressed in anything less than a three piece suit with a cravat and some form of hat. Usually a topper or my faithful black leather Australian bush hat. True story.

(Please forgive me for foregoing footnotes in this post, but I'm writing it on my phone, which makes the text editor unbearable at the best of times.)

Fridge

Wow. Thanks for the shout-out, I loved the show as always! I do hope Noctriix becomes a regular addition to the show; he was a pleasure to listen to.¹

Listening to the show a second time, as there was so much I’d like to comment on. Here goes:

Really wish my OC had gotten approved in time for Iron Pony,² being British my inbuilt cynicism has been worn away by two weeks of non-stop coverage, to the point where I felt enthusiastic about anything even vaguely related to the Olympics.³ Still, there will always be more forum events.

Two British news items on this show, both of which leave me kind of sad. I wish I could make it to BUCK and it’s a pity that TruffleShuffle only have the two designs available. Still, the second problem can at least be dealt with, since if enough people buy the currently available shirts, I’m sure they’ll put a wider selection up in future.¹¹

With regards to the Livestream requests bit, I’m one of the guilty parties there… With regards to making them more interactive, that’s pretty much the entire reason I livestream; I love chatting as I work, and would relish the opportunity to do so with fellow Canterlot forumgoers, hence me giving out my Skype details in my livestream thread. Unfortunately no one’s taken me up on that yet, but I have had a couple of requests, which was more than I expected. Currently, I’m planning on doing it at least once a week, details here.¹²

Wait, Noctriix has Photoshop CS7?!? Are… are you a time traveller?¹³

Aaaand I just got to the bit with my shout-out. In answer to your question of what I’d like to be called, “Saucy” has grown on me a lot. Noctriix was the first person to call me that, and I hope to Eris he isn’t the last.¹⁴ I’m glad to hear that someone other than me likes the footnotes; I was beginning to get paranoid that people hated them but were too polite to tell me.¹⁵

My initial reaction to whether Nemmy¹⁶ should change his username was no, but his arguments won me over. It makes a lot of sense to have all your online personas have the same name.¹⁷ I myself am pretty consistent in that respect, I either use BrainedBySaucepans or MisterDunn.¹⁸

Dear Eris, that muffin sounds heavenly…

One suggestion I would make for future shows; I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I mainly do so when I'm on the move. As such I would highly recommend making an audio-only version available to download. Also, I'd love to see the featured artist getting a bigger share of the screen, as it is the main visual element of the show. Perhaps some slow pans across each piece would give your YouTube viewers a chance to see some of the details of the stuff you showcase.

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¹ The fact that he was the one who gave me a shout-out by no means figures into my endorsement of him.

² He's still languishing in the limbo of the "Applications" forum as I type this, as it seems the RP helpers have a lot on their plate. I certainly can't fault them for that since they seem to have upwards of fifty finalised applications to deal with, not to mention the works in progress, which I expect also need the occasional portion of their attention. Still, while I wait in this self-imposed purgatory, I'd really appreciate it if people could take a look at my application and give me some feedback, just so when the Helpers do get around to it the approval process can be as smooth and painless as possible. Here's a link to my application, in case you are interested: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/10903-professor-ashen-smirk-final/

³ Happily, the natural balance of pessimism was restored by the closing ceremony, which, while not actually bad by any means, failed to match the excitement Danny Boyle's opening ceremony set up.⁴

⁴ Since this is probably the only time I have a chance to air my feelings about the closing ceremony without it seeming massively out of context,⁵ here goes:⁶ Compared to Danny Boyle's patriotic opus, the closing ceremony was severely lacking in terms of cohesive message, artistic risks and, perhaps most damningly, any sense of fun. Instead we were left with a vaguely self-important feeling artistic mess. Huw Edwards, one of the BBC commentators, at one point noted that this had a far less regimented feeling to the opening ceremony, and my thoughts were; is that necessarily a point in its favour? The opening ceremony was regimented simply because everything about it was intended to convey a point. It had symbolism and a cohesive non-verbal narrative, whereas the closing ceremony had Russell Brand, and featured Fatboy Slim in a giant inflatable octopus.⁸

The point that really hammered the differences home to me was when the iconic opening to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was played, only to suddenly cut off in favour of John Lennon's Imagine. The opening ceremony made me excited to hear Dizzee Rascal. The closing ceremony made Lennon seem disappointing. Then you consider the fact that the closing ceremony was specifically designed as a showcase of British music,⁹ and yet the music on display was almost entirely from at least ten years ago, with no reference to London's current music scene.¹⁰ Danny Boyle's piece did a far better job of showcasing British music, and that was by no means its only goal.

Still, enough of that for now...

⁵ Relatively speaking. It's still pretty out of the blue here, considering this is supposed to be a comment about the podcast...

⁶ This is why I do these footnote thingies; it gives me a chance to speak at great length about topics with no relation to the actual discussion without it taking up massive amounts of space.⁷ As such, please skip this if you don't care.

⁷ At least until you hit the "Show Spoilers" button...

⁸ With only six legs, perhaps making it a sextopus?

⁹ Which makes the fact that they repeated certain songs during the parade of athletes baffling? We could have fitted in an Iron Maiden song, or some Elgar, or even both, into that gap, rather than songs we'd heard only 15 minutes before.

¹⁰ Unlike the opening ceremony with it's aforementioned showcase of Dizzee Rascal and the thriving Grime genre.

¹¹ Thank Eris for capitalism

¹² Hooray for shameless self-promotion!

¹³ Being a Time Lord would explain your sense of sartorial propriety…

¹⁴ Although I could also get used to Sauce-Boss… I’m spoiled for choice!

¹⁵ Then I remember that this is the internet, a realm where politeness is viewed as a quaint anachronism.

¹⁶ Couldn’t resist…

¹⁷ Unless you value your privacy, or have some reason to keep your online activities a secret… Wait, Nemmy, are you secretly a super-spy? Because if you are that’s a big argument in favour of not changing your name. Unless you are but want to do it anyway so nobody will suspect you… It’s the perfect cover!

¹⁸ Which makes me ridiculously easy to track, and also gives away my real last name. It’s be pretty easy to find out everything about me with just those two handles, as a matter of fact. You see, unlike NemesisPon3 (Code Name: Mecha Shockwave) I am not an elite secret agent.¹⁹

¹⁹ If I say it enough, that will either make it true or draw the attention of some real spies. They may even decide to start using your identity when doing their secret spy stuff! Then you’ll be a target for hostile foreign governments! Haven’t you always wanted to die for your country? No? Tough luck.

That explosion has several glaring scientific inaccuracies. To point them all out, I hand over to Dr Phil Plait.¹

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¹ To those of you who have no idea who this is, I point you in the direction of this website: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/ In it, he routinely points out common misconceptions about space, as well as occasionally dissecting scientific inaccuracies put forward by Hollywood, all in a refreshingly entertaining and informative way.

Listened to all of them now. Very nice stuff. Unfortunately it seems we have to be rivals, as I've been asked to guest on another brony podcast. Hopefully you can forgive me.¹

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¹ If you can, I'd love a shout-out. I'm planning on doing a weekly art request livestream, but haven't had many takers yet. Details here: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/10888-livestream-art-requests-next-session-begins-2100-gmt-11th-august-2012/#entry257210

It may be that it's just too complicated for some. People don't want to have to research and have rules. Spam Stables is for fun, not strategy.

Not entirely sure if you're serious...1

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1 In case you are, I feel I should spell it out. Mornington Crescent is a joke game; the whole point of it is that there are no rules or real strategies, the whole thing is an exercise of making up complete nonsense for its own sake.²

Apologies for any confusion.

² Pretty much the only real rule is that you should never say what I just said. It's considered to be ruining the magic of the game, like pointing out that the magician at a children's birthday party has a deck of cards and a chicken up his sleeves. No one was supposed to be actually fooled, but pretending to be is part of the fun. I feel dirty now.

Okay, clearly this isn't going to work as it is, and I am once again reminded that my sense of humour doesn't transmit well in a text based media.¹

No,no I am not.

1) It's in the Spam Stables.

2) It is hard to take a game as obtuse as this seriously

2a)Because I am American

2b)Have little familiarity with the public transportation system at hand

2c)don't feel like having to reference a map each time I have to make a move.

2d) feel that it's kind or presumptuous and exclusionary to start a spammy game on a My Little Pony forum that predicates knowledge of 2b and necessitates 2c.

3) Clearly half the fun of the game is the snark between moves, and you get absolutely no nonverbal context on a webforum.

4)I rarely take anything seriously.

5)Do you have any idea how difficult it is to think through the vast knowledge of 70s and 80s music I have to pull up a song that references the name of the place that someone just mentioned?

Flutterscotch, I feel an apology is in order; I have thoroughly enjoyed your contributions,² and my complaints were supposed to be "In Character" as it were. By no means did I actually want you to stop, I in fact really appreciate your willingness to keep the topic going, even with the flaws you point out above. Me being "presumptuous and exclusionary", as you so eloquently put it, was all supposed to be part of the joke, and it's the responsibility of the person telling the joke to modify their technique if it falls flat. I failed spectacularly in that, so sorry.

If people actually wish to continue, I'd love to do so, but I'm guessing the game is pretty much dead right now.

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¹ Or face to face, but that's an entirely separate matter.

² I always love to broaden my own musical horizons.

But can they resist his poison pizza?¹

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¹ That sounds like such a dodgy euphemism...

The winning player is the one who first reaches Mornington Crescent. This can be achieved in several ways, but the most common victory strategy is to keep play away from the Northern Line at all costs until your opponents are out of position.¹ I've found a pretty good example of this strategy in use in this video:³

Since we're using the standard rule set, you'll also want to keep in mind the length of the platform, as stops at which the last set of doors do not open⁴ are considered to incur a penalty of up to three rail-replacement buses.⁵ Don't worry though, you won't have to consider the "Camden Town Conundrum"⁶ until the 20th turn, and by then the game may well be over.

Also, I get the feeling that Flutterscotch isn't taking this very seriously, and I'm afraid it's disrupting the flow of play. Feel free to continue posting music, but please make your actual moves clear, or declare yourself a spectator. Otherwise we may have to put the Docklands Light Railway and Metropolitan line off limits.

In the meantime, I'm going to take the opportunity to move out of sequence and go to Euston Square. Yes it's very close to the critical upper junction of the Northern Line, but I have a plan in place for if anyone tries to exploit it.⁹

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¹ Except of course for the controversial 2003 revisions, which completely removed the Circle Line from play, and consequently radically changed the flow of the game. If you find yourself playing with someone who favours this rule-set, my advice would be to run away as fast as you can and inform your local mental health charity.²

² If they tie you down and force you to actually participate, the best strategy would actually be to divert play to the Bank branch as often as possible, but keep a careful eye on Euston.

³ Although the legality of the triple-shunt is rather questionable.

⁴ The so-called "shorties".

⁵ Depending on whether this is at peak times or not.

⁶ A situation first encountered in 1976, when players ended up stuck moving between Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square and Holborn for over 200 turns, until one enterprising player derived the first known solution by catapulting one of his opponents all the way to Epping,⁷ and proceeded to win the game with seven carriages and a mandrill.⁸

⁷ The fact that this solution was later declared illegal and immoral fails to undermine the sheer genius of this play, although it makes it a far less tempting option for modern players.

⁸ Which was later erroneously stated to be a baboon.

⁹ If no one does chose to take the bait, I'll explain my reasoning with a post-game commentary.

It really depends on how busy the RP helpers are. It could take a little while, or you could get a review within a few days. Most apps usually take a week or two. Some have been up for numerous months, but that's because there were some problems that took a while to fix. If the apps start to pile up, they get really busy to at least get stamps or questions posted on them..

Thanks for the info. I suppose the best thing to do is just to sit and wait for the helpers to get round to me.¹

If and when I am assigned a helper, I'd appreciate it if they me know, even if it's just to say I'm in a queue an will have to wait a bit longer.² If you want to save some time and discuss it with me directly, feel free to do so on Skype.³

Thanks

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¹ That's never been my style though, so my plan is to get as much feedback as possible from people, so that hopefully, by the time a helper does get to me, any issues will have been dealt with. Since it'd be rather hypocritical to expect people to do this for me while offering nothing in return, I've already offered what input I feel qualified to give on several other people's applications. Hopefully karma will even it all out.

² Otherwise I'll just start worrying that my application has been missed completely, and start making panicky and vaguely passive-aggressive posts like this one...

³ My username is on my profile.

Thoroughly enjoyed my part of this,¹ let me know if this sort of thing happens again!²

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¹ Even though I joined in rather late.

² If you want me to be involved, that is.

Thanks for the compliment on the art. I've done pretty much no drawing for the past 3 years,¹ so I'm still getting back into the swing of things.

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¹ Uni was stressful, and getting kicked out more so

First time I've been called Saucy, I like it!

Thanks for breaking up the paragraphs; made it a lot easier to read.¹ The weakness you've given him doesn't quite seem to fit though; I don't personally think that amplifying a voice would drain a pony's magic that much.² However, I see a way of switching things round a bit that could potentially fix Rosewind's objection too:³ Instead of projection draining him, what if it was the teleportation? The way I see it, he'd be fine as long as he didn't do it too much, but if he tried a Twilight and started zipping around every couple of seconds he'd quickly pass out.

You could include it in his back-story: perhaps he overcommitted to a musical, agreeing to play several separate roles, but succumbed to the pressure and had to start teleporting around to get into position.⁴

Once again, good luck with the app. I'm glad to have had a positive impact on the self-image of a complete stranger; footnotes rule!⁵

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¹ In fact, I picked up a couple of things I'd accidentally skipped on my first couple of read-throughs. I'd somehow missed his vindictive side when dealing with people who badmouth him; I like it a lot, it's a perfectly understandable reaction, but could also be seen as a character flaw, all depending on how far he takes it. It's details like that which really fill out a character.

² Though you'd have to check with someone who has a better grasp on how magic works in the RP.

³ If I'm right about it being related to the teleportation.

⁴ I best stop before I start dictating your character to you...

⁵ The footnote thing started with my introduction post; I was sleep deprived and a huge section of it ended up as a rant about Schrodinger's Cat. It seemed massively off topic, so I shoved it into a footnote, along with the rest of my insomniac rambling. The next day, I looked at the post again, and decided I liked being able to go completely off topic without disrupting the flow of my posts, so I decided that I would include footnotes with everything. I started spoilering them so as to avoid annoying people, and I haven't had any complaints so it seems to have worked.

I'm similarly frustrated right now, although I've only been waiting for around 3 days.¹ I just did a count though, and there are 53 final applications currently sitting in the queue, so I have some sympathy for the mods.²

I've decided I may as well use my time looking at other people's applications, with the intention of seeing if there are any rules or guidelines I may have missed, and offering advice on how I'd go about improving them.³ Which brings me on to your application.

To be honest, I can't think of much to say;⁴ Skyglare seems pretty balanced and well-rounded in terms of strengths and flaws, which is my usual benchmark for characterisation. It seems to be a good length too, giving a clear picture of the character as a whole without rambling excessively.⁶ The only change I would make would be to add in a bit more detail to his physical description; you say he's "slightly taller",⁸ but is he skinny? Well muscled? Chubby?

That's pretty much all I can think of, but remember I'm not a mod, just an outspoken sod with no real qualifications or experience. XD

Good luck with the application!

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¹ I'm more than a little impatient, which is why I started going through other people's apps in the first place...

² Especially since I have no idea how big the app review team is...

³ Since I haven't been here long enough to gave a good enough feel of the submission rules, I mainly focus on people's actual writing style; I've done a great deal of sub-editing in the past, and am pretty confident in my abilities in that regard.

⁴ Apart from the fact that I strongly disapprove of the cutie mark choice. I'm a keen student of cinematography, and it reminds me of the modern film-making tendency to add LENS FLARE as a substitute for careful composition.⁵ But I kid; this isn't a genuine complaint, merely an excuse for me to go off on a mini-rant.

⁵ Or, even worse, on top of it.

⁶ See my character application for a great example of excessive rambling. When it comes to my own work, my ability to cut extraneous detail drops through the floor.⁷

⁷ In fact, I often find my self adding extra details when I edit. Bad sub-editor, bad.

⁸ I assume you mean "Slightly taller than average". Remember, if you use a comparative, make sure you include the benchmark you're comparing to.

Okay, I feel I have to speak up on Noctriix' behalf here. I've read through this application twice now, and see no reference at all to any sort of "self-levitation" ability. Perhaps you're thinking of teleportation; it is mentioned that Limelight can teleport with "reasonable expertise". Other than that, the closest he comes to what you're claiming is the ability to lift heavy objects with his mind, and there's nothing implying that he himself is included in that category.¹

Other than that issue, I have to say I love this app,² and can only think of two changes I would make. The first would be to give him some weaknesses; you've shown what he's good at, but I personally like to see some weaknesses and flaws in a character, as it makes them more relate-able. As it stands, Limelight has gone straight from nothing to spectacular success. Although there is a bit of struggle alluded to, at no point do we actually see him fail; even the most successful and talented artists have had projects that simply haven't worked out.

The second change I would suggest is a stylistic one; your paragraphs are way too long.³ The rest of your writing style is pretty solid, but a lot of people get put off by big blocks of text. Regular paragraph breaks give the eye some rest, and without them, I find I get lost and sometimes end up skipping a line, or reading it twice.

I look forward to seeing how your character develops once this gets approved, and I hope you found my comments useful.⁴

Good luck!

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¹ Unless you're calling him fat, and that's just rude.

² Although his second "personality" reminds me a bit too much of myself in crisis management mode...

³ Especially the opening of the character summary. Ouch.

⁴ I'm new to this forum, so I don't know what the mods look for in a character application.⁵ I always try my best to give constructive criticism though.

⁵ And I'd really appreciate it if you could return the favour by giving my app a look.

I'm definitely up for helping with that sort of thing, let me know when you have those rough sketches and I'll get right on it!¹

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¹ I did a little research of my own into possible martial arts related symbols, but nothing I found really seemed appropriate. Hopefully with your knowledge of the subject you'll fare a bit better.

Not entirely sure what you mean by obvious. Since you're new to the game, I'd recommend you don't try devising your own strategies right away.¹

I'll let you get away with overconfidence just this once.²

I'll go... Waterloo

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¹ Look up one of the classic games and see if you can mimic one of the great masters.

² But don't push your luck.

Hey, I'm not complaining. It gave me more impetus to check out Jethro Tull...¹

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¹ Something I've been meaning to do for years...

Had a look at it, and liked what I saw! Not really sure how qualified I am to offer suggestions,¹ but I put in my two bits...

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¹ My first application is still awaiting review. If you fancy returning the favour: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/10903-professor-ashen-smirk-final/

Sorry, forgot to put in my sarcasm tags.¹

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¹ I don't seriously expect people to slavishly follow instructions given by some random prat on the internet. Besides, if you do Google it, you'll see why I said not to...

Frankly, I'd be amazed¹ if anyone else here knew the rules, but it's worth a try. If you don't, please don't Google the rules; it's a complex and subtle game, and fumbling around like an amateur will get you nothing but laughter at your expense.

We'll stick with the standard rule set for now,² but if this goes well, I may break out my Advanced Supplementary Rule Book; it contains around 800 different variations, and I'm sure could keep us going until next Winter Wrap-Up!⁴

I'd also appreciate it if you provided some sort of commentary or rationale behind your moves; I'm a keen student of the game, and would love a chance to study the techniques of others.

With all that said, I'll make the first move.

West Hampstead

I know it's a bit of a clichéd opening gambit, but the old strategies are the best ones!

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¹ And delighted.

² Since most users on here are probably not fortunate enough to be English.³

³ With that in mind, it would be probably be best if I linked to the game board: http://www.tfl.gov.u...rd-tube-map.pdf

⁴ Although mainly as a fuel source.

If this is still going on, count me in for the next free drawing slot.¹

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¹ Which, according to the timetable is yesterday: TO THE TIME MACHINE!

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to RPing as him; there's so many different directions I could take him!¹

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¹ My plan is to play it by ear and see what seems the most realistic reaction to other characters' interactions with him, however that turns out.