Posts by Michael Roberts

1) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Landscape Game # 3 (Message 1369723)
Posted 23 hours ago by

Michael Roberts

Ha! I searched for "blue tree madagascar" and all I got was things like this!

2) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give Us a Caption #51 (Message 1369460)
Posted 1 day ago by

Michael Roberts

Guild navigators are always shocked to encounter creatures larger than themselves.

3) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1368654)
Posted 3 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Stats for Thursday 16 May 2013:

Name Pop Rank Country now change 24hrs now change highest Seti City 4915700 10333 3444 4 0 4 US United States DvorakSociety 3830666 6937 2312 5 0 4 GB United Kingdom Skofus 3634577 6949 2316 2 0 2 NO Norway Ariz Moon City 3389795 6652 2217 3 0 3 NO Norway UAE Residents 3181028 6498 2166 2 0 1 AE United Arab Emirates KWSN 3047940 6610 2203 2 0 2 GL Greenland TFFE 2908308 6517 2172 3 0 2 IS Iceland rwrwton 2160652 6584 2194 12 0 12 CA Canada city of rOZZ 1196767 6540 2180 19 0 19 BE Belgium Thirteenth Tribe 399142 8714 2904 71 0 71 GB United Kingdom En-Ki-Du 271 3 1 7400 73 7400 US United States Statistics taken at Thu 16 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC Previous figures from Mon 13 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC

Mark you are welcome.

4) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1367654)
Posted 6 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Skofus has overtaken Ariz Moon????

Yes, Chris. The difference varies from time to time, but Skofus seems to have a slight edge. Not really sure how...

5) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1367638)
Posted 6 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Stats for Monday 13 May 2013:

Name Pop Rank Country now change 24hrs now change highest Seti City 4905367 14363 3590 4 0 4 US United States DvorakSociety 3823729 8912 2228 5 0 4 GB United Kingdom Skofus 3627628 8543 2135 2 0 2 NO Norway Ariz Moon City 3383143 8486 2121 3 0 3 NO Norway UAE Residents 3174530 8137 2034 2 0 1 AE United Arab Emirates KWSN 3041330 8438 2109 2 0 2 GL Greenland TFFE 2901791 8324 2081 3 0 2 IS Iceland rwrwton 2154068 8365 2091 12 0 12 CA Canada city of rOZZ 1190227 8110 2027 19 0 19 BE Belgium Thirteenth Tribe 390428 11550 2887 71 1 71 GB United Kingdom En-Ki-Du 268 2 0 7473 53 7473 US United States Statistics taken at Mon 13 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC Previous figures from Thu 09 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC

6) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give Us a Caption #51 (Message 1367083)
Posted 8 days ago by

Michael Roberts

After reading this forum, Christopher Robin wishes he also had a raccoon to play with.

7) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Discussion of Cafe games #5 (Message 1367078)
Posted 8 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Response to Beets Caption Message ID 1366913::

I'm glad I'm not the girl — or the goat — in the immediately prior shot!

It's of course frustrating when someone has the same caption idea but posts it a bit sooner! This time is a bit more interesting because The Holy Hand Grenade had the same basic idea as me but chose exactly the opposite realisation of it! I was thinking of:

It's not fair: I would have liked to milk the goat!

Such a similar premise that I won't enter this, perhaps I can think of something else...

8) Message boards : Cafe SETI : TLPTPW #186 - Is it Summer yet? (Message 1367066)
Posted 8 days ago by

Michael Roberts

As far as the parallel competition is concerned, it was fairly clear from 1218 that we were looking for a classic steam locomotive. I had a look for others and the numbers I was considering were (in the order I noted them): 587 520 542 630 610. Unfortunately I didn't find a number 24 away from any of them, which I imagine in this case would be 563 (it's all a question of deciding what to look for and I looked a bit differently today). With the which-digits-it-contains clue I should probably have suggested 587 anyway!

9) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1366545)
Posted 9 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Stats for Thursday 9 May 2013:

Name Pop Rank Country now change 24hrs now change highest Seti City 4891004 8302 2767 4 0 4 US United States DvorakSociety 3814817 5503 1834 5 0 4 GB United Kingdom Skofus 3619085 5407 1802 2 0 2 NO Norway Ariz Moon City 3374657 5261 1753 3 0 3 NO Norway UAE Residents 3166393 5183 1727 2 0 1 AE United Arab Emirates KWSN 3032892 5106 1702 2 0 2 GL Greenland TFFE 2893467 5153 1717 3 0 2 IS Iceland rwrwton 2145703 5076 1692 12 0 12 CA Canada city of rOZZ 1182117 5185 1728 19 0 19 BE Belgium Thirteenth Tribe 378878 7044 2348 72 0 72 GB United Kingdom En-Ki-Du 266 1 0 7526 40 7526 US United States Statistics taken at Thu 09 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC Previous figures from Mon 06 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC

10) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give us a Caption # 50 (Message 1366008)
Posted 11 days ago by

Michael Roberts

What on earth am I going to do with a cat? At least I could still pluck a chicken.

11) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give us a Caption # 50 (Message 1365875)
Posted 11 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Well done everyone! There were extra points to be had for naming the participants.

In third place is Sarge with his rather dark take on the proceedings: "How many more years before we get to re-enact this scene on the Titanic?" It would be interesting to see the Titianic approach to the subject.

Second place goes to The Holy Hand Grenade, who raised the stakes with the clever: (young lady leaning on rail) "I wish I were in Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, instead of this boring lunch!". We are not playing for Manet, though.

The winner is Julie who entered most completely into the fantasy world of the living painting (Julie, have you been reading too much Jasper Fforde recently?) with: "This food tastes like paint..." An original signed PM will be on its way as soon as it has dried a bit.

Angèle (seated right foreground) may be asking herself, "Who knitted his jersey?" and Alphonsine (leaning on the railing) thinking: "I always wanted to meet Charlie Chaplin". Renoir later married Aline (who is here talking to the dog).

I hope the figures enjoyed their brief lease of life as much as we did and thank you all for participating!

I asked Ellen (with raised glass) about the taste. She said it was OK, but they sometimes have problems if the food has been heavily Cézanned.

12) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give us a Caption # 50 (Message 1365635)
Posted 12 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Excellent entries so far. Judging will already be difficult. I'm off to work now and will pick a winner this evening, so more captions are welcome...

13) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1365631)
Posted 12 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Stats for Monday 6 May 2013:

Name Pop Rank Country now change 24hrs now change highest Seti City 4882702 12728 3182 4 0 4 US United States DvorakSociety 3809314 8677 2169 5 0 4 GB United Kingdom Skofus 3613678 8592 2148 2 0 2 NO Norway Ariz Moon City 3369396 8429 2107 3 0 3 NO Norway UAE Residents 3161210 8198 2049 2 0 1 AE United Arab Emirates KWSN 3027786 8402 2100 2 0 2 GL Greenland TFFE 2888314 3865 966 3 0 2 IS Iceland rwrwton 2140627 8374 2093 12 0 12 CA Canada city of rOZZ 1176932 8292 2073 19 0 19 BE Belgium Thirteenth Tribe 371834 11326 2831 72 1 72 GB United Kingdom En-Ki-Du 265 3 0 7566 67 7566 US United States Statistics taken at Mon 06 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC Previous figures from Thu 02 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC

Uli, you are welcome.

14) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give us a Caption # 50 (Message 1365275)
Posted 13 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Le Déjeuner des canotiers (The Luncheon of the Boating Party), Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 1881, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Thanks, Steven.

Renoir's figures seem almost alive. But... what are they saying? What are they thinking?

15) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give us a Caption # 50 (Message 1365228)
Posted 13 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Har. I will look for something.

16) Message boards : Cafe SETI : TLPTPW #185 has arrived at its destination with most of the rules intact (Message 1364331)
Posted 16 days ago by

Michael Roberts

BTW, I'm considering a secondary prize (like Angela did with the "make Eric laugh" prize) for anyone who correctly guesses in advance what the target number is, based on the meager clues I've provided or may yet provide. The only problem is deciding on a prize. I don't feel like making cookies. I suppose we could just do it for the tawdry glory...

I think 462 as being very railway-related and in the right sort of range.

17) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beets Give us a Caption # 50 (Message 1364058)
Posted 16 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Caution: remove dog before folding chair.

18) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1363689)
Posted 17 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Stats for Thursday 2 May 2013:

Name Pop Rank Country now change 24hrs now change highest Seti City 4869974 10511 3503 4 0 4 US United States DvorakSociety 3800637 5859 1953 5 0 4 GB United Kingdom Skofus 3605086 5616 1872 2 0 2 NO Norway Ariz Moon City 3360967 5506 1835 3 0 3 NO Norway UAE Residents 3153012 5245 1748 2 0 1 AE United Arab Emirates KWSN 3019384 5425 1808 2 0 2 GL Greenland TFFE 2884449 11 3 3 0 2 IS Iceland rwrwton 2132253 5458 1819 12 0 12 CA Canada city of rOZZ 1168640 5338 1779 19 0 19 BE Belgium Thirteenth Tribe 360508 8668 2889 73 0 73 GB United Kingdom En-Ki-Du 262 2 0 7633 36 7633 US United States Statistics taken at Thu 02 May 2013 18:09:05 UTC Previous figures from Mon 29 Apr 2013 18:09:05 UTC

19) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Whiskey's Mini-City News IV (Message 1362677)
Posted 20 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Stats for Monday 29 Apr 2013:

Name Pop Rank Country now change 24hrs now change highest Seti City 4859463 14223 3555 4 0 4 US United States DvorakSociety 3794778 7449 1862 5 0 4 GB United Kingdom Skofus 3599470 7160 1790 2 0 2 NO Norway Ariz Moon City 3355461 6917 1729 3 0 3 NO Norway UAE Residents 3147767 6800 1700 2 0 1 AE United Arab Emirates KWSN 3013959 6905 1726 2 0 2 GL Greenland TFFE 2884438 15 3 3 0 2 IS Iceland rwrwton 2126795 6803 1700 12 0 12 CA Canada city of rOZZ 1163302 6807 1701 19 0 19 BE Belgium Thirteenth Tribe 351840 11050 2762 73 1 73 GB United Kingdom En-Ki-Du 260 3 0 7669 83 7669 US United States Statistics taken at Mon 29 Apr 2013 18:09:05 UTC Previous figures from Thu 25 Apr 2013 18:09:05 UTC

20) Message boards : Cafe SETI : TLPTPW #185 has arrived at its destination with most of the rules intact (Message 1362326)
Posted 21 days ago by

Michael Roberts

Thanks to Angela for running the parallel competition last time and to Eric for judging it. I (at least) really enjoyed the running tally! I will post a pic when the prize arrives!

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