Some of you have noticed some little instabilities around here since the software upgrade. Well, fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to get a little more rocky tonight. Our crack technical team is going to be ripping into the database and shaking some more bugs out of the system overnight, and while everything should still be usable, it may be slow, and there may be a few glitches now and then. It should all be fixed by the morning.
I think they chose to do it starting at midnight New York time because they hate all the Australian readers. Or maybe it’s because they trust you to be tough enough to cope with a few rough hours.
, and while everything should still be usable, it may be slow, and there may be a few glitches now and then. It should all be fixed by the morning.
Bwahahaha…ya…sure…
I knew it!
, and while everything should still be usable, it may be slow, and there may be a few glitches now and then. It should all be fixed by the morning.
Bwahahaha…ya…sure…
If they’re doing it at midnight NY time (which is *right* *now*), won’t they be doing it during the peak time for NYC blog readers?
Might as well take the time to complain: it’s about the “Anonymous” being inserted in the “Name” box in preview. It’s very annoying. I have to go to aaaaall the trouble of highlighting it, and then aaaaall the trouble of moving my finger to the backspace button to delete it before I can simply click on the box to click on my name underneath. It’s EXHAUSTING!
<Australian accent> That’s a bloody outrage, that is!</Australian accent>
I’m not getting “anonymous” in the name box. Maybe it’s a NoScript thing, although I’m pretty sure I only have advertising domains blocked on Scienceblogs.
Upgrading after midnight? Baaadd idea. A company I worked for did that on a semi-regular basis, and several times wound up compounding minor errors into major ones as developers and operations people got more and more tired and desperate into the wee hours… They later switched to afternoons (after mornings of planning, tests, and practice runs) and regularly accomplished updates in half the time they formerly did.
What did Cuttlefish ever do to the Seed technical crew? Are these guys Vogans?
Me, I’m liking the typead thing. I didn’t even remember I had a typekey account. I’ll be using it more often here.
Clearly they are just doing this now because they know that some creationist was finally about to post empirical PROOF that God exists and Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. HAH! Caught you, Myers! Q.E.D.
Took me a few minutes to remember my typekey account info, but it’s looking good!
Why would I want to use typekey?
I hadn’t noticed many problems so far, but if your technical team is on crack, that might explain the complaints I’ve seen referenced. *ducks*
Meanwhile, people should read up on ancetral environments and reverse evolution.
Because my traffic is down.
Well, it does have the advantage of keeping you signed in so you don’t have to keep entering your info.
Typekey accounts are also unique and persistent, so you can know that somebody with a given name who has the little key next to it really is the person you think he is, and not one of our rather numerous trolls trying to steal somebody else’s reputation by abusing the freeform nickname box.
Bloody chunder!
1. Yay for sign-in. Don’t ever change.
2. Could you lobby others to allow sign-in? *cough* Orac *cough*
3. Could you pass a message to the Seed Overlords? If one gets a time-out, saying “oowee, we’re overloaded”, and the URL says “mt_comments.cgi”, any Web developer will go…
CGI?
Really?
CG freaking I?
It really makes SBers complaining about the service sound like people complaining about the gas mileage on a Model A pick-up. No, really, it’s that bad.
Carry on.
How terribly uncivil of them.
Are they going to fix the last 24 hours page so that it doesn’t list the date as 31 December 2009?
I have gas. Yes, it is related to software bugs.
brb, bathroom.
By golly, I have an old TypeKey account myself. And it still seems to work. Cool.
Of course, the original reason I stopped using it on Pharyngula was that it kept giving me trouble when I’d enter comments. Now we’ll see if that’s a thing of the past.
This must be what stalking feels like.
I clicked on Zeno’s typekey thingy and was taken to a list of comments made by him on typekey enabled blogs. Too strange.
And no, today’s posts aren’t there.
Whats with this typekey thingy? Do I really need that,does it make anything easier? Id hate to have people know what other blogs I comment on,just for tracing and privacy reasons.
Not much hammering and sawing so far,as far as I can tell.
That’s weird, JohnnieCanuck. Thanks for pointing that out. From the dates on those comments you can see that I’ve haven’t used my TypeKey log-in in a couple of years.
Are there lots of Oz readers? We do have a higher atheist count than a lot of other countries.
Come to that, what’s the rank order for atheism amongst countries of the world?
I’m also an Aussie. It’s ok though cause I hate them too, so we’re even.
Don @ 27,
Got any numbers to back that up?
We might have more people that couldnt give a rat’s ass about religion,esp in summer with the tennis and cricket on and sitting on the beach,but thats more lack of interest than actual atheism.
clinteas,
I seem to recall the last lot of census data indicating we’ve got a pretty good proportion of non-deluded. Here’s what Wikipedia offers on the subject:
Wowbagger,
yes Im sure we’re pretty good in the not-going-to-church department,see my post above lol.
As for non-religious,18.7% wouldnt seem much above the american number though(14.1% as per that article you linked),which we all know is pretty low compared with first world countries.
Then again,I reckon there is a substantial difference between aussie and american churchgoers….
Uggh, me tough. Too bloody right mate. Crikey.
The last time I used my Typekey account to comment on a Seed Scienceblog I’d have trouble with other SBs who weren’t on the system.
As for Orac, what can you say about a cheap prop from a show that replaced an American Vulcan with a British psychopath?
Great news about the upgrade!
Is this going to be a SCIENCE BLOG now?
clinteas and all, although only about 20% of Aussies will put themselves down as atheist/ agnostic/ humanist/ no religion on the (optional) Census question, more than 90% don’t attend church regularly, if at all.
Even though I would have called myself agnostic for maybe 40 years now, up to the last (2006) Census, I answered that question as Anglican/Church of England, because that was my upbringing, in the sense that I was sent to Sunday School until Confirmation (early teens). It was more a cultural marker. Neither parent attended church, nor did they express particular Christian belief in their lives or conversation. A pretty large proportion of the population was/is like this, many of whom didn’t even go so far as to send their children to Sunday School back then.
There has been a bit of a surge in churchgoing more recently, mostly in newer ‘alternative’ pentecostal-style evangelical (or should that be evangelical-style pentecostal?), but Australian Census data for this is not really reflective of the culture.
I have a TypeKey identity, but apparently the TypeKey logon itself is blocked by my company’s Internet filter. So I guess I will have the key only when I am off work.
Why can I only sign in my newly created TypeKey logon only by email address and not by name?
And this would differ from any other day…..how?
Being one of those NY (area) folks who do this kind of work (though on the systems, not the software), that midnight hour seems to be the witching hour. And I have only made MAJOR errors (and I am talking nearly career-ending here) after sitting at the screen for over 20 hours – straight. Planning, you know. We are rather strict about it here in my small telecom company you probably have never heard of.
Midnight to morning isn’t really all that bad – particularly if you have spent ANY time in the Service, even if it was 30 years ago.
It is the “Midnight Friday to Midnight Sunday” work that REALLY gets you. Those are just pure evil.
LOVE the TypeKey stuff. For those not there yet, Go There. Do That.
JC
To those using their old TypeKey accounts. If you were like me, expecting to track your discussions, it seems Typead is not tracking typekey posts. I just made a new Typead account and right now I’m testing too.
Meh, not tracking new accounts either. Guess it’ll be fixed soon enough.
If one signs in with TypePad, does the SB software give you a cookie so you are automatically signed in for every session, or do you have to sign in your TypePad account once for every session?
I’m pretty sure you can keep being signed it, that’s one advantage as well, though you could always have your email and username remembered, at least if you used Firefox.
Another advantage is that I might someday turn off the option to comment without it. I know it’s awful, but it’s also horrible to try and manage trolls and spammers without it.
Hmmm,
im getting the vibe here….
better get me one of them key thingies methinks.
Hey, I like this TypeKey thing. Does it use the URL in my profile if I don’t fill it in here?
Aw, no it doesn’t. Oh well, I’ll have to fill it in manually.
Argh! It doesn’t work either way! How am I going to subtly pimp my blog now?
I think Clinteas is right.
Test test test
For the typepad veterans: How do you prevent folks from subscribing to your posts?
PZ, PLEASE put in a way for people to comment who cannot use TypeKey. I’m not saying leave the comments open… but if we could register for the site, even, that might be a good workaround. I work in IT and I’ve learned never to leave yourself without a backup plan :)
“Pardon the hammering and sawing” is what my neighbours always say….
actually, the don’t really mention the sawing part…
For the typepad veterans: How do you prevent folks from subscribing to your posts?
What he asked.
Clicking on your typekey names, some of you show previous posts, some don’t.
Ok, I must be missing something here. I’ve created a Typepad account and am also logged in. How do I now use it to comment here? (I’ve been trying to figure it out for a couple of days now. Any help would be appreciated thanks)
Dude, they’ve started putting ads in the RSS feed! Took me five minutes wondering why you had an image link to a personality test in your blog post before I worked it out…
Confused,
Firefox with Adblock plus and flashblock is your friend.
Are you sure those aren’t really previous posts, like when typekey was active? Posts from this blog don’t show up. I think the login link needs to be updated so it goes directly to typepad or something, but right now it seems to be redirecting fron typekey. Not sure, but it might have something to do with it.
Are you sure those aren’t really previous posts?
Yah, that appears to be the case.
Is showing no posts the default with typepad?
Does it track my comments? Let’s find out. We can watch my gradual descent into a full-on apoplectic seizure at the obtuseness of the libertarians on the fresh meat thread, followed by a five-hour silence (went to go tip a few pints) and back to normal again. It’s like watching a capacitor, but instead of capacitance measured in coulombs, my capacitance is measured in teh stupid.
Maybe you’re missing this?
Ok, that was weird. I swear I didn’t have that link previously. Must be my brain playing tricks on me. Many thanks Andyo.
New to Typepad, testing. What’s up with the Headphone/Anvil thing (or whatever that is)?
Oooh, my old TypeKey works too! The only problem is that it doesn’t seem to be the same name that I usually post under (Mena) but I too now have the headphone/anvil. I’m glad that SplendidMonkey saw the same thing as I did… ;^)
Re: Australians and atheism. It seems to me that many Australians couldn’t give a hoot about religion, but can’t bring themselves to say that they are ‘atheist’ – even if they actually say they don’t believe in god!
It’s the same as Austalians calling themselves ‘feminists’. There appears to be a reluctance to identify as such, even when they are. Maybe they don’t want to be seen as agreeing with Germaine Greer, why, I don’t know.
Do you other Aussies agree?
BTW, do Melbournian atheists ever get together?
Cheers
When I click on “sign in” I get my user name and password. I click on “remember me” and “sign in” and get an “invalid sign in”. Then I type the first letter of my email address, Firefox throws the rest of the address into the box and my password, I click on “remember me” and “sign in” and it works just fine.
Ain’t modern techology wunnerful?
But, but, but, I like having my blog name for my name link. It helps my google rank.
Ads in the RSS feed. Ugh. The first one I saw was for this pro-creation booklet from “Good News Magazine” about “the scientific facts evolutionists don’t discuss in public”. You know. Because they don’t exist.
And with a wave of the magic AdBlock they’re gone…
Posted by: DebinOz:
“It seems to me that many Australians couldn’t give a hoot about religion, but can’t bring themselves to say that they are ‘atheist’ – even if they actually say they don’t believe in god!”
I agree. If you don’t give a rat’s arse about religion, don’t you qualify as an atheist?
Also agree with previous posters – even the ones who do go to church here don’t have the same fervour about it as USians seem to. And they tend to have one foot in the grave.
Going to church is a totally different experience here, except for the US imports such as Hillsong Churches in Sydney.
It is now rare here for priests and nuns in the RC church to sign up as youngsters. Seminaries are either closed or home to only a few takers. RC schools have had to take lay teachers to fill the gaps left by retiring brothers and nuns.
Yeah, but if you don’t give a rat’s ass about astrology, do you qualify as an unastrologist? If you don’t give a rat’s ass about unicorns do you qualify as an a-unicornist?
Probably so. But do you call yourself those things?
I am one of those who doesn’t call themselves “atheist” openly. Not because I’m ashamed, but because I don’t want to enable the pretentiousness of the theists in whose minds I am an “a-theist”. I only not mind calling myself one in such environments as these where I don’t have to waste 10 minutes giving explanations as to why “atheism” is not the polar opposite as “theism”, and agnosticism is not the true rational position. I think agnosticism as most people see it is bullshit.
“I think agnosticism as most people see it is bullshit.”
Yah, deism and agnosticism are cowardly positions.
The likelyhood of some god’s existance is the same as the likelyhood I’m going to win the lottery, and I don’t buy tickets.
Scientific Materialist or Scientific Rationalist, such monikers give ’em pause.
What appalls me the most here in Victoria is that state primary schools have ‘elective’ religion classes. Every one of my friends elects to send their kids to them, even though the parents never attend church or are in any way religious.
I’ve ended up in a few slanging matches (fueled by a few drinks) with a few of these families after I’ve asked them why they send their kids to these classes (from what I’ve seen, the kids get colour-in pictures of rubbish like the loaves and fishes parables). The reasons fall into 2 categories: 1. I didn’t want my kid left out, or 2. I like the values it teaches (!)
They don’t seem to understand that, not only is it rubbish that religion has the market on values, but that this can lead to discrimination! In my daughter’s class, she was the only white kid that did not attend these classes. She and the non-Christian Asian children got to sit in the library for an hour.
*Sigh*
Hello DebinOz,
welcome to the blog from the other Melbournian here ! There is plenty of Aussies around,distributed all around the country,the most active commenters are from Adelaide and Canberra and somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Queensland….
Have fun,and Im always up for a drink !
Yeah, any Pharyngula meet-up in Australia will have to be an organised-well-in-advance one; some of us are the only posters in our respective towns/cities. Though if PZ ever deigns to visit our shores I’d probably consider it worth a trip to the east coast (where he’d most likely be turn up) to say hello.
DebinOZ.
Melbourne atheists certainly do get together. Last time I was in Melbourne I went on an atheist pub crawl that was very fun. We even had a bottle of a microbrewed beer called “The Beast” that seemed very appropriate (and tasty).
The easiest way to get in contact with them might be through this;
http://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Atheists/
John Perkins is the organiser, who also occasionally has opinions published in The Age and is a bigwig in the Secular Party of Australia (www.secular.org.au).
Cheers :)
‘Tis Himself,
Same problem. It won’t recognize my username (even though it asks for it) but signs in with my email.
Why am I not surprised?
(And now my name is going to be all linked an everything, eh? Well, okay, but it’s a little weird. Kinda like being *shudder* sociable.)
> Pardon the hammering and sawing
Sorry, I couldn’t resist: “I see,” said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.
Surely PZ could find some conference to attend here in Oz. I’d be willing to travel to a nice place with palm trees, especially in the middle of a lousy Melbourne winter.
kamaka #69,
I think it’s even less than that. At least someone has won the lottery, and relatively many people at that, compared to how many have actual evidence of god.
I’d put the likelihood of there being a god up there right there with ghosts and magical unicorns (“natural” unicorns are perfectly physically possible, hence much less improbable).
So far, the Typepad login is working fine for me. Now to see if it will work with IE6 at work tomorrow.
Typepad works for me.
I’m not sure you can compare the probability of “natural” unicorns and magical unicorns. On what basis are you coming up with those probabilities. I see no examples of either, and so therefore would give them the probability of existence of either 0 or undefinable.
I didn’t specify “probabilities” per se, just sayin’ that magic is much less likely than non-magic. A horse with a horn could have evolved all right.
Another Aussie checking in – though I’m in Tas, which most Aussies seem to feel is the downunder equivalent of Utah, but with better scenery.
A conference in Port Douglas would be nice…
Im in Hobart next week Tielserrath,to get some money off the funny excuse for a casino you have down there..:-)
Never been to Utah,but the tassie scenery is pretty nice !
Tielserrath #81
Pt Douglas sounds good to me. Its only a half hour drive from where I live.
Cya there.