Just don’t ask me. I got the account handed to me on a platter. However, I am getting email like this:

OK, if I’m blocked, just say so . . . but FTB will not accept any user
name I try, even under its lowercase-only rule, on the FTB registration
page. It always comes back with “Only lowercase letters (a-z) and numbers
are allowed.” I looked on the new page and plenty of nyms there
uppercase letters. So do you know what the problem is?

Maybe you expert users can offer suggestions on these essential matters, like how to easily get set up with an account, how to set up gravatars, that sort of thing.

Howdy all! This is MG Myers.

Pharyngula is known for its vibrant community of commenters, and May was no exception. The May Mollies have been tabulated and the winner is <drum roll>

Audley Z. Darkheart!

Audley is hereby inducted in the distinguished Order of the Molly. Virtual champagne all around!

As you are celebrating with the new inductee, be sure to leave the names of your June Molly nominations and the reasons for their selection in the comments.

These are the rules of Pharyngula. Abide by them when you comment here.

The first law: This is PZ Myers’ blog,  I am the ultimate overlord, and I can be a poopyhead if I want to. Posting here is a privilege granted by me, not a right, and posting privileges can be rescinded at my whim. Do not annoy me, and worst of all, don’t bore me, and we’ll get along fine.

The second law: There is no second law.

What we do have is mores. We have mores out the wazoo! This blog has been around for about 8 years and has a horde of active commenters, and the whole bloody mob has shaped expectations for what is in-group behavior and what is out-group behavior. Pay attention to the culture here.

[Read more…]

Oh, look! Bugs and broken ugly stuff!

I know. Here you are in this new place, and it’s homely. There are glitches. There are clearly things that Myers guy doesn’t know how to do yet, and he clearly doesn’t grasp WordPress. Some stuff is just different, and you hate it.

This is your thread.

Tell me what sucks, and if you can, tell me how to fix it. I will listen humbly and take recommendations and advice. Implementation of your suggestions might be slow as I creep up the learning curve, and also because this is a new network of blogs and I can’t charge in and risk breaking things for everyone else, but it will improve.

We will make it sleek and beautiful and efficient together.

You may be wondering why I had to change my address, why I’m cruelly forcing you to update your RSS feeds, why I’m breaking your familiar habits, why I’m making you read this awkward site with the plaster and lath showing and the ugly paint job and the stuff that doesn’t work very well, as I’m sure we’ll discover. Those are good questions, and here are my answers.

Hey, I’m an atheist, you know. You’re uncomfortable? Tough. I’m writing on this blog for me, not you.

As an outlet for self-expression, this move was necessary. National Geographic will be taking a more active role in hosting the ScienceBlogs stable, which is a good thing, since they’ll be bringing their prestige, better support, and some welcome changes to the site as a whole. They’ll also be bringing their standards & practices, which are different from the more freewheeling policies of Seed Media…and it was clear that there was going to be a culture clash in the transition.

NatGeo and I have worked out an acceptable compromise. This site on Freethoughtblogs is mine and only mine, and none of the content is in any way associated with National Geographic. Yay freedom! I can say whatever I want here! At the same time, whatever I write that I feel is compatible with the more conservative ethos of National Geographic will also appear over there — so less liberal, more religious readers can read the sciencey stuff without getting their staid world rocked. One qualifier: anti-creationism is well within the NatGeo brief, so  young-earth creationists and intelligent design cretins aren’t going to like either site. There are limits, you know.

So, if you liked the old Pharyngula exactly as it was, this is the place you want to be: update your blogrolls, change your bookmarks, redirect your RSS feeds. Other than the address, nothing has changed. This is Pharyngula Unfiltered, double espresso Pharyngula.

If you’ve been wishing Pharyngula was a little less rude and offensive, if you were constantly annoyed by the challenges to your cherished and foolish religious dogmas, do nothing at all and stick with the old site.  That will be Cool Menthol Pharyngula, or de-caf Pharyngula.

Easy choice, right? Take your pick. The only unfortunate catch is that de-caf Pharyngula is also old established Pharyngula, with most of the bugs in the software hammered out and everything already working the way you’re used to. This new Pharyngula is going to be a rough work in progress for a while, so you’re going to have to bear with us for a while, and there might be sudden abrupt changes or downtime glitches or who knows, the occasional catastrophic failure. But we’ll get better over time.

For now, if you find bugs and annoyances, go to the Complaints Department and leave a comment.