On the sofa
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7 April 2013 at 21:20 #4525
Sorry, should have made that clearer. Gravatar works based on your email address (which is kept secret, promise). So, when you sign up, this site basically checks first if you have uploaded a pic. If you have it will use it. If you’ve not, it then checks if you’ve uploaded a pic to Gravatar (based on your email address – which, again, is never made public). If so it uses that pic. Failing that, you get the default avatar.
I really hope that’s clear. Makes sense to me but I know what I’m sometimes like 😀
7 April 2013 at 21:39 #4533Anonymous @
@craig / @phaseshift – aha, I think I did once long ago sign up to Cif Underground. That might be how gravitar / gravatar got me. I must check that out.
Jeez, one’s internet footprint is much like Clara – splintered all over time and space.
Lovely comfy sofa, have just read all the pages to date here and am back off to the episode blogs to learn everything I didn’t see about the previous s7 (pt 1) eps.
7 April 2013 at 22:31 #4547@craig – seem to be a few people mentioning losing posts (including me, just now – I got a DNS resolution failure)… might be something you want to check out…
7 April 2013 at 22:55 #4551Hi @haveyoufedthefish , apologies if you lost a post.
Early on (when this site started) I posted that I don’t host this site (I’d love to, and then I could control everything). Unfortunately I don’t, I don’t have the expertise or hardware yet, so am sometimes at the mercy of my US hosting company. They host about 7 or 8 sites for me and I have very little problems with them, and I’ve been very happy with them. However, there are occasional database connection problems which I do berate them for, they’ve changed this site and the database to several different locations for me already. Although DNS is a new one…
As I said in my early post, I don’t own this hosting, so the best advice I can give is to either write your posts offline, or Crtl C (copy) your post before hitting submit (I do that with every post I make anywhere anyway).
I do try to maintain it as best I can, but not all of it is within my control. Once again, apologies. If problems do continue I will look at changing hosting.
7 April 2013 at 23:08 #4555@craig we never forget that this is a labour of love and you make it all possible xx
7 April 2013 at 23:47 #4565i should be in bed by now, but just wanted to say how much i enjoyed catching up on a few days postings by everyone! and all the new people too!
I haven’t been to the G’s blog and judging by the comments, won’t bother!must sleep, but agree with remembering – mum’s departing words, trolls (and drolls – forgive me), and the tardis not liking paradoxes… or being blown up!
8 April 2013 at 00:01 #4567As predicted, people are running away from the Nesting Consciousness.
Great sleuthing this weekend y’all.
Next week, Skaldak thaws…
8 April 2013 at 08:09 #4587@jimthefish – absolutely not a problem – I consider it a rite of passage 🙂 (If I could be arsed I’d go back and ask him why it’s OK for him to use that phrasing and not me, but life’s too short 🙂 )
@phaseshift – re Alexander – I did indeed, but for some reason (luck most likely) I avoided his delete beam.
Re cif in general – it’s really not a pleasant place to be – the first hour or so after the show is OK, then the trolls and vitriol come out. Dan’s threads on the old Doctors don’t seem to suffer in the same way, but the nesting means it’s not really working. Also I think people expect them to close after a while. @phaseshift pointed out that some of them even closed early, a mod said it was a mistake, but I don’t think they’ve re-opened. The first one (Unearthly Child) is still open but hasn’t been added to for ages – it’s way down the list of blogs. Last post is mine, moaning about the difficulties of following updates with nesting.
8 April 2013 at 13:12 #4651@scaryb – are most if not all of the participants here, from the Guardian?
I hung around some of the cifundergrond and similar sites which had Guardian people on them, and they got boring because the new sites were full of nothing but people bitching about the Guardian. I have my own issues with the changes on that site – technical yes, but mostly editorial – and the weird new posters that other paywalls appear to have driven to the G.
But, I’d be less enthusiastic about this site if it was full of moaning about the G. (I realise I’m a hypocrite because I have done just that, here and now! arrrgggh) Anyhoo …
I’m making a gluten-free chocolate cake, the ‘secret ingredient’ of which is beans. I made it once before and it was a massive hit. <a href=”http://atastylovestory.com/the-famous-brilliant-black-bean-chocolate-cake/”>Recipe here for anyone interested.</a> Using raspberry dark chocolate today, should be even more delectable!
8 April 2013 at 13:14 #4655Well, that link didn’t work. Just delete the ‘Recipe’ word at the end and you’ll get there. 🙂
8 April 2013 at 13:24 #4657OK this is a question I’d like some feedback/voting on. It’s grown out of a conversation between myself and @scaryb :
I think Eric Saward was right to kill off the sonic screwdriver and it should never have been brought back. On the one hand, it expedites the actual plot and stops it getting bogged down with repetitive “open a locked door” type incidental problems. On the other it encourages lazy plotting and becomes a one size fits all panacea for every obstacle the doctor faces.
Evidence for the prosecution: the ingenious (and hilarious) bluff of using a hat stand as a weapon in Frontios would never have happened with the SS in play. Also given the SS current capabilities, can you really argue that the doc is “unarmed” these days?
Evidence for the defence: nu who rattles along at a breakneck and exciting pace these days, which still finding time for the important emotional scenes and this is because the SS rightly reduces physical obstacles to incidentals.
Your opinions please!!!!
8 April 2013 at 13:33 #4663@haveyoufedthefish – the sonic does everything (except wood) which makes me agree with you, it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card. It even reduces gangers to goo (can sound waves do that?).
Not knowing original Who so much, how did they get around the locked-door issues before the sonic arrived? You raise an important point about breakneck speed (which I think is just Who moving with the times – everything goes faster now) but how were the original scripts clever enough to get around the kinds of things the sonic does now?
8 April 2013 at 13:40 #4669I wonder if the Doctor’s inability to hand over the sonic in this week’s episode is a bit of a comment on how indispensable it’s become. Likewise its incredibly blatant overuse in the rest of the episode. And I wonder if part of the reset is going to be that we lose the Sonic.
Or at least calm it down a bit – given the popularity of the toy version, I would suggest that it has become ‘Harry Potter’s wand’ for the Doctor. But it would be nice if he could only use it for its original door opening function.
And to put up shelves, of course.
What’s the difference between a laser screwdriver and a sonic screwdriver?
With a laser screwdriver, the shelves are so scared, they put themselves up.
(I’ll get me coat)
8 April 2013 at 14:00 #4671Yeah, the sonic was more than a tad over-used in that episode but I’d still be sorry to see it go. Especially as I’m still playing with my TV remote version wot I got for Chrimbo….
8 April 2013 at 15:06 #4679@craig – please don’t get me wrong, in no way should you apologise for anything – we all have nothing but admiration and thanks for the time effort you’ve put in for us. I just mean that the incidents seem new and it might mean something’s begun to be amiss somewhere you’d want to keep an eye on if it escalates.
I’ll maybe take this conversation offline and message you directly – I might be able to help out on the hosting front … I have a rack or two to my name …
8 April 2013 at 15:18 #4681And I wonder if part of the reset is going to be that we lose the Sonic.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
8 April 2013 at 15:45 #4685One of my friends just sent me this link about “the evil of Doctor Who”. It’s a few years old now but is hilarious. “God delivered me from the evil that is Dr Who, materialism and alcoholism.” However, he’s quite happy to sell all that evil to someone else… What was that word that began with m… m… materialism?
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/2134279.dr_who_tardis_on_sale_on_ebay/
8 April 2013 at 16:00 #4687@haveyoufedthefish No worries and no offence taken. Am interested. If you have a rack then lets move it there. Would love to. Would take a lot of the pressure off just me 😉
I do try to check everything. Being a webmaster is weird though. Some people (and spambots) seem to sign up with no problems, others really struggle. HTPBDET thought we’d rejected him until I contacted him (and then I had to hack the database to confirm him so he could comment).
And as you say, sometimes comments never get posted (despite there being over 1000 on this site since January). I am keeping an eye on it, but having a second eye on things would be cool.
Craig
8 April 2013 at 16:21 #4689@craig – may thanks for your industry and also for, in my case, your hacking skills! 🙂
Very pleased that the Brigadier’s daughter is now confirmed for the Anniversary Special.
8 April 2013 at 16:45 #4691@Shazzbot – Off the top of my head: I remember from the dalek invasion of earth, opening the door (with a comb between the poles of the magnet) was an intelligence test that was part of the plot. In the Aztecs they build a complex pulley system while explaining in great Reithian detail exactly how mechanics work. In the android invasion, sarah pulls up cell floor boards and cables and electrocutes the guard in a puddle of water. In the visitation, the doc shoots the lock out (missing the lock but still magically worked – I’m not sure Mr Saward how this is better than the screwdriver…) with a flintlock (which Mythbusters showed was impossible anyway). In Frontier in space, the doc is carrying cheesewire which he uses to saw through steel cell bars (I well *eat* cheesewire if that works in real life)
8 April 2013 at 16:58 #4693@htpbdet no probs but honestly, is more me having to sort out website/server issues, is nothing to do with anything you’ve done.
However, Brigadier’s daughter is now confirmed for the Anniversary Special. And where is the link!!! 😀
8 April 2013 at 17:26 #4697@HaveYouFedTheFish– I just *knew* that something like an intelligence test would have been a plot point. See, this is what makes me a bit disappointed with the whole idea of a sonic screwdriver – it zaps through things too easily, demolishes obstacles too quickly, etc. How nice if the scripts could be re-written to require mental ingenuity instead to get beyond obstacles.
Of course, Silence in the Library would have had to be majorly rewritten, if there was no sonic to upload people to. And it’s techy-wecky plots like that which mean, I fear, there’s no way to lose the sonic now; today’s world is so much more techie than that of the original series’ times.
Btw, I noticed on the BBC site that they call the reboots ‘series’ but the originals ‘seasons’. Uggh, this is beyond creeping Americanisation and into straight-on, full adoption.
8 April 2013 at 17:35 #4701Re the sonic – while I’m not arguing that it does get a bit overused, it also saves a lot of time (episode 2 usually, in the old days) dodging daleks, cybermen and other aliens with no peripheral vision while sneaking along corridors trying to find a way in. Only to be captured again at the end and having to spend episode 3 trying to get out of the handcuffs. A wee sonic or the odd anti-grav bike can solve that in a spectacular stroke 😉
8 April 2013 at 18:42 #4707@scaryb — I agree wholeheartedly. Bearing in mind the dynamic of the new series, the sonic is necessary for getting to the interesting arc/character stuff…
8 April 2013 at 19:23 #4711In Frontier in Space the Dr is locked up for 5 and a half episodes…
8 April 2013 at 20:24 #4715Being a webmaster is weird though.
Tell me about it. I’ve spent the last few days fighting off spambots without even a sonic screwdriver. Then trying to work out why the spambots were driving the SQL usage up to truly insane levels.
Does the sonic work against spambots? Because I might be about to nick it. 🙂
8 April 2013 at 23:03 #4723@wolfweed – it should have been the author.
9 April 2013 at 04:25 #4733Re the Sonic. I think it is overused but it has become a defining aspect of “the Doctor”, the hero whose only weapon is a sonic screwdriver. It is as important for what it isn’t, (a gun) as for what it does.
Oh and while I’m on the sofa.. a long overdue welcome to all our new members. I’m enjoying all the discussion but by the time I get to catch up there are so many new names that I get too confuzzled to do individual welcomes.
Cheers
Janette
9 April 2013 at 07:50 #4741@janetteb – I think you’ve inadvertently nailed what’s making me uncomfortable: “whose only weapon is a sonic screwdriver”. Time was when the doc didn’t carry a “weapon” at all and how it was brandished in this ep at the Vigil (albeit actually as a shield) looked uncomfortably close to something that you would point and fire.
Of course this may be all deliberate hints of the docs suppressed bad leaking out in which case kudos. Or it could be poorly focused written characterisation which @htpbdet persuasively argued…
9 April 2013 at 08:14 #4755Re: sonic screwdriver- I can’t remember which episode it was, but wasn’t there one when Amy had hold of it, and Rory asked what she was going to do with it, and she said ‘point and think’, and lo and behold, it did what she wanted it too. Almost as though Moffit was making fun of the concept. And I remember the River episode, where she’s shooting at the Silence, I think, and he’s there by her side waving his screwdriver around, and she’s not impressed.
So I wonder if the Doctor briefly considering then deciding not to hand it over is in fact a hint. Is he becoming too dependent on it? But then again, knowing that the sonic is the only reason River didn’t die utterly (though I myself have trouble thinking she’s enormously happy looking after virtual kids in a massive computer program for eternity) would he voluntarily give it up?
9 April 2013 at 12:02 #4797Just to let you know I’ve been having problems logging on and posting this morning. Site keeps crashing when I try to post (Error connecting to database). I’ve had it odd times before but it’s usually fine the second time of trying. Today’s been much more frequent. (All other sites I’ve been on behaving as usual, internet cconnection seems to be fine)
NB THIS ISN’T A COMPLAINT, JUST REPORTING IN CASE IT HELPS!!
9 April 2013 at 18:03 #4861Hi @scaryb
Thanks for pointing it out, and no offence taken. 😀 I think my hosting has had some issues today, some of my other sites were also a bit slow earlier. I’ve pointed it out to them and they say they think they’ve fixed the issue. Hope so!
9 April 2013 at 18:11 #486310 April 2013 at 05:17 #4881Don’t know whether to be excited or not about that news @wolfweed. I generally have little hope in reboots. I was indifferent when I first heard that Who was to be revived back in the early years of this millenium as I expected it to be awful. Think I will “play safe” re the Blake’s 7 news and maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.
Cheers
Janette
10 April 2013 at 17:50 #4969Gosh, I’ve been here mere hours and already see my bumcheeks’ mark on the sofa. Thank you @Craig for your hospitality!
I had a thought on the Akhetan episode thread, which is a more general idea than an episode-specific thing so I’m reposting here:
After The Doctor and The Master, who will be the next Gallifreyan to join the Whoniverse? The Teacher?
11 April 2013 at 08:00 #5065I was feeling brave and admitted to my wife that I was back on the Doctor Who forums after swearing of them a few series ago. She was very supportive and just reminded me that it should be a pool I have a dip in rather than becoming a fish in the sea 😉
Anyway, she isn’t the biggest fan of Doctor Who but always watches with me and my 3 sons (13, 11 & 8). She had a rather splendid theory about Clara that I had to share…
Clara reminds me a lot of a young Carol Vorderman. Perhaps Carol did a particularly difficult maths equation and caused herself to be scattered through space and time at a younger stage in her life?
What do you think? Could add credence to all those number pattern theories out there, or at least be a reason why Carol seems to age so slowly 😛
11 April 2013 at 08:56 #5071If anyone’s in Milton Keynes at the end of May and looking for something cool to do(!) this might be the place. Lots of Who special guests (time travelling a lot of them, especially if the photos are anything to go by!!). Inc a rare one by Nabil Shaban who played sneaky Sil.
@Thommick – don’t get yourself barred, LOL. (Clara as Carole Voderman is just SCARY!) (Welcome to the sofa!)
12 April 2013 at 13:47 #5215Hello everyone, newbie here!
I have lurked for a while both here and at The Guardian just to read the theories people have about the show. Although investigating the Latin and numbers in the painting from The Pandorica Opens finally got me to sign up!
12 April 2013 at 14:50 #5223@The Buns — welcome. Get stuck right into the theorising…
14 April 2013 at 17:50 #5545<collapses, traumatised but triumphant, on the sofa>
Millions of thanks to @craig for sneaking me past the server guardians. And kudos to his Ming the Mighty for standing strong against the evil forces of the brute force cyber-attackers and keeping our bigger than it looks sofa safe 🙂
14 April 2013 at 17:55 #554714 April 2013 at 18:33 #5557@juniperfish (and everyone!) – Cheers <hic> 😉
Song refs in Asylum – Carmen… and the Dr said he was on the recording that was blasting out, presumably from Clara’s psyche
14 April 2013 at 19:15 #5567@scaryb – oh, of course! <slaps head> Mmmn – back to Cold War to apply this 🙂
14 April 2013 at 20:00 #5583In Cold War, one of the Russinas taken by Skaldak is called Onegin…
14 April 2013 at 20:12 #5589@juniperfish – Clara wasn’t in the ep of course, but the Doctor also said he was hands 3 and 4 on the duet that was playing when he first met Solomon in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (sorry, have forgotten the composer). Can’t think of a song ref in Mercy, but there was the Cube that played the Birdie Song in Power of Three – it’s been a very musical series!
14 April 2013 at 23:34 #5623I’m back again, I joined then it slipped my mind for a week. I have been reading quite a few of the threads. I do love the theorising about what’s happening in the new series, will remember to bookmark this site. 😀
14 April 2013 at 23:45 #5627As a coda to my screwdriver survey a while back, it has just occurred to me that with the appearance of “Red mode” confirming handover to River is imminent (though sure the date to the singing towers already happened in a mini-sode?) they are building the sonic up so the handover to river will be so much more poignant (the docs already shown how inseparable he is from it in Rings).
So maybe it’s apparent magic wand status is temporary and will soon be replaced with the bog standard one again (thank god)
15 April 2013 at 12:15 #5647Quick luncht-time sofa surf…
Sounds like a few folk, like @vizier and @thommck and @janetteb and no doubt others are watching with their kids – be interesting to hear reported kids-eye views as well as your own…
I must watch LindaLee’s review of the Rings of Akhaten which @phaseshift posted in Fan Creativity, I think…
Oh and what’s up with the music thread 🙂 I can’t see it automatically appearing in the “Non Doctor” thread topics? Anyway its a veritable nostalgia fest at the moment and is making me smile.
15 April 2013 at 12:53 #5649Hi. Waves. Been away for a few days, sans internet and sans Dr Who. I have pages of posts to catch up on and my head is spinning. I have just finished reading the comments on last weeks episodes and there were some fantastic ideas which I wanted to comment on but by the time I reached the end I had forgotten just what it was I was going to say.
@juniperfish, my sons are at that age where they tend to rush off back to their respective computers once the episode finishes. They all appeared to enjoy the Ice Warriors though the youngest was a little scared, though too old to admit to it. They were literally reared on Dr Who. We had quite a few very poor quality recordings and a few pre recorded VHS tapes then in 2005-6 ABC repeated Dr Who from the very first story. The final episode screened the night before we left for O.S. and we had a farewell dinner and they were furious with us over missing it. That has now been remedied.
Cheers
Janette
15 April 2013 at 18:32 #5673Dear all, this may be of interest to some of you.
I’ve been contacted by a PhD student in Perth, Australia who is “conducting research into the motivating factors behind active posting behaviour within online communities”. The words “obsession with bonkers theories” come to mind. 😀
There will be a survey to complete, but all identities will be kept strictly confidential. She hopes the research “has the capacity to give owners, members and administrators an insight into what consciously or subconsciously motivates active participation in different communities, information that could be used to ensure that member forums are more user friendly and meet the expectations of current and future community members.”
She’s chosen a weird list of forums, including the Nutella forum (wonder what bonkers chat goes on there?) and am a bit amazed we even showed up on the radar.
Anyway, she’s asked if I could “recruit community members as participants”. So if you’re interested in taking part you can comment here or PM me and I’ll find out more info for you.
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