h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*Wipes sweat from brow.*

Thanks for the reprieve, Lil. That was close. I almost had to change identities

Your machine is scrubbed and reloaded and ready to go Monday. Please don't be too upset about the virus. It's all in a day's work for me, but I know how much you like your universe to be in order.

I have been warning the powers that be of the problems with that position since you left. To no avail, of course. Good to have you back.

Nice pic. Unfortunately, I suffered a 'Can lurk, but grinds to a halt when I log on' syndrome, earlier this evening.
two independent routes to get here, and neither worked well. I got a faster connection when I was logged on 7 hours ago. Oh well.
I am about if anyone else is.
[B17] for now.

The sponges might clean those bowls, if you ask. They scrub the panfish well.

I'll take my goldfish to go, please. I prefer to wear them.

Sorry, Fish, I didn't know what a plaice was. Had to look it up. I am surprised at how many fish names are the same in the US and Scotland, though.

*Takes a bite of the salty seaweed salad*
I'm a little thirsty. Is there a drink menu?

*Looks ashamedly at floor*

Sorry, but I switched posts with the Coral Cafe. They got yours. That's what I get for having six browsers open.

No problem TT, we all do it at some point
Of course you can have a drink here too, if you want.

[P]

*Kasia returns from the library*

Oh, I dozed, because it was so warm and friendly and I dreamed I was Miss Marple (was reading a classic A.Christie, you know).

Is there any of the pizza left, Matina? Thanks. And a cappucino will be fine.

[WM]

Hi, everyone! Lil, in case I miss you, Happy Birthday! And may this year be the best yet

*walks in through library*

Hi everybody! Twotrees, I'm going to send you an email (firn) in a few minutes with an attachment to forward to trinityisstillmyname.

Odra! Look in your hotmail inbox!

Yknow, I have made all sorts of screwups here -- double posts, simulposts tat contradict, and that dreaded intermittent thing where one's post inexplicably starts a new thread instead of appending ... but I have yet to mis-post. If I hang around with you TT, I'll start pushing the envelope more and also have six browsers open at the same time. Although I couldn't possibly go back to those stress levels and bad pay and taking all that blame, but I always thought we had complementary temperaments. I still wish they would give you a separate room for all those monitors and bad boxes you keep dragging home, though!

Last night I also concluded my first successful bid, for a batch of tintypes. Controls for comparison and contrast to Billy's condition. It sure was a good day's work!

Ummm... this IS the Atelier, is it not? Well... it looks *vaguely* familiar...





Hey hey! My beer is still in here... I guess some things never change.



Then again, I guess some things do.

So what are the tine types then Lil? Just general stuff from the right kind of era (more portraits I guess).

Colonel! *grinning ear to ear* Glad to see you! Here have one of these. *gets out one of Odra's Obscure Canadian Brand beers*

Hey everybody, I got my first red alert from BlackIce Defender -- something called sscan, as follows:
""A vulnerability exists in the cgi-bin program 'wrap', as included with Irix 6.2 from SGI. A failure to validate input results in a vulnerability that allows any remote attacker to view the contents of any world readable directory remotely. This can be used to gain information that may be helpful in carrying out other attacks."

Anybody able to tell me more about this?

Phil, the tintypes are in varying condition, which will make them ideal controls to scan at high-res and examine for 'psychedelia'.

Hmm... psychedelia... I had no idea that mushrooms were involved in the early photographic processes. But then, if you had to attempt to make rich curmudgeons look good, you'd need whatever you could get your hands on.

Hmm... I bet there's some interesting fungi in Moxon Wood....

'psychedlia' is what i've been calling some interesting stuff in the photo. Nobody has provided a good explanation of how it got there. And I need to look at some other tintypes in different conditions to see whether I might find the same sort of stuff on them.

mushrooms? this is the right season, isn't it. Was it Kasia who has been mushrooming recently?

Do you like the new decor, colonel?

It's very nice. I especially like the new gallery addition by dddombrow. Very interesting work. It's the kind of thing I'd like to hang in my newborn niece's room.

*The service elevator hums, then stops. The ironwork grill opens and GL steps out with Pierrot on his shoulder. GL is pleasantly surprised at seeing CS here.*

Well, well, another delinquent Atelier habituee. Nice to see you. I have been absent for quite a while too - been busy downstairs.

*Pierrot flys around the room a few times and then into the kitchen. The latch of the breadbox rattles.*

Oh, I should go and have a look at this new addition.

Hi Colonel, how are you today?

Matina, may I have a Y of champagne?

[Amy]

I'll be back in a few hours, everyone -- time to feed the meatware.