Pop Quiz Treasure Hunt: How well do you guys know your way around the new site?
Let’s find out!
Where applicable, please show your work. (i.e. share how / where you find your information or include the link)
First one in with the most correct answers wins, I don’t know, something?
- Who / what is in the image for the Music category?
- How can you find out the subject of BGinCHI’s next guest post? (Hint: there’s more than one way.)
- What is the tag line for Balloon Juice?
- Which images on the Topics page are photos taken by Balloon Juice peeps?
- Who took which photos?
- What is the 30th rotating tag in the nominated rotating tags list?
- What is the exact date of Tom Levenson’s first post on Balloon Juice?
- Where is the blogroll located?
- How many top-level categories are there in the grid?
- How many of those were added this week? Which ones are the new ones?
- Where can you find out about upcoming guest posts? (Hint: there’s more than one way.)
- Where can you find the Mystery Recommendations 2020 list?
- Which front pager has a grumpy bunny as their banner image?
- What year did Betty Cracker start writing at Balloon Juice?
- Who wrote the first post on Valentine’s Day in 2015?
- How are the authors ordered in the grid? Is it random?
- How do you nominate a rotating tag?
- Where is the Balloon Juice published authors list?
- How many different options are there on the Site Feedback form?
- Where can you find a picture of Jo Jo?
- If you don’t know who Jo Jo is, where could you go to find out?
- Can you name at least two of the people on the Gun Issues page?
- Which Balloon Juice author wrote a victorian political thriller?
- What are the 3 ways to get to an individual BJ thread from the front page?
- What is the banner image for the coronavirus category?
- Roughly how many pages of Anne Laurie posts are there?
- Which of our playwrights have upcoming productions? (Hint: there’s more than one way.)
- At what establishment was the latest BJ meetup held?
- How many proposed meetups are there? (Warning: trick question)
- What are the 3 ways to share a Balloon Juice post?
Bonus question: Who is Max, where can you find him, and how much do I miss him? (Another Scott)
Snotty bonus question: Why don’t we have anyone on the Artists in Our Midst list?
Easy bonus question: How cool is BG? (Yutsano)
WaterGirl
I thought this might be a good palate cleanser, but if everyone is burned out today and this isn’t a good time, I’ll pull the thread and post it another time.
No hard feelings. :-)
jl
@WaterGirl: This post is fine with me. There a couple of things on the list that I want to check out, so thanks.
And, I am happy to submit my score of zero.
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
In answer to your snotty question…I’m an artist and would love to be on the list. Is there a form I need to fill out or what info do you need?
lamh36
bleh…I have enuough testing and studying I gotta do for the grad degree, Ima pass on the pop quiz, but can’t wait to read folks answers!!
https://media2.giphy.com/media/GnX3TwP6fQRMY/giphy.gif
Good luck everyone
Baud
The Democratic Establishment!
WaterGirl
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ: That’s not the answer I was looking for :-) but yes, you can submit yourself.
WaterGirl
@Baud: oh so close!
hint: the answers can be found by clicking links on the site.
Mary G
I’m torn between taking two hours to look up every single answer or doing the millions of things backed up by my procrastination and short attention span. I do know Max is/was TimF’s lovely Dobermann.
gene108
Far too much work to do for what I pay to comment on this blog.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: You could take one hour to look stuff up and do half a million things with the other hour. :-)
Ding ding ding. Max is Tim F.’s handsome doberman, and I miss him a lot.
But where can you find him?
WaterGirl
@gene108: I can’t decide which one to call you first: lazy, slothful, or a good-for-nothing slacker. :-)
gene108
@WaterGirl:
I think that should be “and” good for nothing slacker…
WaterGirl
@gene108: I edited my comment per your instructions.
jeffreyw
I got one answer correct!
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: Indeed! jeffreyw took the photo for the Food & Recipes topic.
WaterGirl
@jl: You are officially no fun at all.
Baud
?
Tim Wayne
More questions: What commenter inspired creation of the pie filter?
piratedan
is this the final set of clues leading us to the fabled lost subaru in the field?
WaterGirl
@Baud: I said Cool, not Scary! (But I’m terrible at reading emojis, so you might have to explain your meaning.)
The BG question is SO EASY. No one wants to play my game. :-(
:: sniff sniff ::
WaterGirl
@Tim Wayne: You will have to ask Cleek that. He was the creator of the original pie filter. The one on the new site was an homage to his creation.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: Only loosely. In that one of the bonus questions is a reference to our esteemed blog father.
WaterGirl
No one wants to play the game. Shall I just pull the thread?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I did an emoji search. That came up. Is this better?
☃️
Or this?
?
Dorothy A. Winsor
Holy crap. What a giant list of questions. I’m sorry I have to go do some stuff this evening or I’d love browsing around and seeing what I can find.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Okay, I am officially an idiot. 3 emojis for cool. Got it. But no answer to the question.
No one uses even half of the stuff on the new site, and I was foolish enough to think maybe people would want to know more about it and where to find stuff. But no one likes my game or wants to find new stuff on the site. I am officially sad.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
I was told there would be math.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Not quite the response I was going for, but it did make me laugh.
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: No math. But numbers, there are numbers.
(I love math.)
Baud
I love how all you people suddenly have lives as soon as WaterGirl wants you to do some work.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WaterGirl:
It’s a good idea. Leave it up until more folks have time to see it. I really do have to go out tonight (writer group) or I’d do it. I like quizzes.
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: Medium cool?
Sorry. I’m barely able to pop in as it is. It’s filing season and we’re doing the work of two offices now. I’ll see what fun I can have when I get home.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I was in the process of pulling the thread when I read what you wrote. I did separate the questions into groups of 5 so it would be less overwhelming. Have fun!
WaterGirl
@Yutsano:
Yes!!!
WaterGirl
@Baud: I didn’t mean for it to be work, i thought it would be fun.
Of course, in 8th grade I would do quadratic equations just for fun, so perhaps I am not the best judge of what’s fun and what’s not.
Another Scott
Not well enough.
What do I win??
Max #1
Max #2
Google is my friend, sometimes! ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: So true.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: One of those is the correct Max, but which one?
P.S. You also don’t need to google to find Max on the site.
WaterGirl
I may get my revenge. I will wait until the next time we haven’t had a thread for 7 hours, and maybe put this back up then.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I know who took the photo for the Science and Technology topic.
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: @Another Scott: So many memories in the Max #1 thread…
And I REALLY miss shortstop.
kindness
Aw Jeez the blog has homework now! Damn.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl:
Heh, a little quiz for you!
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: What a coincidence!
jeffreyw knew who took the photo for the Food & Recipes category. :-)
Mary G
I am working on it, as a thank you WG for all the hard work, plus trivia is my jam, plus procrastination. So don’t take it down. I want a jar of John’s preserves if I win.
Martin
So, I’m gonna invade our open thread, because I’m not sure where else to put this. A few developments on Covid today.
1) Chinese researchers believe that there are two major strains of it now. S-CoV and L-CoV. L mutated from S. S is likely what jumped from wildlife, and is less dangerous. L is what is mostly spreading now (70% of cases) and is much more dangerous. Because both are spreading among humans – and we can be infected with both S and L simultaneously – vaccines for both are likely to be needed. Tests may need to differentiate between the two at some point.
2) There’s mounting evidence that L-CoV can infect a persons nervous system. That may be the cause for the recurring diagnoses, because it’s particularly difficult to purge viruses from the other side of the blood/brain barrier. There’s also mounting evidence that the reason respirators are needed in so many cases is that L-CoV impairs the autonomous respiratory function. That is, if you can’t consciously force breathing (for example, after falling asleep), you just stop breathing.
So the distinction between mild and severe cases may be whether it reaches the nervous system or not. SARS and MERS also do this, which is why they were so deadly. It’s understood that one reason for so many neurological problems with age is due to the blood brain barrier not working as effectively which may be why this is so much more dangerous for old people than young people.
WaterGirl
@Yutsano: Yep. I miss a lot of the people who are gone. I keep hoping they will come back.
WaterGirl
@Martin: Holy shit, that’s scary.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: I assume Max #1, but that’s just an assumption. One can see him under Authors (Tim F).
I miss him too.
But I’m just guessing. I assume there’s a clue in your question, but I don’t see the connection yet.
Challenging questions!
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
delk
What is “all of them, Katie?”
WaterGirl
@Another Scott:
That would be correct!
WaterGirl
@delk: Which question are you answering?
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I thought the questions were easy! But that’s probably because I know everything. (about the blog, that is)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: Obviously “All of Them, Katie”.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Ha!
Martin
@WaterGirl: Yes, it is. My aunt had a severe case of West Nile some years ago that nearly killed her. She recovered, but it was 2 months in the hospital. It works similarly – most people shake it off, but for some it develops into meningitis as it did with her.
delk
Do I win a vice-presidential nomination?
J R in WV
@Tim Wayne:
Now you have got me by my curiosity, I really want to know this datum.
WaterGirl
@Martin: Can a virus keep mutating like that? If it mutated once, couldn’t it keep mutating? How does one get a virus like this under control?
Martin
@piratedan: No, the Subaru location is known, but the mustard is still missing. That’s the true holy grail.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: Maybe Cleek will show up and you can ask him.
L85NJGT
@Martin:
I guess the first question is whether S imparts immunity to L.
Another Scott
@J R in WV: Dunno who, but it was somewhere around December 2007.
Happy hunting!
Cheers,
Scott.
J R in WV
@Martin:
Holy shit, that’s scary !
Glad I got a gallon of hand sanitizer yesterday, not that it will keep me breathing~!!~
Another Scott
OpenThread?
Beware the exit polls…
https://twitter.com/tbonier/status/1235230705858351104
As always – always – caveat emptor.
(We probably won’t know for a while – if ever – what young voters really did. Because getting high quality data is hard, time consuming, and expensive.)
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: There is no hand sanitizer to be found around here. Where did you find yours?
Martin
@WaterGirl: Yes. It normally mutates in minor ways. This is how scientists are revealing how long it’s been circulating in the US – they can track the mutations. (Someone actually did this with the nigerian email scam to track how many different groups were operating the scam based on changes in spelling, etc.)
Generally these constant minor mutations don’t really change the virus much – or at least enough to matter beyond tracking purposes. But this is an RNA based virus, which is fairly fragile to mutations.
But now and then it mutates into a form that results in functional changes. It gets more dangerous, or maybe less. Some will mutate in a way that prevents spreading and it’ll die out in that person. So, it looks like we have at least two of these major strains, and then there’s a bunch of minor variations. Think of it as Covid 1.0, with 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3 patches, and then 1.1 with 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3 patches.
The flu does this all the time which is why the vaccines often don’t work great – they hit the wrong strain, or it mutated out from under the effectiveness of the vaccine. Most of the time these diseases don’t spread in population enough to mutate like this. Ebola and SARS killed people quickly enough that the mutations usually die with the host. But the flu doesn’t kill very many people so it gets lots of chances to mutate. This one is the same.
The 1918 flu was really a two-phase epidemic. The earlier form of the flu (this was an H1N1 flu like the swine flu) wasn’t that dangerous but then it mutated into a much more dangerous form and that killed a lot of people. If you got the first – which spread through much of europe, you were immune to the second. The second is what hit the US. This is why some countries were much harder hit than others.
Martin
@L85NJGT: They don’t know. They’ve found both in patients, which suggests maybe not.
This may also be why there’s been rediagnoses of people that recovered. They originally got S and then got L, but the tests can’t tell them apart yet.
zhena gogolia
@Martin:
So just tell me this — I’m over 60, and I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to cancel a trip on Amtrak from Connecticut to Philadelphia next week
cckids
@Martin: Do you have a source or link? Not that I’m doubting you, but it makes it easier to share.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
You passed up the chance to do a post about solving quadratic equations?
Mel
@WaterGirl: I think it’s a great idea, just might be better broken up into smaller segments. Maybe post a single five or six question section at a specific time each week (Friday afternoon, or Saturday morning?).
That way, everyone would have plenty of time to search each section. Maybe the winner each week could pick or provide a rotating tag that would stay up for a certain amount of time? Or maybe a photo post featuring the winner’s furkids?
Mary G
@WaterGirl: Oh, OK
BG is MegaCool. Most Juicers are, except me.
The list numbers are all messed up, sorry!
Martin
@Martin: I should add, the scientific designation of this is SARS-CoV2.
That is, if SARS (SARS-CoV) was 1.0, this is the 2.0 of it. That just means it’s related, not more or less dangerous, etc. By all accounts is much less dangerous but perhaps more easily transmitted. It may be a mutation of SARS, or it may be mutation from something else common to SARS. I don’t think they’re sure yet.
Martin
@cckids: Mutation paper: https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwaa036/5775463
Nervous system impact paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jmv.25728?utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&utm_source=share
patrick II
Since this is a Watergirl quiz thread, (and I can’t answer any of those anyway) I will give you a quiz in return. Why is the “post plus comments” link at the bottom of the post after I have already read the post, and the “comments” (which blows by the post I haven’t read yet) at the top of the post?
Seems backward.
Johannes
@Mary G: This was a great test, and what a pleasure to see Phineas at Bay as one of the questions! Would I be absolutely horrible if I updated folks with the surprisingly kind review from Kirkus? https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-f-wirenius/phineas-at-bay/
WaterGirl
@Mary G:
That would be correct!
WaterGirl
@Mary G:
That is correct. Once we know the topic for the upcoming Sunday, that will be added to the introductory blurb for the Medium Cool series that shows up in the link.
There is one other way.
WaterGirl
@Mary G:
Those are the rotating tags.
Yes! Come for the politics, stay for the snark. It shows up in those places, and in the footer.
WaterGirl
@Mel: That would have been a much better idea!
WaterGirl
@Johannes: Congratulations!
I would love to have anything of mine described as an expert and gracefully executed ANYTHING! :-)
Dan B
I would look up answers but I just got a delivery of high CRI (accurate color rendering index) LED lamps (light bulbs) and must must test them. Most LED’s are moderate CRI like 80 and are missing or deficient in parts of the spectrum so white skin tones look a bit gray and reds look dull, etc. Friends must have happy lighting!!!
And I have to nap with our new frightened kitty, Mr. Wobbles- poor hind end control on a stocky/beefy golden guy. I’m the Kat Whisperer since my partner is in Bellingham emptying out his mom’s house. There was a screech an hour ago when young Rocket Kat dashed into the bedroom where new old guy was sleeping.
Then install a dimmer for the bedroom and send an email to a long ago friend.
I’m crazy busy!!!
WaterGirl
@patrick II: Are you the person who asked me that by email shortly after the new site rolled out? If not, there are two of you with this question.
I just don’t see it, but maybe it’s me.
WaterGirl
@Dan B:
Kitties and new toys come first.
That’s a good idea. Someone else suggested that, too.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: What a good student you are! :-)
WaterGirl
@Mary G: Curious whether you discovered anything new?
Dan B
@WaterGirl: New (older, but new here) Wobbles kitty doesn’t want to be the new toy / entertainment for Rocket Gray Kat. Not yet.. It’s gonna take awhile methinks.
And the new LED toys make a difference in cloudy Seattle winters, at least for me. Seeing oranges looking radiant on the kitchen counter and paintings, cut flowers, and my father’s woodcarvings looking vibrant at night is very nice. Today’s a very pretty sunny day so it’s not as critical but still appreciated.
J R in WV
@WaterGirl:
I went to Aldi’s yesterday, they had a good batch of medium sized bottles. I got a half-dozen for the two of us, leaving several dozen behind. I also got 4 big bottles of Clorox wipes at Kroger’s, from a guy who was restocking in that aisle, because that shelf was barren totally. So asking a helpful guy worked out for me.
He works full time for the state evenings and days for Krogers, with Friday and Saturday off both jobs. He schedules all his medical appointments on Friday to save his sick leave time.
Omnes Omnibus
I could do this quiz, but I won’t. I could also just ignore this post, but I won’t.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: The balloon juice way!
Poe Larity
Since the archives are online, who is the longest lasting commenter?
zhena gogolia
@Johannes:
Oh, man, I’m down to The Duke’s Children, so I should get this to keep me going.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: I keep trying, but everywhere seems to be out. I did snag 3 bottles of rubbing alcohol by asking a clerk if they had any (shelves were empty) and he brought out a case.
If I can’t find hand sanitizer tomorrow, maybe I need to go back to walgreens and see if they have any alcohol left.
I found Martin’s update on the virus quite distressing.
WaterGirl
@Poe Larity: I think you mean the earliest commenter who is still here? I’m not sure how we would pull that information out.
patrick II
@WaterGirl:
No. That wasn’t me. I figured it just seemed so obvious that I thought it would be fixed.
Anyhow, if I see the Post’s title, and the first few lines seem interesting, I would like the entire post plus comments. If I am at the bottom of the post I have already read it. I would just like to add reading the comments, and move forward from there. I do not want to be taken back to the beginning and have to scroll through the whole post (that I have already read) to get back to where I already was.
That’s just that not the way they do it just about everywhere else. Check out LGM or or whatever.
Regards, and thanks for all of your great work.
Patrick
WaterGirl
@patrick II:
At that point, you can click the post title and be taken directly to the thread.
WaterGirl
@patrick II:
Ah. We were originally set up that way during the development phase, but once we started testing with embedded tweets – which there are a million of in some BJ posts – then trying to take you to the start of the comments leaves you elsewhere once a zillion tweets load.
So I figured it was better to take you to the top of the post rather than leave you stranded in some oddball location.
What you CAN do is… once you are in the thread itself, click on the # comments that is in the byline, and that will take you to the start of the comments.
Now I am wondering why that works properly if you start at the top of the post, but it didn’t work to take you to the comments in the thread if you clicked on that from the front page.
P.S. LGM probably doesn’t have a million tweets?
NotMax
@WaterGirl
If we’re limited to seven links, why not tit for tat that front pagers be limited to seven tweets. Turnabout is fair play.
Scrolling through a vertical menagerie of tweets is tremendously aggravating.
patrick II
@WaterGirl:
Sometimes they do but not as often as here. Anyhow, if it’s a problem, don’t worry about it. I’ll survive . You’re done great work here.
patrick II
@NotMax:
RE-scrolling through menagerie of tweets is also pretty aggravating. But the front-pagers should post as many as they want.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: I went to the Wayback Machine and found the oldest comment in the oldest snapshot (in 2003). But the snapshot doesn’t have the comment.
So, I tried to search for the thread here (on the real B-J site) – “FISCAL CONSERVATIVES, MY ASS” from January 26, 2003.
It took a really long time to return. I hope I didn’t break the blog… :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
chris
@WaterGirl: seen somewhere on the net:
3 parts 99% rubbing alcohol + 2 parts aloe vera = hand sanitizer.
Sounds legit and a little experimentation might produce a substitute for the aloe.
Aleta
@chris: a substitute for the aloe.
vegetable glycerin
water can go in the mix too.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Some people love all the tweets, some people hate them. But nobody is going to tell front pagers what they should post and how. Nobody.
That’s one of the great things about Balloon Juice. If all the tweets annoy you, you could skip all those posts. Or, you can read those posts but you can always use Ctrl-F or Cmd-F and type in “1.”, which will take you right to the first comment. So no scrolling through all the tweets.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott:
We have probably a million posts with “fiscal conservatives”.
You could go to view by Month and Year. Choose Jan 2003. Look at how many pages come up for Jan 2003. Hit “next” for the second page. Then edit the URL to put a page number that is close-ish to 26/31. Adjust page number if necessary.
WaterGirl
@chris: Yeah, I looked at some of those. Then also found an article recommending that people NOT make their own because the proportions are critical and it would be too easy to get it wrong.
?♀️?♀️?♀️?♀️?♀️
chris
@WaterGirl: Didn’t think of that. Alcohol is really hard on skin but maybe a home made alcohol wipe in a baggie? Followed by some nice hand lotion, it might work.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Mr. Cole already has, warning them about avoiding certain expressions as a sop to advertisers.
Rather than an enforced limit, how about a very strong suggestion to think twice before unleashing a flood of tweets?
NotMax
@WaterGirl
The proportions couldn’t be simpler.
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
2/3 cup isopropyl alcohol.
Mix well, pour into dispenser bottle.
Important thing is not to wipe or rinse it off but allow it to dry on the skin. Otherwise it’s ineffective.
Johannes
@WaterGirl: Thanks for the expert and gracious quiz!
Johannes
@zhena gogolia: If you do, let me know if you like it!
SFAW
The one answer to all the questions — a/k/a “everything” — is: Forty-two.
Please note that I typed that with infinite majesty and calm. Well, OK, with a keyboard, technically, but still …
WaterGirl
@NotMax: That lasted about a day. We are back to the old advertisers. :-)
I doubt that he’ll be receptive, but if you have any suggestions about that, you’ll have to take them to Cole directly.
SFAW
@WaterGirl:
WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS, OF COURSE
MoCA Ace
Probably a dead thread by now but I loved the quiz. Earlier today I spent about an hour checking out various corners and crannies of the site that I never knew existed. I was on the clock at work so I couldn’t comment and answer the questions.
Anywho, I never knew we had a artists list… I found it lurking at the bottom of the page. I have never considered myself and artist but I fancy myself a good craftsman (woodworking). I have a show in a month so hopefully I can get some good pictures of my creations and submit an entry.
Also too, It would be great to see an artists in our midst post every once in a while on a slow outrage day.
How I long for a time when we have slow outrage days.
WaterGirl
@SFAW: I thought about saying that, but I didn’t want NotMax to think I was giving him shit. Glad you were able to add the suggestion. :-)
WaterGirl
@Johannes: You are welcome!
WaterGirl
@MoCA Ace: see my comment at #6 for the format of the information you submit. We’re calling it Artists & Artisans, so I think you’re a fine fit. You can fill out the form here or send it to me by email.
Glad you enjoyed the quiz – That’s what I was hoping would happen, but it didn’t exactly get the reception I was hoping for!
John wants to post the call for Artists in Our Midst himself. So he says, but he hasn’t done it yet. :-) He may have gotten a little cranky last time I reminded him, but hopefully we will get one soon.
frosty
@WaterGirl: My younger son has a part-time job stocking shelves in the local grocery. He’s amused by the run on hand sanitizer. Says it’s the same as how the shelves clear out if there’s a hint of snow in the forecast.
In any case, I have an insider if I need some.
WaterGirl
@frosty:
Good to have connections!
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: I didn’t even see that. Thanks for the pointer! It will be very handy.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@WarterGirl
Would be no need for that if he read his own blog.
;)
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Maybe. But he already has a full-time job. :-)