Although in today's consumer society, I'm pretty sure these are at the very brink of extinction.

(I'd guess they were extinct, but I decided to make an allowance for 'special socks', whose owners are particularly attached to them, whether for comfort or a belief that they are "lucky", etc...)

However, this is where cyber -SF comes in: they must have uploaded themselves and gone wholly virtual, seeing as they are constantly spotted online!

Sweeper-sealer twist: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36840791/...

<Many large forums have one or two Online Personas who take on the role known as the Resident Freak - a member of The Old Guard who puts on a Jerkass Façade of stupidity, perversity or a Hair-Trigger Temper. They may fake Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! and switch their Avatar every few weeks. Many strive to be seen as a Loveable Sex Maniac. They may come off as a Real Life Cloud Cuckoo Lander. In any case, rather than cause trouble for other people, they do their job by drawing animosity towards themselves and they are usually incredibly amicable - there is almost nothing you can say that will genuinely offend them. They are by their own designs the Butt Monkey of the entire board and are almost always an Acceptable Target - at least to their faces. Despite this, they're pretty high in the Forum Pecking Order. They are not merely a Troll passing through, but a long-time member of the board, sometimes from almost the origin of the board's history. Their goal is to ensure that Hilarity Ensues in whatever topic they post in, and they strive to make other posters feel more intelligent. The average Resident Freak is an appalling Attention Whore. Their tactics vary. One is deliberately displaying huge ignorance about the topic - perhaps getting some fundamental facts wrong or expressing a controversial view on a topic. A tactic for experienced freaks is to post BEFORE reading the link to the article being discussed. Another is displaying weird behaviour such as sexual fetishes and strange hobbies that they encourage other people to mock. They will NEVER ignore any attention, positive or negative, and they are frequent and vocal posters. They are not always direct friends of the board administrators and moderators - in fact the best ones don't need to be, integrating themselves seamlessly into the new community despite being almost a complete stranger to all on the board, going from one post, to hundreds without anybody noticing. >

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...

Never mind, eh.

Where do I find the chess games of <Batman bin Suparman>?

Very funny - would be nice to have a page for discussing comics here, eh? ;)

Oops.

<17...Ba8 has been mentioned a few times. This is a terrible move and there's no chance she'll play it. Not only does it take her LSB out of action, it also removes the option of ...Ra8 and ...a5 to contest the a-file. Forget about it.>

<I think it about 10 times more likely she plays Ra8 than Ba8.>

EB: Baldrick wheres the manuscript?
B: You mean the big papery thing tied up with string? EB: Yes, and If you dont answer swiftly then the butted boney thing with 5 toes on the end of my leg will connect sharply with the soft dangly collection of objects In your trousers! B: Its In the fire
EB: IN THE WHAT???

B: The hot Orangey thing under the mantelpiece!

The Power Game
4 hours ago
Power Game inventor Brian Mc Carthy will be on RTE's Radio Drive Time this evening 6.15, tune in if you can!