Author Topic: Small Animal News  (Read 188446 times)

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Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #90 on: March 28, 2011, 08:48:16 pm »
1) Yes, it is believed so, 85% certain that was him.  It's a pretty safe bet it was.  When I saw the mask I was like 'hmm' and slightly after I also noticed a belt pouch.  No idea what he was doing there, but when he (potentially) was sighted, the Lepus Alliance was notified.  The bunnies who were assigned to monitor him did not note any suspicious behavior, the snake was probably just scouting or something like that. 

2) My count (unique) UT 2/VO 32/TO 2.  Roughly 2% or so.

3) Please refrain from using the local SA channel for non-emergency purposes.  This means, for instance, NOT using the channel to call up your Panda UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY.  This was happening a lot this weekend, people were using the channel for chatter which is both annoying and dangerous.  We like to keep this channel clear and open for emergency management. 

4) It's not certain, and it's unlikely to ever be certain.  Intelligence does indicate that the snake is one of those rather seedy individuals who is quite suspect and not to be trusted.  Fortunately, he is largely incompetent, in the last campaign he tried extensively but was never able to achieve his any of his objectives. 

5) After farther investigation, and consultation with several others who also observed the snake, Mikey has raised the determination of his identity to 98%, or 'near complete certainty'.  Intelligence also indicates that his cohort was there along with him, though the Lepus Alliance did not report observing his cohort in their operational logs.

6) Yes, she wanted to take home the dress, but could not fit it in her carry-on bag (with the size limit they have for carry-ons these days) and she did not want to pay extra to check a bag (most airlines started charging for it years ago), so instead she wore the dress to the airport and the plane, and that's why the pictures from the airport all have her wearing a dress.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2011, 10:24:51 pm by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #91 on: April 07, 2011, 11:17:00 pm »
Here's a short summary:

Jojo revealed in his most recent interview that he had talked with several members of the Lepus Alliance who were also supporting C's bunnies.  They said that morale was high while the morale of 'that old kitty cat gang' was growing increasingly poor with every decision or step taken.  Expenditures are also a problem, the gang is basically 'running on empty' and there is such a backlog that any funds are spent the second they come in.

According to Mr. Buns, a member of the Lepus Alliance, "Desertions and Defections are becoming increasingly common.  While the cats continue to maintain their lavish accommodations at the expense of the gang, they are also increasingly dependent on newer kitties in order to replace those who have deserted since the troubles began.  But from the way they treat them, it would be hard to conceive that.  The new kitties are housed eight to a hutch, that is, eight adult cats housed together in a hutch that is designed for two adults and maybe a kitten or two.  Nourishment and care are also quite substandard, if the owners don't forget to begin with, the cats may get a single bowl of dry food to share between the eight of them, and no other treats or anything like that to speak of.  The cats are issued substandard equipment, and there simply isn't enough gear to go around (as many defectors and deserters have kept the gear they were given).  In order to conserve the amount of gear that remains, new kitties are typically put into two or three feline teams, while being given only one of each piece of vital equipment like a single radio that they all must share.  We are almost certain that, come this summer, the overall advantage that the gang had in terms of training and outfitting will have all but evaporated."

Mr. Sparkles said that several of the security volunteers who locally help the Lepus Alliance (in the absence
of the bunny brigade) are planning to hop on up north to join up with C's bunnies.

Defectors report that the upper leadership in the kitty cat gang is all but paralyzed and that Cat P is a weak and ineffective leader.  "He prefers to sit around on his owner's lap and occasionally mewl out an order.  However most of his underlings simply ignore him, they are doing their own thing and looking out for themselves or their own enrichment.  Actual incidents of infighting are rare, but none of the cats in charge are on the same page either so it's rare for the whole gang to operate in sync."

On another note, all the small animal news posted on this topic so far is pretty well vetted.  Granted you can never be completely certain when dealing with small animals.  But by any measurement, it's up there, 95% or better.

---

Her special item is an apple.  Yes, she carries a WX5 in her pack, but that doesn't make it her special item.  Any more than her pack or uniform is a special item. 

---

Mikey does not believe the incidents overall have been increasing, and I tend to agree.  Yes, there are more in the news.  But remember, it's basically a slow motion train wreck we're watching here.  Much of what you see or hear irl happened several months ago, just that the news finally happened to filter out now.  And, it's grown, so there can be more attacks, even with the overall percentage staying the same or dropping slightly. 

When I say grown, two years ago it would operate maybe a fourth of the time, a year ago, about half to three fourths of the time, and by now basically all the time or every day.  There is really no need to worrey about the attacks, it grows regardless and countermeasures have been in place as of more than several months ago.  Every attack has not resulted in very much of anything. 

---

Load up the file in Handbrake and choose your desired profile.  Typically I just use Regular->High Profile.  Once you have the profile fine-tuned to what you want, in the text box at the bottom of the advanced tab, add the text ":keyint=NN" to the end of the text that is already there, where NN is some reasonable number of frames (ie. if you want edit points every second, set NN to your framerate).

http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings has a rather comprehensive list of options that are available for the x264 encoder.  Don't count on handbrake to re-encode the audio, it tends to mess up the a/v sync, just set it to passthru and use something like avidemux to re-encode the audio to AAC as needed for the final output.

---

I should almost certainly be there, but I never formally announce these things before the fact.
There are just too many stalkerz out there.  Stay safe, and watch for snakes.  (Intelligence doesn't indicate any known snakes in this area at that time, but you can never be too careful.) 

And in all honesty, if you are looking for [deleted], I'm probably not the person you want anyways.

---

To me, it is nothing to complain about.  Personally, I find this current structure better than before.  Perhaps it's just the natural evolution of things. 

On another note, Mikey's intelligence was right.  Which is true most of the time.  No snakes.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2011, 02:25:35 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #92 on: April 22, 2011, 12:12:25 am »
That's completely untrue, it was well documented as an 'April Fools' joke.

Honestly if she had really died how could she post a video on that same date saying she had died, saying goodbyes to everyone and telling people to pray for her.  It should have immediately obvious even from the first glance that it was an April Fools' joke. 

---

Mikey said it is on pretty good authority that the purported "Mr. W" is a snake and can't really be trusted or taken at his word.  "Dirty... the absolute worst kind.  Plenty of chutzpah, a penchant for preying on small animals in plain view in front of his snake friends.  Don't even think of listening to anything he says."

---

This question gets asked a lot, and the answer is pretty complicated.  So I haven't really tried to attempt answering it.

Cats aren't small animals.  They don't necessarily stick to the pack/herd.  While small animals all almost universally social, many cats aren't.  They need a reason to stick with something, they are innately selfish, without some clear benefit to themselves, they simply abandon the gang and fall into 'doing their own thing'.

So when one cat begs another for help, that service always comes with a price.  More often than not, these things happen in secret -- deals made between strays in foreboding dark alleys, while keeping on the lookout to ensure -- no other animal(s) are watching.  Because when one cat begs another for help, neither the one asking or the one who would give help feels he would benefit from other animals finding out about that.  Not to mention that these deals often involve shady things, ie. one cat allows another to eat  portion of the food that his owner had intended for him, in exchange for service or loyalty of the recipient. 

So going back to that day, when their fridge was raided by the Black Bunny Squad only to be found already totally emptied out; when the cat who had led the gang suddenly disappeared because his owner had moved out town; small animals knew this did not mean the gang was going to simply disappear.  No one ever expected that it would simply disappear.  It simply meant they would have to make a deal with another cat who was in a better position, basically a MM[1] type deal in order to survive. 

[1] Madoka Magica

And that's where we are right now.  Cats are said to have nine lives, but their gangs do not.  Their second lease on life came with a cost, as do all deals made between cats. 

---

I would just relax, whatever happens happens.  To small animals, this just isn't an A or B in terms of importance.  Pretty much a C or C+.  And intelligence is, at best, sketchy.  There's nothing probable to report on at this point, any report would be guesswork at best. 

---

It's actually perfectly normal behavior.  Remember this is a gang.  A common saying among small animals goes like this:  "Dog-eat-dog is the norm among cats."  Don't think it's going to get any better or nicer. 

---

This isn't the easiest question to answer, but I do agree with Mikey's analysis.  "They have anywhere from six months to three years of life left.  With these trends, time is definitely not on their side.  A very top-heavy leadership structure, absolute selfishness at every level, and few that can be relied upon to accomplish anything of import for the group other than some dead-enders.  Morale is poor, and continuing to worsen over time.  In terms of funding, they are running on empty; supply, logistics, mechanized transportation is basically nonexistent, lodging is overcrowded and substandard."
« Last Edit: May 06, 2011, 01:22:50 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #93 on: May 07, 2011, 02:21:40 am »
All small animals are welcome.  Please leave your cats, dogs, snakes, reptiles, etc. other animals at home.  Small animal means mice, rats, gerbils, guinea pigs, bunnies (not jackrabbits), ferrets, chinchilla, etc.  This is a social event, if your animal does not 'play well with others', please leave him/her.

---

Basically Mikey has been shuffling the small animals around in order to best deal with actual threats.  This is necessary because things are still running a bit short-handed with the bunny brigade in its entirety deployed to Japan.  The bunnies that the Lepus Alliance have sent to assist are helping, but things in general are spread pretty thin.  So for a C-class issue, there isn't a whole lot of coverage.

Mikey's direct response:  "Not to mention that bunnies just don't want that job.  It's compromised, all right, but it takes time to ferret everything out.  Things lag by about 3-6 months.  That's no way to run an operation, it's low importance so our job has just been to wait and gather information."

So honestly, if you want it, do it yourself.  It's not that hard, really.  They have big egos, and people with big egos love to talk about 'stuff', even to the point of becoming absolutely pedantic.  Just get them talking, and occasionally give positive feedback.  That's where these guys are an absolute disaster, they can't run their mouths without letting it all loose. 

Once you have them talking, just listen for things that matter, steer the conversation with idiotic comments (force them to 'prove you wrong') and keep mental notes of what actually matters.  Typically not a lot, but listening to idiots with egos is never the most time-efficient process.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2011, 01:46:44 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #94 on: May 13, 2011, 10:41:18 pm »
I said it already, all small animals are welcome at the meeting this Saturday.  You can discuss it there if it really matters, b'cos I'm not going to say a whole lot more here.  And let me warn you, there's not a whole lot of difference of opinion here.  The bunny brigade isn't around, and almost all the small animals are still where they've been for the last couple of months.

Mikey says the bunnies are pretty sure that "that was it".  It sounds like his policy of "observe only" was a good one.  "You don't want to try to interfere in something like this, the affairs of cats are best left to cats."  Of course everyone else was very talkative about this.  Mr. Sparkles was quick to comment "Now we know what that was all about.  Oh boy.  Signed, in blood."  Jojo's comments were similar, "My friend, your sacrifice will not be forgotten.  However rare, even a cat can accomplish greatness."

---

Not specifically, they were mostly speaking in terms of 'big picture'.  Other than ferrets, most small animals have their eyes on the side of their head and little visual overlap.  3D only works because people have visual overlap between both eyes.

Then you have color problems, bunnies are largely colorblind (most can see different shades of green and blue but that's pretty much it).  Pigs can see more colors, in many cases they can perceive as many colors as people can, but their vision tends to otherwise be rather poor.  Rats see similar to bunnies, and are also able to see into the UV range.  So to summarize most small animals aren't really prime candidates for '3D' viewing.  Not to mention that in photographic terms, small animal vision generally has a very large depth of field, but very low resolving power.

---

It's 'good' in that they can see in the dark and can resolve detail well up close.  But the majority of Pandas are near-sighted, distant objects appear blurry and smaller animals may end up being ignored completely if they are downwind and far away.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2011, 02:17:32 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #95 on: May 23, 2011, 10:29:35 pm »
The pool is open as of May 21.  Mr. Sparkles is administering it this time.

There are seven pools your small animal can place on, your small animal must either mail in the carrot slip or do an electronic transfer to Mr. Sparkles account.  As usual, the preliminary payouts of pools are based on current bets placed, and payouts may shift before the event time.  The metric is 'the amount of time that passes between the stated time (when the event is supposed to actually begin) and the actual 'first song'.  The verifier for this event will be Tuan Tuan, as he will be attending the event.

0 hours - 1 hour:  x2.7
1 hour - 2 hour:   x1.5
2 hour - 3 hour:  x1.4
3 hour - 4 hour:  x1.1
4 hour - 5 hour:  x1.2
5 hour - 6 hour:  x1.5
6 hour or more (or never):  x1.1

Surrender return is currently 50%, surrender transfer, 75%.

When asked for commentary, here's what all the locally significant small animals had to say about the event:
"Not a lot of small animals are attending the event in question, but I understand it's quite popular with Pandas." - Mikey
"Technical Difficulties are a given.  Oh yeah.  Bring it on!" - Jojo
"Thats... It?  I mean, seriously?  Really?  What's for dinner?" - Happy

---

Yes, from an (anonymous) informant.  This happened a few months ago, it was reported by Mikey in his blog at the time but didn't draw much attention.  He had just completed his tour and in debrief gave the following statement (excerpted).

"At the meeting, they asked for 'volunteers' to go over and 'stir the pot'.  I drew the short-tailed mouse[1] and so I ended up volunteered for the job.  I was told to get some paints and to go deep into woof-woof[2] territory and paint the gang symbol all over."

"Cat P was absolutely livid.  I don't remember why, but someone had just said something that maid him real upset.  He was hissing every other word and his hair was standing on end.  He insisted that we had to show the small animals out there that just because they have a woof-woof on their side (actually there are more than three woof-woofs on their side) that we can still mess with them and that we could still hit them if we so chose."

"Being my creatively incompetent[3] self, I picked up some watercolors from the shop and a brush.  I waited for a day when the weather report said it would rain, and that morning I met a friendly woof-woof who took me around in woof-woof territory and we painted the tag in more places than I can remember.  We photographed each tag and afterwards I showed the pics to Cat P.  Cat P took the pics as proof and said he would reward me for my service.  No one ever verified the tags, they took the pics as proof even though I know the next day it rained so the tags would be gone."

"Afterwards Cat P followed up by sacking his old hairball management manager and giving me his position.  The poor cat got moved into the boat management department.  Only problem is the gang didn't have any boats to manage.  In fact all their territory is landlocked, the gang wouldn't have any use for boats."

[1] A saying among cats, believed to come from the saying 'drawing the short straw'.  It's rare for cats to volunteer to do another cats dirty work, so typically when the boss asks for 'volunteers', it ends up being decided by rolling a dice, drawing cards, or some other simple game of chance. 

[2] Phonetic for dog.

[3] Seasoned infiltrators / informants are trained how to be incompetent or ineffective without getting noticed, at least for a time.

---

Yes, we have noticed the same thing.  Reports come in from the Bunny Brigade all the time, and Mikey reads every one.

"Ever since the disaster, it's been up.  Way up.   Is that a good thing?  We'll, it's certainly not a bad thing."

I'm told the sixties were the same way. 

---

This has been standard practice for years, basically anytime you have any doubts, just 'play dumb' in the title and desc.  "I don't know what this is" etc.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 08:09:10 pm by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #96 on: June 07, 2011, 02:24:53 am »
Pasted from Mikey's blog.  It's another cat's report.

"The pounce[1] was rather uneventful.  First, Cat T was publicly commended for his service to the gang and rewarded the newly made position of director of small animal interdiction operations.  Cat P seemed as if he was about to discuss something of import when 'Grampa', his owner, threw a wrench into the works by throwing a catnip-flavored mouse toy into the middle of the cats.  The snake Z stuck around, trying to restore order despite his complaints of not having eaten in the last month and a half and having to pass up another small animal hunting opportunity in order to make the meeting.  But it was rather futile, the cats could not resist the urge to play and did so for the allotted time until the meeting ended.  After that all the cats went off and did their own thing except for Cat T and Cat P who went into another area to discuss something in secret.  No idea what."

"After the pounce, I followed Snake Z as he slithered through the grass and back to his hole.  Slyly, I advised him, something like this.  'You know that you'll eventually have to make a choice between the gang and hunting opportunities.  Cat P recognizes that you're doing stuff 'on the side', and it makes him antsy.  He doesn't like the higher-ups in the gang having outside issues, that's why he sent Cat T after [deleted].  And he just promoted Cat T, so it's only going to grow."

"The snake just shook his head at me.  He might be all-in for now, figuring that he already made that choice.  But I think not.  He's not eating cold[2] just yet." 

[1] meeting
[2] domesticated

---

"Yesterday a doberman showed up at the high-level department of hairball management meeting.  The morale, even among higher-ups, is poor.  In the past, the gang would have not given an inch and made a concerted effort to fight off a dog in their territory.  And there wouldn't be much a single dog could do against 12 angry cats.  But yesterday, all the cats just split.  Of course I ran too, one job ain't worth becoming dog food over.  But they didn't even try to radio in their situation.  They just panicked and ran every which way."

"Cat P wasn't there, but when he heard of the situation, he made it a thing to interview everyone who was there and then became increasingly paranoid.  His fur stood on end, and he hissed out something like, 'Swore I've seen that woof-woof before.  Must be one of C's dogs.  [explicative]', clawing at thin air for effect.  I wasn't one of C's dogs.  It was just a dog from a few doors down owned by a neighbor who just moved in.  That had somehow gotten out.  Honestly P's been stuck in the house[1] for weeks."

[1] among cats, roughly translates to 'off his rocker' or 'losing perspective with reality'.

---

1) The numbers I heard were around 1200.  That is just incidental, I wasn't there as I really don't have much interest in that stuff.

2) I'm not going to post it beforehand, honestly it's still in flux and too many stalkerz out there.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2011, 01:39:13 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #97 on: June 21, 2011, 11:26:31 pm »
I've been getting a lot of questions about this, 'what happened', 'is he alive', etc. so I'm going to post this report.

If you watched [Deleted], one of the things that might have drawn some attention was Cat Y.  Known for his outwardly likable, though somewhat effeminate manner, the cat ended up drawing plenty of attention to himself.

Cat P, the current leader of the 'neighborhood cat gang', has been desperate to try to inflict damage on C, or any of the bunnies, pigs, other assorted small animals who are loyal to C.  But he's been so busy just trying to hold his gang of cats together that he hasn't had the time to take action himself.  So Cat F, who had ingratiated herself to Cat P, said she would act against C in exchange for Cat P giving her 'any position (in the gang) she wanted'.  Cat P, who doesn't trust half his cats in the higher positions in his gang to begin with, couldn't help but to agree.  But Cat F demanded that he act first.  For starters, she demanded Cat Y's position.  She wanted to be a star on [Deleted]. 

Cat P agreed.  He had doubts about Cat Y's loyalty, his spies had reported seeing Cat Y being a bit too friendly with small animals on numerous occasions.  So he ordered that Cat Y give his current position and instead take over Cat K's old logistics position.  And then put Cat F in his spot.

Cat F was very happy, having secured what is basically the lead role in [Deleted].  Kinda ironic because Cat Y basically made [Deleted] what it was.  But probably, Cat P feels that he served his purpose to him and now needs to be disposed of.  Now considering this, Mikey doesn't expect that Cat Y will turn, too much to lose, but you never know. 

Several weeks later, Cat P's changes paid off when Cat F managed to hack into C's RSS feed and use that to the gang's advantage.  While it was a short-lived victory for the gang, it helped to solidify her position and she was rewarded by Cat P along with some of the other cats with a "Zhu Zhu Pet" Hamster (Mr. Squiggles), a new scratching post, and some of her favorite luxury cat food.  Meanwhile, Cat Y has been trying to clean up the mess that has accumulated since Cat K's departure.  Far from a pleasant job.

---

Definately not.  Plus, a tripod?  In this day and age?  And what kind of application asks you to list what kind of equipment you have?  That's between borderline and irrelevant, if I want to hire someone for, say, a wedding, that's the last thing on my mind!  It just goes to show that, they don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about.  It's not worth the bother. 

---

Mikey does not recommend that method for anti-interdiction efforts, it is too easy to mislead or just plain have the snake show up in an area unplanned or on a whim.  Always keep an eye out, if outdoors, be mindful of wind conditions and the effect on scent, watch out because he is known to associate with other snakes and cats that could be hostile to small animals.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2011, 02:34:51 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #98 on: July 01, 2011, 01:57:09 am »
For people, quite simply, there is nothing to be worried about.  It's just a collection of eastern herbs, spices, turmeric, etc.  Things like that.  Pretty harmless for people, which is much more than I can say for the western 'energy drinks'.

Not for animals though, small animals or otherwise.

---

I know.  He probably just soiled himself.  The cat's got to be running scared now, they're pulling out all the stops as best they can.  Not that it will make a difference.  They've been trying to go on the offensive for weeks, but they are short supplies and their morale is in the pits, especially at the lower levels.  There's really not much they can do besides just sit and watch. 

He's going to have to face the music soon.  He's never gained any traction, every victory has been short-lived and every defeat has lasting consequences. 

---

The reports (about Cat Y) are pretty much true. 

"Cat K's logistics department was in shambles when he (Cat Y) took it over.  About two thirds of the cats had left, and the remainder had become so accustomed to sleeping 'on the job' and just generally goofing off that they were absolutely useless.  Most of the rum-rum[1]'s had seen far better days, in various states between working sporadically to broken down with no reasonable hope of repair.  More importantly, the department had no fuel so even if all their rum-rum's had been in working order, they would still not be able to operate them.  (Cat Y) tried very hard at first, but it was simply a no-win situation."

"Eventually he too succumbed to malaise and sat around every day sleeping, preening, cleaning himself, etc.  (Cat T) noticed this and threatened to report back to (Cat P) if he did not 'pick up the pace'.  But even if he had wanted to, he couldn't, his strengths were in publicity and customer service, not logistical management.  So (Cat T) eventually did report his laziness back to (Cat P), who promptly confronted him and threatened to remove him if he was not up to it."

"At that moment, when he was confronted by his boss, he snapped.  He ordered his underlings to take down (Cat P) and charged headfirst at him to set an example, leaping and trying to land on him with all four claws.  He did not receive any support from his underlings, and while he was able to land on the rather portly (Cat P)'s back, with claws extended, he could not get a good grip and lost his balance, only grazing his back as he fell to the ground.  Using his weight to his advantage, (Cat P) leapt on top of him, flaying him along the ground and biting the back of his neck.  A full-on catfight followed, Cat Y held his own using his superior agility, but ultimately neither cat could gain the upper hand.  Knowing that reinforcements would be on the way, (Cat Y) had the good sense to disengage and flee in short order.  For this, he was removed from the gang, even if for PR reasons the official statement was that he had left to pursue other opportunities."

So he's pretty much out of the cat gang now, even though he still has a few friends' among the cats and the snakes who are higher-ups in the gang (remember that Cat P's control is nowhere near absolute).

[1] - on-road vehicles
« Last Edit: July 07, 2011, 08:30:13 pm by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #99 on: July 07, 2011, 11:30:35 pm »
Please stop asking me about the video, you can ask Tuan Tuan for his video taken with his pandacam but even better, look in the usual places and there's a far better video out there I've already seen.  Top notch in terms of quality, I'm guessing it was an official source because really, they want it out there rather than held back.

Overall people say it was fine, they managed to get a passing grade with their treatment and I don't think there will be any long-term repercussions for the worse.  Hell it better have been though, that's what he sold his soul for.  Like faust, he gets what he wanted, at least for the time being.  But like faust, it's going to come back to haunt him in the end, it always does, we'll see how that turns out because it's only a matter of time now.

---

What I can say is that the 'trend' started about a month and a half ago, middle to late May, by mid to late June daily traffic had doubled and since seems to have leveled off at double the prior rate.

---

Yes, I will, and intelligence indicates that it is almost certain there will be snakes there, so far we have counted one for certain (snake Z) and several other probables.  For this reason, it is highly recommended to stay in groups, don't venture out alone and keep a constant eye out for dangerous critters.  None of the snakes are known to have any support of their own, though this is still being looked into. 
« Last Edit: July 12, 2011, 01:30:44 am by Sindobook »

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #100 on: July 15, 2011, 02:43:22 am »
I'll try to find out this weekend.  Really.  But don't count on it.  I don't trust that source too much.  I know people say he is a nice guy.  Doesn't mean I trust him. 

All together, it should be something like 6+ bunnies, 3+ guinea pigs, 1 ferret, and who knows what else.  If your small animal has any problems, just look for our ferret, shouldn't be that hard to find.

Okay we ended up with a lot more than that, but never mind it.

What I was told was that basically, after Cat Y snapped and attacked his boss, he was pretty much relegated to the outer parts of the gang that Cat P had virtually no control over.  One of the musical departments, like the kitty cat department of music and dance or something like that.  While there are signs he is unhappy, he is still basically a 'true believer' or 'dead-ender' who is probably biding his time, perhaps believing that Cat P is 'on the way out'.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2011, 01:55:26 am by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #101 on: July 20, 2011, 11:02:18 pm »
Thursday
  Tron         4 30pm - Ballroom 20
  Dr Who       7 00pm - Ballroom 20
  Tron         9 30pm - Front of San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina

Friday
  MarvlCapcom 11 00am - Ballroom 20
  Homestuck    1 00pm - Ballroom 20
  Valve        3 00pm - outside Ballroom 20
  Kuroshitsuji 4 30pm - outside Ballroom 20

Saturday
  MarvlCapcom 10 30am - outside 25ABC
  Vocaloid    11 00am - front of Ballroom 20
  Suckerpunch 12 00pm - front of Ballroom 20d
  FinalFantasy 1 00pm - stairs outside registration hall

Sunday
  Pokemon     12 00pm - stairs outside registration
  Disney       1 30pm - outside ballroom 20, by large windows
  Dr Who       2 00pm - center of the sails pavilion
  HitmanReborn 2 30pm - Ballroom 20 area
  Tron         3 30pm - Ballroom 20

In all, we have at least two bunnies, two guinea pigs, and an undetermined number of Pandas.  It's big, so don't count on running across us or being able to find us; if you must check the new and improved PandaCam and either follow him or use the GPS coordinates given in the bottom corner to find him. 

If you are brave enough, you can try to get some "Morning Rescue" from the snakes at #129. 
« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 11:07:46 pm by Sindobook »

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #102 on: July 26, 2011, 12:09:56 am »
Yes, I know of this and we responded the best we could but it was simply an untenable situation.  Keep in mind we started out with only had the 'skeleton crew', 20 bunnies from the Lepus Alliance, 2 Pandas, and a few guinea pigs.  There was just too much area to cover and not enough personel.  The best we could do early on is run interference.

On Friday we were reinforced by a few others we had called up, including our Ferret (Mikey), another Panda, and a Kitsune.  But things were still very scattered out, and even if we did converge, it was still nowhere near enough to hold a line.  I can say that our Pandas were able to spot and take down a few isolated snakes, targets of opportunity, as a simple matter of principle.  But it was not enough to make any considerable dent.  There were simply too many snakes out there and after that, a lot of them were working in pairs or even threes.  So we called it an early day and went back to the drawing board.

On Saturday we managed a few of our trademark 'lightning strikes', with all the small animals and pandas converging, taking out an isolated pair or a three of snakes at a time, and then dispersing before the other snakes in the area could react.  This worked well into the morning, but into the afternoon, snakes were being deployed by their masters faster than we could find an isolated group to take out.  The newer teams of snakes had radios and everything else.  We didn't even try at that point, we fully expected that they would blitz us if we tried another strike so we just stayed dispersed and pretty much called it quits.

Offline Sindobook

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #103 on: August 02, 2011, 10:44:14 pm »
I think 'largely overstated' would be the words in this case.  Overall, those things don't affect small animals very much, I mean sure it's nice to be banking carrots and things like that, but food doesn't keep, this is only possible with the 'future share' system where incoming carrots are divided up among those who elect to 'cash in' their carrot slips.  Beyond that, small animals don't really bank on credit, in fact if a small animal can trick someone into doing something for future credit, that (person) is typically considered a 'mark' or a sucker.  Panda, Kitsune, etc. are the same way, no similar animal has a strong concept of that, support is based largely on the instinct brought about by the fact that the every animal in the herd has far more security than they would alone.  Communication, Security, Logistics, these things work because of simple necessity, if these things fail the herd dies off.

Dogs, Cats, Snakes, etc. are not similar, but not exactly dissimilar, dogs tend to be loyal, cats are scheming, ganging up but also stabbing one another in the back when the opportunity presents itself.  Snakes are largely solitary creatures. 

---

I'm told it will be "soon".  Whether that means weeks or months, I don't know.

Even after, I fully expect that the conflict will continue, just because he's sold his soul doesn't mean his time on this earth is over.  Cat Y has gone dark, if he goes rogue it will be a big loss for the gang because he was close to the top and could spill a lot of critical info.  There are rumors that Cat Y is actually Cat F and that the whole thing is just a bunch of misdirection but that is so ludicrous that no one in their right mind is listening.  Reports are pretty clear about Cat Y going dark, all small animals are advised to keep an extra eye open for him in case he pops up somewhere unexpected.

General reports indicate that Snake attacks are up, or more that attempted snake attacks are up.  Mikey has identified a snake that is operating in the area between the local established safety zone and the safety zone held by the Lepus Alliance to the north.  It is believed that this is just a single snake rather than a group.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2011, 01:45:35 am by Sindobook »

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Re: Small Animal News
« Reply #104 on: August 10, 2011, 08:32:38 pm »
Honestly I wouldn't bank on it, things are still 'up in the air' and they're showing a lot of signs of 'fiscal strain'.
Their logistics department is able to operate with the reduced traffic in the off-season, but even at the current rate of reduced consumption, their fuel stores only last them through the end of this year, even by a most optimistic estimate (the reality is they could be depleted sooner).  Multiple purges at the higher levels have raised morale and loyalty at the cost of competency, reserves are low and lot of departments are operating only with minimal personel.  For now, the Cat's deal still holds, and it will bring in enough to keep their doors open but not much else.

For future prospects, small animals are slowly encroaching on their territory, they are slowly being forced to give up ground and have nothing that can answer several dogs being employed by their rivals.  Main sources of income, like protection, are basically nonexistant; while it will squeak along as long as the Cat's deal is still in place, they won't have much to show for it and it is only a matter of time before things start to crumble farther.