WU Comments

Fellow WU-vies--thanks to the alertness of several readers, we have been notified of a problem with posting comments. The captcha feature is glitched, working inconsistently. Our Master Hacker Alex (I think he learned all he knows from 1983's WarGames) is working on a fix now.

Thanks for your patience. Without your comments, the blog would be only half what it is.

Update from Alex: I "fixed" the problem by disabling the captcha system. Which may leave us wide open to spammers. We'll see how it goes for a few days.

Update 2: Wow! Allowing comment posting without captchas was like opening wide the floodgates of spam. So that experiment lasted only about 10 minutes. For now I've changed the admin settings so that only logged-in members can post comments. And in the meantime, I'll search for an alternative captcha system that is compatible with our very old blogging software.

Update 3: I found and installed an alternative captcha system. Let's see if it works! The neat thing is that most people won't see a captcha at all. It only shows if it thinks you might be a spammer, and it then asks you to solve a simple math problem.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 16, 2014 - Comments (10)
Category: Weird Universe, Alex, Reader Recommendation, Computers

Special Announcement: Book Talk in San Diego

I was invited to give a talk at the Upstart Crow bookstore in downtown San Diego (Seaport Village), and I happily agreed because it's a great store. I'll be there at 7pm this Thursday (Jan 17) talking about mad scientists. The real-life kind, not the fictional ones. Which is the theme of my last two books, Elephants on Acid and Electrified Sheep.

So if any Weird Universe readers will happen to be in the San Diego area on Thursday, you now know where to find me.

Of course, this raises the question of whether there are any WUvies (besides myself) in San Diego. If there are, I'd love to meet you! Or if you don't live in SD, but know someone who does, send them down! Help fill up the place (because I hope I'm not going to be talking to an empty room).

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 14, 2013 - Comments (3)
Category: Alex

The Complete Blacky Pictures!

Thanks to the stellar research powers of Alex B., we now have the complete set of these oddball Freudian prompts.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 28, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Art, Children, Alex, 1950s, Mental Health and Insanity

Loss of Comments

Friends--thanks to the alertness of one of our core WU-vies, Messr. Dumbfounded, we have learned of a grievous but ineluctable Comments Implosion.

When Alex reconfigured the site and banished all the spammers, he implicitly authorized a purge of all past comments made by non-registered commenters.

A goodly number of those comments came from honest readers who had just not bothered to register. They were part of the legitimate conversation concerning previous posts.

Now they're irretrievably wiped.

We regret this accidental purge. Fully half of the pleasures of this site lies in the conversation following each post. We were thrilled to have this conversation archived for the enjoyment of all readers.

But if you recall the horrible spam problem, there seemed to be no other solution.

For now, we are still allowing comments by unregistered folks. We don't want to put up any extra barriers between readers and their public responses. But comments from unregistered folks are always less secure than those from registered WU-vies.

Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 16, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Weird Universe, Alex, Reader Recommendation

Alex’s New Book!

I hope everyone is enjoying having Alex back as much as I am. Yay, Alex!

Perhaps you recall months ago when I touted his new book. Well, that was its UK edition only. Finally, in June, the US edition arrives.

Why not use the link the pre-order your copy now?

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 07, 2012 - Comments (7)
Category: Weird Studies and Guides, Books, Alex

Back Online!

Sorry for our downtime! When we got linked-to by BOING-BOING and GIZMODO yesterday, it swamped us!

But we're back, thanks to Tech Wizard Alex!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 16, 2011 - Comments (1)
Category: Technology, Weird Universe, Alex

The Mad Science Museum

One of our illustrious founders, Alex B., has been away from us too long. Now he offers us The Mad Science Museum and says he might be back blogging at WU. For now, visit his new site!

Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 09, 2011 - Comments (3)
Category: Evil, Science, Alex, Brain Damage

Alex’s New Book!

You can't buy it yet, but here's the cover of Alex's new book!

If you visit the Amazon link, you can at least reserve your copy now!

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 09, 2011 - Comments (2)
Category: Authorities and Experts, Weird Studies and Guides, Weird Theory, Books, Alex

Return of Alex!

Regular WU-vies realize that the blog has been missing one-third of its voice for the past many months, as Alex Boese hunkered down to finish his new book. Well, over at Alex's Museum of Hoaxes blog, he's just announced his return to active blogging.

Let's hope that includes some time here at Weird Universe!

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 16, 2010 - Comments (5)
Category: Weird Universe, Alex, Books

Spam Solution

Alex has established a method of allowing quick deletes of spam, and I cleaned up a couple of dozen this morning. Faithful WU-vies should see fewer annoying comments. Thanks for your patience!

Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 07, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Weird Universe, Alex, Comments, Paul