User:MuppetArchives/Current Events 23 (December 2007)

Archive of Current events.

The Count on ESPN SportsCenter
My brother is watching ESPN, and I just saw The Count - the honest-to-God Count Von Count, played by Jerry Nelson - doing something called "Count's Number of the Day", which in this case was 556, the number of times the New England Patriots have done something-or-other this season. I didn't really catch much of it, because I don't pay attention when sports are on my television. Anyway, he says the Count's been doing those segments for a couple weeks. I don't feel like I have enough information to create a page, but I just wanted to let the community know this was happening. Having said that, is there already a page for this that I can't find? --Anthony 00:06, 29 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't think there's a page for this; searching for ESPN pulls very few results on MW. So far I can't find anything other than bloggers talking (complaining really) about it, which don't make the best sort of sources to write an article.  It apparently occurs during SportsCenter which at least means people don't have to watch hours of ESPN to see it, but I can't find anything about when it started or how long it is supposed to last.  -- Wendy  (talk ) 01:05, 29 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I skipped though 4 or 5 episodes of SportsCenter last night in 30 second intervals and couldn't find any appearances. Are these being done on a certain day of the week? How long does the segment last? More than 5 seconds? —Scott ( talk ) 21:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)


 * The most coherent blog entry about it I found (here) claims that it was part of a buildup to the Patriots' final game of their "perfect season" on Saturday. So I'm not surprised it wasn't on last night; unless they plan to adopt the segment for some other purpose (bowl games? playoffs?).   -- Wendy  (talk ) 02:44, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


 * PROOF! Somewhat, at least. This Seahawks Huddle site is indexed by Google News, which is sort of a vote of confidence, so can it qualify? "Many feel the network has gone overboard in fawning all over the Patriots with the feature using the Count from Sesame Street." --  Zanimum 19:11, 24 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Actually, from what I saw out there, I'm prepared to believe it was a real feature and think it could have a spot here under Category: Appearances or whatever if we could say something interesting about it. The problem is we don't have good info on the details, unless that site has some.  -- Wendy  (talk ) 19:24, 24 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Not that I ever doubted Anthony's observation, it's nice to have something to write about for an article. So, here's the video on YouTube. —Scott ( talk ) 19:40, 24 January 2008 (UTC)


 * A series of these with The Count were shot for ESPN to commemorate the Patriots' "Perfect Season." I don't know how many got aired.  They were voiced by Jerry Nelson and performed by Matt Vogel, with assistance by Paul McGinnis.  --


 * Where'd ya find that out? --  Zanimum 15:22, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Açıl Susam Açıl
I was browsing through youtube and found some susam sokagi films there abaout 8 min.. one of them showed a totally new kind of titel. Like the Israel version it was a cartoon but not named as Susam Sokagi.It was called Açıl Susam Açıl. Is there a way to find out if this was a dubb version of Sesame Street? As far as my Turkish contacts can say they havent heared about it. Well they also are arround 30 and now living here in Holland ;) Maybe someone can ask arround because its a new sesame street if it is a dubb, not?-- Paul (talk ) 20:11, 30 December 2007 (CET)
 * It would help if you could link to the YouTube videos. As far as I can tell, there's definitely no new project in Turkey, and Googling "Açıl Susam Açıl" reveals many non-Sesame uses. It roughly translates to "Explain Sesame Explain." Most of the dubs in the Open Sesame format, especially the newer ones, used an animated opening in the same style by Bill Davis. I can't say anything else without seeing an example of what you're talking about, but that sounds like what it is. -- Andrew Leal (talk ) 01:39, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Sony Wonder CD's
I've recently discovered that Sony Wonder CD's and tapes exist in more than one packaging format and with more than one catalogue number. Since I only have one copy of the ones that I've personally bought, I'd appreciate it if other people could help out. Apparently, they were released in three formats: a large lyric booklet that came packaged with the CD, a folded piece of paper containing inserts and ads that came packaged with the CD, and regular jewel cases with a CD lyric booklet. I'm trying to figure out if the packaging changes have anything to do with the number changes, but so far I'm stuck. If anybody's interested, please go through your collections, and leave notes on the appropriate album's talk page, saying which format and catalogue number(s) you have. Thanks for your help! -- Ken (talk ) 06:47, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Protecting the Main Page
Recently, it's been subject to vandalism. Even so, Danny says it's Wikia's rule to leave the Main Page unprotected. This doesn't make sense to me, because even if it remains vandalized for as little as 30 seconds, any first-timer who visits during that 30 seconds could get a bad impression of the way the Wiki is run if all they see is something like "GET A LIFE YOU RETARDS!!". Even though we take care of vandals quickly, leaving the Main Page free to be mangled by anyone who gets their hands on it conveys an act of irresponsibility on our part. If only the mods want to edit the Main Page, they shouldn't have to enforce it more than once. --MuppetVJ 06:08, 16 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I think semi-protection, which prevents newly created accounts from editing, is a good idea. And I agree with your reasons. Wikia's stance on protecting the front page is more of a guidline than a rule anyway, and it's more for wikis just starting out to encourage an active community. We've already got that here and have been doing a lot of things differently anyway. So yeah, I think we should semi-protect it. —Scott ( talk ) 14:51, 16 December 2007 (UTC)


 * How does "semi-protection" work? --MuppetVJ 02:02, 17 December 2007 (UTC)


 * It's actually the option that's marked "block unregistered users." We don't worry about unregistered users, but that particular semi-protection also blocks newly created accounts from editing. Established contributors can edit as normal. —Scott ( talk ) 04:25, 17 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Sorry I'm coming to this conversation late. The reason why it's bad to protect a Main Page is that it sends the wrong message to new users. We're saying that this is a site that anyone can edit -- but when readers come to the site, the first thing they see is a page that they can't edit.


 * I don't think it's irresponsible to leave pages unprotected -- that's what wikis do. I think we've proven a thousand times over that an open wiki is stronger than any vandal. It's true that someone who comes by during the one minute that the page is vandalized won't see us at our best -- but everybody who comes by during the other 23 hours and 59 minutes that day will see a strong, successful wiki that lets anybody edit any page.


 * I'd like to unprotect the main page, and keep sending the message that that's what wikis are about. -- Danny (talk ) 21:04, 22 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I actually agree with Danny; it looks better if the main page isn't protected, despite the problems that can cause. -- Wendy  (talk ) 23:12, 28 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm having trouble understanding why we agreed on implementing the mandatory sign-in policy (which I agree with), but people are split on protecting the main page. To me, they're two ways of fighting the same thing.  It seems like the same people who advocate totally open wikis, wouldn't like our sign-in policy either.  I like keeping things open, but there have to be some limits, just like I'm sure Wikia's headquarters has security software, so hackers can't take the whole site down.  I hope this doesn't sound exclusionary or anything, because I'd love for the whole world to hear about us (and participate), but I like the idea of partial protection, as mentioned above. -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:57, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

I think those things send two different messages. Mandatory sign-in says: We want you to join the community when you make edits. Protecting the main page says: Even if you join the community, you still can't edit the main page.

Having a partial protect on the main page means that even people who sign in get the "view source" rather than "edit" button -- I don't know how long it takes before they're not considered new users anymore. But those are the folks that we want to encourage to edit.

In my opinion, protecting the main page makes us look paranoid and controlling. Now, we are a little bit paranoid and controlling, but we probably shouldn't let everybody know that right away. :) A vandal blanking the main page for two minutes before he gets reverted and banned doesn't "take the whole site down". It's a momentary glitch that we're very good at taking care of. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 12:45, 31 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I guess the reason it bothers me is because everything on the main page is stuff that only the admins are supposed to change. And those of us who have been here a while know not to touch it without permission.  That's why to me it seems odd to let people, who we don't even know if they're going to play by the rules, get their hands on it.  There was a person today who made up something and stuck it in the Today On column, after they've been told more than once not to change the main page.  I wish there was a way to protect the main page, but leave everything else open to everybody.  To me, it seems like the front page is our "Table of Contents", and new people should use it to find stuff to work on, and not try to mess with the tables and lists themselves.  But if even semi-protecting causes other problems for new people who want to edit constructively, I see your point about leaving it open.  It was frustrating for me when I couldn't go to certain pages for a few days when I was brand new.  Those are just my thoughts. -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:37, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Today on Muppet Wiki
We're running low on nominations for "Today on Muppet Wiki". We can especially use some holiday and merchandised theme articles. This is a great chance to highlight whatever you find interesting on the wiki. So please, add some of your favorite articles over at Today on Muppet Wiki Nominations!! -- <font color="Blue">Wendy (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 22:27, 10 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Incidentally, I was about to ask why the link to the archives and nominations pages for this section are gone from the front page. --  Zanimum 16:25, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Looks like they were removed by accident, but I just added them back. —Scott ( talk ) 17:24, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Sesame Street Online Video
Sesame Workshop just launched an amazing new website showcasing hundreds of video clips from its 38 years video.sesameworkshop.org This is a great resource for the wiki and a really awesome thing they've done no doubt in direct response to the popularity of Sesame videos on YouTube. It might be a good idea for folks adding trivia based on this material, to say so in the edit summary just so we know where it's coming from. The individual videos don't appear to be available by direct link, but the site is still in beta, so it will be nice to see how it develops. Three cheers for Sesame Workshop! —Scott ( talk ) 22:37, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Wow, what a great resource. Right now (unless it's my connection) the image is awfully grainy/pixillated/blurry (hopefully that may change). But just fiddling with it for a bit, there's a great range of clips, including film and cartoon inserts, what seems to be every "Number of the Day" segment, many vintage Muppet sketches which aren't really documented on the Wiki yet (and a couple of characters; there's one where Bob chats with a small Anything Muppet called Worthington), and the YouTube-esque keyword search should proof useful in sourcing some bits which users only have vague memories of. So kudos to Sesame Workshop as always. -- <font color="Blue">Andrew Leal (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 23:35, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
 * The grainy/blurry must be your connection. The videos have been crystal clear for me -- like little DVDs. Maybe try it later after peak hours. —Scott ( talk ) 00:26, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I just restarted my machine and it looks perfect now (earlier, even the Sesameworkshop.org looked pixillated). The connection is the same, but I cleared some caches, so either it was a general computer issue or a temporary thing because of the beta nature of the project. Either way, it's still awesome. -- <font color="Blue">Andrew Leal (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 01:31, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Do they have Baker #1? -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:42, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * That was one of the first things I searched for. —Scott ( talk ) 02:56, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, they only have Baker #3 right now. But one can only hope they add to it. There's an astonishing number of animated segments, though, and a few celebrity bits which are practically hidden. -- <font color="Blue">Andrew Leal (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 03:00, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Whoah. I'm certain I searched for Baker earlier and nothing came up. Could they be updating the database as the day goes on? The site's still in a Beta version right now, so anything's possible. —Scott ( talk ) 03:06, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Would something like this template be of use? There's a YouTube template that direct links to the videos, but the Sesame Workshop site doesn't allow for direct linking. --  Zanimum 17:07, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I've been putting in notes about various sketches that appear on that website on the various sketch pages, but if a You Tube link is included, should we delete the You Tube links, or leave them there, along with notes that the sketches apear on an official site? --Minor muppetz 00:02, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Oh, this is such a beautiful thing; I'm so happy. There's so much stuff, and it's so fast and perfect. And searchable! It's like a dream.

Michael's question about the YouTube links is a good one... My feeling is that we should take the links down if it's on the web player. They're official, they're faster and they're better quality clips, so I don't see why we should include the YouTube links as well. The only thing that the YouTube links have in their favor is that you can link directly to the specific clip, which (as far as I know) you can't do with the web player. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 01:09, 8 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I ditto that (though for myself, I've been having issues with the player, but they're looking into that; I'm using a Verizon broadband connection, and they're looking at a way to configure the player for specific connection types). I've never really liked the proliferation of YouTube links anyway. They can be useful, but if the same material is on the webplayer, you know it will (in all lkelihood) still be there. The same hardly applies to YouTube. For ease of use, though, it would be worth noting what label is used for the clip on the Sesame site, if it's not the same as what we have here (such as "Bert's Bottlecap" for the skit where Bert first introduces his bottlecap collection). -- <font color="Blue">Andrew Leal  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 01:18, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Happy birthday, Muppet Wiki!
Hey, ever'body: Today is Muppet Wiki's 2nd birthday; the curtain first raised on December 5, 2005. It's been an amazing two years. This wiki has made me happy every single day for two years. It's one of the very best things in my life, and I feel really lucky that I get to work with this incredible crew of passionate, smart, beautiful people. Muppet Wiki people are just unbelievable, giving so much time and thought and work to this project, just because it's fun to work together and it's worth doing. Thank you very much for everything that you've brought to the wiki. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 21:50, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
 * And let's hear it for Danny and all the other admins who keep the site running smoothly every day! Yay! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:44, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Woo-hoo! It's been a pretty awesome ride, gang. I'm really proud of a lot of the work we've done here. Especially a lot of the rumor debunking that has perpetuated on the net for far too long in some cases. Here's to many more Muppet Wiki birthdays! —Scott ( talk ) 22:34, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
 * As Overseas bloke I am proud to work with you guys! Hurray for Muppetwiki. The funny thing is that even friends from mine, who live in spain and go selden on the internet, also hearded of Muppetwiki It's that famous already!—Paul ( talk ) 1:11, 7 December 2007 (CET)
 * Well, hey, invite your friends to come and look around! We could use some help on the Spanish stuff. -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:42, 7 December 2007 (UTC)