HRWiki:Old STUFF

From Homestar Runner Wiki

The situation with fun facts was getting a bit out of hand, especially with the Strong Bad Email virus. People often add fun facts that most people just don't think are fun or factual. So, we have set up this page where you can Select The Usable Fun Facts (STUFF).

Here's how it works. First off, you can still add a fun fact to the page directly. If somebody doesn't like it, though, it will probably be STUFF'D!, that is, moved to this list. If you think there is even a small bit of doubt as to whether or not everybody would agree it's notable, it should probably be added directly to this page instead. This will not be necessary for every page, only those that would otherwise likely be cluttered with fun facts. This applies mostly to pages reflecting new Homestar Runner content, for instance, the page for the latest Strong Bad Email.

Things that always make good fun facts:

• References to other toons or e-mails that will be obvious to longtime users but not to newcomers
• References to pop culture (but not those that are so obvious that everybody will recognize them; everybody knows that Pikachu is a Pok�mon, for instance)
• Verified tidbits about the creation of the toon or e-mail (for example, "Mike, not Matt, provided the voice of Strong Sad saying 'Douglas'")

Things that often do not make good fun facts:

• Speculation ("This scene may be a reference to a vaguely similar scene in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...")
• Glitches due to the Flash software (unless the glitch may have a very amusing and relevant anecdote to go with it)
• Things already noted in the transcript
• Things that anybody can figure out by watching the toon or reading the transcript

Things that always make good fun facts can just be added directly to the appropriate page without going through the approval process. However, be careful with references: if it isn't necessarily true that the table turning into a black and red grid is a reference to StrongBadZone, then you should probably post it here instead.

When something is posted here, you can vote on it. You should be logged in and sign your vote; anonymous votes do not count because it is easy for a single user to cast multiple votes. Signing your post with the name of another user in the hopes that it won't be noticed will definitely not be tolerated. This only applies to votes: fun facts may be proposed by any user and do not have to be signed (in fact, it is probably better not to sign them).

If the admins like a fun fact, they will immediately move it to the appropriate page as needed (regardless of votes). If they don't, they will wait a while until the fun fact has accumulated enough votes or a convincing argument is made.

If (and only if) you think a page needs this process, add {{funfacts}} directly under the == Fun Facts == heading, then add the appropriate heading to this page.

To be done

• How to distinguish between an approved fun fact and a directly-added fun fact on a page. Users would not be allowed to try and pass off their fun facts as approved if they weren't. (furrykef's current idea: tag each approved fun fact with a small star icon or other appropriate image.)

• Where, exactly, rejected fun facts and their recorded votes should go (probably on a subpage here)

• Get section linking working to make reaching the appropriate heading on a link to this page easier.

Toons and E-mails

virus

• The navigation and the email are combined into one flash file (so that Homestar can grab the words).

• The quadratic formula is a mathematical equation used for finding solutions to quadratic equations.

• "Linux" is a Free Unix-like kernel originally written for the 386 by Linus Torvalds in 1991, or part of an entire operating system which uses this kernel ("GNU/Linux").

• The issue number of the Teen Girl Squad is the first nine digits of Pi ("3.14159265 and the rest"). Pi is an irrational number, so "the rest" would fill up an infinite number of pages.

• Strong Bad saying "Oh, a wise guy, eh?" is a reference to the Three Stooges, where Curly uses the very same phrase often.

• Strong Bad being outside of "normal space" (where he exclaims "it is cold out here!") could be a reference to a bug/feature in Peasant's Quest where you can also end up "out in the black".

• When Bubs walks across the screen with Homestar's leg, his lower half is done in two layers of red and blue. Watching this scene with red and blue 3D glasses makes Bubs vaguely 3D. This is most likely a reference to "stunt double", in which Dangeresque 3 was supposed to be in 3D.

• This is one of only a few emails where the characters seem to "break the fourth wall" by recognizing their existence as cartoon characters on a computer screen rather than in a fictional world of their own. Other emails in which they do this are "flashback" (they extend the size of the display area and Homestar is "behind the black"), "for kids" where Strong Bad alludes to the idea of children at home watching the emails, "the process" (the entire email implies that Strong Bad is aware that he is a cartoon being watched by people at home), "huttah!", where The Cheat actually watches the e-mail on his own computer, and "extra plug" (the scene at the end with the cast making a fake e-mail give the impression that Strong Bad knows someone's watching, and that they want to see the e-mail finished).

• When this e-mail was posted to Homestarrunner.com, the Compy 386 was still used for the e-mail menu and appeared to be working fine.

• The page title is "Compy 386??" to reflect the fate of the Compy.