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Cyberchase: The Chase Is On! - Exhibit (part 2)

Let's look at some more photos from "Cyberchase: The Chase Is On" exhibit. I don't remember where I got these, as I found them awhile ago. If I find out, I'll credit the photographer.

This photo reminds me of legendary computer/tech magazine from years ago that became a meme. I can picture in my mind, but I am unable to find it now. You may remember it. There is a kid looking at a c omputer machine to the right of the frame. He is so excited, and it almost looks like he is being blown backward by whatever is going on on the screen. Many other kids are crowded around him also blown away by whatever is going on. And then there's one kid slumped over the couch in the back. Yeah, that's what I think of when I see this image

This photo was apparently taken on the Norwalk, Connecticut version of the exhibit.

Here's a video featuring a walkthrough of the Atlanta, Georgia version of the exhibit. It was filmed on a toaster, however. I don't recommend going fullscreen on this one.

Okay, back to better-quality photos. I dug out another few photos of the entrance. I like that they had both English and Spanish writing for most of the stuff here. They also seem to have had the intro playing with options for English or Spanish audio. I also like the idea of starting out in a kitchen in the real-world, and then going through the portal. The kids would have known the feeling.

Here's a few signs directed at parents to help them come up with ways to help their children learn math.

Here's an exhibit where you pump a lever to produce energy and then push a button to add it to Motherboard's power reserves.

There is also a bike version.

Well damn, Digit! You need children to produce a million units of energy via manual labor? I wonder if something special happened when the kids managed to reach one million. Did Motherboard come on screen to say thank you before the virus put us back to square one?

And now, we have an exhibit inspired by the episode "The Guilty Party". We need to study the suspects from different angles to discover whether they match the description.

I believe this is the shape that you observed in some sort of lightbox.

It looks like they had a physical version of that Poddle Weigh-in flash game.

And because it's Poddleville, we have some pattern recongition.

There was also a bookshelf.

And now, we get to go to Shangri-la and solve a dragon-related problem. It's the game of Nim, played just the same way as in the episode "Problem Solving in Shangri-la" with the multitiude of green dragons and the single red dragon.

I'm close to the image limit again, so I'll stop here for now. Big thank you to whoever took these photos, as they've been great for archiving the exhibit content.

#2000s #cyberchase #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez #jackie #matt #digit #museum exhibit #children's museum

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Cyberchase: The Chase Is On! - Exhibit (part 1)

You know, I always wondered if Cyberchase belonged in a museum. It's made a huge impact over the years, and it is now one of the longest-running animated shows of all time. If it keeps going, it will eventually surpass Arthur in that regard, now that Arthur has ended.

So, Cyberchase is (or at least was) in a museum at some point. The Houston Children's Museum in Houston, Texas was setup with an exhibit called "Cyberchase: The Chase is On!", which opened on March 14, 2009. HCM was the exhibit's main home, though it did tour other places, such as the Children's Museum of Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norfolk, Connecticut.

I didn't visit the museum back then. I suppose I was too old. However, there are plenty of pictures, and even some videos, out there showing what the exhibit was like. Now, I keep speaking in the past-tense, as I don't think the exhibit still exists. There is footage of the exhibit as recently as 2022.

However, WayBack machine archives of the site in early 2023 show that the exhibit was removed from the list, and it has not been re-added. So, I think the Houston version was retired after an impressive 13 year run. It may not have been open throughout the entire 13 years, as there is a video discussing it being re-opened in 2021.

At the same time, the current museum map still shows a Cyberchase area. The map file is marked as being from 2022, so it may be out of date.

I can't go there to check for myself. You can only go in if you have a child with you. Seriously, it's in their rules.

Still, even if the exhibit is gone, there are pictures that have been publicly posted online. I want to share them and talk about them. I did not take any of these myself. I believe most of these were published by the museum or by new reports on the museum. However, it is possible that I grabbed something from Instagram or Flikr, since I grabbed these images awhile ago. I apologize if I posted a picture that someone didn't want reposted. This is purely for the purpose of archiving what this exhibit looked like. I'm not making any money here.

So, here's the portal into Cyberspace. The kids and Digit are here too.

Actually Digit would sometimes appear in costume form.

Here's sort of a wide shot that shows a few of the different exhibits. We can see Motherboard's screen, a tent from R-Fair city, Jackie in her winter outfit, and the Grim Wreaker.

Here's Matt explaining how this exhibit works. You are trying to restore the power by moving different components around.

Here's Inez explaining another exhibit. It seems that this one involved understanding the Mayan numbering system.

Now, we get Jackie explaining this exhibit. The objective is to aim your shots to get past the obstacles and hit that post in the center.

Now, let's look inside the Grim Wreaker.

I like that they kept some of the hallway design from "Harriet Hippo and the Mean Green".

From what I can gather, this exhibit was all about stopping The Hacker's magnetite rocket from launching,

And now, we're helping Delete with his estimation.

Buzz also wants help fitting everything in The Hacker's closet.

Well, I guess if the Cybersquad can steal the Grim Wreaker and fly it all over Cyberspace, the kids visiting the exhibit can do it too. Are we proposing which Cybersites get deleted though?

And now, The Hacker wants to play a carnival game. How much do you want to bet it is rigged in some way?

Let's look at Motherboard.

She has some very short character bios for us.

There are other computer stations in Control Central. I see four of the flash games on it. We have Bugs in the System, Score the Pour (wasn't that Pour to Score?), Eye of Rom, and Logic Zoo.

I'll stop here, as I am nearing the image limit. I may make a part 2 though. I have a treasure trove of over 100 images, and I cannot remember where I found them.

#2000s #cyberchase #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #houston #children's museum #Youtube

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Cyberchase: Eyelids, How Do They Work?

While I prefer the traditional animation of the first five seasons of Cyberchase over the flash animation of the later seasons, I don't hate the flash version. Yes, Hacker stretches around like he's made of silly putty. Yes, the kids have very thin wrists in some of their flash models. Yes Jackie somehow has larger hands than The Hacker is "A Perfect Score". That stuff doesn't bother me enough to to make a dedicated post about it.

However, when Inez needs to squint...it all goes horribly wrong. This is from Season 6 Episode 1, "Digit's B-Day Surprise".

Nezzie's eyes have mostly remained consistent in the transition from traditional animation to Flash. Here's a comparison with her wearing glasses.

Yeah, the models are different between the traditional animation and flash animation. However, Inez hasn't drastically changed. She still has her same standard outfit, her glasses with the mismatched lenses, and her same hairstyle. All of the kids have consistent shine spots on their pupils. The lenses on Nezzie's glasses are still a different color from Matt and Jackie's sclera.

In the traditionally animated seasons, we saw Inez occasionally take off her glasses, revealing that she has different eyes from the other kids. She has black beads with no visible sclera. Therefore, her glasses, with their opaque frames, serve to replace her sclera.

While it was a bit of an odd choice to give one of the main characters a completely different style of eyes, I never found this off-putting.

In Season 14 Episode 1 "Clean up on Isle 8", we got to see Inez without her glasses again. This proves that flash didn't retcon her special eyes. We can also see that the frames on her glasses still have that opacity.

So, that's good. I get the feeling that there would have been riots if Nezzie's eyes got retconned.

But then we get back to this scene...

Now, I think I know why they did this. They wanted to show her squinting, which is hard to do when your character has no sclera.

Still, that doesn't mean that you cannot show her being expressive. The traditional animated seasons did a great job of this, especially during Season 2 Episode 8, "A Whale of a Tale". You can still work with the black beads alone.

Even in Flash, they can show Inez with her eyes half-closed and have it make sense. This is the same episode where they messed up her squinting.

They can show Inez with her eyes fully closed in Flash and have it make sense. Here's "Cleanup on Isle 8" again.

They can even make her expression a bit more complicated.

Let's dissect what's wrong with the squinting shot from "Digit's B-Day Surprise". They go from this...

to this...

So, if we can suddenly see her skintone through the lenses, then they are no longer opaque. It's like she has just the frames at this point.

And when her eyes are fully open, they take up the entire space in the frame, which makes them considerably larger than Matt's eyes or Jackie's eyes.

It reminds me of this cursed image from Reddit where someone gave Nezzie the same style of eyes as Matt and Jackie.

It also means that her eyes are probably square and probably have a different tint to the sclera. So, here you go.

Of course, humans don't have rectangular eyes. Slider has them though. Hey, has Nezzie been a Borg this whole time?

Well, not all Borg children have rectangular eyes. Even Creech has oval eyes.

Some fanart of Inez shows her with the same style of eyes as the other human characters, with visible sclera. There's even an illustration mistake in the book "The Orb of Power", where Inez is drawn that way.

This is fine. Her eyes can have visible sclera and make just as much sense as her bead eyes. Just don't do what the squinting scene did, where her eyes make no sense at all.

#2000s #cyberchase #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez

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Something tells me the feeling is mutual.

Woke up from my 11 month slumber to post pride art-

OG manga cover under line and as always, click for better quality! <3 Happy Pride!

#cyberchase #slider #matt #rb for pride

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Cyberchase: Cool Starmaker

This is Cool Starmaker. He was introduced in Season 8 Episode 3 "Peace, Love, and Hackerness". He's a businessman in the area public relations. He's here to help villains who have lost their reputations gain them back and become feared figures again.

Since we are in Season 8, The Hacker's many losses to actual children have led to villain decay. Only a very small percentage of citizens in Cyberspace are scared of him. So, of course, The Hacker is interested in his services.

Yes, his name is a bit cheesy, but I like his design. Hacker has his big puffed-out chest, tapering down to a thin waist. Meanwhile, Starmaker is quite overweight. The Hacker has his simple outfit with his white shirt with his pocket full of pens, his purple cape, and his black bowtie. Meanwhile, Starmaker has a black shirt, dark blue slacks, an orange tie, and a sport-coat that matches his slacks. He has a gold ring on one of his pinky fingers. He has black-framed glasses with tinted lenses. He has a cane with some gold on it. However, he does seem to lean on it, so it serves a purpose beyond showing off his wealth.

This man doesn't run around all over Cyberspace stealing things, subjugating Cybersites, or causing chaos directly. No, he's apparently a legitimate businessman. His clients come to him. He gives them their starpower back, and they go off and make use of it. He's still a bad man, but he can hardly be held criminally responsible for what his clients do.

He also seems on the older side as borgs go. he has visible gray hair showing at his roots. There are products that can help dye grey hair to make someone look younger, and there are even products that allow you to keep a little gray, as a way to show both experience and youthful energy at the same time. I think his hair normally has more grey in it, and he's covering that up.

The Hacker comes to him at a low point, as a radio poll shows that only 4% of Cyberspace still considers him scary. It's a far cry from the early seasons.

However, Cool Starmaker has a plan. He gets a news crew in position to witness The Hacker commit a crime.

Yeah, I'm not sure how that doesn't count Cool Starmaker as being part of a criminal conspiracy. Yes, The Hacker just destroyed a radio antenna, but it's worse than that. This groovy music kept the "rebooter bees" working at the computer chip factory. Without new pollination for the computer chips, all of Cyberspace will shut down.

Cool Starmaker is delighted to be part of The Hacker's impending Apocalypse.

This made me think of the movie "The Fifth Element". You have the Great Evil coming to destroy everything, and then you have the businessman Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg who wants the Great Evil to destroy everything because that will somehow be profitable for him.

But why does Cool Starmaker look so much like The Hacker? Are they brothers or something?

Does this explain how The Hacker has his niece, Harmony? Does this explain how Digit has his cousin, Brigit?

I like the Cool Starmaker. However, he seems like a one-off character. His whole business rests on bringing washed-up villains back to popularity. So, if he came back, he would just be doing the same thing again. Then again, Baskerville also seemed pretty one-note in his original appearance, as a cheap henchman who was more menacing than Buzz and Delete, despite not doing much. And yet, he came back a few times.

#2000s #cyberchase #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #the hacker

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Cyberchase on Pixter Console (part 1/?)

Hello all,

I wanted to talk about the Cyberchase game that was released for the Pixter handheld edutainment console during the early 2000s. To my knowledge, this is the only licensed console game released for the series. There were, of course, PC games released in the form of "Carnival Chaos" and "Castleblanca Quest". And they also had their various web-games.

Unfortunately, I don't own a copy of this game at this time. I can't really play through it on the real hardware and give my thoughts. I am aware that MAME has recently added a preliminary emulator for the Pixter console, and they did obtain the data from the cartridge. However, the emulation isn't yet sufficient to play the game.

The purpose of this post is to document that this game exists, given its obscurity. There is also some material available to look at, like the manual. I hope that I can eventually provide screenshots, either by obtaining a cartridge, or waiting long enough for the MAME emulation to be ready.

I don't have a cartridge or box, but I found some photos. These images of the box-art and cartridge appeared on an eBay listing at one point.

This console image appeared on a blog from Liz Herrick, one of the designers.

So, now that we've established that this thing exists, let's look at the manual for the Cyberchase game and see what we can figure out.

Here's a PDF download of the manual for those interested, but I'll post images of individual pages as I go.

So, the manual cover and box-art feature some classic Cyberchase artwork that got used for alot of stuff. We have Matt, Inez, Jackie, and Digit on hand. I'm not sure which Cybersite is in the background here, since the full-color version is so small, and the black-and-white version removes alot of context. My guess would be "R-Fair City".

And now, we can see the standard instructions for logging in as your user.

It's hard to see them due to the resolution of the scan, and perhaps Fisher-Price using bad screenshots to begin with. However, I can see Jackie (third row from the top and third column from the left) as one of the icons.

We get five games:

Sorting

Patterns

Logic

Creative Fun

Drawing

For "Sorting", we have Digit sorting Poddles by shapes, colors, both shapes and colors, or number comparisons. The screenshots are low-resolution, but it looks like we are sorting this poddle into one of two train cars, choosing between "hexagon" and "rectangle".

We can see the page that leads to the next level. I will say that the kids appear to have been badly cut out from something else.

For "Pattern", we have a challenge to fit planks into a bridge based on patterns. We have an option for simple patterns, complex patterns, and number patterns. I don't recognize the character on the bridge.

For "Logic", we have what appears to be a game of "Klotski". Klotski is a sliding block game where the goal is to get a single sliding block off the board by shifting other sliding blocks around to make room.

For "Creative Fun", we get to mix and match parts to create a "cyber-robot"? Is this a borg, a bot, or something else?

We can see some face options here.

We also get to add the giant frog from "Eye of Rom" apparently.

For "Drawing", we get to pick a background and use it to create a scene.

We can also put some stickers on it, like two classic pieces of Inez art.

And here's some Delete stickers.

And here's a Digit sticker.

We can view high-scores for the activities.

We can also check progress on these five activities.

And then we log out and let someone else play, I guess.

Yeah, I know this is pretty basic by today's standard. Someone in the intended age group for this probably would have enjoyed it though.

I wonder if this was distributed through FlyingMinds back in the day, who was responsible for alot of Cyberchase merch around 2005. Their site is gone, and several pages of content were missing. I suppose we'll have to wait until we get a good scan of the box to see if the FlyingMinds logo made it on there.

I hope to be able to share screenshots at some point, since this game is not well-documented online. Hopefully, I will either obtain a cartridge copy, or the Pixter emulation will improve.

#2000s #cyberchase #cartoon #2000s childhood #nostalgia #retro gaming #handheld #pixter #fisher price

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Cyberchase Character Gallery (Artwork Submissions)

One of the areas that I have worked in as part of my efforts to archive the Cyberchase website was the "Character Gallery". This was a place to share drawings of the characters that had been submitted by fans. The entire gallery has been preserved via the FlashPoint Archive project.

Now, I cannot repost everything here. This gallery ran from 2003 through 2011. During that time, over 250 images were added. However, I want to share some of my favorites, with appropriate credit, of course. The works don't have titles applied by the site, however. For the record, I did not draw any of these.

Here is a picture of Icky the Cyberslug.

It was drawn by Sana, Age 10, from Streamwood

Here is a picture of The Hacker at his most terrifying.

It was drawn by Devon, Age 7, from Sparta.

Here is a group shot of the characters, with very different color schemes than we are used to. I don't want to go through everyone, but I kind of like the stylized Motherboard.

It was drawn by Christina, Age 14, from Hampton.

Here is an artist's impression of Hacker after he activates his Transformatron for the first time and becomes a god.

It was drawn by Devin, Age 9, from Cleveland

Unfortunately, the scan quality on this one isn't great. We have Slider, who is just impossibly ripped. We have Jackie and Inez crushing on him as usual. And we have Matt, who is not pleased with the situation. So, everyone is in-character.

This was drawn by WIlliam, Age 8, from New York City.

I don't know about you guys, but this is how I remember Matt.

This was drawn by Maggie, Age 5, out of Westport.

And here's a picture of Jackie. She may be going for a hug.

This was drawn by McKinley, Age 5, our of Haper Woods.

And here we have Inez holding a manila folder.

This was drawn by Adrian, Age 10, out of Greenbelt.

We finally get some representation for Dr. Marbles. We have the lightbulb, the glasses, and the mustache.

This was drawn by Brenna, Age 6, from Oswego.

And now we have Bianca from "Cyberchase for Real". I think this is the only representation from "Cyberchase for Real" that I saw in the gallery.

This was drawn by Samantha, Age 6, from Terrytown.

Here we have Matt and Inez married.

This was drawn by Sara, Age 14, out of Arnold.

"I like Inez because she save the puddle vile"

Whenever I look at this, I see Norma from Psychonauts 2.I know its not the case, since this was probably drawn 15 years before Psychonauts 2 came out.

This was drawn by Alexis, Age 10, out of the Bronx.

And here's Digit.

This was drawn by Alyssa, Age 11, out of Dracut.

And here we have Delete, the red nosed robot. This is oddly fitting for him.

This was drawn by Amber, Age 9, out of Wawaka.

And now we have Inez as some sort of angel.

This was drawn by Hannah, Age 7, out of Plainfield.

I think I'll finish off with this group shot of the children with Motherboard in the background.

This was drawn by Sara, Age 14, out of Arnold.

I'm glad that I was able to archive these so they won't be lost forever.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez #jackie #matt #digit #children's artwork #not oc #fan art #flashpoint archive #archived web content

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Cyberchase: How to Hack the Motherboard

So, when I was writing my episode discussion post on Cyberchase Season 1 Episode 1 "Lost My Marbles", I mentioned that I might make another post about the security breach that allowed The Hacker to infect Motherboard with the virus. What did The Hacker do to set this up? How did the kids accidentally open the breach? And other questions like that. I have a bit of background in software engineering. I will try to keep things as simple as possible.

Much of this is head-canon built on top of what we see in the episode. Of course, the show plays it fast and loose with computer terminology. Don't try to hack things in real life. You will go to prison.

So, here's an MSPaint diagram of a tiny piece of Motherboard's setup. Keep in mind that she is the god of the Internet, and her Internet may even stretch beyond Earth into other galaxies.

So, there are three separate network segments here. We have the library's internal network, which has the big board on it. We have Control Central's internal network, which has Motherboard on it. And then we have a Database Server internal network, which has a Database Server running on it.

The Database Server is something that I invented here. Remember that this whole diagram is head-canon. However, it's not too far-fetched to think that Motherboard must reach across Cyberspace to a separate Database Server, maybe at the Cybrary.

Now, we know that Motherboard is not directly reachable, even with her Firewall down. Otherwise, The Hacker wouldn't have needed a separate security breach to get to her. He would have just pushed the virus once she took down her firewall for maintenance.

However, Motherboard has a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel to the Database Server. If The Hacker can compromise the Database Server and get his virus in there, it might be able to ride the tunnel into Control Central.

The purpose of any Firewall is to apply a set of rules to any network traffic going into or out of a network, device or application. A good Firewall configuration allows on the traffic that is needed and denies everything else. Motherboard's firewall between herself and the Database Server is currently down. The Database Server itself has connection points to the larger Internet without using a VPN tunnel. However, the Database Server's own Firewall for that access point is UP. If The Hacker tried to throw his virus at that access point, it wouldn't work.

However, there is another connection point into the Database Server. This is another VPN tunnel from the library network. Let's say that the board retrieves the data on the locations of different objects on the map and the icons for those objects by reading one of the Databases. Maybe the board also writes data to the Database to log what directions people requested.

The point here is that some traffic from the Board is authorized to pass through the Firewall on that VPN tunnel. Now, is there a way for The Hacker to get the Board to send authorized traffic over the VPN tunnel to tell the Database Server to open a breach in the Firewall for that public access point? Maybe. It is an Internet-of-Things (ioT) device. Alot of people get these devices, and then they either leave passwords set to their defaults or they forget to keep the sofware patches up to date.

There is a public access point to the Board with a poorly-configured firewall. Maybe there's a way for him to get inside. It may be possible for him to dump the virus code into the board, but there's no guarantee that it would be able to go any further, since the Firewall between the Board and the Database Server is working.

So, let's think about the Board as its own thing.

Suppose that we have two user accounts associated with the board. There is a Principle of Least Privilege that states that a given user account or system process should only be given the minimum amount of permissions required to perform its tasking. That way, if the user account or system process attempts to do something out of line with its permissions, it won't be allowed to perform the operation.

However, if you leave other unnecessary permissions open, and the user account or system process attempts to do something outside of its original intended operations, then the operation may succeed and have unintended consequences.

This also links up with the software development concept of the Minimum Viable Product. You build your software to perform only the exact tasking that it needs it perform. You don't put any additional, undocumented functions in there. Otherwise, those functions could activate and have unexpected consequences.

The board's purpose it to display the different locations. It allows for users to input two points, and it will draw a line between them to assist in navigation. We also established earlier that it reads its information from the Database and writes other information out to the Database.

However, suppose there was some undocumented functionality here. Suppose the developers had a special feature installed in the board that ran a cleanup command against the Database if you pressed three buttons in quick succession. Suppose that the cleanup command in question could be any arbitrary command. Therefore, the developers put the command into a configuration file to be read and executed by the software at runtime.

However, the developers knew that if some kids turned up and started poking the map, they could accidentally kick off the Database Cleanup command. They removed the Database Cleanup command from the configuration file. That way, if someone did poke three buttons in quick succession, the software would check the configuration file, see that there was no command defined, and then do nothing.

The trouble is that they left the part of the software that read the configuration file and ran the arbitrary command in place. So, if the command was somehow added back to that part of the configuration file, then there would be a command for the software to run. Then, if someone else pushed the three buttons, that command would be run. So, yeah, someone could put a command in there to write a bunch of junk into the Database until it filled up and crashed. Again, these are commands being sent to the Database from the Board. The Firewall would let them through just fine.

That's pretty bad, but that only lets them modify the Database, right? It's not like they can just tell the Database to open the Firewall on the server that it is sitting on, right?

Well, what if one of the things that the Database could do, upon request, was to open a command shell on the server and run a command. And what if, that command shell was able to run commands that impacted things on the server beyond the Database itself.

What if we called it "xp_cmdshell" and called the Database Server "Microsoft SQL Server 2000". Windows XP and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 would have been around at the time of "Lost My Marbles" after all. Those were also the key players in the real-world Heartland Payment Systems data breach of 2008, which inspired this post.

But hey, just because the Database could open a command shell on the Database Server doesn't mean that The Hacker could use it to bust the Database Server's external Firewall, right? He still needs a way to execute "xp_cmdshell". So, he needs an account with the correct permissions to tell the Database to execute "xp_cmdshell", and he needs the Database itself to have high-enough permissions to run a command via "xp_cmdshell" that can bust the Database Server's external firewall and open a path to Motherboard. Thankfully, the Database only run the "xp_cmdshell" for the top-level Database Administrator account.

This is where we get back to the Principle of Least Privilege. The Board should connect to the Database with a fairly low-power account. It only needs to read-from and write-to a few Database tables after all. Likewise, the Database itself should have been started on the Database Server by a fairly low-power account, as it only needs to handle reading and writing its own set of tables.

But then some moron decided to hook up the Board to the Database Server on the top-level Database Administrator Account. So, if the Board was configured to send an "xp_cmdshell" command, the Database would run it. Oh, and another moron decided to have the Database Server start the Database with the "root" account for that server. So, if the Board was configured to send in an "xp_cmdshell" command to nuke the external Firewall, then the Database would be able to nuke the external Firewall.

There is a principle called Defense-in-Depth, where you build multiple layers of defense around your critical item. That way, if a layer fails, you may be okay. We're running out of layers.

We only have one or two layers left. We know that the Board doesn't run "xp_cmdshell" for its regular operations today. Sure it has an undocumented debug mode that allows someone to execute any command in its configuration file (including "xp_cmdshell") against the Database. But someone would need to get to that file.

The board's main account doesn't give you a filesystem to play with, as they wouldn't want kids running up, poking things, and deleting the filesystem. No, you only get the interfaces that you get. You can pick two items and see a path between them. Or you can pick three items and see the undocumented debug mode run whatever command is in the configuration file.

But what if there was some sort of maintenance account accessible through the Internet that didn't enable someone to send commands to the Database, but would enable someone to get into the filesystem and mess around with it? And what if that maintenance account was still using a weak or default password because people just don't check that for IoT devices?

So, he's in the Board's filesystem now. That's concerning. And wouldn't you know it, yet another moron left that critical configuration file in a state where the maintenance account can make changes to it. So, of course, he found the empty configuration item for the cleanup command. Remember, this was setup to run any arbitrary command. Of course, he put in an "xp_cmdshell" command that tells the Database to nuke the external firewall on its own server.

While The Hacker was able to put the command in place, the maintenance account doesn't have the power to send commands to the Database on its own. That power is only enabled for the system account tied to the Board's user interface. So, he still has to rely on someone in the real world to push three buttons in quick succession.

Well...shit.

That's not good.

That's not good at all.

Seriously though, don't try this at home.

I suppose we can speculate on the nature of the virus. We know from Season 1 Episode 14 "Cool It" that Motherboard goes through more cryoxide than normal due to the virus. There are actual computer viruses out there that were designed to turn off heat safety warnings on CPUs and then cause them to run hotter. Some CPUs would eventually melt and ruin the computer.

The original infection destroyed the Encryptor Chip, and it is stated that only a replacement Encryptor Chip could cure the virus. The name suggests that it deals with data encryption, but perhaps it is also a virus cleanup tool. Perhaps it worked to weaken the existing virus until it was eventually overwhelmed and destroyed. Perhaps the virus exhausted most of its strength destroying the Encryptor Chip first.

In any case, curing the virus permanently would end the show.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #not for use in real life #you'll get busted

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase - Season 1 Episode 1 "Lost my Marbles" (part 1) - How It All Started

Hello, all. I want to talk about a particular episode of Cyberchase today. I don't know if I will put together discussion posts like this for every episode, but I feel like I need to put one together about this one. This was the first proper episode for Cyberchase after the pilot episode. Sure, we had the three-part prequel web comics and other promotional material. However, I bet most people who saw this episode saw it before they saw the webcomic or other promotions.

I didn't see this when it first premiered, but I did see the re-runs. That was long before I knew about the web comics. So, where do we begin?

The Hacker: Ahahahahaha!

The Hacker: At last! The moment I've been waiting for! Haha. It's absolutely perfect.

Yeah, The Hacker gets the first line of the entire series. As if he was going to let anyone else have that.

Imagine you'd never heard of Cyberchase before. Imagine this was the first episode you'd ever seen. We have this clearly villainous character flying his ship through a strange world. And now he's laughing with evil intent while remotely spying on some children at a library.

Buzz: Yeah, you're right, Boss. Cyberspace is simply enchanting.

And then the more competent (?) of the two Duncebuckets gets the second line. Delete is noticeably silent in his introduction, and he looks annoyed that Buzz is interrupting The Hacker's speech. I feel like this dynamic flipped later in the show. Delete became more prone to outbursts, and Buzz did more to tug him back in line.

The Hacker: Those Earth kids are the key to my plan.

Buzz: Oh yeah, you mean your master plan for all-out domination of Cyberspace that will allow you to spread chaos and evil from site to site?

The Hacker: Of course that plan, you robotic duncebucket!

Buzz: I thought the only way to take over Cyberspace was to get rid of that Cyberbrain that runs it, Motherboard?

The Hacker: And so we shall.

So, Buzz is a good, if somewhat clunky, vehicle for exposition. He explains The Hacker's ultimate goal, as well as the big step that he is about to take to achieve that goal. He also refers to Motherboard as a Cyber-brain. It is possible that that was some sort of slur, but I don't think Buzz is that kind of bad guy. It's largely accepted by the community that Motherboard's species is called Cyber-brain. That raises the question as to whether there are more of her out there.

During this exchange, the scene cuts to the kids on Hacker's big board. They don't have dialogue yet, but this is the very first interaction among them.

Yeah, they were on The Hacker's screen earlier, but Matt and Jackie were frozen in the place, and Inez did some sort of idle animation. However, this shot, Matt and Jackie are clearly working together to figure out how the library map screen works. Matt is poking at the screen. Then, he looks in Jackie's direction. Jackie smiles ad gestures with her hand. Matt smiles back. Calm down, shippers. They just met. Oh, and Inez is standing there with her arms folded. Her expression is neutral. She may be annoyed at how long tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum are taking to figure out how the map works. She did have a long bike ride over here, and it was stated upon her arrival that the library was closing soon. I'm not sure how much work any of them expected to get done today.

Now, we enter Control Central and see Motherboard for the first time. Digit and Dr. Marbles are working on her.

Dr. Marbles: Upgrade nearly complete, Motherboard. Stand by for reboot.

Motherboard: Hurry, Dr. Marbles. My firewall's been down long enough. It's not safe.

Digit: Not safe! C'mon! What could possibly happen?

He just had to say that, didn't he.

Motherboard: Hacker alert! Hacker alert!

Digit: Hacker's Back?!

Dr. Marbles: Impossible! We drained his power grid and exiled him eons ago.

Inez: Excuse me? You two aren't the only ones who require access to this map.

Matt: Hang on, I'm just trying to figure out how to use it, okay?

Yeah, Inez is already done with their shit, and they haven't even been properly introduced.

Jackie: Alright, you're here, see? So, just find where you want to go and touch that spot.

I love that Jackie's first words in the episode were to try to calm down Matt and Inez. Jackie also just turned key #1 of 3.

Matt: Okay. Mythology... Mythology...cool!

And so, Matt turns key #2 of 3. We can see that the map drew a line between the Lobby and the Mythology room. I'm not sure how it would have helped with navigation though, as it seems to be a straight line or a simple curve. We also don't see any step-by-step directions.

Inez: But I need to go to the research room!

I love how Inez lunges for the map to tap the still-glowing Lobby button again. Matt and Jackie make a point of stepping backwards out of her way.

And so, Inez gets her useless directional line to the research room. She also turns key #3 of 3.

Inez: *gasp*

Matt: Hey, what's up with that?

Jackie: It looks like the icons are going to crash into each other, right...

Matt, Jackie, and Inez: Here!

Dr. Marbles: Hacker has found a way to breach the system!

Motherboard: Quickly, reload my firewall!

The Hacker: Behold, my half-baked henchmen. My concoction of computerized chaos is about to... attack!

Motherboard: Hacker has launched a virus. It's coming this way.

Digit: Hurry Doc! Hurry! Close her up!

Dr. Marbles: Firewall loading! 45! 50!

Motherboard: It's too late... the virus has invaded my circuits. It's shutting me down.

Dr. Marbles: Firewall up! No further damage anticipated.

Digit: She's in bad shape, huh, Doc?

Dr. Marbles: Her Encryptor Chip has been destroyed! I can't retrieve it! I've got to locate and install a new one.

Dr. Marbles's quest goes poorly, as Hacker immediately captures him.

So, let's pause for a moment and process what just happened here. The Hacker, who was apparently exiled eons ago, has returned. We know from the official prequel web comic, "How It All Started", that The Hacker attacked Valussa after he was banished, but before he infected Motherboard with the virus. That was a major event, as it led to Digit betraying The Hacker for the second time, The Hacker imprisoning Digit, and Digit escaping and defecting to Motherboard.

Assuming Digit gave Dr. Marble and Motherboard the full story of The Hacker's attack on Valussa, they had to know that The Hacker was still alive and capable of causing chaos on Cybersites in spite of his downgraded power supply. So, I don't know why Dr. Marbles is in such disbelief that The Hacker is back.

It's not clear what happened in the time period between the events of the comic "How it All Started Episode 2", where The Hacker attacked Valussa, and "Lost my Marbles". This gets murkier if we bring in The Flying Parallinis' storyline, since The Hacker was imprisoned on Mount Way-Up-There without Digit.

Maybe I was wrong in my original assessment of the Parallini's storyline. Maybe The Hacker's imprisonment on Mount Way-Up-There wasn't really a retcon. Maybe Motherboard was content to just stuff him in a pod and launch him to The Northern Frontier over the theft of The Encryptor Chip from "How It All Started Episode 1". But then, after he terrorized Valussa and Digit defected, perhaps Motherboard saw fit to put The Hacker on Mount Way-Up-There as an additional punishment. If so, there was apparently nothing there to alert Motherboard if he left the mountain. Now that I think of it, that arrangement might clear up the inconsistencies in Buzz and Delete's origin stories. We know The Hacker built them with parts from Cybersite Botopolis, but they also talk about a time when they worked in a cyber cheese factory unassociated with The Hacker. If we take Mount-Way-Up-There as a separate punishment, then perhaps Buzz and Delete lost their jobs when The Hacker went up the mountain. Then, when he came back down, he pulled them back in.

I'm not going to touch "Hacker Hugs a Tree", since that was 100% a retcon of How It All Started.

I don't think The Hacker attacked any other Cybersites between the Valussa event and the attack on Motherboard. I think he laid low while cooking up the virus. I suspect that sometime between The Hacker terrorizing Valussa and "Lost My Marbles", Motherboard, Dr. Marbles, and Digit got complacent. They figured he was just sulking in The Northern Frontier.

In addition to writing the code for the virus, The Hacker must have rigged that library map to open a breach in Motherboard's defenses. Even with her firewall down for maintenance, he couldn't launch the virus, or he would have done it. We also know that raising the firewall was able to prevent the virus from causing further damage after the initial infection. So, The Hacker needed her firewall down, and he needed the breach opened at the same time in order to pull this off.

But how did the breach work? I feel like I could make an entire separate post theorizing about that, and I probably will. I won't bog down this post with it though.

So, back in the real world...

Inez: You think we broke it?

Matt: I don't know.

Jackie: There must be some way to reboot this thing!

Motherboard: I am Motherboard.

Jackie: Uh oh.

Matt: Mother-who?

Jackie: We're in for it now! She's probably FBI!

Motherboard: I am protector of all Cyberspace.

Inez: Right, and I'm Xena, Warrior Princess.

Motherboard: When the three of you touched that map, a breach in Cyberspace allowed a nasty computer virus to reach me.

Motherboard already know their names, possibly through spying on them in the library. She pulls them into Cyberspace. This is the beginning of the next 20 years of their lives spent working to keep Cyberspace safe from The Hacker.

The old pitch documents claim that Motherboard "conducted an elaborate computer search of every being in every galaxy for the right combination of bravery, moxie and math skill", and these three actual children were the best for the job. That comes with the caveat that Motherboard had just suffered brain damage from a virus first, of course. There is a popular fan theory that she pulled them in to make amends for accidentally opening the breach.

They meet Digit.

Digit: Without Motherboard, everything and everyone in Cyberspace is doomed!

Jackie: You guys, we can't let that happen. We can't just stand by and let this Hacker guy destroy Cyberspace. We have to help! We just have to!

I love that Jackie is the first one to insist that all three of them band together to save Cyberspace. She doesn't know her new teammates, Motherboard, or the scope of the mission, but she's ready to ride or die.

Inez: Excuse me, I don't even know you guys. This is a major decision! I need time to think about it.

I love that Inez is being the rational one here, arguably more rational than Motherboard.

Matt: There isn't time to think about! We've got to act now! I'm in!

I love that, the moment Inez mentions taking time to think about it (i.e. waiting), Matt throws his hat into the ring with Jackie.

They don't get cyber-suits or virtual avatars, but they get, Sqwak Pads, funky little handheld computers for problem-solving and communication.

I'm nearing the limit for these posts, so I'll stop here. I'll make a part 2 for the rest of the episode, as there are some important scenes to high-light. I probably won't go scne-by-scene, since that will take forever. However, the scenes that I covered in this part were all very important, since they set up the premise for the show and introduce our characters.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez #jackie #matt #digit #longpost

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase (Australian Release) DVD Volume 11

Here's some high-resolution scans from Volume 11 of the Australian release of Cyberchase. As far as I know, this was the last volume they released in this series. It closed out Season 2 by covering "The Eye of Rom", "Mother's Day" and "Trick or Treat".

Out of every scene of those three episodes, I'm glad they picked this one. We get to see the kids in their Halloween costumes for "Trick or Treat". We get to see that frog that was supposed to eat Motherboard from the inside out. This is based on the scene where the Cybersquad is searching Motherboard's internals for the frog, and they find it on-top-of a raised platform.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez #jackie #matt #digit #dvd #cyberchase australian dvd

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase (Australian Release) DVD Volume 1

Here's some high-resolution scans from Volume 3 of the Australian release of Cyberchase.

They made an interesting choice for the front cover of the very first Cyberchase DVD release in this series. Rather than pick the first episode, they picked episode 6, "Zeus on the Loose". They actually spoil the entire episode here. We see The Hacker open the box and reveal that it was a fake all along.

I don't always show the back of the case sleeve, but there's something interesting here. Can you see what I see? Yeah, their screenshot from "Lost my Marbles" is either from the pilot episode, or the revised version of the pilot that they used for Season 1 Episode 7. I'm not sure how that mix-up happened.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez #jackie #matt #australia #cyberchase australian dvd

[vikenticomeshome]

Does Anyone Remember Which Cybersite This Was?

Hey Cyberchase fans! Help me out here! Does anyone remember the name of this Cybersite, or which episode it appeared in? There are some flashing effects in the rendered video, so some people may want to stick with my still images and explanations of what happens. I'll put the link to the rendered video under a "read more" at the end. I will be spoiling the different scenes, so if you want to scroll all the way down the "read more" and follow the link to watch the video first, I will understand.

We start out with a shot of the great green void of Cyberspace, though the mathematical equations are notably absent.

Then, we get our first look at the actual site. I can't show it properly here, but those two segmented belts are continuously moving in opposite directions. The belt on the left is moving towards the bottom left, while the belt on the right is moving towards the top right. There must have been a scene of either the kids or the duncebuckets having to run along the belts, jumping between the segments.

I can't see the belt anymore in this shot. I assume that they zoomed out to show the true scale of the site. It looks like it's made of spines, like a porcupine. I really like the look of it.

And then, we get a shot of this infinitely long rectangular prism that is, itself, covered in rectangles. It doesn't really tesselate. I already knew this wasn't the tesselation episode, though.

And now, we seem to be inside the rectangular prism. There are rods coming out of the floor, walls, and ceiling. There is probably a scene of the kids flying the Cybercoupe through here, with Buzz and Delete in hot pursuit.

It was a bit difficult to get a good shot of this, as the camera angles kept changing for dramatic effect, but it appears to be two cylinders slamming together hard enough to make a spark, and then coming apart again. I wouldn't be surprised if the Grim Weaker gets crushed between there at some point. Also, the normally green void of Cyberspace starts looking very blue, as if the hammer is causing some distortion. I think we just found The Hacker's plot for this episode.

I'm not sure what to make of this next scene. We have the green void of Cyberspace with three tendrils. This doesn't match the prior shape of the Cybersite at all. Did it reformat like Topsy-Turvy Island?

And now, we see another aspect of this Cybersite. We have a broken-up pathway, and then the reflection of that broken-up pathway above. In the distance, we have some sort of central core (?). I can't easily reproduce the effect here, but it is shooting sparks to the left and right.

Here's another shot where we can see just how far the sparks are going.

We get another shot of the broken-up walkway and its mirror-image. This time, we are looking down from above. Was this a POV shot from the Grim Wreaker?

Here's another case where I cannot reproduce the full effect. Believe me, all of these interlocking are spinning. This must have been from the climax of the episode, where The Hacker throws the site into chaos.

This scene actually scared me as a kid. Why is everything red? Why does it look like it is shattering into a million pieces? What did The Hacker do to this Cybersite?

This scene happens later, and it looks like the kids have saved the day. The Cybersite is back to how it was earlier.

Maybe not.

It looks like The Hacker's Doomsday Device is still active.

In the next scene, the conveyor belts appear to still be running. Is that good? Is that bad? I don't remember what they meant in the context of the episode.

Maybe the Cybercitizens managed to turn The Hacker's weapon against him, though. This feel like a POV shot of the Grim Wreaker about to crash into that infinitely long rectangular prism from earlier.

Yeah, this shot has to be from the happy ending, where the site is restored.

So, that's the long and short of that. Do any Cyberchase fans recognize the Cybersite or the episode? The Cyberchase WIki is coming up with nothing.

Yeah, this isn't some secret lost episode of Cyberchase. But this is something that I am personally nostalgic for. I remember watching this 10-15 years ago. This was a graphics and audio demo called "Chaos Theory". It was created by a demoscene group known as "Conspiracy" all the way back in 2006 for a gaming festival in Finland called "Assembly".

The cool thing about this being a graphics and audio demo is that, if you get the executable version, it doesn't play a pre-rendered video. The executable contains instructions that it sends to your graphics hardware, which constructs the models, creates the visual effects, and generates the audio in real time. It essentially creates everything from scratch every time you run the executable. Because everything is created at runtime, the executable is only 64KB, which is very small. If I recorded this at 720P resolution, the pre-rendered video file would be about 160MB. The pre-rendered video would be roughly 2,500 times larger than the executable that renders it in real time.

And now, here we are, about 18 years later. It still looks great. The executable still works on modern systems, and it has options to render up to 4K. The "Conspiracy" team is also still active. I need to see what else they have made.

Here's a link to their main site.

And here's a link to their subdomain where you can download "Chaos Theory" and run it for yourself.

#not cyberchase #but cyberchase fans might like it #2000s #demoscene #chaos theory #Conspiracy #graphics demo #real-time render

[vikenticomeshome]

Anyone for a game of Gollywood Squares?

Yes, this was an official Cyberchase board game. It was released as a printable activity sometime in early 2005 as part of the "Know Your Dough" promotion. The promotion was all about teaching kids the value of saving their money. This was a few months after "The Snelfu Snafu" had aired. However, Cyberchase had a two-hour marathon, also called "Know Your Dough", containing four episodes that had to do with earning, saving, and spending money. They put live-action segments in between them, featuring Bianca and Harry hosting the show while goofing off at an arcade. I really should make a post about that.

The game looks like Monopoly on the surface, You roll a die and move around the board. Some squares force you to pay money, while others give you money. However, there are also temptation squares, where you can choose to pay money to move a certain number of squares. There is a "Get a Job!" square that allows you to get a job card and get paid for your work.

The goal is to earn enough money to buy autographs from each of the four Cybersquad members. The first player to get one from each member wins.

In addition to the spots that can directly buy the autographs, you can also end up on the U-Want U-Bid square. If one player lands on it, all players make their secret bids, and the person who bid the highest buys the autograph at that price.

Here's the sort of jobs they had in mind. I know some of this artwork has been reused, but some of it is unfamiliar to me.

I don't recall ever seeing Matt in green overalls, even though it makes alot of sense.

Inez is much more excited about walking the large creature here than she was in the episode.

I also don't remember that we've ever seen the inside of Hacker's closet. I really wish this picture was higher-resolution, as we so rarely see him in other outfits.

And here we have delete dressed as a waiter for a fancy restaurant.

Have you paid your Cyberchase Fan Club dues for the month?

Do the kids get some sort of allowance or stipend from Motherboard for saving the world every week?

I need it.

We get to see the Cybersquad's autographs.

I feel like Jackie put the most effort in here. She wrote in cursive and dotted the i with a flower. Digit's autograph is interesting though.

Here's the play money.

1 Snelfu denomination

5 Snelfu Denomination

10 Snelfu denomination

20 snelfu denomination

If you want to print the game out for yourself to play it, go to this Internet Archive link to get it.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #inez #jackie #matt #digit #board games #archived web content

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberworld QBorgs (part 4) - Perrona Prime and Scuzzle Station X

Hello all,

I'm back with more Cyberworld QBORG content to discuss. This will be a bit different than the others. As of right now, both of the QBORGs that I want to talk, "Perrona Prime" and "Scuzzle Station X" about are lost media. Outside of a few screenshots, nothing is known to have been preserved anywhere. Maybe someone who used to work at Cyberworld will come out with backup discs like what happened with the other QBORGs that were completely found. Otherwise, this may be it. This is one reason why I am cover these two together, since there isn't very much to talk about. The second reason is that I'm not entirely clear on whether they are related. Scuzzle Station X may have been a sequel or expansion on Perrona Prime or visa-versa. The third reason is that both of them were produced on behalf of StanLeeMedia.net. Now, you may be familiar with other work by the founder of StanLeeMedia.net, the late Stan Lee. He is probably best known as an actor who made brief appearances in several recent superhero movies. Here he is in Spider-man: Homecoming from 2017.

He was also well-known for his flash-based animated series "7th Portal". Everyone reading this probably remembers the plot. You have a group of friends get pulled into a virtual world through a portal. Their goal is stop an evil figure from taking over.

Ah, that's the wrong image. Let me just... here we go. This is from 7th Portal Episode 2 "Enter Darkmoor".

Let's see... what else? He did produce a pilot episode for an animated series that was not picked up. It was called "Mary J. Blige", and it sought to turn the real-life singer of the same name into a super-heroine.

Oh, and he was one of the biggest names in comics for decades.

Anyway, I found a quote from Stan Lee on the Cyberworld website from the time. It appears to be specific to Scuzzle Station Z.

"I can't wait to show fans around the world our 21st century Superhero creations in their new 3D playground. They come to life in 3D with captivating and interactive adventures by utilizing CYBERWORLD's mind-boggling multimedia technology."

-- Stan Lee

However, the same quote appears on the page for Perrona Prime, which makes me wonder what the relationship was between Perrona Prime and Scuzzle Station X.

The pitch given for Perrona Prime reads as follows:

Welcome to the world of Perrona Prime. Are you ready to embark on your new world quest?

Welcome to the fantastic world of Perrona Prime. Here you’ll find the primary entry portal to just one our new worlds. Please enter our world. Explore the walkways, streets and hidden passages. As you walk around you’ll quite possibly meet one of or most celebrated citizens; Stan ‘the Man’ Lee himself.

We get a better synopsis on this other page. This ties Perrona Prime into the 7th Portal lore, as it mentions the main villain Mongorr. Apparently, our heroes failed and he got to Earth.

The year is 2135 and man has taken to the stars to escape Mongorr's wrath on Earth. The setting is Perrona Prime- a giant floating city in space where entertainment still flourishes. There's lots to see and do here. Utilizing CYBERWORLD technology, view Stan Lee Net webisodes in the CyberCinema, play exciting new games in the MegaGames holocade, and embark on an adventure to recover the Builder PDA stolen by Mongorr. Obtain it and you will have the abillity to create your own worlds in cyberspace and even make a home in Perrona Prime!

As I said before, both of these QBORGs are lost. There are four promotional images left for Perrona Prime, so we get to see what the giant floating space city looked like.

Yeah, the images are pretty small. I like the design of the walls inside the building. We don't see any residents, aside from the floating golden robot in the bottom left image. I think this would have been really cool to explore back in the day. Stan Lee is either a giant floating orb or the moon. The first synopsis talked about us possibly getting to meet Stan Lee, as if it wasn't guaranteed. I found him.

I think the item on the lower walls in the top right screenshot may be constellations. Are those globes of the Earth in the screenshot on the bottom left?

We also have two surviving screenshots of Scuzzle Station X. These are interesting because they show a custom design for the Cyberworld browser. I have been unable to find any archives of working downloads for this customized version of the browser.

The first one looks just like Perrona Prime, which reinforce the idea that Scuzzle Station X was just a rebrand or expansion. In face, the two screens appear to show the same minimap. The art style looks completely different. However, the second synopsis for Perrona Prime talked about being able to watch Stan Lee webisodes. So, I think this is actually showing one of the cartoons. I recognize some characters from 7th Portal.

We don't get much of a synopsis for Scuzzle Station X.

Comic book icon Stan Lee, wanted to transform his web community from a world of flat graphics to an interactive 3D universe. Using CYBERWORLD technology, he was able to combine 2D and 3D graphics in an easy-to-navigate, immersive world of information and entertainment to introduce his new line of branded superheroes. Visitors to the site are able to step into the web and navigate an exciting multimedia world surrounded by video webisodes, animation, graphics and sound.

I couldn't find much online as to any other uses of Perrona Prime outside of this Cyberworld QBORG. I'm not sure if it featured in the 7th Portal series itself. I have been able to find references to Stan Lees' Scuzzle property though. Here's a poster of Mongorr, the 7th Portal villain with a reference to Scuzzle, so this managed to be a thing outside of the lost QBORG.

That's the long and short of it.

#2000s #archived web content #nostalgia #stan lee #scuzzle station x #7th portal #cyberworld qborgs #lost media #long post #not cyberchase #but cyberchase fans might like it

[vikenticomeshome]

Found: Three Skwak Pads

I'm not sure who these funky-shaped computers/communicators belong to. Two of them appear to be the same as each other, save for a color difference on the shell. One of them is apparently Xtreme, whatever that means. None of them appear to be functional, but maybe their creator can get them running again, if their creator can be found.

#cyberchase #2000s #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #cybiko #cybiko xtreme #shitpost #The CyberSquad needs to keep better track of their gear #I don't think these came in turquoise #but that would have been perfect

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase - The September 2005 promotion content

In September of 2005, Cyberchase was getting close to releasing a sequence of five episodes. These were:

Season 4 Episode 6: A Change of Art (was set to originally air on October 3rd, 2005)

Season 4 Episode 7: The Case of the Missing Memory (was set to originally air on October 4th, 2005)

Season 4 Episode 8: A Crinkle in Time (was set to originally air on October 5th, 2005)

Season 4 Episode 9: A Broom of One's Own (was set to originally air on October 6th, 2005)

Season 4 Episode 10: A Tikiville Turkey Day (was set to originally air on October 7th, 2005)

They decided to make a special section of the site promoting these episodes. It was very much in the style of the "What's Hacker's Secret???" Promotion that they used for the Transformatron Arc. I have posts on that.

part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/vikenticomeshome/745698917707071488/alright-cast-your-mind-back-to-watching?source=share

part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/vikenticomeshome/745702051476013056/the-whats-hackers-secret-content-part?source=share

part 3: https://www.tumblr.com/vikenticomeshome/745758203615264768/the-whats-hackers-secret-content-part-3-the?source=share

I've submitted my archive of the September 2005 promotional content to the Flashpoint Project for preservation. So, that will be the best way to experience it again. However, I can at least show screenshots and talk about it here. I will warn you that I don't think its as good as the earlier Transformatron arc promotion.

Before we open the promotional section of the site, let's see how this section was promoted on the Cyberchase homepage of the time. Here is a capture from Septmber 30th showing that we are 4 days away from the first of the new episodes.

That "New Shows!" panel was a gif. I went and grabbed it, in all of its tiny glory. I recognize the screenshots as being from the first three of the episodes that were being promoted. I'm not sure why they didn't include the other two.

When we get into the promotion section, we start off on this page with the statues that The hacker made for the episode "A Change of Art". Those purple dots are important, as anyone who has seen the episode knows.

Unfortunately, that video preview is from the era when Cyberchase (and PBS as a while) used RealPlayer. The original streaming source was not able to be archived, and it is now lost. I don't know if this was web-exclusive, or if it would have aired on TV.

The "Play Hacker's Secret Word Game" is essentially the same game that they used with the "What's Hacker's Secret???" promotion. However, they advertise that it used different words this time that were relevant to this set of episodes.

I do think that some of their word choices were a bit weak.

Good to know that The Hacker is going to have green skin in these episodes, though. One weird thing I noticed when archiving this version of the game is that the game requested some MP3 files for different voice-lines depending on whether you won or lost. However, I couldn't find archives of those files. I had found the equivalent files from the version of the game that was used for the "What's Hacker's Secret???" promotion. I wonder if they accidentally released this version with those files missing.

From there, we can move on to the "New Episodes Coming!" link, where we get a synopsis for each of the episodes. Spoiler alert for 20 year old Cyberchase episodes, I suppose.

A Change of Art: Statues of Hacker are popping up all across Cyberspace. It's his latest scheme - art therapy! Heartbroken after losing to the kids yet again, Hacker throws himself into sculpture and gives his work away. Problem is, whenever one turns up, the power goes off. The CyberSquad investigates to see what;s causing these changes. Is Hacker back to his old tricks? Or has he finally had a change of heart? And what's with the sparkly purple dots on the sculptures?

The Case of the Missing Memory: Under the guise of a peach mission, Wicked arrives at Control Central with a handful of bad guys. But someone's up to no good, and steals Motherboard's precious Memory Integrator. Whodunit? Where is it?? And what does it look like??? Digit and the kids must figure out what they know - what they don't know - and what they need to know. Can they do it all before Motherboard's memory is lost forever?

A Crinkle in Time: Digit and the kids go on a rescue mission to save Slider, searching for their friend all over a mysterious cybersite called Ticktockia. But it's all a big trick by Hacker, and Slider's not even there! And if the CyberSquad doesn't leave soon, they'll be stuck forever. Can they learn enough about gears to escape before the clock strikes 9? Only time will tell.

A Broom of One's Own: When Wicked puts the CyberSquad Seal of Approval on her new "Wickedly Brooms," it's up to Matt, Jackie, Inez, and Digit to make sure the broom are as good as Wicked claims. They try them out, figuring out their speed - how far the different brooms go in a given amount of time. The brooms pass the test - but Wicked doesn't. They must race to Control Central and save Motherboard before Wicked's scheme succeeds! And where's Hacker? And what will he do when he finds out Wicked is trying to take over his turf?

A Tikiville Turkey Day: Hacker steals the legendary Egg of Benedicta - and the lush landscape of Tikiville wilts and turns brown. The spirit of the Tikians is crushed and Creech is in big trouble unless the CyberSquad can help! When their attempt to recover the Egg from Hacker fails, they hatch a new plan to replace the Egg. By studying patterns in nature, can they recreate the nest and restore peace and harmony to Tikiville?

I won't bother discussing the coloring pages, as they aren't actually specific to this promotion. I don't know if that section was new, or if they just used it to fill space. The main attraction is Cyberspace News Issue #2. We got the first issue during the "What's Hacker's Secret???" promotion.

The Hacker Talks! Sam Vander Rom's EXCLUSIVE Interview

Sam: Hacker, what's woth --

Hacker: That's THE Hacker to you, Vandy!

Sam: May I call you "The"?

Hacker: No.

Sam: OK, The Hacker, what's with the new look? Is this another dastardly disguise?

Hacker: No, Vandy, I've turned over a new leaf. I'm a new borg. I'm devoting myself to my art now.

Sam: Really? No more causing chaos? No more trying to take control of Cyberspace?

Hacker: I am a simple sculptor now. An artiste.

Sam: What do you make?

Hacker: Incredible works of art that are gorgeous to behold.

Sam: Yes, but what do they look like?

Hacker: That's for me to know and you to find out! An artiste does not unveil his work until the time is right.

Sam: So you won't tell me.

Hacker: I've said too much already. Just know that I will be donating my art to the people of Cyberspace. All will benefit from my generosity.

Sam: Well, now I've heard it all. Hacker an artist? No more trying to take control of Cyberspace? I'll believe it when I see it!

Wicked's Big Surprise by Erica Ram

What can't this glamour girl from Happily Ever After do? The Wicked Witch, known to friends and foes alike as "Wicked," will soon be launching a secret new business. While she won't say what it is, Wicked does say "It's just so me! And it's full of surprises for you know who!" Does she mean Motherbaord and the CyberSquad? Or maybe her ex-fiance Hacker? As usual, Wicked leaves this reporter wondering what she's up to.

Situation Wanted Henchman

Obsequious underling seeks new employer. Very discreet. Will work cheap. All interested parties should contact Baskerville.

Baddies Go Good?

Motherboard has invited a delegation of Cyberspace's biggest troublemakers to Control Central to try and work together for the good of Cyberspace. Participants include Wicked Witch, Queenie, Swipe, Mumsie and Baskervill. Hacker was not invited.

Dear Motherboard

Dear Motherboard,

I need help. My mom is mean to me. I want to be the baddest guy in Cyberspace, but she says I have to be home by dinner.

Signed, Warren

Dear Warren, You need...a new goal! Maybe you can be... nicest guy... in Cyberspace instead.

Signed, Motherboard

Come Visit Tikiville! By Creech, The Big Kahuna

A visit to our tropical paradise is a must for anyone who loves lush jungles, friendly people and palm trees! Legend says our gorgeous green landscape comes from the beautiful Egg of Benedicta, laid by the Tiki Bird long ago. As long as the egg is safe, so is Tikiville. You can even visit the Egg in its nest near our village. All who come to Tikiville are welcome... except of course Hacker.

Ms. Fileshare's Book of the Month

Mystery lovers everywhere will want to read The Howl of the Hydra by Cylock Homes. It's a fascinating story by the esteemed sleuth.

Ticktockia Timepieces

Father Time is proud to announce that clocks and watches from Ticktockia Timepieces are now available across Cyberspace. No need to risk that pesky "Crinkle in Time" at the entrance to Ticktockia. At Ticktockia Timepieces, we work for you. Our time is your time!

That's the end of the article, and it is also the end of the promotional material.

So, what did I think of it? This does feel like them wanting to re-use the formula from the "What's Hacker's Secret???" promotion. I enjoyed reading through this promotion, but its not as cool as the other one. That one did have Erica Ram's story on Slider, "The Heartbreak Kid", of course.

We do get hints at all five of those upcoming episodes. The Hacker is taking up art therapy. Wicked has her line of brooms (and a bizarre plan to use them to take over Cyberspace). A few villains have been invited to Control Central for a peace summit. Hopefully nothing important gets stolen while they are there. We hear about Ticktockia, and about how it has a "Crinkle in Time" ready to swallow the children. We learn about the Egg of Benedicta, and how plant life in Tikiville will die if some-Hacker removes it.

#cyberchase #2000s #cartoon #nostalgia #pbs kids #2000s childhood #archived web content #flashpoint archive #flashpoint project #longpost

[vikenticomeshome]

I agree. Giving Hacker those tiny legs was absolutely unacceptable.

For Context

Two rant posts in one day?

Anyways.

Hacker’s tiny legs.

I believe I am the sole person who does not enjoy this aspect…but let me tell you why.

Hacker’s legs are first mentioned in a flash episode. We all know how seriously I take flash *cough* sarcasm *cough*. What I believe the writers did in whatever season that was (I believe Team Spirit is the first mention) - was mess up the mix between cartoon and reality.

To me, the first few seasons give the impression of a lot of exaggeration to help kids immediately identify a character’s chief traits. Hacker is egotistical and threatening - therefore they give him a massive chest, large chin, and smaller legs to exaggerate the chest. Make it look even bigger than it actually is. We see this in other strong characters like Deci and Zeus.

In the beginning seasons, Hacker does not have difficulty keeping up with the other characters, for example: Eye of Rom, A Whale of a Tale, etc.

He is shown to run just as fast as Buzz or Delete in these instances.

In one episode specifically, it’s hinted that we see Hacker’s footprints!

As we can see, the footprints are large.

In the episode about human proportions, the writers purposely avoided using any borg people to avoid giving anyone a set size. Even when the earth kid’s proportions are seen in a more detailed way, they are different sizes than what is animated usually.

I think these things - Hacker’s footprints, the kids’ footprints, other similar stereotypically ‘strong’ male characters, not being shown to be slow in other scenes - all point to that little bit of cartoon exaggeration. Meaning in reality, of course Hacker’s an adult with adult sized shoes.

But flash did the same thing with others! From the model that flash used for the earth kids without sweaters, their wrists are wayyyyy too skinny. Their hands are too big. The whole thing is just awkward. Not to mention Hacker’s hands are smaller than Jackie’s in A Perfect Score!

But if Hacker has tiny legs like that, then that means the same logic should be applied to the rest of the world. So Matt, Jackie, and Inez are all terrifying looking in real life.

I feel like it’s another instance of the animators/writers/whomever forgetting the rules of the universe and something made for a cheap laugh. I’m not tryna be all like ‘oH hAcKeR CAn dO EVerYThINg’ but dammit let the man walk!

Of course we all know I like to make everything ‘realistic’ or whatever. And there are probably plenty of counter points but the cheapness of flash comedy in the later seasons gets me sometimes and I refuse to enjoy >:0 (unless one of my mutuals does it it’s okay then. Don’t worry I separate these thoughts from my enjoyment of other fan media!!!)

It is kinda a zany show and I get that it’s in a different universe where all is not applied the same way as with earth physics. So I try to compromise by drawing him bowlegged or with slightly shorter legs than average. And obviously I still exaggerate some features.

(I hc that he actually can’t run very fast because of a knee injury in college playing football or smt.)

Just agh. It sucks seeing something pathetic come out of nowhere about your favorite character.

Anyways don’t worry if you like him with teeny legs I’m just never really going to draw him with them lol.

#cursed image #hacker #cyberchase