There is now an interesting structure in the vicinity of Hammersmith station, a short of straight-edged phallic shape, and the only feature visible from the side I pass it on is a large poster stating "Where The Future Takes Shape".  I did not need to think about Dot or TSR at work, thanks! 

Those straps aren't lending much support, though!

Clearly they forgot to rerandomise the generator.

..is it just me or does that middle shot look a *bit* like he's just been beaned in the nuts, is a bit dazed, and is probably about to fall over backwards?  Or am I just reading way too much into it and he's actually just about to keel over in shame?

As Devilfish mentioned, not entirely discarded, but didn't various people say that forum backups generally don't include uploaded files - even assuming that there is a backup and Walt can figure it out.  Of course, he might be trying with no hope of success...

Just tell them to watch this thread and/or Sims Oasis, and to exercise the patience just a bit longer - easier said than done, I know, but it's been a week already since this kicked off, hasn't it, so a day or two more isn't too much more to ask.  In theory!  They can all take the time to.. er.. make stuff or write stories ready for the big inauguration? 

I know, obvious post is obvious. 

I'm not going back through 177 pages to find the quote, but I think someone mentioned that they'd had that error message before?  So it may well be temporary (while Walt tries to figure out what the heck to do!) rather than permanent. 

I wonder if a gushing comment saying "OMG, I lurrrrrrve these, could you do me a wall version?  In.. peach? I'd pay for it!!!" would produce the goods.

She really missed a trick in not making them wall lamps, didn't she?

"What am I going to do when people stop paying for shit?" expression, maybe. 

Should've tried that on customers at work after the yearly fare rises.  "What?  It's still only £2 on your Oyster card.  That's practically FREE!"

Same here.  I've lost it at work a few times, and I work in a very male-dominated job, so they never know what to do about it - and they won't accept that if they just shut up for five minutes to let me gather myself together I'd get it over and done with, and it's people fussing over me that tends to prolong it.  A few minutes of privacy is normally all it takes for me to get myself together for something like that.  It also doesn't help that what I tend to get upset with at work is *not* being able to work; I don't think the duty manager had ever previously seen someone cry because they'd been given a week of leave and that just confounds them all the more..!

I'm sure this has *probably* come up before, but:

-The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law. -Certainly among some of them.

-Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. - Dissenting threads/comments deleted, lies told to cover things up and try to smooth things over.

-Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s). - Probably not, unless we count exposure to certain creators' idea of textures. 

‪-The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth). - As far as I'm *aware* Thomas isn't dictating marriage partners quite yet...

‪-The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity). - Yes, as evidenced by some of the self-righteous comments posted and the attitude towards filesharers.   

‪-The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society. - Duh.

‪-The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations). - EULA?  Wassat?  PayPal guidelines?  Sod 'em!

-The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities). - Trojans, spyware, PayPal info sharing.. leaving retired/departed FA stuff up still as pay and not releasing it unless hounded to, for some. 

‪-The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion. - Yes, as I think aikea mentioned earlier in the thread, as have other ex-FA's?

-Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group. - Maybe?

-The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members. - Yes. 

-The group is preoccupied with making money. - Hell yes.

-Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities. - Quantity, not quality.

-Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members. - No links to MTS2, etc.

-The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group. - Yes, sort of, from what I can recall of Aikea and Geldyh's comments.   

... I know cults are a serious thing IRL, but it is interesting to go through and tick them off.  Obviously the order of magnitude is less than a real cult, but the basic parallels are there.. you can probably think of other examples since I don't follow everything very closely.  This specific checklist was yanked from here; there are other versions around on the internet that you can find easily enough.  It was just one of the first to come up on a Google search.  My laziness, let me show you it.