Birthday • 1981-01-09 Gender •
Male Location • on Gaea, gazing at the Mystic Moon Member Since • 2003-08-30 Occupation • Don't Ask Real Name • Hal
Personal
Achievements • None to speak highly of Anime Fan Since • Escaflowne aired on Fox. Favorite Anime • Escaflowne, Last Exile, InuYasha, Wolf's Rain, Rurouni Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop, and Full Metal Alchemist to name just a few. Goals • Learn to draw anime style pictures and to speak Japanese Hobbies • Anime, reading, writing, drawing, and music Talents • Special effects make-up
myOtaku.com: CosmicSailor
Welcome to my site archives. 10 posts are listed per page.
I'm back, and my psoriasis is as in control as it's going to get with the weather playing with me like it is.
Otaku Community
Loud rock music in noisy bars is oddly, a good way for me to clear my head sometimes. Having been out with Poobah again, I got to thinking about the whole mess I found myself in early this month, and I was reminded of Sisyphus, man cursed for all eternity to roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down again, forcing him to start all over. On the dark, winding road coming back home after the show, at somewhere around 4:00AM, the futility of my outward efforts, through projects like "Passive Dissent", hit me hard. You could say that my eyes were opened to that "vision softly creeping" that Simon and Garfunkel sang about so many years ago, and I could see myself in the position of the dreamer, caught up in a world so distracted that communication has turned meaningless.
What I came to realize as my Mom dodged the deer and kept pace the van driven by Poobah's lead singer, is that my words, and the words of everyone who spoke out for this community, for myOtaku.com, is that, we might as well have been pouring our hearts out to brick walls for all the good we've done. Aside from token action, and less than sincere interest, I do not feel I made an impact where it counts the most. Sure, I know others have rallied behind me, but can any one of us truly say that we've been effective in communicating our concerns to the staff, to Adam, in such a way that has commanded his attention? Honestly, I can't say that I've seen enough action to say that I've made such an impact.
I do realize that Adam has his hands full with getting theOtaku.com running smoothly, and he has been under the weather lately as well. Maybe I'm just too impatient to wait before jumping to the conclusion that I'm not being heard. Whatever the case may be, things have not been getting done, and that has belittled my efforts.
For anyone who noticed, I have taken down the Passive Dissent banner, kitabug has chosen to shut down the World for the cause, the activity was declining there, and with the reduced capacity of my efforts there, things didn't look too good for it. I think it's best that we all find a way to move on as best we can. You can count on me to continue to bring stuff to Adam's attention, it just won't be nearly as loud a roar in the future. Whispers are just as effective as shouts to get someone's attention in my experience, so lots of whispers may do more good than our shouts did.
Campaigns of Another Sort
Recent e-mail newsletters, as well as the June issue of Shonen Jump have brought to my attention yet another display of content distrubution ignorance on the part of, none other than Fathom Events. If that name doesn't strike any chords, it was last year that I had a discussion with Fathom Events over their lack of distributing anime content to WV movie theaters. Long story short, I got an empty promise from Fathom that they would consider WV for future anime stuff, and they haven't done that. I realize I'm the only WV resident here so this whole thing is moot to anyone else (unless you live in another cultural black hole that never gets this content), but I have to say something.
Right now, there are two up-coming Fathom Events related to anime content. The Live Action Death Note movie which itself isn't anime, but it's connected to the anime and manga by name anyway. The second event, coming in June is the Bleach movie. I know, it's contradictory for me, someone who's openly admitted he don't like Bleach to complain about that film not coming to WV theatres, but this is a principle thing. I'd pay to see Serial Experiments Lain (the all-time worst anime I've ever seen) in theatres, just to say I saw something anime on the big screen. Right now, I'm working on writing a letter to NCM Fathom, as well as Regal Entertainment Group, Viz Media, Viz Pictures, and any other companies I discover are involved with this thing. It does me no good to ask anyone else to campaign this cause for me since it does not personally effect anyone else, so I'll just leave it at that and let you all know I'm doing this campaign.
Lighter Notes
It's May, and that means Prom season for High School. I know back in 2006, and 2007 I promised I would post a prom picture of me, and I don't recall ever actually doing it. In the spirit of the season, I dug up one of the pictures of me for my Junior Prom (I never attended Senior Prom, long story, not going there). I never was a photogenic dragon in my human form, but I do have to say you human creatures do make some really nice skin covers for your special occasions. The image quality is poor, it's a scan of a Polaroid photo, not the best combination.
I am building a photo portfolio on a site I'll link here soon, and I've put a few things into my DeviantArt gallery as well lately, so my creative energies are getting a workout, and I do have other plans I'm working on as well. Also, I hope to have another Poobah video up in the next week or so, I just have to finish up with the credits, get it uploaded, and fight with Google for a day or two before getting it up here.
Technical notes on things I've done and will be doing to my blog here.
Blog posts have been extended to 500px in length
Will widen posts to about 600px (for ease of viewing video clips)
New Header banner will be put in place
Background will be overhauled
MyOtaku.com support stamp is in the works (the flag is cool, but I want to make my own)
Stressing out over a Sisyphean task just isn't worth it to me, that's why I stepped back. Peaceful or not, putting heart and soul effort into something to get token interest is not worth emotional cost to me, it's not worth the stress. Hopefully future projects will be brighter and yield more positive results.
I know, and anyone can call me a coward or whatever for backing down, but it just is not worth it to me to keep pushing. I have hobbies, I have interests, I have a life beyond the realms of the siblings otaku, and I'd rather enjoy that than get the "Sound of Silence" treatment over needed improvements here.
I know a lot of people appreciate what I, as well as others, have done to try to affect some kind of positive change both here, and over on TheOtaku. That's never been a doubt in my mind.
It's sad for me to say this, but from where I stand now, I don't think there IS anywhere members like you or I can go with our concerns because no one who CAN do anything about them is listening with their full attention.
When something is stirred by passion, it's not supposed to be a burden. I've thought about it a few times over in my absense, and that's what I came up with. I can and will speak where the need be, but I can't go heading up any major campaigns, the attention is too negative, too hostile, and too intense for me to deal with.
My e-mail has been in my profile since 2004 or 2005, quite a while anyway, and all my points of contact are there just in case anyone seeks me in one way or another. I also have a blogger blog that I don't link to, and will not share through PM here. For personal reasons I'm trying to keep that one disconnected from here as much as possible. I don't make myself hard to contact, cause I've lost touch too many times already.
Well, the relaunch was for theOtaku.com, not myOtaku.com which is where we are now. A know a lot of people have brought up the "temporary" comment situation here in terms of not liking it, and Adam's asked for help in designing a new one, so hopefully it will be corrected soon.
The break did me a lot of good, so I'll be good to go for a while.
I've been a member of theotaku.com and myotaku.com since August 30, 2008. I've had highs, and I've had lows, I think everyone who's been a member here has had both good and bad times. In just about every case, the good has outweighed the bad. In the months leading up to the relaunch and introduction of the "Version Vibrant" system on theotaku.com, I followed the developments as best I could, and reported those in my blog, for no reason other than to keep fellow otaku bloggers informed. Upon relaunch, and subsequent reduction in activity on the older blog arm, myself and other members came together with a goal, rekindle a sense of companionship among members, and promote renewed activity. In doing that, my voice became a flagship, not only for that particular cause, but as a champion of the "little guys" the "regular members" whose needs are varied. I never asked for that responsibility, I never set out on mission of establishing some sort of greatness. I speak where and what my heart tells me to speak. My heart is drawn toward the struggles of the "little guys" because I am one myself. I hold no special rank here, I never did, I hold no special privilege, I never did, I'm just another regular member trying to get by and hoping to get that next piece of work submitted sooner rather than later.
The trouble with being that unwitting champion, even for a cause I strongly support, is that it puts a heavy burden on my mind. Each and every visit becomes something akin to a political public relations strategy session. The worry of "what will I be faced with on the site today?" is not something one should have over his head when coming online to be among friends. Speaking out was supposed to draw attention to something which needed to be out there among the community. I spoke on behalf of an issue that was important to me, not to make trouble for Adam, the staff, or any of the members here. Whether or not I have done that is not for me to say, but I do feel that I have caused undue strain where I had hoped to foster a sense of harmony.
Right now my heart and mind are in conflict. My mind really wants me to continue on, doing what I have done here over the past few weeks, trying to be an ambassador for the preservation of the old, while giving the new it's fare shake as well. My heart tells me that I will not be able keep up that pace. My desire to help my friends is very strong, but I also know that there is only so much I can weather. I can only take so many waves after plowing head-on into a storm of partly my own making. My head wants me to tough it out, like warriors and dragons before me, my heart tells me I have to step back, I have to let other voices speak the messages of their hearts, I have to let others find their own wings and fly toward their desires.
It's not an easy choice for me to make, but I have to distance myself from this thing for some time. I'm physically exhausted, mentally drained, and emotionally fatigued. It shouldn't be a chore to visit a site I've made my home for so long, I shouldn't feel an air of discomfort hovering about me as I move about the site. What all that means is, I need to take a break from from most, if not all, of my activity on both otaku sites. I know I need time away from otakudom here. I'm looking at about three weeks of keeping myself removed from the sites and all activities here at least. That means I will not be able to speak for Passive Dissent, I will not be able to champion the causes and the people whom have come to rely on my voice. I wish I could make it easier for those who need me most, but right now, all I can offer is a piece of advice I gave a friend recently: "If you feel strongly about something, don't be afraid to speak your mind. It may not be till you speak that others find the courage to speak along with you."
One other key reason I'm taking this time off is my health. I have mentioned my psoriasis on myOtaku.com in the past, it's a skin condition I have which is, unfortunately, aggravated by stress. Without the details, I'm very uncomfortable and itchy, I have been for three days now. When I've stressed myself out to that point, it's past time for me to force rest upon myself.
I do apologize for the rather sudden announcement, I know it's kind of unexpected. I will not be completely out of touch though. My contact information is up on my site here, and I will be active elsewhere on the web even though I am taking a breather from the otakudom here. Lots of dragon luck to Passive Dissent, to the staff and members of this otaku universe, and to all of my friends here. I hope to return rested, recovered, and to positive things. Until the next post...
Photography is a hobby of mine and flowers love me so they almost always take nice shots. Changing things up on Worlds is a good thing, and I'm happy to have a color scheme I really like there now.
Get over there when you can, pop me a note or something too.
All that glitters is not gold. And not all treasure is tangible. You are right though, my Sanctuary is one of my treasures, and it does fit to have place in my Worlds.
I do apologize for ducking out on the site like this at such a critical juncture, but my alternate contact info is down there, my e-mail is over in the profile to the left there, so I'm not out of contact, if something major goes down that needs my attention, please someone don't hesitate to let me know. I'm not hard to find, or to contact.
Crabapples, such tart little things, yet they make some wonderful jelly. I didn't get the blossoms a year ago or th eyear before, but I did manage to get them this year. Flowers give me the best pictures when I shoot I think, they just turn out so professional-looking and I don't even have to try too hard to get them.
Please check out the portfolio, I got a new piece of art up there too the other day and forgot to link it here.
I have no plans to leave this place for good. Right now, my sore, itchy scalp though is telling me I'm pushing myself way too hard and need to slow down. I hope the community can manage without me for a little while, hopefully other voices will pick up the torch where I'm fumbling it here. I think it's a tall order to expect a 100% return to what we had, but we can bring it close if we try.
I actually haven't been on the Rail Trail in Spring, so I'm not sure what it looks like. A lot of my shot are late summer/early fall. TheOtaku isn't really a nature photo gallery, so why not link to the place where my nature photos will be? Makes it easy to find me when I can't be on here, like for the next few weeks.
Oh yeah, I'm still doing the wood burning stuff. In fact I'm working on a dragon piece that will be a "How I do it" kind of DIY knock-off.
Spring is treating me well, hope it does the same for you. And you have no idea how much I missed that biscotti. Catch me on dA if you need anything in the near future, and don't worry, I will be back here as soon as I'm rested and recovered.
One of my favorite times of year for photography work is upon me, and after doing some work in my backyard to prepare for a garden, I had to pick up the camera again and enjoy the cool crisp breeze on this Saturday afternoon and let nature reveal herself to me.
Once upon a lifetime ago on myOtaku, I posted some photos of a crabapple tree in my yard, of course at the time the fruit was ripe and red on the branches. That same tree is in full bloom right now, the flowers a beautiful mix in shades of pink. Something tells me this is going to be a good photography year for me. But you don't have to take my word for it, just check out the photo and see for yourself. I like the wan the shot came out myself, got some others of the same tree, and some other wild flowers in my yard that look nice as well.
Expect to see some new additions to my DeviantArt portfolio in the next few days. I got a couple real gems that I want to share so that's where I'll put them, since that's my place for photography stuff.
I have to go on about the new "Red" color scheme that's over on theOtaku.com now. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, it reminded me so much of those Starlight mints, the round ones with the red swirls all the way through. Being the crazy dragon that I am, I put a Starlight mint up as the BG image after setting up that theme as my main World theme. Up till "Red" came along, I didn't really like any of the color schemes, I was using the closest ones to what I was comfortable with. This one goes against my typical dark colors or green, but I never could resist a good sweet Starlight mint. I think there are two more as yet undisclosed color schemes coming, I'm curious to see what they are and if I'll like them. So, I'll warn you now, don't go to my main World if you're craving sweets, the alluring spiral of the starlight mint might just hypnotize you. Or at least make your craving ten times worse.
Not much else to cover today, hope I can get some more nice photos in the coming week.
Comments
Everyone:
I did read the comments from April 1 even though I'm being lazy and not answering them all individually like I should. Thanks for the clarification on the April Fool's Joke, I didn't check the calendar to realize that was the issue. As for adding me to messengers and on the sites, just let me know who you are so I don't go thinking you're a spam-bot trying to get me and there shouldn't be any problem. My MSN messenger is out of date and I can't upgrade to the newest one (it won't install on XP Service Pack 1 so it says), so chances are that's the one you'll have the most issues with in terms of it now always working. I will have my online messenger schedule up here soon.
We've been working on that problem and it's not a big problem, it's a humongous problem. Hopefully the notes I have will help in the solution process, but only time will tell.
Nice weather means the camera will be out a lot, so I'll definitely be enjoying myself now and then, and little breaks in nature are the best medicine to ease troubled minds.
First off, thanks everyone for pointing out the dA icon situation for me, I had forgotten it was April first. I take great solace in the fact that mine probably wasn't the only "help ticket" those losers got that day, and mine was probably not the nastiest one they got either, so we're even.
Lately it feels like I'm pushing so hard and getting nowhere that I'm burning myself out. Whether I wanted it or not, I've become a voice for people here on MyOtaku.com and over on TheOtaku.com, a voice speaking out for the community. Being that voice puts a load on me, because I do have to keep up with the sites on a daily basis to know where the pulse is, what people are wanting done, and how they'd like to see the community come together. I hope a lot of this stuff is sorted out soon, cause I won't be able to keep up this pace for long.
I did try to take more video of the band on Friday night, but the venue wasn't exactly the best layout for video work so none of it's good enough to me to put online. I hope to have some footage of their original songs at some point soon too, maybe this weekend, maybe another weekend where I'm familiar with the venue better. I'll worry about that all when the time comes, but hopefully it'll mean you'll get to see more video of the band.
Weather's warming up, so that means I might have some footage from the tunnels I hike through soon as well. 'll get some pictures up somewhere for those who haven't seen them yet. It's hard to appreciate the splendor of the tunnels from a set of stills. I'll concentrate on that project when I'm less busy with other things though.
Plans for the coming months:
Learn Photoshop
Submit more art
at TheO
at dA
Get more photos of home and out and about
Get more video of home and out and about
More Paranormal Investigation
Make more Sushi!
Finish all my outstanding art projects from a year ago
Before I get down to business, I promised some links to altenate points of contact for me. I'm not posting my Blogger URL for personal reasons, but I'm admitting I have one, since I've dialogued about it here before.
Sites/Profiles:
DeviantArt: cosmictraveller.deviantart.com (Note:the site is being stupid right now, all avatars are some stupid Pokémon nonsense).
Also promised a reference guide to the coding system on TheOtaku. I'm still capturing and coding that up, I hope to have an online, and printable PDF version ready soon.
On to Business
The delay in my posting kind of comes from my being so busy last week, I'm just now getting my wind back from it. Thursday, I was up in Pittsburg to see the "Bodies: The Exhibition" exhibit (my brother and sister wanted to go). It was fascinating, but not for the faint of heart, as the exhibit is entirely made up of plasticized real human bodies and body parts. I got a lot out of it, and I gained an appreciation for the awkwards shapes that make up humans, and I should be able to apply that knowledge to my art in the future. The exhibit runs till early May, if your interested in it. Bodies: The Exhibition is being shown by the Carnegie Muesum.
Friday Night, I found myself busy helping out Poobah and watching them play. Poobah is a pysch rock band, and they havea cool sounds, but, I'll let you all be the judge of that (note: if the clip stretches the window, I'll be correcting that shortly):
I took that clip on Friday Night, had to share it with you all. The friend I go on about now and then is the guy on drums.
I missed a key post on one of my Worlds on Sunday, because I was too drained to collect the infomration I needed for it, so it'll come a week late and hopefully have more info to show for it. The Sanctuary is what I'm talking about.
I hope to get to commenting again here this week as well, and should be on top of things for a while.
Comments
Yensid:
I'll miss your commenting/posting here, I hope you find your way back to us.
I think it's about time I put up aother post on Passive myself, and if I have the energy, finally get a banner together for it. Hopefully we can see some life come back to TheO through our efforts.
The account makes for a good plot to one of those "warm fuzzies" movies, but the truth does that sometimes. We need to get the people here together, that's the only way to really save this place. It's really smart to do that, comment here on his MyO page like that. I'm sure the message will get noticed eventually.
You know, I'm on just as much as I always have been, but I seem to get less done now that I'm having to straddle two sites. I'm already behind in my weekly postings from the offsite stuff, but I just don't feel as productive here in commenting, posting and anything anymore. it's really bad.
I've had many people over the years assume I was on staff here for one reason or another. I never have been on staff here, and I don't see myself being tapped for that kind of thing anytime soon, if ever. I don't think It's fear of me that makes it less likely for me to be approached that way, but my rough edges do present a lack of professionalism that's very important for staff to exhibit. Could I change that? Absolutely. People tell me I'd be good at doing staff stuff, but I'm not so sure myself. I've never had the kind of responsibility that the staff here has. Would I take a staff position if it were offered to me? Well, that's not an easy question to answer. I think I would have to go through a trial period where I got to know what all I'd have to do, then I'd be albe to decide if I could handle it or not. I have become a voice of reason here of late. I just call things like I see them, and I don't hold back when expressing them. I think others respect my willingness and ability to do that while maintaining civility. If that makes me someone Adam wants on his team, it'll be a surprise to me.
I haven't been commenting as efficiently as I'd like to be since this time last year. I have been trying to get back into the comment thing, but even now with less people updating, I'm still falling behind.
I can relate to your baking analogy there, only my ruined dish is peanut butter cookies. I never can get them to turn out right. That first post I made back in March, the really heavy one about community here that sparked Passive Dissent, that says how I was feeling at the time. I did, I saw myself falling out of touch with so many people so fast it was really hurting me. it still hurt when I focus on it, but I'm accepting that there will be people I knew here that I won't be able to talk to again for one reason or another and I'm going to have to be cool with that. To me, it would have been a waste to up and leave here for a new community. I already have a name here, even though I have to work to rebuild that name in a "new" community. I don't have that other places. I'll stick it out here as best I can and help build a what I hope to be a new community that honors the spirit of what came before. We can't honor the spirit of what came before if we don't have anyone here who was part of what it was. Let that be your strength, let the desire to honor the old sense of community we once had keep you standing and push you forward into the unknowns we have ahead on both the and my otaku.
Actually, my online writing has taken a hit too, I've started at least three stories that I just don't have the heart to finish and try to submit for "Fan Words" consideration. There's a long story behind that which I can't get into here for various reasons, but I'm noticing that lag too. When you feel you have to do something, it loses it's fun. Never take a project your heart's not behind. My challenge isn't seeing a lot of action this time around, so when this one is up, I'll probably put it away for a while and revive it later when there's more activity on the sites to see more participation.
I never saw MyO falling this far this fast myself, I just kind of thought it would always be there for me, and now, it's seeming like it won't be. I got my contacts up, bookmark all of them, save all of them, and you'll have a way to get in touch with me one way or another. I would hate to see the site vanish myself.
I think I got you added to me as well, the site was really wonky when I was on there today.
You're not the only one who feels that. I've been feeling like that since last year actually. I lost the energy I had to post and comment here and it hasn't come back yet. I hope it does someday though.
It is so good to see a familiar name from back in the day on here again, you have no idea the roller coaster I've been on the past month.
The community has suffered, and a lot of that suffering is technically related, like the PM system being moved. We were promised that MyO updates would show on TheO, they're not, TheO is now so JavaScript heavy that some computers can't even run the site properly, the limitations in what and how we can post have frustrated long-time members and new members alike, there is no easy way to find friends, we lost our "Artist Tracker" lists, and that's just the stuff I can think of right now. Technical advances are wedging the two sites apart, and that's not healty for the community. I value all the friends I've made here, I wish they would all come back and post and comment and stuff, but that's not going to happen. I hate to see what's happening here, it's painful.
Please do. kitbug69 is who you'd talk to about getting on as a guest poster for it.
It woudln't take me more than a day to get the 5,000 words if I coudl sit down all day without any distractions like needing to do something, or be somewhere. I've written anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 word shorts before, and I've written stuff that's still going on that's close to 15,000 words too, so I'm not afraid of the word count. It does take some finesse to do it right when writing a novel espeically. I'm thinking the 5,000 words won't actually be one scene, but will be little bits and additions to what's already written to make it flow better. That takes mroe time, energy and focus to do that a straight scene. Hopefully, I'll be done by May, I'd love to get the book out this year.
Every action, every gesture to help the community is appreciated.
Caprice:
You're posts and comments will be missed here, I'll get you my comment response when I can.
I think Sesslover had others putting it on their sistes for a while, it might still be up on some of them. Right now, those two pieces are the only official web bling the cuase has going for it, so I'm useing them both.
MySpace for me is probably going to be more about messaging and stuff rather than hosting a lot like audio or video stuff. I'm just on Imeem to be able to hear the audio tracks mostly, I haven't uploaded anything there yet, or blogged, or anything, though I should see if they'll have fits over the Gregorian Chants I'd like to be able to share with others.
Blogger is my personal/professional blog and I use it to rant about stuff I can't say here because it's about people and things here, that's why I don't have the link up anywhere on here, or on any of the sites I linked to here. I've had issues in the past where things I've said have come back to bite me, and I'm not about to have self-righteous snoops go offsite to find that stuff and bring it back here. That info is on a need to know basis, so not everyone who asls for it will get it, and I won't send it via PM on site here either. I've been with Yahoo! since 1997, so I use it's e-mail, it's IM, and I'm not on 360° anymore cause they said they were overhauling it last year, and I just never went back to see if that's true or not, or how it's working. TokyoPop is a headache and a half it's one of the JavaScript heavy sites I can't go to often for fear the load will overheat my computer.
I think allowing myself a cushion while trying to maintain some sort of regularity to my online life will do me some good cause I need the discipline. I will miss now and again, that's for certain, but I won't be all panicked and tweaked cause I didn't post on schedule. I used to be like that, I can't do it anymore.
For anyone who hasn't heard yet, there's a project on TheOtaku to collect and share our stories of the MyOtaku community, and how we've been affected by the sudden, unexpected damage brought on by the Version Vibrant launch. It's not about bashing Version Vibrant, and it it a peaceful project (please read the introduction carefully), but any and all perspectives on TheOtaku, MyOtaku, and how the two have fallen apart are welcome there. The site is "Passive Dissent. Feel free to comment on any of the postings, and speak as much as you are comfortable with sharing. The banner and flag both link to the project above, I'll probably make my own banner, button or badge for my page here and offer it to others to use should they want to use it. Much thanks to the creators of the above banners for their use here.
And Now, The Update:
Another update on my Writing Challenge. It came to my attention that the video I posted here is no longer working (and people wonder why I detest YouTube with a passion). I can direct people to a full version of the theme song, and possibly another video clip of the TV size theme as well. It was performed by The Ventures for those who seek to find the theme on their own. There isn't a whole lot of interest in this project, so I'll probalby not do it again in this format.
I'm down to 5,000 words left in my novel, still got a way to go, and I'm still working on getting pyrography commissions open as well. Other than that, I'm exhausted right now, been awake WAY too long today.
For one reason or another, a lot of people left. Last week, when I posted this, I was seriously feeling out of touch. I've moved on now so to speak. There are people I'll not be able to contact again and so forth, and I'm okay with that now. It was just way too much for me to handle at one time.
It seems that things have come around completely. Back in 2003, blogging wasn't as important a thing for me as it is now, I value the communication and sharing I do outside of my family. I get feedback and support from all over the world when I blog, which is really cool when you stop to think about it. It is a shame that the written word's value isn't seen for what it is, but those are the times we live in. In a year or so, people will start to pick up again and we'll see a surge in blogging. Probably not here, but somewhere. MBRP is a nice diversion, I've been into that myself since 2003, but it's not interfered with my blogging any (actually the MBRP forum I'm on is slowing down, but sumer rolls around and that will change, it always does), and it's not the same. It's interaction, but not really communicating cause all you'r basically doing there is a written form of improvisation.
I have a space on MSN too, it's a very painful site to load on my computer, so I'll check my e-mail and that, and post there once in a while, but I won't be able to interact for long periods of time there. The site is just way too clunky and difficult.
Yeah, it's sad to see out of date blogs and dead links to now defunct sites and stuff, it happens though. I haven't been on MySpace enough to really know what's going on there, so I say I don't like it now, but that's only cause I don't know how it works. Once I figure all that out, I'll know and not be nearly as critical of it.
Normally I'd be one to say "keep your site, ride it out" but I really don't have it in me to be the reason someone stays were they're not happy anymore. i made that mistake too many times in the past. I'm on MySpace now, I'm on dA, I'm on Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, I'm not hard to find for the people who want to find me. My e-mail is right up there in the menu so I can be contacted that way if nothing else as well. I don't like to lose touch with good friends. i hate to see them go, but that's part of life too, and if I want to stay in touch, it's time I made the sacrifices and followed where my firends go instead of expecting them to stay with me.
I will be updating that blog on a weekly basis along with many of my other blogs as well. I have My "professional" World, my MyOtaku blog here, DeviantArt, and Blogger that will all be updated weekly, Spaces, MySpace, and TokyoPop will be bi-weekly beginning next week, Yahoo! 360, Imeem, and I think I have a blog through AIM, not sure, will be updated once a month starting in April. I have these things all over the place and don't even know it sometimes, so I might find other blogs in my name I haven't touched yet.
Oh yeah, as Q put it in the last episode of ST:TNG "See you... out there."
Yeah, it's been a hard week for all of us here I think. I'm just glad to see things starting to take shape and begin to fall back into a somewhat confortable pace and flow. You know, when I posted this on TheO, I had a visitor I did not know pop me a comment. She was motivated by my sentiment to take what I had written and post the URL in a comment to Adam's Founder's Diary World on TheOtaku. That one simple little action put the ball in motion that lead to the creation of Passive Dissent. None of us who post on that World know if we are being heard, but it feels better for us to get our stories out there to the public anyway.
I try to keep myself easy to contact, I'm on dA, the link is right there at the bottom of every post of mine, I'll link up some of my other blogs and online locales so that it's even easier to find me when I'm out and about. I would hate to be one of the last Old School people still on the site here, I really would. I'm probalby one of few non-staff members left from the 2003 era, now that's kind of sad. Wherever our paths take us, I hope they take us together because good friends are so hard to find these days.
No, when everything appears to be lost is not the time to pack out, that's the time to stand firm, because that's when there's the most hope for things. When Adam sees people hanging in here, even through all of the things happening, all the features going to TheO, he'll know we're loyal to our home, and will do whatever it takes to keep it.
We don't really know if we've done a good job of that yet or not, there's been no difrect official response ot Passive Dissent that I'm aware of. I can only hope Adam, or someone on staff has read through those postings and see that there's more to MyOtaku.com than the features and fucntions, it's about the community we had here that fell to pieces really by accident when Version Vibrant came in and forced people to choose which direction they wanted to go.
Version Vibrant lacks a cohesive community element, something to bring people together. Adam's had this "vision" of the perfect site in his head for years now (I believe he posted about it in his MyO blog back in 2004 prior to the Version ReDefined launch). Does Version Vibrant meet his vision? He hasn't said anything about that yet. I don't think it's where he wants it to be yet myself, but that's just a hunch.
The sad thing is, there's no easy way to find out if the people who were on here packed up and moved to Version Vibrant wihtout saying anything, or just up and left the site. I know a lot of people have gone for months without posting, I have some non-updates in my friends list that go back to 2004. The number of people who comment here has gone down, but you know, in the process of losing a lot of contact, I've met new people,and I've found old friends you just changed their names so there's hope for this community yet. I'll tell you to bookmark my dA page, and bookmark my Geocities website, I'll get a cluster of links up on that. I've had my Yahoo! account since 1997 so I'll not give that up for anything. Just in case this place does come down around us. I hope anyone who comments here has my contact info saved so that I can be reached one way or another. I'm not ready to start preaching a hellfire and brimstone fate for the site yet, there are glimmers that thihngs are looking up.
Patience alone doesn't solve anything, but it's a big help when something is difficult to handle.
A good idea to consider a second source on this once cause I will stubbornly hold onto this site till the day it's no longer online. That wouldn't be fair to anyone who relies on my judgement to know if and when it's time to leave.
I have too much invested here to leave myself, and I don't think peole should give up on the place just yet either. I would hope others would stay and help me, by commenting on Passive Dissent, putting in their two cnets when Adam asks for feedback on both TheO and MyO, but if you must go, yoiu must go, I don't make myself hard to find, and I'll link my other places here so that anyone who does leave can still reach me should they want to.
The whole minority/majority thing, not going to get into that, but it was hurting to see the community crumbling. I think it's settled down for a while, hopefully it'll pick up again, be won't really know till it happens.
If enough people, especially long term members get behind Passive Dissent, then we will turn some heads for sure. We have to do what we can to make our voice heard, and heard in a way that's not hostile to the site. I think we're doing that very well. I hope that what we say there impacts what goes on here.
Welcome to my little corner of what's left of MyOtaku. I'd tell you to pull up a chair, but those might be packed up and hauled away next.
I didn't know him, but I did read his post, and it was really something. That's the kind of thing that would jar me if I ran a site like this and saw. Though I think he would have left regardless of Version Vibrant's launch, I think the launch may have induced his leaving prematurely. That's just me. He did leave his e-mail in is profile there, so he shoudln't be too hard to reach for those who really want to stay in touch with him.
We sure have been here a long time haven't we? Seems like it was just last week i was registering this account to have it ready for whe I could upload my anime fanart (at the time I dind't have a scanner). I hear that, the people I've met here have shaped me and helped me to grow and adapt. It's sad to see what's become of things. It's not all bad though, there is some light. Things are being worked on, so hopefully the cummunity will see activity again.
Welcome back, good to see you again, even if your name is different.
By now, I'm troo exhausted to be frustrated with the new site. It is annoying that you have to be on both to really know who's updating and when, but that's how it has to be for now. The most irritating detail with the PM system is there's no easy way to do it. If a person hasn't already sent you a message, there's no easy link to send a PM like the ones here on MyO used to do. That alone would be an improvement for the new PM system.
Of course I'll add you again, I look forward to following your updates, and I've subscried to you on VV as well so I'll know when you update there too.
Kita and I were talking in IM about how we felt and all and the idea came to us to put together a World that would showcase the soul of the community which was, and still is, hurting from the rapid jerk in two different dirrections as Version Vibrant launched. She was probably asking if you wanted to geust post your perspective on MyOtaku's loss of community on Passive Dissent, if you want to join the cause to speak up and defend the home we know. If you have something to say about the MyOtaku community and want to guest post in Passive Dissent, let Kita know so she can get you in there and you can get your post up.
I'll try not to be a stranger this time, and you try not to be one too, okay?
Welcome to my little corner of MyOtaku. As I mentioned to mater hiko, I'd offer you a chair but they might get pulled right out from under you so you;ll have to make do without.
I saw your comment there, and I thank you again for your bold move in taking my post to Adam. I don't know if he read it, but you kind of started a movement with that one simple act. I appreciate that because it's brought people together over on TheO, and got people talking over here too. What you did was really in the spirit of community, and it got us both a new friend too.
Gotta dig the lizards, not to mention my favorite flavor is "Dragon". SoBe, good stuff.
First off, before I get down to business, there's two things I want to mention here. I was going to post a reference guide to the format coding of the new TheOtaku site, that will be delayed a few days, I have more important things to cover here today. I was also going to post the details about a writing challenge I've gotten up on my main World. The writing challenge is the reason I had the video posted last time, and I had intended to open it up to whomever still reads my blog here if they were interested. I'm not sure I have enough interest to make a major production out of it here, I'm not getting a whole lot over in Worlds. If anyone here is interested, the only thing you can leave out of the requirements if you post here on MyO is no tag since there is no post tagging system here. If you post on TheO, don't forget to add the tag, so I can find the post easier, and please, pop me a comment so I know you're doing the piece.
"Beware the Ides of March" is a saying I never truly appreciated until this year. In the last 24 hours I have had mountains of stress and concern thrown at me. I never expected that from the place I still call home on the web. Lots of people I know are packing out, leaving for various reasons, mostly being disillusioned by how badly the new TheOtaku has hurt us long-time Myotaku members in terms of interaction with our friends. Those of us on MyOtaku are out of touch with each other, even those of us who have Worlds, MyOtaku will always be our real home in the whole otaku universe. This is what kept us coming back, the people we were able to interact with here. The people who shared our interests, who asked for our advice, who wanted to know us for who we are beyond fan art, beyond the blog.
Only once before in my life have I been hurt (sorrow is another matter that's besidne the point here) to the point of tears, that was the whole state Bureau of Employment Program/Workforce West Virginia scam back in 2005. When I read the blogs this afternoon, I had to walk away from the computer (it's not in a private location) to recollect my composure. My online home is falling around me, and I know there's nothing I can do to stop it. I don't think Adam realized what effect he would have on longer time members on MyOtaku, where we've always been more comfortable. I don't think he expected as many people to feel disenfranchised with the new TheOtaku system that took not only a lot of our personalities out of blogging, but pulled us long-term members in two directions. We're caught in a position where we're forced to be on the new TheOtaku in order to keep up, and meet newer members who can't get onto MyOtaku, but we're holing onto MyOtaku for the friends we made along the way as well. We have to burn the candle at both ends in order to maintain contact with as many of the friends we have who are still around.
Whether intentional, or accidental, members who choose to remain with MyOtaku are being penalized for that choice. Some are so weighted by the consequences that they are willing to give up everything they built up here to ease the strain of keeping up with everyone. How is that better for TheOtaku? How is driving people away completely helping revitalize and refresh the community? Those are the questions for which I'll need satisfactory answers really soon. As a long-time member of both otaku sites, I'm frustrated with the limited public acknowledgments of our concerns, the lack of anything concrete on repair work for MyOtaku, and a sense of betrayal at seeing some assurances not being delivered.
MyOtaku has been, and will be, my online home. I have made this place a real place where I can be comfortable, open and honest about myself, what I do, and my obsessions beyond anime. While I could easily do the very same on the new TheOtaku, I don't feel it carries the same level of connection that MyOtaku has for me. It's like everyone is in their own little World, and cut off from everyone else. Even though they comment, even though they read posts, it's just not the same, it's colder, more sterile, and less interactive even for all the features there to make it more so. The new TheOtaku is not as fun a site to work with as MyOtaku always has been, and the old TheOtaku once was.
While it's a common decency to offer some form of suggested reformation actions that could correct such trends and animosities I've just unloaded here. I have no such offerings. I do not feel any suggestions I could make would even be recognized or even accepted at this point. I am but one of many, many members, and our voices are not being heard when it counts the most. Right now, I can say I truly understand what Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel meant in the haunting lyrics to The Sound of Silence. I feel that we are reaching out and no one's being touched by our plight, that we are speaking our piece, but not being listened to. Our words are but silent raindrops in the well of silence. Until that changes, there can be no suggested improvements.
I'm not having as hard a time with the coding as I am the asinine implementation of it. I have to constantly remind myself to put the code in CAPS or it won't work. Not very intelligently designed if you ask me, cause BB code can do a whole lot more, and a lot better things as well.
Good luck with the stories, those should be your priority, then get around to people. It's not hard to find, it's the only submission I made so far that was accepted into Fan Words. I have a feeling my written content will prove to be a challenge to get proper hosting there on theO. I will be heard, and my work will be acknowledged there, one way or another I will overcome the bias against me.
I think we covered that already. Glad to be of help when I can.
I would like to see some attention come back onto MyO too. You know, we're supposed to be able to see when users update MyO in the new backroom and we don't, go figure. What are the odds we'd get double-talk and nonsense about that ever happening if someone asked Adam about it now? Pretty high I would say. I expect the same of anything, even seeing basics brought back to their former glory. There is a lot wrong with worlds right now, one image, YouTube videos only, links don't open in new windows, there are no tables, no ordered lists, pretty much crude basics only (I'll have my chart up another day so you can actually see what all you can get). You have no idea how that alignment thing is getting to me, word wrapping too, it's painfully disconcerting. I can't post any images in legit posts (I have in my code testing ones - reminds me, I need to do another code test relating to images), because I DETEST GAPS OF EMPTY SPACE AROUND PICTURES!!!. The only reason there's no external linking for images is because no one's figured out how to guarantee those images will fit in the template (ie won't be too big). The upload way automatically resizes the picture if it's too big, so there's no worries for the site on stretching. From what I understand that was the point, to make it easier for the less tech-savvy to post pictures with their blog. I don't think those of us who are a little more technically inclined should be penalized for knowing how to do more, like external linking and so on.
In this implementation, it's just a redundancy. You have both theDashboard and the Backroom which as you can see are exactly the same page.
There's a lot of reports to the Bug Reports post about that very thing happening to people. I haven't noticed yet cause I've not tried to comment in IE 6 yet. As the saying goes: "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain". They went with a script heavy site structure, after concerns were raised that such a site design would not be smart on many levels. I hate to be the one to say I told him so, but way back when, I was one of the people who brought up the concern that too much scripting would affect usability in the negative direction, and that's what I'm seeing happen now, so I was right.
Sure, I'll do that. I don't update my art all that much, but when I do, I'll announce it here on MyO cause there's no other way to know anymore.
Right now, there isn't a "friends only" view, cause there's no friends list on the "new theO". It would have been nice to see it ported over for privacy settings, but only time will tell if something like that is coming. I'd like to be able to restrict beyond simple "Everyone, Members, and Private (only viewable to me), without having to manually type in a long list of users to block. If it worked like Messenger does, where you can block anyone not on your contact list, that would be cool. Only sticking point I would have is that it apply to staff as well. I'm not sure how the URL/ World name thing works, but if you tried the URL then that was a bug cause it would have been your URL cause it's your username. Some other people had issues with that one working too.
Unfortunately, my New Gen gaming experiences are limited to nothing, so if it's not obvious, I'm not going to pick it up right away. I don't even own a PS2 or anything else of that or newer eras. Funny thing though, I was reading about BB code and even people who've coded up sites and forums say it's easier to just use an HTML filter to block out undesirable code rather than to go into the BB stuff. Another nail in the coffin for the "B" code implementation that was totally unnecessary. We could have been given more flexibility with the base themes that are provided, at least, cause I don't like any of them. I'm just using what's available cause those are the only choices available.
Yeah, I'm not one to beat my beliefs on others either, but I did make a promise that I would open up that way. I'll be covering meditation, and I might even post about my animal Spirit Guide after I communicate with him some more (he's a fox for the record). Any topic recommendations, or content suggestions would really be appreciated. If I like what I see and don't feel I can handle it myself, it just might make a good guest post for the Sanctuary.
Actually, the URLs aren't word-for-word the same as my world names. I will get the links up in my intro here so they are easy reference for anyone interested, all my sub worlds are Member only viewing right now, so you'll have to be signed in over on TheO to see them, though my main one is set to Everyone. Too lazy this week to get those links up though, but they'll be there real soon.
Always a good idea to rest the body and mind before diving into deep subjects.
That was a guarantee back in November when it missed it's first projected launch date. Version Vibrant was always expected to be the direction TheOtaku was heading. Will things be on the right track in a month or so from now? It's hard to say. The first few hours were very rough. I've been through some bad weather, hail, thunderstorms, wind, snowstorms, but the 0 Hour for VV, that was chaos of a different order all together. I did my best, but even I have my limits with this whole, sad to say.
Patience doesn't always come easy for me. That comes from my short fuse, I tend to anger easier than I can sit down and see an obstacle though. It's kind of hard to really explain.
Yeah, I'm seeing some of that myself too. It doesn't really look all that good, but hopefully in time TheO will pull out and do something that makes it stand out. There's no timetable for comments being fixed here, but we know this site is being worked on, or will be according to Adams last blog entry here, and I do mean last. Hopefully stuff like comments those dead "PM me" links at the top of the page, and all that stuff will be fixed sometime soon. We won't know till we see it happen. It's tough for me to say this, but I don't think there's any intention of bringing the two sites together again.
That makes sense to me, I mean look at it, Type O blood can be put into anybody who needs blood, but, the reverse can't be done at all. Type O blood has to be put into Type O people. Yeah, that kind of seems to fit me pretty good actually, I do try my best to do what I can. I'm getting there, slow and steady.
There are a lot less people around here now, and that is very sad. We'll all eventually find each other I think cause we'll be the only ones here. I don't envy Adam his position at all, cause I'd have lost my cool after about an hour of dealing with bugs and stuff. That's just me. if there was a medal for patience, he'd deserve it at least ten times over for putting up with everything on VV.
Nice to see you getting around over here, sorry things are, well nuts. Can't help the VV changeover though.
Oh, I loved the original Mission Impossible, part of the reason I will not waste money on that trash Tom Cruise did to burn the films. He totally ruined the IMF concept that the show introduced back in the 60's. Matlock was okay too, but I've never heard or Westworld. I'll have to do some research on it, cause I'm curious now.
Yeah, I kind of figured it was VV and not the video code. The significance of my posting that video is hopefully clear now, though I doubt it will get many takers.
I've been commenting there on VV a bit, but most of the time it's for the formality, or to make myself known to someone I know there. I really don't like the comment system over there, it's clunky and very inconvenient for 99% of the user base. Not everyone has eidetic memory, so having what amounts to malware (the pop window hijacks the page, darkens the bg so you can't see beyond the pop window, it won't let you move it, it won't let you change it's size, it wont let you minimize it, and it won't let you switch out of it, not to mention the IE crashes it causes) handling the comments makes it a lot less user-friendly to comment over there.
Oh there's no doubt the difference is so dramatic, I'm feeling like the G4 takeover of Tech TV is happening all over again. So many promises were made, yet none were kept. I kind of see that happening here, and I don't like that. I saw Tech TV fall in my mind long before G4 snuffed it out, and I'm getting a similar image here. Within a year, will we even be able to access this site anymore? I hope I'm wrong about that, I really do.
I think we can expect to wait till TheO is running on all cylinders before we see any patch-up work done here, and that's what it will be, simple "quick-fix, I really don't care I'm just doing it to keep the members still hanging on there happy" patch work. So, it may be June before we get a questionably better comment box and hopefully some integration into the PM system for here (Don't hold your breatt on that one though). Even if it's just a link to the TheO inbox, that would be more than we have now: broken links on our pages and no direct access in the backroom at all.
Seems there's an issue on TheO where only certain people can post those YouTube vids to their worlds, and I kind of need to have this posted for reference purposes on a project I'm doing over there. Hopefully it posts here, if not, I'll know the YouTube code is bad. Will cover comments on weekends like always.
I'll be putting the links to my worlds up in my introduction in the coming weeks, but for now, you can find me on Version Vibrant at the following places:
The Wastelands of my Mind: My main World over there, will most likely paralell what I post here from this point on.
The Dragon's Office: This is my business/professional World, I'll post updates on my novel, pyrography, commissions, etc there.
As Seen from Dragon's Eyes: This is where my fiction and other writings submitted to Fan Words will go. They stay there as world posts if they don't make it to Fan Words, so 'll tag all failed submissions with the tag "rejected" so you know which nominations weren't accepted. My hobbies will also be explored there, hiking, cooking, and so on.
Sanctuary of the Dragon: This site is to honor a promise I made, it will be a weekly spirtitual contemplation/devotional site, please read the introduction there before participating there. I will not tolerate intolerance of any any kind.
So there you have them, my worlds. The places I will be when I'm over on theotaku and not here.
It's been a couple days since the launch of the much anticipated theOtaku.com Version Vibrant. A lot of the severe bugs and technical issues have already been corrected, but there are still little things that are being ironed out across the network. Over the course of the past few days though, I've been looking over the site, testing out the features I can, and getting to know how things work around here. I'm still not used to the no HTML thing, I have to remind myself of that constantly. I've discovered that some of the things I'm used to doing can't be done, like tables, ordered lists, and opening links in new windows/tabs for example, other things that I do can be done, linking images seems to be all right, as well as nesting bulleted lists. I've been able to test the Fan Words submission system, but none of the others yet, I'm working on that. Fan Words submitting is easy, though the criteria for aren't exactly clear yet, I'm sure that'll be ironed out soon.
Right now, I don't have too much to say about Version Vibrant, I'd like to let it settle in and get going before I really dive into doing anything resembling a full evaluation. It's too soon to really dive in and pick things apart because there are still bugs across the system that need to be handled. I do have to say that I'm impressed by some of the features, annoyed by some of the limitations, but it all balances out so everything kind of hits neutral in the end.
Something else that wasn't anticipated in the relaunch were some bugs that developed on MyOtaku.com. The two sites were more closely intertwined than anyone realized I guess, but there are some temporary solutions in place (ie comments) and hopefully when the new theotaku settles down, myotaku will get some attention.
It will take me a while to find everyone on Version Vibrant that I know on Myotaku, so please be patient with me, or just pop me a message or comment and we'll be set.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that, the "Random Member" and the "Random Art" links. Adam never did figure out how to get the coding for those to not bog the server down. I think that's how a lot of people found me, and how I found a lot of people in the early days too.
Some of the features are troublesome, others are really cool (comment replying for example). There's a lot to explore over on theotaku.com now.
I've been here four years, and I intend to be here a lot longer too. It does seem kind of sad to see the site just suddenly stop, activity has gone way down since VV kicked up, I hope that's not a permanent thing. Adam has mentioned TokyoPop and DeviantArt in the past when he's talked about doing things to the site, so it possibly could be. I know from a technical standpoint, the site is as script heavy as the others are and that makes my computer very unhappy so I'm not getting around over there as swiftly as I'd like.
0 hour up to T +24:00 was chaotic, bugs and freakish redirect, made weather seen in the Day After Tomorrow look like a spring shower. Things were nuts, but they've settled down for the most part. Still a few minor things that have to be figured out, but I'm sure they'll be taken care of soon. I saw Adam mention somewhere something about it taking 1-2 months to get everything where he wants it to be, so yeah, we're in for quite a ride in the mean time.
I'm part Ice Dragon and West Wind as well, three things that don't play nice when they come together, fire, wind and ice, as you may well know. Mother Nature hasn't exactly been my friend lately either, she's hammering me with lots of different things and that's just wearing me out. Actually, I'm A- in blood type, and if I could go healthy, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I try to have simple, unprocessed things once in a while, but till the family gets on the wagon and actually makes healthier choices, I'm stuck doing it half-way.
Actually I have to admire Adam's patience with people after getting all those bug reports. I'd be reeling from all that. I can be patient when I want to be, but most of the time, I choose not not be.
The Egyptians buried their dead on the West side on the Nile river, comparing one's passing of from this life to the waning day. With every sunset, there is a sunrise that comes later, so hopefully it will be something for us here that we can use and enjoy. theotaku has had it's sunrise, myotaku needs one too.
Kind of brings to mind the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The arrogantly omnipotent Q taunting Captain Picard. ". . .All good things must come to an end." It will be a shame to see MyO turn to a shell of it's former self, but I know I'll still be around here as much as I was before if I can help it. I just might be talked into getting on MySpace, depending on how things go on theotaku.
That's quite and interesting take on the username, I had no idea. I've posted I don't know how many things, from blasting Napster and Workforce West Virginia, to reviewing Grave of the Fireflies. The nature of a blog is to be yourself.
What I'm annoyed at is the limited choices available in color schemes that can be chosen. I hate the only green one available, it's way too green for my liking. I want a dark green one, and green and black one to use. Like I said before it balances out, the pros and cons, so it's neutral right now. BB code by nature isn't hard to pick up, the problem with it is there's no universal standards for it's implementation. If you come over to VV, give me a shout, I'm not hard to find. I tend to be a fly in the ointment so I'm usually buzzing around the staff somewhere.
You've already seen the new site, that's good. Yeah, I was happy to see my work make the cut. There's a 99% rejection rate over there for written works, so it's kind of scary to think about nominating a post for Fan Words. Hopefully I'll be able to get other fiction as well as some non-fiction writings up there, I've put my objective evaluation post in over there and nominated it. At the time I'm writing this, it hasn't been approved yet, but it's in my hobby World so you can find it easy if it fails the cut.
PM system was having some issues on both ends from what I understand, now you have to go through the theotaku messaging system to send messages.
It's not for me to say whether that's right or wrong, just do your best and that all anyone should expect of you. I hope things are going well with you, and I do miss your updates too. Stop by when you can all right?
Operation LUVV (Launch Update Version Vibrant) begins tomorrow, that means that you can expect a lot of down time all weekend and when all is said and done, Version Vibrant will greet you at TheOtaku.com instead of what's up there now, hopefully by Monday morning. I know Myotaku.com will still be here, but the change is trying to shift people away from this site I've called home for more than four years now. I've seen a lot of things here on Myotaku, I've seen good people come and go, I've seen it's ups and downs. I've seen all the little things that were added to the backroom over the years, the quiz manager, auto text wrapping (the checkbox under the post text box). Myotaku.com has been my online home since 2003, since near the biginning of the site itself. I will miss what it has been, and could have been turned into with the right handling.
I am interested in Version Vibrant, as the next step in Theotaku.com's evolution. Adam has had this major site change on his mind for a long time now, I just hope it lives up to his expectations. We'll be gaining a lot of new things, more ways to express ourselves, but at the same time, we'll be losing a bit of what makes us stand out as individuals. Whether Version Vibrant strikes the best balance between both worlds is yet to be seen. We will all know soon enough.
This will probably be my last post on Myotaku before Version Vibrant comes around, I will continue to use this site as long as I can, and will try to make a home on the new Theotaku.com as well. Till I post again, Anime Dreams!
We won't really know till we see it. It's hard to sit back and wait for Version Vibrant, but the wait is much shorter now.
I hope you have a safe and wonderful trip, and when you get back, Version Vibrant should already be in full swing but I'll still be using MyO so comment here or on my VV blog, whichever.
From what I understand, Cosplay will be coming back "sometime" in the future when Adam figures out how to make it work with Version Vibrant. There will be some photo options for the blog that you'll be able to use, but they won't be the same as having a gallery in Cosplay.
The most I've submitted at once was those three pyrography pieces of mine (I'm still working on the other two I need to get done), I'm not a very prolific artist myself, so having a 24 hour cap doesn't bother me on a personal level, but I do think that it could be more lenient, and should be explained more clearly, than it is currently.
The avatars thing will probably be one of the first nuisance issues with the site because so many people DON'T read the news on TheO, or DON'T read Adam's blog. It's a simple misunderstanding that will lead to major headaches for people. Adam should have put out an FAQ which he said he was going to do and didn't, he should send out an Otaku Dispatch (the e-mail newsletter) to everyone so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to knowing what's going on with Version Vibrant. He's going to have to deal with a lot of "my avatar is gone" complaints needlessly cause of a lack in wide distribution of important information. I'm only one member with minimal coverage on the site, I can't reach everyone. Me, I fixed my avatar and will re-upload the very same one I'm using now which fits the criteria and won't be an issue.
Yeah, I'm happy to hear about Fan Fiction as well, but it goes beyond that, there are serious informative categories as well, so writers of all types will be able to post their content, I think. Can't say that I'm completely sure of how Fan Fiction is going to work and all with the "original anime" category, I still haven't gotten an answer(see comments for my question) from Adam on what makes a written story "anime/manga style" for posting in "Original Anime" or Original Manga" over using the "Personal" meta category as a dump for material because there's uncertainty as to where a story belongs. Hopefully that will be made clear to me before I start to post my first story here, cause I'll be more than slightly annoyed if it's moved cause I put it "in the wrong place".
Tunnel pictures amuse me in many ways, trouble is, I have no idea where to put them on dA, that's why I only have flowers up there now.
I'm not a very patient dragon, so no, I generally hate having to relearn stuff I've already learned and do well. I will figure out Version Vibrant as a matter of necessity, because I need to be able to critique every aspect of it that I possibly can and give my readers here on MyO a fair opinion of what the site is like.
Waiting is more for my own good than anything else. I tend to get very frustrated when I run into technical problems with a site that's supposed to be working properly. Knowing that Adam will be facing some technical issues for several days after the launch is done tell me that the best evaluation will not be jumping on here Monday morning and trying to do everything, but that waiting and watching the site get off the ground and take some steps first will be smarter to get the best user experience possible.
There are lots of chemicals in process foods. Oddly enough after my gastritis in 2000, I haven't been able to eat many process foods, I have to have less chemically filled foods, more natural stuff anymore. That's fine by me cause it's better for me in the long run.
Right now that's all we can do, wait, watch, and wonder. Hopefully the future of TheOtaku is a bright one.
It has been a while since you came around, really I've been reporting on Version Vibrant and little else, so follow one of the links to the on or off site Version Vibrant breakdowns and you'll be on top of things. Though, by the time you get to them, it'll be moot since VV will probably be launched already.
Actually, I'm trying to keep a neutral attitude about Version Vibrant, but I did promise that I would keep my readers informed about it from the start, so that's what I'm doing. I'm liking that I'll have a comfortable home for some of my hobby stories, I write all the time just for the fun of it. There are details about Version Vibrant that I'm not liking to hear right now as well, but in all fairness, I'm willing to give them a chance. I won't know if pros or cons win out until I work with Version Vibrant.
I don't write fan-fiction myself. I don't do stories based on existing universes, characters, shows, manga whatever. I always do my own thing, I always have. Now, I've been inspired by stuff, but I always do my own thing in writing, it's easier for me that way, I don't have to adhere to stuff that's not personally motivating to me.
I'm on hold in looking for a publisher because I found out that I needed to up the word count to make it marketable. Right now I'm 6,000 words shy of the mark I need to be at, and since I've been too sick to work on it, it's kind of lagged. I think I'll have the manuscript finished by mid-March if I work at it real hard, and hopefully will be ready to start courting publishers and agents again in mid to late April.
A PO box would be helpful to any business actually, I'll have to look into that angle for doing money orders, I have to tread lightly with banks thanks to our overly paranoid President though, but I may end up fighting wiht one to get an account to work with eventually. I do have an idea or two that I'm going to look into in the hopes of starting up a trickle income to be able to put money into this business of mine and hopefully get it off on the right foot and be able to readily solve the payment method problem. I'll post more about that other stuff after the Version Vibrant launch, when I get my blogs set up over there.
Way too Sleepy a Dragon 
