Ratings Wars

Now in the forums are the “Rate the Above Person’s…” games. Varieties include avatar, signature, location, and class. I also may be adding more “say something about…” games.

What else can I say? They’re games and they’re grrrrrrate!

Over 100 Views

This page has officially been viewed over 100 times. It may not sound like much, but it’s an important step… I think.

The forum problem and how you could help

The forum hosts won’t do anything about it. Looks like if I ever want to have those ads removed, I’ll have to have ALL the ads removed, which means paying them $50. So here are the options:

- We wait until I manage to get the $50. With no allowance and hardly any starting money, that could take a long time.
- One of you hosts the forums instead. If you have your own site, maybe you could lend me a bit of that space? I’m afraid blogger doesn’t allow file uploads, which are necessary for forum boards.
- One of you pays the $50 to get the ads removed. Yeah, like that would ever happen.

Until one of these things happen, I suppose an all-ages forum board is beyond our reach.

Measures are being taken

I am doing all that I can to make spboards.com do all that they can to remove the more offensive ads on the forum board. Perhaps sometime soon, the boards can be safely browsed by a six-year old. Yeah, that’ll be when I invite Cole.

New feature in the forums

I have added the Battle of the Pics to the forums. No, this is not where you go to throw pictures at each-other. This is where you go to put up a picture/drawing that can defeat the previous picture/drawing. Low bandwidth computers be warned: many images will be in this thread.

If you decide to join, may the pic be with you, Luke.

A clarification of the last post

When I said it was getting closer, I did not mean that the ads that the hosting site put on my forums actually have nudity. But they are tip-toeing closer to that.

Somebody willing to help get rid of the ads?

Alright, the “find your mate” ads on the forums are tip-toeing ever-closer to nudity. Can somebody donate $50 so I can get them removed? I will need the donor to do the actual payment to get them removed, because the hosting site only allows payment via credit card or PayPal, both of which I’m pretty sure I’m too young to sign up for.

Or alternatively, maybe one of you readers could host the forums on your site. Of course, I do not realistically expect anyone to offer to do either thing, but I thought it would be worth a shot.

Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger, Smarter, Bloggier!

Alright, here we go. Starting today, this week is the Blog Improvement Week. And I need your help.

I need your suggestions, as well as perhaps a helping hand with coding and stuff like that. To offer the said help, you may do many things. You may utilize the comment system on this blog (click on the “## comments” link), you may e-mail me at Jesse_Hammond@cox.net, or you may go on the forums and go onto the “Blog Improvement” thread in the “General Discussion” forum.

It’s a Hit!

I finally have found a good hit counter for the site; one that does not require an image ad be put with it. Let’s hope this one helps in my attempt to find out how many visits to this site there are.

Why must I procrastinate so?

The next fire wolf magazine is going to need to be done soon and I have barely started. Well, time to get to work.

Phase One Complete

Well, colors are down. Now, let’s see what else I can do…

Redecoration

It is that time once more. Time to redecorate the site. Of course, it may take a moment to complete, so be patient. After I am done, this site will be thanksgivingized.

I hate to say this…

The parent has spoken. I am no longer allowed to have a chat on this blog. However, at least he bothered to give me a good reason. He states that chat runs the risk of things called Zombie-bots, which send viruses, and many other things. So due to safety and mainly parental control, I must remove chat from this site for now.

Third Time’s a charm?

The new chat is up and running. This time, it is completely non-profit. There’s not even a payment option available and they have a .org ending, which are two good reasons for me to trust them. I think this one’s up to stay.

Strike Two

Apparently by “free”, they meant “free as long as you pay us $10/month”. Also, anfy is still nonfunctional. Because of this, I now have to look for yet another means of chat.

Technically, I should be sueing chatfiles.com for false advertising, don’t you agree?

Of course, if one of you want to sue chatfiles.com for this outrage, go right ahead. Maybe it’ll teach them a lesson.

Guest Book

I plan on creating a guest book, which will help me to figure out how many people are visiting. It will be in the form of a form and the results will be submitted via e-mail until I can get a free database hosting service. I have no access to Access, after all. I also plan to add a hit counter. I’ll update when those are done.

More Temporary Than I Thought

Turns out that the ability to kick out users is only available in the commercial version, so we’ll be switching back to AnfyChat when we can.

Less-Than-Temporary Solution

Well, it was going to be a temporary fix, but I think the ability to kick people out won me over. From now on, this new applet will be the official applet for chatting purposes.

I will use the ability of kicking out on anyone guilty of harrassing other members of chat. And I do apologize for it being a tiny bit more difficult to change colors in chat, but I think it’s a small sacrifice for a friendly chat, don’t you?

A Temporary Fix

Due to AnfyChat still not working and me not being able to do anything about it, even complain to them, I was forced to install a new mode of chat. I personally like AnfyChat better, but we must do with what we can until AnfyChat finally figures out that their applet is fried and fixes it, which may be quite a wait.

I may not be able to complain to them, but I least I can rant about it here. Technically, that’s what blogs are for anyway.

A bit of a problem with chat

The chat applet appears to be malfunctioning. My first clue was the “invalid bytecode” error; my second, the error on the java console. I do not believe that the problem is one on my end, but rather that it is all AnfyTeam’s fault and that they need to fix it ASAP. After all, the coding on my end is the same coding I was using when it functioned. Also, the class file is hosted on AnfyTeam’s website.

I’m rambling, ain’t I? Suffice to say that I will do whatever I can to get the applet back up and running (which, I reluctantly admit, is very little) and will notify you when it is operational once more. Though I know it’s not quite as instant is instant messaging, you can use the forums in the meantime.

The First Issue is Here

That’s right, folks. The first Fire Wolf Magazine has arrived. There’s a link on the sidebar for it. I do hope you like it and I hope even more that you join the Fire Wolves and help me write the next one. As it states in the introduction, this was exhausting.

And now, your co-host…

TarnishedZephyr has joined our crew. Now, let us set sail for one piece… of what, I have no idea. Anyway, TarnishedZephyr is now the co-author of the Fire Wolves blog. Let us rejoice.

And let us hope he can pass… the initiation. *Ominous background music* Now, allow me a moment of time to think of a good initiation.

Trash Feast

No, it’s not that. Trash Feast is an event where people pick up trash. This can be done pretty much anywhere that has trash. At the end of the event, food is given out to all the participants.

This is an idea I had. I know that I probably get an F on originality, but I think this is a good idea. I’m considering doing this at my school, which is littered at relentlessly (as are most schools, as I have observed). Do you think this is a good idea? Leave a comment with your opinion or visit the thread in the forums dedicated to it.

Concerning Chat and Forum

You may have noticed that they both have ads on them. Okay, so you definitely have if you visited them. Anyway, those were not my decision. For the chat, it says that I must contact them to get it removed, but I have doubts that that’s all there is to it, don’t you? For the forums, the cost for an ad-free board is $50 a year, the kind of money I don’t have. Until I can get the ads removed, just remember that I do not advise clicking them. And if you do click them, remember that I will not accept any responsibility for what happens as a result, because you can’t say I didn’t warn you.

FabledZero Joined the Force!

Shining Force reference. Anyway, FabledZero has been spotted in chat. Zbud has, too, but I doubt he’ll be coming back.

I do hope to see FabledZero in my chat again, as well as in my forums, which he has yet to visit. I hope Zbud comes back, too, but not much chance of that one.

Time for a Change

Well, Halloween is over. Whether you tricked, treated, or partied down, this non-Halloween-ness is a sad occasion, indeed. I’m afraid it’s also time to take down the Halloween decorations.

But there is good news and it has nothing to do with car insurance. When the time comes, I shall decorate for Thanksgiving. The time is not now, but perhaps soon.