The Starmen.Net Newsletter Edition I QUOTE OF THE ISSUE: "I hear mice spread filth and disease." -Pikachan -------------------------------------------------- ------[ T A B L E - O F - C O N T E N T S ]------- -------------------------------------------------- // 1. Introduction Read an introduction by Starmen.Net's newsletter maintainer, Carpainter! // 2. Latest Starmen.Net News Lots has gone on with Starmen.Net in the past few weeks, and this is the best place to read it all! // 3. Weekly Interview Every week, Carpainter will interview someone interesting from the EB Community. This week, it is Starmen.Net's head honcho: reidman! // 4. Miscellaneous ... Stuff Bored? Take a look down at the bottom of this newsletter. A word search, various interesting forum topics, and a bulletin board! o:::::::::::::::::o --------------: 1. Introduction :----------------- o:::::::::::::::::o School started yesterday, and what a better way to celebrate than skipping homework to bring you your weekly newsletter? Truth be told, I love this job. I enjoy throwing this thing together for you, and I hope you enjoy it. This is 100% my work, except for the small interview with reid. Seriously though, I really appreciate him taking the time to answer my questions, and just have a good chat. I asked him if he was busy, and within a second, he said "I'm going to bed. Talk to another time." He laughed, and asked what I needed. For the next hour, he stayed up and helped me. He's quite a swell guy. This position wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Give him a hand! And not literally. Because that's scary. I'm creating the first ever text-based Bulletin Board. This idea could be sweet. Very sweet. It'll be at the very bottom of the newsletter so that there isn't a lot of scrolling if you don't like that kind of thing. I tried to organize this the best way I knew how, and that was Intro, Important Info, Interview, and then the fun stuff. Well, this is becoming long. DON'T SCROLL THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION. I'LL CRY. -Carpainter o:::::::::::::::::::::::::o ----------: Latest Starmen.Net News :------------- o:::::::::::::::::::::::::o FORUM CHANGES - This summer, we saw a burst of forum activity, and the mods seemed to a decent job. However, General Discussion Mod MogOfGlory was dropped of his position. reidman (Head Webmaster) was interviewed on the issue, and was quoted to say that changes were due. "Pretty much, I've been gearing up to get the forums going again. They've been pretty stagnant since the flare-up this summer. This is mostly my fault, since I've neither taken the time to sit the mods down, nor have I hired new ones until now. But, recently i decided to start delegating tasks a lot more and this was one of my first big delegation projects. I had pappycat do a lot of the footwork that would have taken me a billion years to get around to." Colin, Plo, Sephy and Jim are the new General Discussion mods, and Pappycat was promoted to administration as well. reidman was heard to say that she was a hard worked who would do tasks in "half a second". As for the Mog situation ... "The reason I got rid of Mog is because he never seemed to be around. Even if he had been around, he didn't post a lot, and I'm going to be expecting the mods to post more on the boards they mod from now on. He also abused his header access a bit." Rumours state that the header had something to do with Jebzig.com. NEW STAFF - Welcome aboard MikeTheEBGuru and Carpainter to the Starmen.Net site staff with "Mailbag" and "Newsletter" respectively. Carpainter was commented on saying "woo". UPCOMING LAYOUT We've all heard about this layout for quite some time, and reidman has stated that the newsletter subscribers will receive an inside look sometime soon. Stay tuned. More information in the reidman interview. WIN A NERD BADGE Read the interview with reidman to answer a question in which you can win a Nerd Badge! Spiffy, woo! SIMONBOB WEARS A KILT This is apparently true. More information when we receive it. o::::::::::::::::::o --------------: Weekly Interview :---------------- o::::::::::::::::::o "Yeah. Oooooh, baby, don't hurt me. Its HOT." -reidman This week I had the honour to interview the head honcho himself ... reidman! (Note: This interview was live, and all interviews from now on will be as well. This makes it more fun to read. It took place at 2 AM.) Carpainter: This is Carpainter, and this is the first interview for the Newsletter. Who better to be in the first interview then the man who pretty much created the EB Community on his whole? reidman, it's good to have you in the "studio" today. reidman: Its good to be here, Carpy. Carpainter: It's been many years since I've been in the community, and through all that time, I have watched many EB Sites crumble to the ground. What makes it possible for an EARTHBOUND site to succeed so long? It's been nearly a decade since it was released, and even popular sites representing popular games like Pokémon can't last a few years? reidman: Mmmm, cult status. reidman: I dunno, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that EarthBound is just so cool. reidman: Like, people should go read the intro to the Mother 2 section reidman: Because it really makes you think about the game as a whole, and when you think about it, it sorta hits you. reidman: Holy crap, EarthBound is such a cool game. What other SNES game of our time ever even came close to using the word 'crap' and letting you beat the crap out of hippies? reidman: Seriously, folks. It doesn't get better than this. Carpainter: That's true! reidman: But yeah, its also a lot of work. Our staffers have always been so awesome. Carpainter: Many staffers have done a great job, and others ... not so great. The visitors must have an impact as well. Carpainter: After all ... they are the ones who visit the site on a daily basis. reidman: Yeah, that goes without saying, although I think I need to make that a more important consideration in the future. reidman: You see, for me its always been 'ok, the staff needs this, needs to do this, has to stop doing this", etc reidman: But it really does come down to the people who visit. Beyond the obvious 'without you we wouldn't be here', you guys completely determine where the site goes. reidman: Yeah, I can make a cool site, but who cares if no one ever sees it? Carpainter: Exactly the point. But the visitors weren't always there. reidman: Yeah, stupid visitors. reidman: err. Carpainter: When did you officially realize "Wow. We get a lot of visitors!" reidman: I mean, stupid X-Box. reidman: Yeah, thats it. Carpainter: X-Box. Yes, of course. The system of the devil! reidman: Heh, well, that actually came not long after the site was started. Carpainter: Beginner's luck? reidman: Maybe? I dunno. I know for sure a lot of it was runoff from my old EB site. reidman: And there were at LEAST 4 people from the ubiquitous 'EarthBound Movement'. reidman: At least four. reidman: But yeah, the visitors to the site jumped exponentially (literally) the first four months of the existence of the site, if I remember correctly. Carpainter: That's amazing. reidman: Yeah, it was pretty cool. We haven't had anything like that for a while, but that sorta goes without saying. reidman: The glass ceiling seems to be 16,000 hits per day. We've been there for about two years now, off and on. Carpainter: I for one wish that I was there during that period. What made that period so special? I'm sure a pinkynail full of people could answer this question. Carpainter: Glass ceiling? I like it. reidman: Yeah, its cool except you have to clean it. reidman: Well, frankly I don't know. I think a lot of it had to do with Tomato, because contrary to popular belief, HE is that magic man. Carpainter: From Happyland? With a gumdrop house on Lollypop Laaannnneeee. reidman: He really is a cool guy and awesome things happen when he's around. We (me especially) definitely miss having him around all the time. Carpainter: Ahem. Sorry. Now, what made you enjoy the period so much? Carpainter: The companionship of Tomato? The instant success? reidman: Pretty much the universal fact of it all; anything that you get in on or start will almost always seem to be so incredibly cool in hindsight. reidman: Its a popular phenomenon in the music scene, how everyone is like 'dude, I listened to that band when they were still good, now they're sellouts' reidman: Thats rarely the case, its just that bands, like websites, change with time. Carpainter: Blink 182 and Green Day are perfect examples there. reidman: Yup. reidman: But, uh, without disclosing too much, the coming reincarnation of Starmen.Net will be so awesome. reidman: You'll wet your pants. I already have. reidman: :3 Carpainter: My nose believes you. reidman: Your toes will too once the puddle reaches your feet. reidman: OK that was gross. Carpainter: Reincarnation? Do you feel as if Starmen.net is in a state of ... well, death? reidman: Nah, Starmen.Net is in a state of administrative death. If that makes any sense at all. Carpainter: I'd cut that out but reid, it's live. Eat your heart out, Regis! Carpainter: It does. reidman: WOO! Carpainter: But elaborate for the few who don't understand. reidman: I'd sit here and explain everything that I've been doing recently, but suffice to say that I just don't have all the time I wish I did for the site right now. reidman: However, we've got a few completely awesome staffers who kick it out consistently, fantastically, weekly, sweetly. reidman: And I'm such a dork. Carpainter: I remember mentioning some of them in my application for this wonderful position. Carpainter: Dorks rules maaaan. Carpainter: Rule. Carpainter: See? I typo in interviews. How dorky is that? reidman: Pretty dorky. Carpainter: Now, you've been mentioning this new Starmen.Net for a long time. reidman: ;-) reidman: Yeah. Oooooh, baby, don't hurt me. Its HOT. Carpainter: A new Starmen.Net that would knock our socks off. reidman: Completely. Devastation. Carpainter: How HOT/ Carpainter: *? Carpainter: See? Typo punctuation also. reidman: Undrop the voltage, cuz you can't handle how hot it'll be. reidman: You're on a roll. Carpainter: Definitely. reidman: Pretty much, here's the deal: reidman: There are two overarching stages to this process. reidman: The first is the design and HTMLish stuff, which I'm in charge of and will probably have shadow helping me with, as well as any of the guys from the dev team who know their stuff. reidman: The graphics are 100% me, which would normally be a bottleneck, but the dev stuff is taking a long time too, so its working out well. reidman: The graphics, if I do say so myself, are turning out very well. Carpainter: And you assure us that this new Starmen.Net will be worth the wait? reidman: Or at least, I'm happy with them, and I'm not normally so happy with my stuff. reidman: Oh yeah. Well, thats the thing, its not the graphics at all that will make it worth the wait. Carpainter: I feel for PappyCat who has to edit every article to the new layout. reidman: People at first will see the graphics and say 'sweet it was worth the wait' reidman: and then they'll realize how vastly the architecture of the site has been redone, and will just be blown away reidman: So the graphics are a pillow to ease them into it. reidman: A hard, uncaring pillow of glass and pixels. Carpainter: Wow. Sounds ... comfortable? reidman: VERY. reidman: By the way, the dev team consists of spaanoft, themadcreator (Bill, of Fukunaga Snipe / petition fame), Tokage-san, ROFISH, and Frieza. Carpainter: Well, I'm afraid you may ... I don't know, EXPLODE and let out all the secrets of the new design, and as cool as that would be, I must refrain. HOWEVER, is it possible for a certain Newsletter staff member to sneak a peak so he can let his faithful readers in it? Hmmmm? reidman: Hmmm.... reidman: Only if you make me a cheesesteak. Carpainter: Consider it done. Carpainter: But remember ... I'm Canadian. reidman: Hold the sknaky, have it here tomorrow morning. Fedex is best, UPS is acceptable (but the guy that makes the deliveries is so weird). Carpainter: And I only use Mad Cow Disease infested meat. reidman: !!! reidman: CANADA POST GET IT AWAY Carpainter: Mwahaha ... Carpainter Well, I think this interview is coming to and end. reidman: Anyway, you'll have to ask a question, cuz I won't volunteer much. Carpainter: As is my job .. Carpainter: But regardless, I hope this impromptu interview was good enough for you readers, and you too reidman. Stay tuned for next week when I interview ... another person! Any final words, reid? reidman: Keep on rockin for the kids. Don't touch the fro. Carpainter: Was that an intentional EB reference? reidman: ... reidman: Yeah, from Fiveville. reidman: A nerd badge to anyone who can tell me what that reference is from. reidman: Nerd badge for having such a good memory and being around the site for so long :| reidman: Course I guess I get one too. OK I'll stop talking bye. Carpainter: lol! reidman: heheh, so as for the other stuff in the newsletter Carpainter: Well, I COULD take the badge, but there you have it kids. E-Mail Carpainter [at] starmen.net with the answer to earn a nerd badge! Carpainter: Psst. We're still onair. reidman: make everything i say funny reidman: oh, wtf? crap Carpainter: And so closes another ... err ... the first ever newsletter interview! Carpainter: Later Days! o:::::::::::::::::::::::::o ----------: Miscellaneous ... Stuff :------------- o:::::::::::::::::::::::::o Here is a fun Word Search for you, and below that is the forum topics/bulletin board! Send me messages for the BB and advertise your forum topics by sending an e-mail to Carpainter [at] Starmen.Net! STARMEN.NET STAFF WORD SEARCH - reidman Tomato EBounding Eggy Picky Anthadd Jonk Skulryk Wampa Falcon24 MikeTheEBGuru ShadowX Amzrigh Colin Pappycat SimonBob SLing ROFISH Pi Carpainter N I I N O P T A S R K J D L C M K L L M C P O D D T S R E I P U A N 2 U I H O A M C G O R G T H Y I T G D C Y O I I S I K O P H R R U P D A U G C P A N W K E T C M A P P O G N C K A U I M E T A A N O I Y O A P H O A O S K N I P T O U Z U I R L T C O S A M Y S O P L T 4 P T U K O I R R W O B H N T I W O I D I P E O 2 O N G O D X I U I N A A S Z T I T N O F Y A M N K O P P N P G G O K I D A N G A D 2 N T C T A O Y P E N R N H B A S G D K M U D E R Z A A T O C R Y Z B E I A E N S N E G Z B B B E B D T T N L L G I P I M M E N R I K E O R O O Y L C A I 2 A U N H I D R B H K O L N T C I N U E O R H L I F K K C U M A K T C I S R E O I G N G Y A A W A Z S I K P A K U E N N M O F I I A D G R A D O Y A N T N O N G L K N C O G M L W S I Y X S A E T P D D G R G T O I A M S M J K S R N O Y A M Z R T R L L F O T N M O S O S E A K R G E R A I P O S G O G N M I K Y A B A C F N I S I Y C T C I O T F K A I I P N S N O U N S K O S P E H M L N O W E R H B O G N P S B K A I I H C I K 2 D S R A I U A B M G O O U I N A G E I S L A A B M L Y I B S A U M I K C G D O D N N B E H N O D O G S L A F S C P N P C C K M R O I O P S H L P C O B E S P L O R A R D A O I U H G N E C E O I B G N W I S I G Y R D P A I S G M D R O T O O L S O A F R X N O 2 K G R R S C INTERESTING FORUM TOPICS - http://forum.starmen.net/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_to pic;f=5;t=001230 (Congratulations Carpainter) BULLETIN BOARD - (You may also send replies. Just make sure you let it known in the e-mail that it is a reply. State which number post as well.) MESSAGES THIS WEEK BY: CARPAINTER (01,03) (0 replies) ATTICUS (02) (0 replies) JIM (04) (0 replies) WAMPA (05) (0 replies) MESSAGES - 01 - "Welcome to the Bulletin Board" (Carpainter) Welcome to my BB. This is where you can put messages or important information that you want the other newsletter people to read. This could be pretty cool if people use it. Later Days! 02 - "Continuum" (atticus) The squad "The Chosen Ones" has begun practicing. If you want to join us, send a message to Carpainter or atticus. This squad is for Continuum. We play in Death Star Battle, and we can explain if you don't understand. 03- "Newsletter Help" (Carpainter) I'm looking for more ideas and such, and I'd appreciate anything you guys could come up with. Also, let me know if you enjoyed this with an e-mail, or even a BB post! 04- "JUMP ON THE CARP TRAIN" (Jim) So, Carpainter finally gets his sm.net job. The Newsletter always seemed like a cool thing to do and he's a cool guy to do it. If you haven't heard him doing his radio thang, you'll want to after reading through all of this. I've got things going for me too, with this General Discussion mod position recently given to me. But hey, the real winner here is ENC. If you ain't checked out that site now, just go over there, click on any article link and enjoy. I haven't seen anything there I don't like, great job, RaSeb. I gotta give a shout-out to MikeTheEBGuru, holla, dawg, Go Sox, peace out. 05- "Flukes" (Wampa) Flukes will be updated when I have a few spare hours. Don't expect it to be a weekly updated section as there really is no demand for that.