Goodbye, 2005

Ah, what a year. It's been a busy one for NationStates Mods, that's for sure. We've shifted through about ten and a half thousand tasks, received three new mods (Tsar, Fris, and Euro), lost three mods (Ineptia, Myrth, and Unfree People), and acquired a whole new administrator (Pythagosaurus) and a smattering of promotions here and there. It would take an ice age to relate all the hundreds of thousands of stories and things that have happened, but you've got this blog to look through all the way back to April should the fancy take you so we'll leave it at that.

Christmas is over. I got heartily sick on chocolates, brussel sprouts (for which I admit having an inordinate fondness), christmas pudding (just LOOKING at it made me feel ill. My sweet tooth is rather deformed - I can't stand most sweet things.), roast potatoes, odd little quiche-like things, and, of course, walnuts (which I also enjoy a lot). I received many CDs, books, chocolates, much sheet music, a portable CD player, and, for some reason, a '3D Doodle Kit' which simply consisted of two pencils, red and blue, and a pair of 3D glasses. Weird.

Hogmanay's coming up, a time that we Scots traditionally enjoy a lot. Great fun, first footing and all that. Lots of shortbread. Lots of dancing. Lots of alcohol. Lots of Robbie Burns. Lots of Auld Lang Syne. Who'd want to miss it, eh?

Then, just four short days afterwards, it'll be my birthday. It's a shame really. I've got Christmas, Hogmanay, and my birthday all within the space of ten days and then suddenly it's the long, long barren valley of other people's birthdays to traverse before anyone spends anything on me again. I wouldn't mind so much if people didn't keep giving me their gift and saying 'now this is for your Christmas and your birthday'. I appreciate the present, I really do, but you wouldn't have said that to someone who'd been born in June would you? You can't say anything of course. Just grin, smile, and nod. Ach, well, it's not important, I'm feeling in a good mood.

I'll maybe even say how old I am when the 4th of January comes 'round!

See you all next year! Happy Hogmanay!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone! Or happy holidays! Whatever you prefer, I don't mind! I hope you all enjoy yourselves.

Lancre Cup XIII: The Final

Well, I wasn't in this one (in fact I got thrashed in the first round. Ah well.), but it was a smasher all the same. Dregruk vs Tonca, both very active and upstanding members of Lancre. I must add that Yesnono who has been busy organising and working out the worrying calculations required to make the system a just and fair one and has done a great job. No, a fantastic job is the best way to put it I think. The whole ideology of the Lancre Cup is that it's all about letting your hair down and having a really good time. There's no skill needed so who gives a toss about rules? Some of the games had three teams playing each other on the same pitch which I thought was brilliant. Yesnono embraced the humour of the whole enterprise with great enthusiasm and has given it a zest I found difficult to dispense constantly. So cheers, Yesnono! Yeh've been great!

Anyone wanting to read the progress of the Lancre Cup may do so here.

Lancre Cup XIV should begin some time in January next year. If you want to participate you're going to have to join Lancre!

The Mod That DEATed Christmas

Modshort #6!

'Tis the season to be jolly, so just for the hell of it I've given the Modshort a festive theme.

Enjoy!

Prehistoric Mathematics

We have chosen our new admin, as some people will already know (we haven't gone out of our way to keep it secret). For those who don't, he is... drum roll please...

Pythagosaurus

Yes, I know almost none of you will have heard of this guy, and yes, his name is really awkward for choosing a nickname. We'll just have to stagger onwards anyway. Even if 'Pyth' is just stupid and 'Pythag' just sounds wrong. But that's not important. What is important is that he's sacrificing a lot of his spare time to help out the game, and I'm very appreciative of that. He'll be a valuable part of the team. Unless we decide not to have him. Which could happen. You never know.

Anyway, Pythagosaurus will be working on the game, adding new features wherever appropriate, taking some of the load off [violet] and Sal's perspiring shoulders, and being subservient to my every demand should I ever wish there to be changes to issues, mwahahaha. Indeed, he's started on something already, and this is exclusive knowledge, so pay attention: he's updating the nation-search system to make it easier for people trying to find a nation that they can't quite remember the name of. Fascinatin' stuff.

One of the gameplay ideas that sprung from our sessions caught on and it might just be put into the game. I can't tell you what it is, but I can say that it involves regional politics in a fairly major way.

Congratulations, Pythagosaurus (Pythy?), I hope you have as great a time as we mods do (ironic grins all round) making NationStates a better game for all the users. Stick at it and keep up the good work!

In other news, I'm not going to do any issue editing until I've finished my Christmas shopping. Distraction is the enemy here, and there's not that much time left... I can almost hear Santa's sleigh bells ringing now...

Holidays, Holidays

Regular readers (I must trust in my heart that you exist) may be wondering where I've been these last few days. The answer is, of course, that I have been Christmas shopping. I am NOT going to be caught out this year! I've nearly got all the pressies I need, and I do pride myself on always getting the perfect present for the perfect occasion, and I shall share with you some of the do's and don'ts of Christmas gifts.

DO:

• Give gifts that you made yourself. A sure hit. Why not write your intended recipient a song? A poem? Something to show you truly care.
• Give them a really good book.
• Give them a really good film. Nothing deep and philosophical. Just something you can relax, watch and enjoy without having to think too hard. Like Jurassic Park. If you want to sympathise with the plight of modern scientific ethics then read the book. If you want to see dinosaurs eating people then Spielberg's your man.
• Give them chocolate oranges. 'Nuff said.
  
• Give her necklaces, bracelets, earrings, whatever. As long as it glitters, she'll love it.
• Give him plain black T-shirts. It's bliss to have a few of those in supply.
• Give the parents scarves. Parents LOVE scarves. I don't know why.
  
• Show that you truly care. Awwwwwww...

DON'T:

• Give them fruit of any kind. I know how it sounds, but believe me: the stomach will automatically rebel at the sight of those squashy satsumas and waxy Macintosh apples. With the prospect of chocolates, brussel sprouts, and all those other delights your taste for fruit will be incredibly diminished. It's just not worth the effort.
• Give them 'joke' presents.
• Give them scented candles, incense, or any other olfactory-orientated device. Why? Because EVERYONE DOES IT. By the end of June their house will smell like an exploded shampoo factory and they won't thank you for it.
  
• Give them what you gave them last year.
• Give them what you gave their friend last year.
• Give them what you got from their friend last year.
• Give them a pet without express permission.
• Introduce them to NationStates. They'll always connote Christmas with the first day they got sucked into NS addiction. They probably won't even send you a card next year.

So, yeah, there you go. I hope this proves useful to any of you who are stuck for ideas.

In NationStates-related news, I've started work on a new issue. Should be with you soon.

On A Roll

Woohoo! That's three issues put into the game just over the last few days. There's only about ten or so issues remaining in this batch. Once I've gone through them I'll have lots of lovely new issues to consider. Ah, bliss.

In other news, we've been chatting to the few hopeful applicants who made it past the quiz at a top secret location. We blindfolded them and dragged them from their homes just to be sure that no... indiscretions would be made. We've already had to... 'remove' one... mwahahaha...

In short, everything's looking fine and dandy. You'll find out who our new admin will be soon.

Twice As Nice

Yes, today is a great day for two reasons.

First reason: Euroslavia has been promoted to game moderator! He's been a forum mod for about four months and has shown great enthusiasm in everything he's done. He won't have access to the issue editor until I say he's good enough (the idea of substandard issues being released... it fills my heart with a dark, dark chill... brr...).But I'm sure he'll be a great game moderator! Congratulations, Euro!

The second thing is that [violet] has put in the issue fixes! I'm practically somersaulting with joy here. The upshot of this? Well, first of all we're going to be able to have new issues, and secondly that some time later a new feature will be added to the game which will (hopefully) make you answer your issues in a totally different way.

One of the issues I'm going to put into the game was co-edited by Euroslavia. I'm not going to give away anything about it here. I'll just tell you that it is issue #191 and is the 190th issue to be put into the game.

Please Take Your Hands Off Your Buzzers

Anyone who dithered over whether they should apply for the prestigious title of NationStates Administrator have left it too late because the search is over and our new admin will be announced soon (how soon I cannot say).

In the meanwhile, you can take a look at the answers to the quiz here: CLICK ME!

Be warned: you may not understand the answers any more than you understood the questions!

The Assault

Modshort #5!

Now, as ever, this is best viewed when put to 'fast'. Oh, and it'll be much cooler if you imagine 'Flight of The Valkeyries' is playing.

For some reason the site destroyed my last try at this one so I've made another. Hopefully it won't disappear! Enjoy!

A Landmark Day

I recently managed to get hold of [violet] who promised to put in the new issue code I worked on in September (August? Memory fails me) as soon as possible. So you can look forwards to getting some brand new issues at last! Fantastic!

A General Invitation

Anyone who wants to join my region, Lancre, feel free to telegram me or the UN Delegate, Determined Cows. We could do with some fresh blood. We're an active community with a monthly football tournament, we like jogging and watching sunsets, we're a tall 5'11" and GSOH. Looking for a serious relationship, and if it doesn't work out we won't be acrimonious or anything.

Oh, and those who think they could be NationStates' next administrator should sign up as soon as possible. We've already begun the cruel and merciless process of Picking Favourites.

One more thing: there's a cool thread in the United Nations forum that has quite an amusing idea about the possibilites of making a UN card deck. Most curious.

Ta ta!

Will Those Of A Sensitive Nature Please Look Away...

And if that's not enough for those for whom 'curosity killed the cat' is just a superstition I have two words:

SCROTAL ABSCESS

Sorry, but I did warn you. And it hasn't been too pleasant for me either. There is some NationStates news right at the bottom, so feel free to skip the rest.

It all happened four days ago. The weather was clement and I felt quite content, but then... then something quite terrible happened. I discovered I had an abscess. I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been, say, on my elbow or perhaps even my leg. Hell, if I'd had an iota of choice I'd have had it on my nose, but some divine force said 'Nay, thou shalt have this horrendous affliction on your scrotum, one of THE most sensitive and painful places on the human body where, unless you walk like someone who's about to do the splits, will be rubbed against your legs in the most excruciatingly painful way with every step.'

It was a bugger. A real bugger. Especially since I didn't know it was an abscess at first and kept imagining all manners of horrible things. What if it's dangerous? What would happen if it leaked? Would I become infertile? Is it a tumour?! I hoped it would just disappear, but no, it did not.

The next day, I woke up, swung out of my bed and froze as a sudden pain shot through that most intimate of body parts. Very slowly I stood up, took down my trousers, and investigated. The abscess had quadrupled in size and parts of it were black. It was gigantic. It was like having three balls. No longer did I have a left and right testicle because the abscess had dislodged one of them and left me with an upper and lower testicle instead. Very, very slowly I got dressed and went down stairs to make an appointment with the doctor.

The socks were the worst.

The next day I went to the clinic. The car-ride there is something I'd rather forget. There were speed bumps.

The doctor was very understanding as she told me, much to my relief, that it was just an abscess.

'It's very painful? How does it feel here?'

'[unintelligible noises]'

'I see, well, very soon this thing's going to be burst. Would you like me to stick a pin in it?'

'Please tell me you're kidding.'

'No.'

'Well all right then. Will it be sore?'

'A bit.'

Yeah. A bit. I think we all know what THAT means.

'[more prolonged and seemingly desperate unintelligible noises]'

'All right, maybe you should do this at home? I'll give you antibiotics for the week and some painkillers. Run a warm bath later this evening and just apply pressure to the abscess. Now there's an outlet it'll all come out.'

'[somewhat high-pitched] OK.'

So, later that evening I prepared myself mentally for the worst and gave the painkillers a good hour to take effect before I committed myself. I lowered myself into the bath, washed my hair (mostly for some delaying of the Task and not because I wished my hair to be clean, fresh, and smell of Tea Tree and Mint...), and began.

The next hour was one of the most disgusting and painful experiences of my entire life. It was grosser than a live autopsy I saw on television once. It was more painful than that time I fell face forward into a deep patch of nettles. It was even more distressing than the time I got a plastic screw stuck in my right ear. It was nasty in the extreme and I will not share the details here, for I cannot think of a good reason why anyone would want to know them. I am aware that many people take great satisfaction out of squeezing pus. I am not one of them and I never will be. Words cannot even come close to describing my horror at seeing that first jet of pinky fluid shoot out and splash against the bathroom wall.

Brr...

Well, anyway, I feel much better now and I'm optimistically hopeful that what is remaining is just swelling.

In NationStates-related news, Euroslavia has officially completed his first issue with my help. I don't think it's too bad and while his grasp of coding is still weak, there's plenty of room for improvement and I think he'll do excellently with the next one. I have also been busy and am about to undertake the editing of a further three issues myself within the next week. Oh, and the Bastard Moderator from Hell saga's back in fashion. Check it out. Oh yes, one more thing, here are some responses to the ModShort with SalusaSecondus in it.

Ciao! I hope I haven't spoiled any appetites over the next three years.

How To Make Your Own Regional Tournament

Well... at the very least how to make your own version of the Lancre Cup. These are all the rules I originally came up with though I believe the current organisers may have changed things here and there:

All nations in the region are randomly drawn against each other using names-in-a-hat. First are the heats, then the second heats (if necessary), then the quarter finals, semi finals, third place playoff, and the final. How many heats you have played each day is up to you. If a nation doesn't want to compete, all they have to do is ask to be taken off the lists. If a nation dies before it's done any matches, its designated opponent wins by default. If it dies after winning a match, no changes are made.

In the Lancre Cup we don't have any RP element to it other than the carious competitors casually taunting and threatening the other sides. You can try to implement your own way if you like. A nation can win the Cup without even knowing it exists but that's not important to us. It's the taking part that counts!

Scoring goes like this: a dice is rolled for each team with 1 taken off the result of each roll. So, if you rolled a 6 for team A and a 1 for team B, team A would have a score of 5 and B would have a score of 0. If it's a draw, you repeat the rolls.

Now, after your first cup, it would obviously be silly if your finalist last time got beaten by some upstart amateur so the results of the last cup are taken into consideration. This bit can be confusing so it helps to have a piece of paper handy!

A nation which reached the heats in the previous Cup will have no changes to their score. If they score a 6, they get a 5 (remember the 'take away one' thing.)

A nation which reaches the quarter finals playoff will have one added to their score. if they score a 6, they get a 6.

A nation which reaches the semi finals or third place playoff gets two added to their score. If they score a 6, they get a 7.

A nation which reaches the Final will have two added to their score and one taken away from their opponent. If the finalist scores 6, he gets 7 and if the opponent scores 3, he gets 1.

If the opponent of the Finalist has been beyond the heats in the previous Cup, then there is no taking away goals from the opponent.

After the scores have been toted, you write a small match review. Ours are slanted humorously, but you may wish to be more serious.

Have fun! If there are any more questions just e-mail me.

Admin Wannabes

We've had a fairly heatlhy response to our advertisement for a new NationStates administrator, but that's pretty much all I can tell you as almost everything else is confidential. I have noticed an upsurge in the number of telegrams I receive asking how to become a moderator. I'm not sure why since we're not after a new one right now. Everything's just spiffy in that department. I usually ignore these telegrams but after receiving "How do you be a mod?" for the seven hundredth time (including variants such as 'How did you be a mod?', 'How can I be modrater?', and 'HOW R U A MOD?!?!') my sensibilities disappeared with this casual cruelty to grammar and I NEARLY wrote back a cutting reply.

But if you're interested, the answer is, of course, that it's just a knack.

Happy Third Birthday, NationStates!

I'd completely forgotten about this important date until I saw the news post, but that won't stop me bringing out the party whistles and having a good tootle.

When NationStates had its first birthday, Max wrote a 'worldwide' issue that everyone got which centred on that pivotal question - how do we celebrate? For its second birthday, I think we had a MaxChat to mark it, but no-one could have guessed what Max had in store for the big oh-three... and I'm as surprised as anyone else. I was vaguely aware that we were thinking of getting another admin but I didn't know that any serious thought had gone into it.

So am I going to apply? NAY CHANCE. Apart from issues code, I just don't have the technical skill or knowledge. If I tried to do anything, the Jolt technicians would find themselves awoken by the smell of burning plastic. I would, in other words, be piss-poor for the job. But we do need another admin - I've been aware of this for quite a long time. [violet] hardly shows up anymore and SalusaSecondus is always up to his ears with things needing done. Not to mention real life worries. The only reason I'd ever want to be an admin would be so I could fix the issue errors myself.

Anyway, here's ModShort #4 starring one of the admins we've already got - SalusaSecondus!

Happy Birthday, NationStates!

Of Novices And Spell-Checks

Euroslavia's beginning to grapple with the more technical side of issue editing now, and boy is he trying hard! But he'll have to try harder, as I only accept the best! Highest standard! Minimum error! Even when he thought he'd conquered the first option I pointed out six places he could improve on, and THAT'S how much this stuff has worked itself into my skull. But hey, he's not doing bad. I'm sure he'll be a fantastic editor by the end of this.

In other news, Salusa has introduced a spell-checker for UN proposals, telegrams, and regional message boards. Not that I need them of course (insert haughty sniff here), but I think it's a great idea. Though, as one person who telegrammed me pointed out, the button has been put in the position the 'send!' button used to have so force of habit means people will keep hitting the wrong switch! I'll have to mention that to Sal when I next bump into him.

Anyhoo, ciao for now.

Unfree People Retires

Unfree People, one of our forum mods, retired yesterday due to the pressures of that invasive beast 'real life'. But fear not, for she is not leaving us. She will still be around as a player, spreading her insight and wisdom throughout the forums.

In other news, I won Lancre Cup XII! Fantastic, no? I narrowly defeated Sliponia for the grand prize at an astonishing 8-7 win. The defenders must have been drunk or something...

Low On Elf

The nation of Menelmacar died yesterday out of inactivity. This would have been somewhat unremarkable usually, since nations are dying all the time sending billions of souls into the void everyday. Puts our troubles into context I suppose when we hear of how thousands are dying of ailments every week. In the same context I suppose I'm the mass-murdering madman of entire civilisations. Hmm. Maybe I should get a tie.

Anyway, what was so special about this one dying was the fact that Menelmacar is a moderator and is actually quite active for someone who should be dead. Menelmacar's more commonly known as Siri, short for Sirithil which is an Elvish name. Quite appropriate, since her country is ruled, and populated, by elves. Some would pin it down to coincidence, me, I think she did it on purpose. This is no time for speculation anyhow, as I'm sure you're wondering how her nation could have died from inactivity if she was so active. Well, before I relate the tale, I shall tell you one more thing which shall send shivers down your soul.

IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. [Cue Bach's Toccata in D minor]

Basically, your nation will automatically be deleted if you do not log into your nation for 28 days, 60 if you're on vacation mode. What the unfortunate Siri had done was this: she had not logged into her nation. She had instead being going directly to the forums and IRC channels. Her nation had slowly wasted away and before you can say "It will be a light for you in dark places", it had gone into the fiery abysses of Sal's wastepaper basket. As soon as she found out what had happened, Siri restored it of course but it was a dreadful reminder of what can happen when you lose focus...

As for the other time it occured, that was when it happened to poor old TJ Hairball's nation. He didn't stand a chance, poor bugger. He is a forum mod after all.

The Jester's New Clothes

ModShort #3!

This was originally intended to be a parody of a popular fable, but I forgot while I was doing it. Ah well. At least I have learned one thing from this - PLAN YOUR MODSHORT. Maybe then I won't start writing a joke when I haven't thought of a punchline... anyway, do enjoy.

Disqualification

Well, damn it. I am definitely NOT going to be able to complete the challenge I set myself about a week ago to complete three issues by the 5th of Novemeber. Fantastic, eh? I blame it on society. I have set myself a more realistic challenge now. I shall complete ONE issue by the 12th of November. It shall be mighty and stand above all other issues who will surely look and know their master. We can only hope.

Mod Olympics Again

Yes, that's right, Frisbeeteria officially has no life and is surely welded to his computer or something. I don't know how he manages it, I really don't. The sight of that measly three issues edited by myself was irritating though. I'm going to remedy that for the next olympics if I can. I got my usual fare of bronze medals which I suppose I'm happy about. I never really have that much enthusiasm for the Olympics to be honest, since the only one that interests me is the 'issues edited' section.

But, hey, congratulations to Fris, Kat, and all the other guys who put so much into keeping this game alive. I remember there was a time when the tasklist could rack up to hundreds of unresolved tasks because we simply didn't have the time. Now I look in and it's usually barely more than two pages and rapidly diminishing. 'Tis a golden age in NS player service. Gives me more time to edit issues too!

In other news, I am ill. I'd been feeling queasy yesterday, and had a headache like a music festival from far away. And then, last night, I was sick. It came on me so suddenly and without warning that half of it shot out my nose and ruined my favourite shirt. I Hope you feel all nice and grossed out now; it's not nearly half as bad as how I feel. Urgh.

Happy Halloween!

And Then Five Come Along At Once

Er... Um... It's kinda like this: just today, a life-changing thing (which I can't go into for personal reasons) just cropped up and I might not be able to fulfil the challenge I set myself in the last article. It's a bugger, I know, but I'm hoping it will all be resolved by the 31st and I'll be able to get at least one issue done. This is blatantly typical of how my life works and why deadlines are a real pain in the arse for me. It's as if Someone Up There is trying to turn everything I do into an obstacle course.

By the way, [violet] went and got herself a cool avatar. Check it out.

The Challenge

I'm going to try and get as many issues finished as I can next week as a challenge to myself. I've been so busy with real life that I haven't really been able to focus much on editing, and I still haven't got around to asking Sal to install the new code which is also something that bugs me. So to put a little ease to my professional pride, I'm going to try and get at least three issues completed by the 5th of November. It'll be tough, but I think I can do it if I concentrate hard and tie up my other responsibilities and arrangements.

Wish me luck!

The Old Days

ModShort #2!

This one's pretty much based on the fact that TJ is our senior forum mod and has been around forever. There's some nasty grammatical errors in there, for which I apologise. It was all a bit rushed, and my attempts to make TJ look like he was being illuminated by the campfire were crap.

Anyway. Enjoy!

My Brief Absence

I'm back! I forgot to tell anyone, but I've been away for the weekend in Fort William (again) where I had a lovely time. The Highlands in October is a beautiful sight. All those reds, oranges, and yellows were a worthy reminder that autumn has truly arrived. Now I've got a few hundred telegrams that have accumulated while I was away to mull over so bye-bye for now, take care, and remember, kidz, don't take drugs!

Such Attention Is Flattering

According to my counter, over 1000 people have looked at this blog since August. I personally find this rather hard to believe since hardly any of them leave comments. I'm still quite happy to have reached such a milestone, but I do hope that more people will be interested in reading this than right now - I would like all the effort I put into writing this stuff to be rewarded some time. Feel free to offer me money and expensive gifts at the usual address!

Recent Events

After having a peek at the Moderation forum recently (I don't actually look at the forums that much anymore) I noticed that there's been quite a hoo-hah over the deletion of a nation called Hogsweat. So I did a small investigation (i.e. asked what as happening) and discovered that he'd been deleted for ejecting everyone in his region. I was quite surprised to find everyone arguing about this because this rule has been in effect for longer than I can remember. Only founders can clear their regions. It is very strictly forbidden for delegates to do so. Otherwise we'd have nutters clearing regions left, right and centre (it's happened to Lancre once, I know about this with much bitterness). It's pretty much the definition of region griefing. But it's all over now, thankfully.

Kat was complaining about Jolt earlier so I made this wee animation to cheer her up. I hope you enjoy it too! I'm thinking of making a series of these for each Mod. I'm thinking of calling them 'Modshorts'. If I do go ahead with this, you can consider this one 'ModShort #1'.

Botheration

Looks like NationStates is down. AGAIN. I'd moan about Jolt if I didn't already know that this used to happen on a much more frequent basis in those old days when the server was powered by Sal's dead hamster. Ah well. We'll just have to wait until an admin tries to log in.

Avatars!

I was really pleased to discover today that NS mods can now give themselves avatars on the NS forums. Naturally I chose the awe-inspiring sight of the flightless hippo as my representation. Hack went for some kind of mysterious monk in yellow robes, Cog and Fris favoured the traditional Jennifer Government eye, Tsaraine chose what appears to be a nut with sunglasses, GMC and Kat both went for felinesque people, and Euroslavia selected, for some unknown reason, a picture of a chin with a word underneath it which I first took to say 'Penis'. As far as I'm aware none of the others have got avatars yet but it's only a matter of time until we see what they choose.

I'm willing to bet a not unreasonable amount of money that Reppy's will involve yellow armour and a very big sword...!

The Way Is Barred

Hmm, an arcane little message keeps appearing whenever I try to get into the forums using NationStates. Most curious. In case it's happening to anyone else, and if that 'anyone else' should by happy coincidence pertain to you, you can access the NS forums by using this link:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=1235

Ah, the joys of hypertext.

By the way, I got the videos of 'The Legends of Treasure Island' the other day so I'm very happy and I can finally stop bleating on about it to people who neither know nor care about the programme (i.e. everyone but me. Even my closest friends who remember it think I'm a bit potty for having tried to track it down for the last four months...)

I Want Some Company

You know. For those long lonely nights where I'm just lying in bed with nothing to do. It's not so bad I suppose, I've always got Rebecca... or Carrie... or Frankenstein... and before this silly prevarication continues any further I'll just point out that by 'Company' I mean Max Barry's new book. As long-suffering moderators, we've all been hoping (read: asking, hinting, threatening) that we'd get signed advanced copies of this book as payment for our years (or in the newbies' cases, months) of hard, unpaid labouring over NationStates. We don't know if we will, and it's clear that Max has got other things on his mind, but we'd have thought we'd at least get a snifter before some mystery bloke called Jason got to it. Haven't we cracked our bones long enough?

But I'm not bitter. Just hopeful (meaningful pause) that we will get at least a free copy. Not too much to ask, and I don't ask for many things apart from substantial changes to the issues code, money, sexual favours, etc.

Wait, did I say that last bit out loud?

Issues Discussion Channel

Euroslavia had the idea of setting up an IRC channel devoted to the discussion of NationStates daily issues and I'll be there, when I can, to accept your accurate, constructive praise and worship or, if 'tis even possible, your incredibly mistaken and unfair abuse and vitriolic ramblings. I can also advise you on writing issues, or give you ideas for ones if you're stuck. You can visit the channel at #nationstates_issues on the Espernet server.

If you need more help understanding this whole IRC thing, have a shufti at Reploid Productions' thread on the subject here: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=278619

First Critique

Euroslavia showed me his first efforts at issue editing today, his cheeks gleaming with pride, his eyes sparking with anticipation, and his grin positively beaming with youth and vigour. Ah, I felt so guilty having to bring him down to the ground as I totally butchered his work with my onslaught of vicious jibes and insults. He hasn't dared to try writing the code yet, but I'm sure he'll master it soon enough.

Still, even after having two options vetoed, the whole structure rearranged, and being ordered to rewrite everything he's still as eager as a beaver in a pine forest so I'm hopeful that he'll turn out something much improved next time. Indeed, I'm sure of it!

Future Prospects

In two weeks I'll have been a moderator of NationStates for a whole two years. This is quite frightning really, because previously I had always managed to hold fast to the idea that I can quit anytime... anytime I like! But I am beginning to wonder. A lot of things are changing in my life and NationStates has slowly been sinking lower and lower as a route of escapism. Even the issue-editing doesn't have that golden glow of excitment for me anymore though I do still enjoy it very much. But it's been a long time since I've been able to put one in the game. I'll have to talk to Salusa about that...

But hey. I don't plan to retire for a while yet, and I do at least want to pass the 200-issues mark! That'd be a fine thing. But for now I'm just bored. We'll see how things go.

Of Zeroes And Heroes

There is absolutely nothing to report on the NationStates front right now, unless you wanted a list of things we'd forgotten about (with the obvious exceptions of the task- and issue-list). But nevermind.

At least I managed to order the complete second season of The Legends of Treasure Island! Yar, me mateys, that I did. As a favour to the guy (the hero in the title - words cannot describe how grateful I am) who's done this for me, I'd ask anyone who reads this to contact me if they've copied any episodes of two old TV series this guy's a-hankerin' after: 'The Dreamstone' and 'Bravestarr'.

Anyway, toodles for now.

Lancre Cup XII

Once again, it's time for more zany Lancre football, and also, once again, we have a new organiser. Yesnono has bravely taken up the job of working out everyone's scores, writing up match reviews, keeping everyone interested et cetera and I says good luck to her. It's a tough job, and it needs a tough mind to control it or you'll just flop forward with your tongue rolling out.

So yeah, if you want to know more, check out the thread here: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?topic=445504

Cartography

If there's one thing that I know NationStaters would give their right arms for, it would be decent maps. Well, actually they'd probably prefer war, trade, allegiances, and more descriptive control of their nations, but if you asked them if they'd like good maps, I'm willing to wager they'd give a resounding 'yes'. Or 'aye'. Or 'whatever'. Or maybe just 'I'd prefer war, trade, allegiances, and more descriptive control of my nations'. They're a mixed bunch, NSers.

Anyway, I'm just going to tell you that there is a great way you can make a map of your nation or region (only an idiot would try to make one for the whole NS world) and even make photorealistic shots of it (and not just from an eagle-eye point of view either!) and make all your friends go 'ooh' and 'aah' as you show off the great mountain range of Silly Sausage, or the blue rippling waters of Loch Dead Baby. Good taste is optional when it comes to naming these things.

But how do you all this? With Terragen of course! I mentioned this very briefly a few months back I think, but it really is too good a program to ignore. My region Lancre used Terragen and we had the images on our website until it was sadly disabled by server trouble.

If you really want to impress people with your up-and-coming region, or you're just a delegate or founder looking for a new way to improve the morale, or maybe you've got an NS friend with a birthday approaching (or maybe you're just bored and like maps), give it a shot. You won't be sorry.

Oh, and it's free! Have fun!

Another Milestone

We've just passed a massive forty thousand tasks in toto reviewed by the mods. Phew. Makes me wonder whether the others have been getting any sleep at night. I know Fris hasn't - he's been demolishing the list with almost inhuman consistency and I think he's just trying to make the rest of us look bad. Damn you, Frisbeeteria, and your wily games!

Lake District And Yorkshire

Yes, I have returned from my four-day trip to England. I would have written about it on Monday, but I couldn't be arsed.

Anyway, did I enjoy myself? Yes, I do believe I did! On the first day I visited the White Scar cave near Ingleton and it was pretty amazing. I did keep bashing my head against the ceiling though, and there were some passages where you have to bend double to get through. It was one of the few occasions where I was happy being just five foot ten!

I also went to Malham Cove and admired it muchly. There was not a chance in Hell I was going near the edge though. Just seeing another visitor looking over the side gave me the jellies. Brr. As if Watloe's Valley hadn't been bad enough.

I stayed at a hostel in Grasmere which was all very well and good, it was very comfortable and such, until I suddenly got food poisoning on the last day from a suspect vegetable bolognese. Ooh, God, it was horrible. I was shivering, hacking, and sneezing all the way home. Ah well. Can't win 'em all.

Trip To England

I'm going on a three day trip down to the Lake District and Yorkshire, England, starting today. So I won't be back until Sunday. I'll be visiting Limestone caves, taking a good look at the surrounding karstic scenery, and, I suppose, be enjoying myself.

So, be back soon. I won't have any pictures, so you'll just have to endure my graphic detail. Ah, well. See you later.

Fresh Blood

I've got some good news for those wanting more issues - I've started teaching Euroslavia, one of our forum mods, the basic methods of editing issues. I don't want to get into the complicated stuff to quickly or his head will implode and I'll have to find someone else to bully and cajole.

The system works like this:

1. Give the mod a choice of three issues to edit, each sealed in a golden envelope. Once the mod chooses one, I strap him into a chair and the torture begins.

2. I give the mod some basic directions on how to edit (this took me the best part of two hours with Euro, but there's a lot you need to know!) and telegrammed him a copy of the issue (with a few preliminary edits by me to prevent code warping the editor screen - sometimes just one misplaced bracket can have bizarre effects like enlarging all the text and turning it orange). He then edits it to the best of his ability and telegrams it back to me.

3. I send the issue back pointing out all the things he did wrong, things he did right, and things he has yet to do. He edits and sends back.

4. I point out some more stuff, make suggestions, give him some casual verbal abuse, and send it back.

5. Wash, rinse and repeat.

6. Finally, when I'm satisfied, I give the whole issue a do-over, show Euro what I did and explain it, and then put the issue in the game. The issue will not acknowledge the mod as the co-editor, but I do record it. I'll mention it in this blog, too.

I won't be able to put any issues into the game just yet of course. Not until the new code's been installed.

I'm vaguely aware that Euroslavia's been looking forward to the whole issue-editing process, so we should be able to expect a lot of output from him, which is fantastic. We'll be over the 200 issues mark in no time!

Busy Busy Busy

You may be wondering where the Hell I've been recently. Well, it's quite simple. I've been busy. Very busy in fact. I've had little time to visit NationStates, and haven't been able to do any editing at all. I feel strung out and tired, and if that wasn't bad enough I've got a Radiohead song called 'I Froze Up' stuck in my head. It keeps going round and round and repeating like a zoetrope. It's a beautiful song, but quite frankly it's turning my brain into cottage cheese.

I hope I might be able to get more things done next weekend. Build up a bunch of completed issues (though recently it's becoming more and more of a chore to concentrate myself on doing these things).

And, dammit, I've got to accompany (on piano) a violinist who's a friend of mine. The song's 'Fix You' by Coldplay which has a mercifully slow and easy accompaniment so it shouldn't be too bad. Complicated and fast accompaniments are the devil's craft and it can take ages to master them properly if you're not totally at home with this most treacherous of arts. But hey, I'm learning.

Everyday, and in every way, I'm getting better. And a tad more sleep-deprived.

Somnolence

Nothing new. I feel sleepy. Progress on new issues up to speed. Asked Sal about the new issue code. He said 'later'. Scotland beat Norway. Good. Northern Ireland beat England. Also good, in a totally non-sectarian way.

But mostly, I just want to sleep. Wake me up if anything interesting happens.

Issue Ideas

If you're stuck for inspiration, here's some ideas we don't have issues on yet:

Gay adoption
Terrorism (GOOD terrorism issues. I've seen plenty of issues on terrorism, but they've all been absolutely terrible - think carefully about how you structure this issue)
Military coup (again, think carefully about how you do this one)
Public transport strikes (bus drivers? Airline workers?)
Nuclear meltdown
Coastal erosion
Lack of healthcare
Territory expansion (someone claiming part of your land, or your claiming of theirs, either will do)

There's an infinite number of other ideas if none of these appeal to you. All you have do is look!

Rallentando

Well, there's still no news on the new issue code, or anything yet. Not even the new UN proposal categories I mentioned ages ago. News of any kind seems to be coming to a gradual halt. I haven't received many new e-mails or comments in ages, and even my usual flow of telegrams has dropped a bit.

All very mysterious.

Maybe I should heckle Salusa some more.

X Marks The Spot

You may remember that I mentioned a while back that I was having problems finding episodes of an old TV series called The Legends of Treasure Island. Well, I'm pleased to say that I managed to purchase a video set with all the episodes from the first season on it! It took a while of searching, but it seems that the series must have been bought by an Australian TV channel at some point. I don't know if they ever put the second (and final) season onto video but I'd very much like to find out!

Thankfully, I do have the episode where they actually find the treasure on an old video, so I won't be too horribly frustrated if I never get these episodes. It's a shame I don't have the very last episode, but I can remember what happens so ah well.

Poor old Captain Smollett, he never deserved what happened to him.

It's A Girl!

What better way to celebrate your hundredth blog article than to also celebrate the arrival of new life? Max Barry has just hit fatherhood, and I can't express how very happy I am for him! A big congratulations and much well-wishing for him and Jennifer, I know they'll be stellar parents. You can see Max's blog on the subject here: http://www.maxbarry.com/2005/08/30/news.html#finlay.

Sirroco, The Bastard Moderator From Hell

A long time ago, Reppy created a thread where mods could expound their frustrations and neuroses with fictional writing. A thread Where we could do all the mean nasty things we'd never do in real life (or don't we...?) and where we could take the piss out of anything we liked. It was great fun, and has proved enormously popular with the members of the forum. I don't really have much to write about because, of course, I mostly deal with daily issues, and there's not much malice you can inflict on people with issues. Chaos and destruction, yes, but not much malice.

Anyway, I decided to give it a shot anyway, and submitted my contribution to the new thread here (don't worry about missing any, the first thread is linked in the first post): http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=384991.

If you're wondering why my bastard moniker is 'Sirroco', it goes way back to when I used to complain loudly that people always spelled 'Sirocco' wrong. In retaliation people started calling me Sirroco, Siroco, Siraco, (or even in extreme cases Sirccocoocococo) and other such variants. Ah, irony, it gets you everytime.

After The Storm

Well, everything's fixed now. Looks like it's gonna be a happy ending! Just a few minor niggles to fix and then we'll be back on the road to reliable servers. Not that NationStates has ever had a particularly good record in this regard!

Worry Ye Not, Help Is On The Way

People trying to log into NationStates will notice that the site is throwing up a hell of a lot of weird stuff and that you can't create a nation. This because we've run out of disc space again, which is pretty bewildering I know as I thought it had been fixed. But it looks like it got botched. Ah well.

But the simple message here is to NOT WORRY. We have everything in hand. As soon as Sal or the boss get the time to do anything, everyone's nation will be restored to the last time we backed our files up. What will this mean? Well, there will be a population drop, and any changes to your nation and all the issues you answered will have been undone. That's because your nation stats will revert to our backup file (don't panic though - it won't have been too long ago!).

It's advisable not to log into your nation as doing so kills it (as I found out after I'd attempted to log in about ten times...), but if you have already it doesn't matter, it'll be fixed soon.

Though the game is down, the forums are not, so you can still enjoy yourself sharing your disbelief at what's happened with others.

Here's some amusing threads I've noticed to help you pass the time:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=436151
http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=440356
http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=440313
http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=435859

Edit: looks like some things have been cleared up before I could finish writing this...

Earlier today (26 August 2005) our server experienced some data corruption, and the game is offline while we fix this. The fix will probably require restoring from a backup. We do not have an estimate for how long this will take nor when the backups will be from. I promise a status update by 7pm PST. (Unfortunately, I can't take the day off from work to fix this.)

Restoring from backup means, unfortunately, that all nations and regions will lose any changes made in the last 20 hours.

Any status updates will be posted to this page. Thank you for your patience.

Things will be fine. Have no fear! I'm just glad I didn't put any issues into the game in the last twenty hours. That would have been incredibly annoying...

Chinwagging With Karma

Today, I downloaded the latest wonder in communication that is Google Talk at the behest of Karmabaijan. And it's quite frankly amazing. Today I had my first international call (not including ones which have been routed through India and the like) and it was FREE. ALL FREE! Which I considered quite fine and dandy. One of the other things that I was happy about was the fact that I could clearly hear what Karma was saying. I was half-expecting to hear a static-garbled mess, like what you get from cheap walkie-talkies.

However, the experience was not without its drawbacks.

First of all, you need a microphone to be able to talk to someone. Otherwise, as it was with me and Karm, you're just listening to the other guy breathing like an ominous shadowy man in an alley. I did eventually find a microphone which had laid dormant in an old box for the last two years but when I put it in it didn't work. I haven't figured out why yet, but I'm optimistic. I'm positive it's in the right port. It was the little picture of a microphone next to it that supplied the clue.

So, as for the actual chat, you wouldn't be interested. Most of it was just Karm coaxing me on and puzzling about feedback while I frowned at the computer screen a lot.

Only those with a gmail account can use Google Talk, so if you want to be able to use it and don't have one feel free to e-mail me. I've got 50 invitations I've never used; I might as well put them to good use.

Oh, and by the way, Karma's got a really creepy laugh. Brrr...

New Issue Under Construction

But it's a total secret! It's quite a bit different from many other issues, so I'm still puzzling on how to use it. Should be a blast, anyway.

If you're looking for something to read, check out this blog: http://tnpblogger.blogspot.com/. It's an interesting insight into the strange power-struggles and debates that make up the Pacific regions. This is only for The North Pacific, but that's not too bad because it's the most interesting one politically.

One Square Forward

I learnt last night that [violet] had forwarded my issue-code to SalusaSecondus who said "If I get bored and remember I may do it". May not sound like much, but it is promising and it looks like we may have the new features in much sooner than I expected!

Still on the subject of issues, I noticed a rather interesting idea for an issue in a thread here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=439362. We could do with more issues on gambling, and this is a good premise. The arguments are a bit thin, but hey, nothing's perfect.

The Siroc & Newsted Saga has started again after another lengthy interval of silence. You can view it here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=280357.

And last, but not least, I have drawn a picture of a flightless hippo using Microsoft Paint here: http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sirocco9sz.jpg. Why did I do this? Because apparently the people doing the musical I mentioned in a previous blog want to turn it into an animation. Pretty cool, huh? With any luck we'll see this monstrosi- ah- delightful image I've constructed shuckin' and jivin' on our computer screens some day representing yours truly.

Hmm. I should have made the wings white.

Stockpiling

Still no news about the new issue code, but I'm not too surprised. I'm going to get busy editing new issues so that I have plenty to put into the game when I'm given the all-clear.

And... that's all I have to report really. Same old, same old.

Everyone Loves Feedback

I was a little bored, so I made a *coughhackcough* 'animation' about the NationStates musical that the Generalites are making. It's based on a conversation between myself, Melkor, and Euroslavia. Why did I give Euro a long Dumbledore nose and green hair? Who knows. Maybe when the universe comes to its roaring, apocalyptic ending there will be an answer.

And yeah, I couldn't draw Melkor's helmet.

And, damn it, I've just realised that people wondering where Sirocco's other paw is will also wonder why Euro looks so deliriously happy. Oh dear me, it's one of those days isn't it?

Numbers

People may have noticed that I have placed a discreet counter at the bottom of the blog. I did this because I wanted to get a general idea of just how many people read this thing. At the time of writing I have noticed that seventy-one people have visited this blog over the last four days. This is clearly not enough and must be dealt with or I'll feel like I've been wasting my time! So, yeah, tell people who might be sufficiently interested in NationStates to read this to, well... read this. Then I might feel a bit happier about having spent five minutes rambling away about things that no-one cares about.

The Show Must Go On

I'm back. Now that I'm over the initial shock of my sister's death, I'm glad that there's been an ending to this and that she's not suffering anymore. The funeral's on Thursday.

NationStates-wise, quite a lot has been happening. The Generalites have decided to write a musical dedicated to NationStates, and I think it's a brilliant idea! I even set some lyrics written by someone called 'The Noble Men' to music and submitted it to the overseers of the project. The lyrics seem to describe me as a forum mod which is odd because I rarely post on the forums these days. I spend most of my time doing issues stuff and tidying up the tasklist.

You can see/hear the song here: Sirocco, Sirocco!

You'll need this free computer program to see/hear the music: Finale Notepad

The musical is being written mostly (though probably solely) by regulars of the General forum and as such it mostly concerns the General forum and its inhabitants. I haven't actually read the script, but I couldn't help noticing that my name pops up quite frequently. Often with bewilderingly inexplicable context:

Sirocco: What about me? I have been here longer than you, how do you think I feel? I can't go back to telemarketing, that was so dreadfully boring.

and:

cut to a shot of Sirocco in a container in the troll fortress. There are other trolls playing cards with him.

It is a musical of course, and where would the world be if we could understand muscials? It's a tradition that they should be odd. I can't help but feel slightly misrepresented there, but then it doesn't look like characterisation is exactly the forte of those writing this. I don't think Cogitation would ever say "Hey, asss goblin, I tried, it's not my fault they swarmed us, I didn't start the fight." I can't recall Cog ever using foul language, and even if he did I doubt he'd choose to call someone an 'ass goblin'. Brings up terrible images and brings a whole new meaning to the term 'troglodyte'.

But all in all, I'm optimistic because once again it shows the exciting potential of the broad canvas that NationStates supplies. You can check out the official forum these guys have made for the musical here: Click here.

In other news, there has been a reaffirming of our policy on what constitutes an offensive flag. You can check that out here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=438053

No news yet about the issue edits. But the admins have got enough on their plate already without me tugging their sleeves and complaining that nothing's happened to it.

Phew! What a lot of links! I hope those reading this article have much patience!

Antonia Chalmers

This morning, at about 2 o' clock, my half-sister, Antonia Marie Chalmers, died after a long, long fight with Hughes' Syndrome. Peacefully, in her sleep. She was originally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis because the two ailments are so similar and I beg anyone who has been diagnosed with this dreadful thing to please get tested for Hughes' Syndrome as it can be identified with a simple blood test and is easily curable if noted early on.

Please visit http://www.hughes-syndrome.org/ and raise awareness about this disease.

Three years ago she was as compis mentis as you or I, but as things wore on, she lost the ability to think clearly, walk, talk, until eventually she couldn't even recognise her own family. It was unbearable to witness, but now I'm glad she's at peace and maybe in Heaven she'll be able to walk and see her father again.

Toni was a lovely woman, and one of the most humane and empathetic people I'll ever know. She was always talented too, she had perfect pitch and I remember that guitarists could tune their instruments to her voice. It makes me feel bitter that the doctors wouldn't listen to us when we claimed she had Hughes' Syndrome and stuck to their diagnosis like politicians defending their decision to send hundreds of troops to their death. Even when we pointed out that she had memory loss which is highly indicative of Hughes' Syndrome and not MS. Maybe she could have been saved, and maybe she could not have. It all seems oddly irrelvant now.

With all my love, I hope she has gone to a better place and I will never forget her.

Antonia Marie Chalmers, may she rest in peace: (3/9/75 - 13/8/05)

In NationStates-related news, the issue code has been sent to admin for installation, and I hope you all enjoy it very much. I may not be around for some time.

Final Hurdles

I'm nearly finished doing my grand issue-editing campaign. Once it's all done, I'll send it to one of the admins to install and you'll be able to see what I've been labouring over for the last two weeks. Well, some of you might. Well, probably no-one will unless I can also get the boss to install something else which is hush-hush right now. You'll know it when you see it, but you might not for quite a while.

I don't know how long it'll take for admin to put in the new code. It might take ages and it might take just a few days. Time will tell. Or maybe it won't. Time doesn't make promises.

Butch Blog

I just read Max Barry's Blog about a computer program that analyses text to work out whether the writer was a man or a woman. Well, naturally I tried a number of my blogs, and it seems that my writings are brimming with testosterone. Not one effeminate article could I find. After the initial relief and smugness I wondered if maybe this program was entirely efficient. For instance, it says that the use of the word 'the' is an essentially male attribute, but how can it be? 'The' is the most commonly used word in the language! Writing something and not using it is like trying to drink soup with your elbows. It's clumsy, takes a long time, and makes you look silly. Nevertheless, I was intrigued, so I tried out Reppy's and Euroslavia's blogs (see the links in the sidebar) to see if it matched up with them too. Things did not go entirely as I expected. It seems that Reppy's got a manly touch when it comes to writing blogs, while Euroslavia's practically decorating his efforts with lace, flowers, and impossibly small, cute dogs with pink collars.

We mods are a crazy bunch.

This Is Your Brain On NationStates

As much as I've added to NationStates and changed things around, I'm steadily becoming more and more aware that it's changing me a little too. Whenever I read an article in the newspaper I think "that could make a good NS issue" and it took the MaxChat (see the previous blog) for me to realise this because Max Barry said he does the same thing. Now I come to think of it, there's lots of things that fire off certain neurons in my NS-addled brain. When someone talks about military helicopters a tiny voice in my head talks about moving nations. Should someone mention a 'new order', I think about the Pacific. Simple, innocent terms such as 'Lazarus' or 'nation-states' simply put my mind down different tracks. I once misread the 'mixed berry crumble' option in a menu as 'Max Barry crumble'. That's how bad things have got.

Maybe one day, us NSers will be able to recognise each other from across the street. A certain slouch in the back. A more cynical outlook on political matters. A whimsical approach to taxes. A slight quiver to their frames should the sight of a man running down the street be wearing Nikes. The urge to write down 'Myrth' in the 'other - please specify' box in any survey. Well, maybe you wouldn't see that last one but the point is that we have been MARKED and we are doomed to forever associate cannon with stupidity and to accidentally spell the word 'nuke' with two zeroes.

There is no cure, and we will die, bringing these things to our graves which we'll probably have made into burgers because that's what we chose in that issue, 'A Grave Problem'. Is this truly terrible? I don't think so. It makes us special because these are connotations that belong to us. Our own little in-jokes that no-one else will ever understand nor sympathise with. But there is one thing for certain. No way am I having a man at my funeral saying "He didn't die... he just ceased to exist."

MaxChat 4 Log

Here be the log of MaxChat 4: Beyond Thunderdome. Enjoy!

A Roaring Success

That MaxChat went well! I think it may have been the longest one yet, too! There should be a tidied-up log in the News page soon, and I'll link to that here when it appears. Until then, take a look at this: Funny April Fool's Day Tasks. This came up during the Chat, and I thought: why not? Let them read it. It'll be a laugh.

MaxChat 4: Beyond Thunderdome

Yep, it's that time again! Max Barry will be visiting the IRC channel #nationstates today and answering your questions! You can find out what time to log into IRC in your timezone here: Maxchat in your time.

The chat will be held on the IRC server irc.esper.net, in the channel #nationstates. If you'd like to ask a question, join the #nationstates_QA channel as well. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can discover the wonderful world of internet chat via this IRC primer.

You can see the logs of previous MaxChats here:

MaxChat
MaxChat 2
MaxChat 3: The Reckoning

I wanted to call the latest one 'MaxChat 4: Beyond Thunderdome', but I don't think it's going to happen! The MaxChat will be at midnight in my time, so I may not be there, but I'll certainly attempt it. Be there or be... rhomboid... I dunno...

EDIT: it got called Beyond Thunderdome after all! Yay me!

Getting There

At the time of writing, I am up to issue #63 in my editing campaign. The slow progress is partly due to the complexity of the new code, but it's also due to the fact that I keep on finding other things needing changed in the issues. The occasional typo. A missing comma. Sometimes I find some faulty code which needs corrected, like when I discovered that nations that had banned computers could still be attacked by sentient computer viruses. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm fairly sure that no artificial intelligence would be THAT good.

But anyway, things are going smoothly. If I know Reppy like I think I know her, then she's busy polishing up a lot of issues ready for putting in the game as soon as I've given the all-clear and we'll have plenty of new ones to keep you interested.

Ain't that nice?

More Fun With Anagrams

More NationStates-related anagrams:

Issue Submission: Simious business.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if half of the ones I look at WERE part of some experiment with monkeys and typewriters...

Sirithil of Menelmacar: Nice, flashier immortal.

Even in anagram form, she's got all sides taken care of. Elvish womenfolk are the height of vanity!

Nominate a NationStates Mod: To emotion and neat Satanism!

Yes. All new mods must sacrifice a chicken before dispensing all their secrets to our resident two-headed goat. It stinks, but there you have it. You're sending these guys to Hell! Literally!

The Mod Centre: Hot, red cement.

Damn Max and his cutting back on the interior decoration budget.

Company: A novel by Max Barry: My capable, bonny Marx ovary.

We all knew it was about communism! And reliability and beauty! And... reproductive organs...

Euroslavia: I've arousal.

Moving on.

Catherine Gratwick: A creaking twitcher.

Is it another clue?! Or is it just a red herring? Is she really a ninety year-old birdwatcher? Who knows...?

New Forum Mod!

After much discussion, it was decided to promote Euroslavia to the position of NationStates forum mod. Any regular forumer is likely to have heard of him as he is a very big name in the select group of 'people who write threads that become stickies'. I myself have a few to my name, but they're almost all in the 'Got Issues?' forum.

I'm positive that he's going to be a smashing mod and a valuable asset to the forums.

Bravo!

Fort William

I'm back from my holiday in the Highlands and it was great! Except for the fact that the car broke down on the way back and I needed to get towed for the remaining fifty miles back home. But ah well. Waiting for one and a half hours on the M9 is a lot less interesting than some people think.

The scenery was beautiful. When I looked at Ben Nevis (which I've been to the top of before, actually), I was fully aware that this was the biggest thing I'd ever seen, excepting obvious technicalites like the Earth, stars, and Michael Winner's nose. Mount Everest is approximately seven times taller and when I tried to imagine that, my brain just waved a little white flag and made me notice that there was a cloud that looked exactly like a platypus (I swear).

I stayed at the Ben Nevis hotel and Leisure Centre. It was OK, but there was no shower, the wardrobe wouldn't open, the Games room was 'out of order' (or so the sign claimed), and the other tenants looked like shuffling zombies at breakfast time. But I expect that couldn't be helped.

The real point of the trip was to the scenery. Look at the mountains. Breathe that clean air (which was remarkably short of midgies to my delight). I went on a steam train ride from Fort William to Mallaig, rode over the Glenfinnian Viaduct (which Harry Potter fans will know was a filming location for at least two of the films. The train I was in was actually the one used for the 'Hogwarts Express' too.) and went on a boat cruise to see a small rocky island covered in seals. I also went to an Indian restaurant in Aberfeldy which I must recommend!

Anyway, I'm back now, and I'm going to be getting on with the new code as soon as possible. Ciao!

Warm Climates

My holiday excursion for the weekend begins tomorrow, so I won't be around during that period. If you have anything you want to ask me or tell me, drop me an e-mail at siroccothemod@gmail.com or go knocking at all the hotels in Fort William. I'd recommend the former option though as I may think you're a crazy person and beat you to death with a dirty stick.

Things are looking interesting in NationStates for the upcoming August... there's going to be a MaxChat on the 6th at Midnight (British time), there'll be lots of new issues as soon as the new code's in place, and then, of course, a few weeks later Max Barry's going to become a father! Phew! I can only heartily congratulate him and Jennifer, his wife, and hope there's no complications.

On a tiny non-NationStates-related note, there's a children's film coming out called Madagascar. It's about four talking animals that wind up there and... well, I don't really know. As far as I could tell from the advert they meet a bunch of lemurs and go "Gosh, what odd little creatures!" There doesn't appear to be any villian or plot or anything that I can discern. But that's not the thing that got my attention. The thing that got me was that the film had been called Madagascar, as if this film encapsulated everything there is to know about the place. Madagascar, as we all know, is a gigantic island off the coast of east Africa. It's a country! Seventeen and a half million people live there! Had someone brought out a film called "Great Britain" or "USA", we'd be expecting something a bit more than animated lions and giraffes being surprised at everything wouldn't we? The film should have been called "Lost in Madagascar" or "Marooned in Madagascar" or something. Even "Gadzooks! Madagascar!" would have done, though that brings up images of mediaeval knights trekking through the jungle undergrowth to me.

What would the Madagascans think if they saw this movie? We don't know, and I don't imagine we care, either. I thought the world was becoming more globalised, but things like this make me think that perhaps we're not. It seems to me that most of us still think of African countries being as exotic and remote as an alien planet and barely being real at all.

Progress

Another step was taken towards the completion of the new issues code when I wrote out a long and complicated document on how to use it for the benefit of the other mods. What does this mean? Well, for a start, it means that they can now give their own input and say what bits they think should be changed/included/dispensed with/etc. When that's all done I can begin actually putting the code into the issues (which I've only done tentatively so far).

It's kinda strange putting all this effort into it really, because 99.9% of players won't notice any differences unless I can persuade [violet] to add something else related to the game (I'm not telling what - it should be a surprise!). The most anyone can expect to see is corrected typos, and new issues which I couldn't use before. Everything else is invisible.

No Gnus Is Good Gnus

I'm still busy doing over the issue code. Don't worry! I haven't forgotten or anything! Just watch out for wildebeest. Damn things.

Overhaul

The new code specifications have been decided, and it's now simply a matter of putting it all into the issues. This may take some time, and until it's all done, there won't be any new issues. But hey, you've got 190 or so to play around with until we've finished so there shouldn't be too many complaints!

Thick And Fast

Reppy's caught the issue-editing bug which means we're going to have the pace picked up a tad! I'm going to take this opportunity to start overseeing some necessary changes to the issue code, and a general tidying-up of any typos still lying around. So don't expect a new issue from myself right now.

Take a look at Reppy's blog for the hints to what the new issue's about!

Arr, Jim Lad

Recently I've been sniffing around eBay, Amazon, video retailer sites, EVERYWHERE, looking for VHS tapes of an old cartoon series called "The Legends of Treasure Island" which was first broadcast in 1993. All the characters were animals, but by God the plots were brilliant, and the atmosphere was tense in the action-oriented bits, and Long John Silver (voiced by Richard E. Grant) was a surprisingly cunning and evil villian. In most children's cartoons, the villian is bumblingly inept, but the character here really does pull out all the stops, thinking and acting intelligently. It's great.

But to my utter incredulity, the series seems to have just vanished into non-existence. I can't find any videos, DVDs or anything. I can't even find anymore than a couple of screenshots and an episode list! Gawd, not even Jim Hawkins could have had as much trouble trying to find Flint's treasure as I am having finding this series! I did purchase a DVD called "Treasure Island", but it was just a merging of some of the episodes to create a movie-type thing. It's great seeing some of the stuff I missed, but it's also extremely irritating that I can't see the whole thing. My guess is that the movie only encapsulated the first season, because you never see them actually find the treasure... although there is some good news, as I recently managed to find a video with the first three episodes for sale on eBay. Whether the whole series was turned into videos I don't know. I hope so. Then it's just a matter of waiting.

So what's this got to do with NationStates? Absolutely nothing. I just need to expound my woes for a bit.

If you look at Reppy's blog, you'll see she's got a new issue underway, and I will have one too, as soon as I can be bothered... right now I feel quite groggy... see you in a bit... arr...

Issue #188 Is In The Game

It took a lot of research on my part, a lot of heckling on Hack's part, a lot of suggestions on GMC's part, and a lot of indifference from pretty much everyone else, but the issue is in.

Hope you like it!

Read All About It

I was idly browsing regions today, when I happened across one called International NS News which rather intrigued me. I had once tried to set up a newspaper for Lancre, and I even got someone to be the editor who put it on his website. Unfortunately, it petered out after two issues and its biggest story involved (erroneous) rumours that I was actually a woman called Charlotte. It caused a scandal across the region and there was much muttering and stroking of chins.

Anyway.

I noticed in the World Factbook Entry that the region had a blog where the news was updated. And here it is: http://nsnews.blogspot.com/. It seems to be mostly Pacific-related, and extremely biased, but it's an interesting read anyway. I always like to see people taking an interest in fleshing out the NationStates universe!

Updates

I've still been enjoying the sun a lot... procrastinating about issues... been waiting for something I bought off eBay to arrive for a WEEK... and I've been completely taken unawares by Frisbeeteria's enthusiasm for game moderating. He's only been a mod for, what can it be, a few weeks or so? And he's been wiping the tasklist clean at every available moment, curling his red pointed tongue into every nook and cranny, teasing out every last little thing he could possibly ever try to do... well. Except editing issues. He hasn't wanted to do that because the code is 'too confusing', bless him.

Anyway, updates on the issues.

The first issue I started editing is finished... ish. I'm still not happy with the last two options.

I haven't heard anything from Myrth regarding the issue he's doing.

The one I'm working on right now is looking good, but I'll have to write the fourth option from scratch.

There's about 37 issues in my 'maybes' pile which I'll get to doing later. Some of them may not make it... some of them definitely will. So chins up, people, new issues are definitely on the way.

A New Issue #188 Is Under Construction

I've got another issue to replace the currently forestalled issue I mentioned in an earlier article. I'm not going to say anything of what this issue's about except that it's been a long time coming.

More Delays

This issue has turned out to be tricker to edit than I expected, and I've had to invent some new code to make it work properly. And even then, because of the nature of the code, I'll have to get Admin to make tiny invisible changes to lots of previous issues as well. What a bugger, eh? Until I've got approval from Admin, this issue's going to be on the backburner for a while. So I'll be getting busy on yet another issue in the meanwhile and there'll be more news on that later.

There is some good news though, if you like big issues (not the magazine). The issue now has four options after Tsaraine came up with an interesting idea which I can't comment on right now.

Anyway, there should be several new issues coming up within the next few weeks which certainly is good news.

Ciao!

Issue #189 Under Construction

'What?' I hear you cry with bewilderment, as you rub your eyes with incredulous disbelief. 'Another issue on the go already? Has the other issue been finished or something? What the Hell's going on? I'm thirsty.'

There is a perfectly reasonable answer to this. No, issue #188 isn't finished yet. I've been too busy enjoying the sun to worry about it too much! I can't remember Scottish summers being so warm! And so dry! There was a particularly nice one a few years back, but this one looks like it's set to be a scorcher! Of course, a scorcher for me is anything above 20 degrees centigrade, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, I digress.

The reason another issue is under construction is because Myrth has offered to help out with the editing. It's a fairly simple process. I telegram him a copy of the issue, he edits it, and sends it back, and I edit it a bit more, changing almost everything to suit my dictatorial attitude to issue editing rendering him furious and sulky. We're a perfect team!

The issues will credit me as the author, so I'll acknowledge his input on this blog.

Oh, and I'm not giving clues on issues he edits... because I'm mean that way!

Issue #188 Under Construction

Another day, another issue. I've been looking at this one for a while, occasionally prodding it, taking measurements, injecting it with preservatives now and then. But now, I've decided, is the time to get around to actually editing the thing. Now, some 'clues' as to what it's about, who submitted it, and what you can expect:-

1. The subject of this issue is business-related.

2. The author is the UN delegate of a region named after a real-life city.

3. The issue is very relevant today, especially in developed countries, and has a lot to do with industrial workers.

4. The issue will have three options.

Of Mods And Issues

Katganistan and Frisbeeteria are now game moderators! I'm very sure that they'll be perfectly capable! Hopefully, this means I can spend a bit more time looking through the issues instead of having to do my bit in the tasklist.

Speaking of issues... we have seven new ones.

Yes, that's right, seven big ones! Where did they come from? Well, before Myrth retired as a mod, he had been working on some issues, but, as things turned out, he never got to finish them. I, being the fusspot I am, could not bear to see them go to waste and asked him what he was going to do about them. Myrth promptly sent off an e-mail to [violet] and a few months later, vóila! We has new issues!

Interestingly enough, issue #181 was originally edited by Stephistan, but it never got finished so Myrth snaffled it up and did the rest for her.

Of course, my aim now is to get us up to 200 issues and beyond. Keep sending them in! I'm going to write up a list of issues needed soon, which should be interesting.

Issue #180 Is In The Game

And thank goodness for that. It's been a long time because of so many other things happening, but it's in.

Big thanks to Myrth who came up with an issue title I liked, and to GMC who gave lots of good suggestions for the first two options.

And I'd also like to thank my family for supporting me through this hard time. I'd have never got the award without you!

*bursts into tears*

Another Question Answered

I got Sal to add a "How do I submit a daily issue?" question to the NationStates FAQ. Maybe now I won't get quite so many telegrams.

Holidays

Wayhey! We're really in the great sunny depths of summer now, and you can tell by the massive drop in world population (NationStates of course). Just as I predicted in my article on the dreaded Summer Death, we've dropped by about ten thousand nations because suddenly everyone's compared the great outdoors with the blank brain-destroying computer screen and gone with the right choice.

I'm going to be spending the next weekend in Fort William where, if you know the place, is an epicentre for midgies everywhere. It is the seething fiery whirlpool from which all of Satan's nasties are wrought. It is quite possibly the place where man sinned so badly that the Lord spake that he should forever goeth with a hunch while batting the air desperately with one hand while trying to shut off all orifices with the other, lest one of these wingéd demons attempt to fly into them.

To further stress my point, you'll usually see midgies in small flittery 'clouds' hovering about a metre or so above the ground doing God-knows-what. In Fort William, they are a fog. They are a black thunderstorm of insectile death. They are a pyroclastic flow of scratchy sores, itchy backs in that-spot-you-can-never-quite-reach, and that awful buzzy hmmmm noise they make when in large numbers.

So, yeah, I can't wait for my holiday. Whoop.

Live 8

Join the cause! In NationStates, the poverty is not real, but in this real world, a difference can be made to the thousands of dying Africans.

I may not be joining my fellow Scots in the Edinburgh protests, but I'm keen for changes to be made and for poverty to be consigned to history.

Join the Live 8 list now!

Back On Track

I've got the spare time to start editing issues again, so expect much more over the coming month!

Um... well, that's all I have to report really. Ciao!

Hell's Gates

... Remember to rub your feet on the doormat. I say this because the citizens of the region of Hell (hellions?) are generally quite good at keeping to the rules and are quick to report spammers despite presumably being the alleged hordes of Hades.

Sometimes NationStates can throw up a lot of funny stuff like this though people seldom sit back and appreciate it. For instance, people keep calling their region 'Penis Land', which is obscene and must thus be renamed. Renaming regions can be quite amusing sometimes (and I am NOT encouraging anyone to go out there and create offensively-named regions. I've got little enough time as it is.), and I admit I get a small satisfaction of renaming such regions. I always rename Penis Land as Pen Island. Anustopia? The Deep South. Penis and Vagina Land? Reproductive Organs. Itchy Rectum? Surreptitious Scratching. And so it goes on. But another source of amusement I get is from the conflicting values of a region's name and its attitudes.

Take the region of Hell, for example:

Hell's founder is a long-dead nation called Satan. This is actually pretty neat, because it gives the region more credibility. But since Satan is dead, it kind of begs the question 'what is the point of joining?' If the Dark Prince, Beelzebub (which sounds like a Mervyn Peake character to me), Eater of Souls has snuffed it then surely that means that the war between Heaven and Hell is over because God has won? And before you interject, the nation of God is actually out there somewhere!

It's interesting to note that Hell has a substantially larger population than Heaven. This is understandable of course, since Hell has all the best tunes, cooler clothes, and you get to stay up late.

Another interesting thing is that once, a long time ago, in a galaxy right over here, there was a region called The Atheist Alliance. I remember it was quite popular, but it looks like it's long gone now. The funny thing is that Hell and The Atheist Alliance were allied against Heaven. Now, I say, this does seem a tiny bit hypocritical on the atheists' part. Do they not believe in their allies? I know this is true of all nations today, but to not believe that they exist may be a step too far. I can just picture it now.

Demon: Help! Help us, atheists! Our troops are being slaughtered! They've brought out the holy hand grenades and the exorcism tanks! Oh no! They just got General Lucifer with their blessed bazookas!

Atheist: I don't believe you. You are nothing more than a random fluxation in the space-time continuum!

Demon: [splutters] What? We were shaking hands just a moment ago! I had my claws crossed behind my back of course, but that's my job!

Atheist: You're a symbol of an outmoded system of decrepit self-punishment that has no place within the scientific utopia of modern society.

Demon: Well I'll be damned!

Atheist: You already are.

Demon: Good point, but-

[Demon is hit by bolt of lightning]

Atheist: God damn!

God: I already did.

Atheist: Indeed.

Someday it'll all be an audio story at the back of some library. I can just feel it.

The Wonderful World of Words

Sometimes, while browsing NationStates in the dark, wasted hours of my existence, I notice things which are really quite funny, cool, interesting, or just plain weird.

Today, let me comment on nation names.

I'm being needlessly fussy I know, but I like nation names to be simplish, memorable, and to have a nice sound to them. Sirocco, for instance, immediately took my fancy because as a word, it sounds and looks great! I don't like names with numbers and dashes (like Jeremy534 or -Yugoslavia- and that kind of thing) or Caps Lock (I admit I was mildly irritated by the fact that one of Lancre's old delegates was called DTAS LAND) or lack of capital letters where they should go. I was annoyed when my forum monicker was turned into 'sirocco' by Jolt.

Why do i get annoyed? I don't know, but I'm glad it doesn't upset me too much or I wouldn't be able to bear editing issues! I just like words to look nice and correct, and not be pointless, uninteresting or jarring to the mind. I remember noticing a nation called Jjuulliiaann once and I couldn't help but hiss between my teeth! Why the doubling of the letters? He could have had The Julianlands, or Julian City, or even Julianville. But instead he plumped for this horrendous monstrosity of a word, a word which should have no place within decent conversation! Early schooling in correcting my terrible handwriting has imprinted my brain with the desire to see words that look nice and I have decided to call it aesthetologophilia! Spread it around and get me a mention in the dictionary!

It's the same with regions too. There are several regions which are basically huge strings of zeroes or zeds. Why? What's the point? Yes, people will notice it immediately and perhaps even join, but when you get right down to it you're stuck with a region which has a really crap name. The main reason I called my region Lancre was because I liked the sound of the word, and not because I'm a fan of Terry Pratchett!

Trying to remember nation names I've seen and liked is tricky, but the nation of 'Woodburn' is very memorable for me... and I recently noticed a nation called 'Goam' and I liked that one too because it has a lovely chthonic, swampy ring to it. I'll never forget the classic nation 'Righteous Lefties' either!

So, in conclusion, am I a pedant? Yes, I think I am, I always have a horrible dark moment when I realise I've left a typo in an issue somewhere. Am I a raving pedant? Well... let's just say I always wear latex gloves before rummaging in the issue list...!

How Now Brown Cow

Lancre's busy reassembling itself, I am pleased to say. I've ended up being UN delegate somehow, but I'm sure that'll all change soon. We've dropped from 37 nations to 17 which is sad, because I was hoping we would break the forty-nation mark (we got as far up as a tantalising thirty-nine) but obviously such dreams will have to wait. We're going to lose a few nations, I'm sure of that, but we'd probably have lost them anyway. C'est la vie, obladi oblada, life goes on (bra!) and all that. It cannot be helped.

The tasklist is still huge. Should I prod it, it wobbles dangerously, threatening to block out the immediate universe and bringing pain and death to all it consumes. But, thankfully, it IS getting smaller and that's a great relief.

Bestiville decided to create a new nation called "Determined Cows", and begin afresh so we need not worry about any more griefing. It's a wrench, but hey, it's a cool name for a nation, and if we are going to be represented by cows, I say determined ones are the way to go. Lackadaisical cows have no motivation and are terrible conversationalists.

So, we raise our glasses and give a toast to a fresh start. Fitter, leaner, and, admittedly, a little pissed off, but glad everything is over. Ish.

Argh!

I recently decided to take a bit of a break from NationStates because of real life problems, because I was feeling stressed, and because it's summer and everyone loves summer.

As it would have it, I decided to check up on things only to find that Lancre had been griefed by some nutter who guessed the delegate's password, the tasklist was unspeakably big, I had oodles of unanswered telegrams, and, bloody hell, my region had been griefed!

And, whilst I'm in the midst of this nightmare, I just want to apologise to all of you eagerly awaiting new issues. I've just been far too busy, and these things will simply have to wait until I'm sane enough to not see flightless hippos tweeting around my head...

Power Struggles

I haven't been around much (i.e. at all) lately because the mouse broke and I was confronted with the horror of trying to shut down the computer without being able to point and click. This posed quite a puzzler for me, because I'm as much attuned to computers as Dennis Norden is to humour. Anyway. Power struggles.

Ah, the fight for delegacy. Such a bitter and malignant one it can be sometimes. Recently our delegate Bestiville got his nation hacked (why does everyone have such cecity when it comes to choosing difficult passwords? NO-ONE IS FOOLED BY PUTTING DOWN 'qwertyuiop' YOU SILLY BUGGERS!) and before the whole matter could be cleared up, his nation was resigned from the United Nations by the imposter. This meant that DTAS LAND who had the second-highest number of endorsements returned to the seat of power, and everyone rose up and cried "oh". Bestiville is now back and will presumably try to regain delegacy when he comes back from his holiday in Spain, but for now, another nation in Lancre called Fatheaded Edward has taken the prize through some subtle endorsement-swapping.

Will the people accept his rise to power? We'll find out soon, I'm sure...

In other news, it's my brother's birthday (yay), the last Doctor Who episode of the new series is playing (oh no! No more Eccleston until the Christmas special!), and the American Grand Prix qualifying begins today at 11:30pm (the horror!). In other words, this is going to be quite a packed day for me, so don't expect me to be around much!

Delays

I'm not going to be able to do much editing for a while because the tasklist backlog has become ridiculous over the last two days somehow. We're nearly 200 tasks out of whack so it's going to be a helluva clean-up operation, and I'm not going to be able to squeeze any editing in during that time. But never fear! You will get it soon. I promise. Kinda.

Issue Editin'

Issue Editin'

Yeah, it's another Flash animation on Artpad which I have dubbed (uncredited) Issue Editin'. This one is actually about an issue I really got once. Quite bewildering, I'm sure you'll agree, though there have been stranger ones.

I'll never quite forget the one about whether fish should be allowed to walk backwards. For some reason, if you DID allow them to walk backwards, the author dictated that every person in your nation called Norman should grow in height by two feet.

Bizarre.

Issue #180 Under Construction

Yes, that's right! I've finally got (almost) everything sorted, polished, put in a row, and given the appropriate label. The issue editing for this batch has BEGUN and I have already selected the first one to be done-over.

So, time for the usual non-hints about what you can expect from this issue:-

1. It covers a subject which is very relevant today. It had its first germination in the 1940s, was brought up again in the '80s, but really came to the fore from the late '90s and onwards.

2. The author is the only nation in his/her region.

3. There will either be three or four options. I haven't decided yet.

4. The author's region has connotations to Monty Python...

Happy guessing!

Lancre Cup XI

Yes! It's that time of month again! When the teams groan in despair and pretend to be dead when their coaches come rattling their doors! It's the eleventh Lancre Cup, and gee golly isn't it swell?

Some changes have come about this month: first of all the organiser of the Cup is now Dregruk, as Bestiville, the previous organiser, was on holiday. Secondly, there is now nearly forty(!) nations in Lancre, requiring a severe reshuffle in the number of matches per heat.

The silliness is still there of course! Our usual forums aren't working right now, and we've had to use the NationStates forums to post the match results, but that hasn't stopped anyone from making daft comments about their teams and such. Sirocco's own team, due to a bureaucratic mix-up at our Ministry of Sports, is now made up of ten six-year-old schoolgirls and a rocking horse with one leg missing.

Should be interesting: Lancre Cup Results

Modblogs

When I decided to start writing a blog, back in April, I was often quite stuck on what to write about (not now, it flows like milk from a bottle), and oft I did tell the other moderators about just how useful it is for making notes on things you've got to get done, a way of exploring ideas that are interesting, and other such things. I often come up with ideas, but forget about them soon afterwards. There's a few exceptions (it was my idea, for instance to have a 'most cultural nation' UN ranking. I also encouraged the introduction of the 'most rebellious youth' UN ranking, though it was not my idea. I believe it was suggested to me by a nation called Yeknomia. One I've been thinking of getting added is 'biggest mass transit system' or 'biggest public transport sector' or something similar. I'll have to think about it.), but usually nothing comes of them. So to have this great way of recording my thoughts is awesome, and, as you can see from my posting history, I've a lot of thoughts to record before they leave my poor NationStates-riddled brain.

So, anyway, two other mods liked the idea, and have started up their own blogs. Reploid Productions recently made one that you can read at The Ninja Mod's Lair, and one by Katganistan which she started quite a while back at Kat's Korner.

Enjoy!