Topics

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General Chat / Winter 2008 ADVANCED Poster Awards

« on: December 20, 2008, 07:07:44 PM »

Welcome to this year's edition of the ADVANCED Poster Awards! For those of you new here, this is an annual celebration of the community of these forums. We review posts and topics made in the past year and decide which ones are the best, as well as which people show particular skill in different areas of posting. For the returning members, it looks like I'm running them mostly alone this year. This means I'll count the votes instead of making the mods do them. Whoopee.

If you are new, or if you have forgotten them, here are the rules:

• Do not vote for yourself.
• All votes must be for something that happened in 2008. For votes on topics or posts, they must have been posted in 2008; for votes on people, that person must have posted in 2008; for signatures, custom titles, and the like, they must have been made in 2008. Exception: If it happened in late 2007 (that is, after those awards were underway) then it's fine. I started the awards too early that year.
• You may vote twice in each category. This is changed from previous awards, as in them you would vote for a winner and a runner-up. Runner-ups will still be awarded, but you do not specifically vote for one or the other. You may vote only once (or not at all) if you like.
• Voting ends Friday, January 9, at 11:59 CST. Hopefully I'll have them counted and the awards posted soon after.

The voting categories are found in the next post.

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Site Discussion / Spammers are attacking the Fungi Forums

« on: November 21, 2008, 07:15:00 PM »

Since November 10th, someone has been registering on these forums accounts that are clearly meant for spam purposes. Even though none of them are posting, they are still cluttering up the member list and links to their sites are in their profiles. Perhaps their overseer set them to post threads, but has yet to notice that they are not doing anything? Or is this person preparing for an attack via private messages? Either way, something should be done about them.

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Not at the Dinner Table / The Lame Duck Period

« on: November 05, 2008, 04:28:43 PM »

Despite what everyone would have you think, Barack Obama is not president yet. George W. Bush still has two months left to serve, even though he basically has no power right now. Right now we're all just waiting for the inauguration in January.

Should the time between election and inauguration be shortened again? It has happened once already with the Twentieth Amendment (ratified in 1933) moving the inauguration from March 4th to January 20th. (This four-month period was necessary back in the old days when communicating election results and the travel of the new president to Washington were both slow. By the 1930s, these had advanced enough to the point where four months was no longer necessary.) I think it should be shortened again, as only a small amount of time is necessary for the various finalizations of the election process.

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Video Game Chat / Does the Metroid series have a future?

« on: October 05, 2008, 05:26:14 PM »

The Metroid Prime sub-series is already over. No new Metroid games that continue the story (or, for that matter, 2D Metroid games) have been released since 2002. Since all the Metroids were finally killed once and for all in Metroid Fusion, the main story also seems to have concluded. Will we see a game that takes place after the events of Fusion? If we do, will that game use the traditional 2D style, or will it be made similar to the Prime games?

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Video Game Chat / New Nintendo DS model?

« on: September 28, 2008, 12:56:27 AM »

From Wired: Nikkei: New Nintendo DS Model Adds Camera, Music Playback

Reports out of Japanese newspapers Saturday indicate that Nintendo is preparing to announce a new version of the Nintendo DS hardware in the coming days, one that adds non-gaming functions to the popular portable machine.

Nikkei Net, the online arm of Japan's foremost economic newspaper, reports that the new model will launch this year in Japan and include a camera and music playback. Nikkei's take on the new machine is that Nintendo is moving outside the boundaries of the "game industry" and attempting to create a device that will compete with more general electronics like cell phones.

The machine's wireless communication functionality will also be strengthened by allowing it to connect to "information terminals," possibly allowing a user to find nearby train stations or restaurants using his DS.

Nikkei does point out that the camera function of DS could be integrated with gameplay, by allowing games to use the photos taken with the hardware.

The online version of the story omits a line that is present in a photograph of the print story, which says that the new model will cost less than 20,000 yen (about $188). The DS Lite costs 16,800 yen ($158) in Japan.

Nikkei says the new model will go on sale in Japan first, this year, and that a U.S. release is "being considered."

And there might be more to this new model -- another version of the Nikkei report, since removed, apparently ran on a site called Monex and said that the hardware would have larger screens and be able to transfer data from the Wii or an SD card.

Note that we may not be getting the full picture of the device's capabilities from these reports; note also that the current version of the story does not confirm the two data points in the above paragraph.

Nintendo will hold media briefings in Tokyo and San Francisco on Thursday. Simultaneous media events generally mean some big piece of news is to be announced, so this would seem like a likely topic of discussion.

As much as I'd like to say the Nintendo DS has had its run, it doesn't look like Nintendo will ever let it die. I can't wait to hear more.

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Not at the Dinner Table / Just how much does America depend on gas?

« on: September 20, 2008, 11:53:09 AM »

Along with several other areas in the South, Middle Tennessee has been in an uproar this past week or so. Why? Many oil refineries have slowed down their gasoline production after Hurricane Ike struck. Most of the gas stations around here are completly empty, and the few that have fuel to sell are completly rushed by panicked commuters. Though much of this can be attributed to the South's tendency to panic (try going to a grocery store down here when snow is forecasted), it's still scary to see how we react.

So I propose this: What if America were invaded, and the attacking country struck our oil refineries? If we go this crazy when the refineries just reduce production, imagine what would become of us if they were destroyed. Combine fear of invasion with a fuel shortage and America would be swiftly brought to its knees.

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General Chat / Toilet seat positioning

« on: May 22, 2008, 01:54:08 PM »

This is a sequel to my first and most successful topic.

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Friend Codes / Advance Wars: Days of Ruin friend codes, map trading

« on: January 28, 2008, 07:13:10 PM »

Mine is 446801 506793.

Due to rampant piracy of AW:DoR, I will not add you unless you post either a picture of you with your copy of the game or your copy with a note that says "TMK" and "Pirates suck" somewhere on it.

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Video Game Chat / What was your first non-Mario game?

« on: January 03, 2008, 07:43:34 PM »

Mine was Tetris for the original Game Boy.

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General Chat / Winter 2007 ADVANCED Poster Awards

« on: December 09, 2007, 11:19:22 PM »

It's that time of year again! Time for the ADVANCED Poster Awards, hosted this year by myself and Suffix! For new members, this is an annual awards event designed to commemorate the people and events on the Fungi Forums during the past year. For returning members, we will be conducting the awards a bit differently this year. We have the list of categories drawn, and they are:

1) Poster of the Year- This person is this year's best all-around poster. He/she should, in your opinion, have contributed most to the Fungi Forums. This person must have reasonably active (use your common sense) in 2007 to qualify for this award.
2) Topic of the Year- The topic that gets this award shall be what you think is this year's best topic. You may pick this any way you like. The topic must have been made in 2007 to qualify.
3) Post of the Year- Similiar to Topic of the Year, this award will go to what you think is this year's best post. If your reason for picking this post was primarily for an image in it, disregard it for this category and put it in the one I mentioned below. The post shall have been made in 2007 to qualify. (The topic in which the post was made does not necessarily have to have been made in 2007.)
4) Image of the Year- New for 2007, this award goes to the image (portrait or otherwise) that, for whatever reason, was the best of any posted here. For this post, please do not consider text that was in the same post as the image. The image does not have to have been made in 2007 to qualify, but it does have to have been posted in 2007.
5) Most Productive Poster- This person is the person you feel has made the most of his/her posts and time spent here. This person does not necessarily have to have been constantly active, but must still have had to have been here in 2007.
6) Smartest Poster- This person shall have been the one who you think has the most knowledge on the forums, Mario-related or otherwise. Activity requirement shall be about the same as for the Poster of the Year.
7) Most Amiable Poster- This person is the one who you think is the nicest, most welcoming person this year. Same activity requirement as above.
8) Most Creative Poster- This person shall have been the most original with his/her posts, ideas, images, etc.
9) Most Improved- Over the course of 2007, which person do you think had overall improved the most? This person does not necessarily have to be new in 2007.
10) Best Newbie- We've had many new members this year. Which do you think is the best? To qualify, this person shall have had to have joined or have started to post (that is, the person can have joined in a previous year but shall have actually started posting) sometime within 2007.
11) Most Missed- Sadly, many people have also left us this year. Which of them do you miss the most? This person shall have had to have left during 2007 to qualify.
12) WTD Award- Which person has made you exclaim (or at least think) "What the dukar?" the most this year?
13) Best Signature- Which signature did you like the most this year? This signature shall have been made in 2007 to qualify. Please remember to add the person and their actual signature, not just the person.
14) Best Custom Title- Whose custom title did you enjoy most this year? The award for this shall go to the recipient of the custom title, not to the moderator/admin who gave it. It also shall have been given in 2007. Please write both the recipient and the custom title.
15) Deezer Award- Self-explanatory.

As I said earlier, voting will be different this year. For the first stage of the awards, you will nominate people (or topics, posts, images, etc.) who you think should be considered for each category. You may nominate as many people (or topics, posts, images, etc.) you like; however, said person (or topic, post, or image) must be nominated by at least two different people to qualify for the next stage of the awards. You may not nominate yourself (except for Best Custom Title-- you may nominate your own CT, but if you are  a mod/admin, you may not nominate one you have given). For topics, posts, and images, you must provide links to them. The nomination stage is currently set to end on December 29 at 11:59 PST. Take time to think about your decisions and don't feel rushed. Nominations have ended. Voting will begin shortly.
The next stage is voting. When nominations are complete, we will announce which people, topics, posts, and images are eligible for voting. From these, pick one winner and one runner-up for each category. You may not vote for yourself (except for Best Custom Title, as stated above). Please vote in as many categories as possible, and try to take the entire year into consideration when voting. Voting is currently set to end on January 6 at 11:59 PST. The list of eligible candidates for each award can be found here.


If there is anything you do not understand, feel free to post your question here and Suffix or I will answer. Have fun!

11

General Chat / Astrology

« on: October 16, 2007, 04:27:41 PM »

That's right, I've found another thing about which to ask you all.

Ever look at those horoscopes in the newspapers? What do you think of them? Do you seriously believe that that's what will happen to you or do you just laugh and move on? I honestly think it's a quack science where the illusion of accuracy in prediction is achieved by our belief that what was predicted will happen.

(No, Vid, I will not add a "don't care" option to the poll.)

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Video Game Chat / Throwing the controller

« on: August 25, 2007, 04:47:13 PM »

I don't. I worry about possibly breaking it and haaving to buy a new one. Besides, I rarely get angry at games.

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Site Discussion / A proposal for a new Fungi Forums board

« on: July 08, 2007, 08:23:33 PM »

Over the past few days, there has been talk in #tmk about the state of our Fungi Forums. Several members that come to #tmk have complained about the quality of topics and how hard it is to find a topic where it is worthwile to post. I have an idea to make this easier, as well as to clean up existing boards. A new board would be created specifically for forum games and other so-called "pointless" topics, and all the existing topics fitting this description would be moved there. (This board would be similar to the "spam" boards popular these days on many other forums.) Forum Games and Stories would go back to being the Story Boards and would be used only for stories. General Chat would be used mainly as it is now, with the main change being a tighter focus on actual discussion of things that would not fit within the other boards. This new board would have a moderator appointed to it, and his or her main task would be to enforce the existing rules of the Fungi Forums. Due to the nature of this board, posts would not count towards one's post count (does a single word or image really count as a full post?). I believe that keeping these types of posts there would lead to General Chat and Story Boards growing in quality within their areas, and would make it easier for members who enjoy these topics to find and post in them.

So. What do you all think?

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Site Discussion / Advertisements on TMK

« on: June 07, 2007, 01:07:39 PM »

Have you ever clicked on the banner ads at the top of TMK or the Fungi Forums? If so, which ones? I had clicked on them a few times when they first appeared after the move to KonTek, and I will still click on any particularly ridiculous-sounding ads. (Some of them almost remind me of spam that I've gotten.)

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Mario Chat / Favorite Pixl

« on: May 30, 2007, 04:47:24 PM »

I picked Dottie, since shrinking can be such a useful defensive tactic (especially in the Duel of 100).

For those confused about Breadward, he was a Pixl that "Merlee" offered you in 2-4 when she wanted you to sign her contract. He was made of oats and lard.