aside from sprucing up the forums a bit, does anyone have suggestions for some things we could do to increase the "fan community" experience?

Ok, so you might notice some change in the forums. We're now upgraded to the latest version of phpbb. The only thing is, a couple database tables got broken during the backup/restore.

Right now, it looks like the "search" functions are all that is still broken, but I'm too tired to deal with it tonight. I'll do it tomorrow.

If anyone gets an error, can they just copy the message and post it to this thread? That way, I can make sure to fix it all.

Ah, El Tesoro. Good stuff. Made by hand from 100% blue agave. My personal favorite, the Reposado, is aged for just under a year in oak barrels before being bottled. It is excellent on its own, garnished with a lime; it also combines quite nicely with Cointreau, lime juice, and ice to form, as Jimmy Buffet would say, "that frozen concoction that helps me hang on".


http://www.eltesorotequila.com/products/reposado/

In a more "related to the comic" note, Matt drew the older style bottle:


... and I have a feeling I won't be allowed to post news anymore.  

Matt forgot to upload the image, it looks like. Sorry everyone! He'll wake up soon.

Update by Matt: Unfortunately I wake up Thursday not at my apartment. It'll be up around 5pm today. Sorry!

Son of Update by Matt:Comic is up!

So 2am? Site works fine. 6am? BOOM. Apparently we have no database connectivity. Which generated a ton of error messages and pretty much crippled the site.

So I mock up a quick placeholder page, and so of course as soon as I edit it together, the database comes back up.

Thank you, ASS-host, for causing undue stress and frustration.

Edit: Matt would also like to inform you that The Web Comic List now has it's week 2 incentive up. So why not go vote and find out if it's pandering to teenage males, or if it features an aardvark... or both?  Maybe next week's will feature the other... dun dun dun.

Ok. This is fun. I did 75 hours last week, and hopefully won't have any reason not to fly back as scheduled on Wednesday. But ugh.

We're sitting in this dinky little room about the size of two UC bedrooms (Matt knows what I'm talking about, and he can translate for everyone else) that is the only heated room in the building.

This is a Sara Lee facility for, um, pig products. If I really wanted to, I bet I could find out what parts are used for hot dogs. I don't want to.

Luckily I've been working in the cooler/freezer where they store the finished product before shipping it. But going in/out of the facility, yuck. It reeks like whoa. I hate it. I have barely been able to stop myself from throwing up. I dry heave all the way to the car.

So once we're in this little room, the only light we have is a small flourescent. The warehouse part is dark. And we've been in there for 10+ hours a day.

Then, we get to the client. We gave them two entire months to test it using their actual operators. So what happens? Oh, we get to that part on friday night. And what do they do? Oh, that's lovely - they do things completely different than the client specified us to make it work, and it breaks. Yay! Time for no weekend off for me!

Oh, not to mention, if they had let me write the particular functions my own way back in december, instead of forcing me to adapt their old disgusting convoluted crap, this wouldn't be a problem at all.

So here I am, stuck in this small town in Mississippi, where everything closes at 9, and all we ever do is eat fast food and so I'm almost constantly feeling sick to my stomach, not to mention my allergies have been hell, and I haven't slept well, doing this stupid crap because the company I work for is close-minded and wants to program like it is still the 70s and the client is retarded and left everything until the last minute and doesn't provide us what we need.

So the next time you have some Sara Lee ham, or a Ballpark Frank, or some other pig product that is owned by Sara Lee, just think - I had to go through a week and a half of hell to get you that product :-p

They own Hanes, too. Why can't I be working with ladies' underwear?  

I HATE THIS FREAKING PLACE.

I just wanted to add that I'll be in West Point, Mississippi for the next 10-14 days (hopefully just 10, blah) to do an installation at the client's site for one of the projects I've been on at work. This may take a while because the client never tested the software when we made it available for them two months ago  

Hey everyone. Right now we're testing out this nifty google ads bar. We're basically just trying to find some ways to generate revenue to pay for the hosting, and maybe some art supplies for Matt. We're not greedy - we're just looking to break even    So feel free to give us some feedback on what you think - we're going to try to place it somewhere better. Let us know where you prefer - we're thinking right now of moving it where the big "comments" section is, and doing something a bit more creative with the comments. Feedback, people! Tell us how YOU want the site to look.

You don't have to click if you don't want to. No peer pressure here, mmm-kay?

Well, gentle viewers, I am happy to report that several bugs that were plaguing our fair site are now gone. I had attempted to do a thorough testing of the new design before we deployed it, but some things just don't come up until you're using it on a larger scale than we had though to test. So, I apologise for their existance, but now they are gone.  

So, profiles are back. There is a teeeeeny bit of wonkiness with the ranks page, an image or two got corrupted, and I think that's it. Enjoy!

I just received this today. I couldn't stop laughing.

Just watched a show on Canadian TV. There was a black comedian who said he misses Bill Clinton. "Yep, that's right - I miss Bill Clinton! He was the closest thing we ever got to having a black man as President. Number 1- He played the sax. Number 2- He smoked weed. Number 3-He had his way with ugly white women.



Even now? Look at him ... his wife works, and he don't! And, he gets a check from the government every month.



Manufacturers announced today that they will be stocking America's shelves this week with "Clinton Soup," in honor of one of the nations' most distinguished men. It consists primarily of a weenie in hot water.



Chrysler Corporation is adding a new car to its line to honor Bill Clinton. The Dodge Drafter will be in production in Canada this year.



When asked what he thought about foreign affairs, Clinton replied, "I don't know, I never had one."



American Indians nicknamed Bill Clinton "Walking Eagle" because he is so full of crap he can't fly.



Clinton lacked only three things to become one of America's finest leaders: integrity, vision, wisdom.



Clinton was doing the work of three men: Larry, Curly and Moe.



The Clinton revised judicial oath: "I solemnly swear to tell the truth as I know it, the whole truth as I believe it to be, and nothing but what I think you need to know."



Clinton will be recorded in history as the only President to do Hanky Panky between Bushes.

Well, I have just 4 more mods to finish installing, and then some work on the theme config files, and then I can upload it. I started with a completely fresh set of files for both the forum and the theme, so anything bad would not be carried in. So, it has taken a little bit of time.

This will hopefully fix the annoying profile issues.

Tonight sometime it should all be done.

We apparently are having a little problem with the navigation script. I'll get it fixed as soon as I have a free moment. Right now I'm off for work.

Edit - Well, um. Hah. Fixing a typo Matt made in a database entry was a nice start to making it better  

Something still is wonky in the calendar, though. And by wonky I mean it now appears to be totally broken. Hurrah!

Yo momma's so ugly, her charisma goes up when she's polymorphed into an ochre jelly.