"Courage and perseverance are important if one is to run anything resembling a news organization...the folks at theOtaku.com have demonstrated themselves to have ample quantities of both."
~ TCJ (The Comics Journal)
"A couple years of experience in the Otaku circle have taught me at least one good lesson--to trust Adam."
~ myO member
"Adam is actually a decently accomplished troll."
~ Allamorph
"The scale of Adam's cunning genius is truly frightening."
~ TimeChaser
-- I'm not sure if SomeGuy can physically post the new podcast, live from Sakura Con, so I'll post it tomorrow
-- I moved the 'hot box' to the top of the main page...some of you are correct that when we re-create a news type page it'll take over the hot box
-- To be honest and I know it's unhealthy, I'm annoyed that a slimy site like CrunchyRoll can survive, let alone make a deal with Gonzo. A lot of people will say "Yeah but I'm a member there and..." which is fine. My vantage point is that my team and I have worked insanely hard to grow our audience legitimately and with the highest ethical standards and all they've done is throw up fansubs and licensed content that other groups make on a poorly designed site. It's hard being the good guy and watching bad guys do so well; studying hard for a test and seeing someone cheat and end up doing better than you.
-- It's been 3 weeks since we've launched Version Vibrant. We're evolving rapidly and still have a long way to go...
-- News I think will be big. My philosophy is that most people, for news, care more about the discussion than reading the entire story. I'm thinking of pursuing a model that is mainly about headlines, brief descriptions, and then links to other sites, like Fark or Digg. What do you think?
Since I'm not at Sakura Con partying with everyone else, I'm here alone slaving away...
I partially launched a new reporting interface to flag repeat works, plagiarized works, etc.
We're going to take a much stricter approach to ads now moving forward in Version Vibrant. We're cutting out a vast majority of the 'junk' ads from the site. No more punch the monkey ads, for example. It'll all be fandom ads, Google ads, and the occasional corporate ad.
I've also been working on getting a separate server setup for mail, so that we can reliably send updates/notifications for you via email and send out the newsletter once again...
I was taking a walk today when, past my local Borders, I noticed that Alton Brown from the Food Network was doing a book signing. I rushed in and bought a copy of his book to meet him, since I'm a big Food Network fan.
I introduced myself and we talked briefly. As I was leaving I turned back to him and said "Hey can I get a picture??" One of the people who worked at Borders said "all right, but hurry! He has to leave soon"
I only had my awful cell phone camera. I threw it out of my pocket, handed it to the Borders girl, and posed with him for the photo. Then, the awful happened, my cell phone powered down in the person's hands!! I had forgot to charge it last night!
Alton scolded me for not bringing a real camera and, head hung down in shame, I left defeated, no photo, only a signed book that says: "To Adam, Cook Smart."
I wasn't able to do anything today, spent the entire time battling a computer virus. After throwing a dozen programs at it, I finally realized there was an easier way; I used Windows XP's "Restore System" feature to go back in time 3 months and that got rid of the problem.
If only there was a time travel technique for real life...
I missed the fact that Shannon Towsend, one of Cassie's good friends and creator of the amazing Otaku -no- Yen webcomic joined our community. Please run over to their WORLDand give them a hearty welcome.
