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Mendalla
2 hours ago
Canada

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Quote by MagnificentBastard
Stop being so negative. Others offered to help. Like a dog with a rotting bone, you chose to go your own way. Don't take your frustration out on me or anyone else, ESPECIALLY in this thread.



Who's being negative? While you're pissing all over the site, I've got the prototype for the new site half-built and have Nic and Gav's backing, something that you weren't going to get. We need a steady hand on this and you have not shown yourself to be one with your penchant for leaving every time someone gets your knickers in a knot.

If you really want to help, leave. Or at least start being constructive.
Quote by Rumple_deWriter

It will be nice to know what the future holds for Stories Space. Not trying to rush anyone along but uncertainty is no fun, not at all. ;)


Updates are in several ongoing threads now, but this is the main one (if Ping would stop derailing it).

https://forum.storiesspace.com/yaf_postst8220_The-new-Stories-Space.aspx

And there's good information coming out in this one, too. See my responses to Dreamcatcher from Sunday and Jeff from this morning in particular.

https://forum.storiesspace.com/yaf_postst8222_Who-is-on-board-for-the-new-Stories-Space.aspx

Bottom line is that Stories Space 2.0 is in development and there will be multiple threads about it in "Let's Talk About..." over the next while.

Quote by Survivor
You know, it sort of kicks you in the butt when it comes to writing here when you know anything posted will disappear into the ether in a couple of months.


Or not. I'm still working on the problem of bringing old stories over. Restoring the text files that you can download is too much work (they aren't formatted in a useful way and require some massaging). Gav has given me a way but I need some help implementing it and it may get pricey. But I have not given up. However, I need a working site to import them into if I do find a way so I'm focusing on dev work right now.
$100 for a 100 or less word story? That's a heck of a word rate if you win.
Quote by itsxanderkaidyn
Jane was in my dreams again. This time we were helping to redecorate a school but kept gravitating towards each other instead of doing our jobs...and when I stroked her hair, I could actually feel its texture.

Think that means anything?


A sign of how deep your affection for her runs? Or maybe you're meeting her on the astral plane or something while you're both sleeping?

I actually had a dream recently that was a bit in this vein. Which is weird because I don't really have a hard crush on anyone right now. It's a bit fragmentary now, but basically I was on stage performing at some musical event, which is also weird because I can't sing or play an instrument worth shit, and kissed a singer that I like on the lips. Except the name I am sure that I said to her, Kina, didn't match the appearance of the woman. "Kina" would be, I assume, Kina Grannis, an indie singer-songwriter that I like and this woman did not look like her. I did feel her lips, though, like you describe with the hair.
Our libraries are partly open again. It's been curbside pickup and ebooks only since April but I think stage 1 reopening last week lets them allow patrons inside at 25% capacity or something like that. My local has been doing a great job in the pandemic but being able to just walk in and wander the stacks is what I miss (being an ex-librarian does that to you, I think).

Time for an afternoon tea.
Quote by verbal

I see infighting is beginning to leak into the threads. I'd love to be able to find a lasting internet home again. A simple thead, people just talking about their day, and maybe talking about writing a little, without animosity or attention whoring.


Wouldn't that be this thread??
It has cooled off here but was kind of dreary to start the day. Sunny now, though. You Americans are welcome to keep the heat for a while.

I'm boiling water for tea. Anyone else?
* snarfs two beachballs and a seashell *

Good afternoon. Relaxing after a nice long walk. They extended the paved pedestrian/cycling path along the river here so I took a walk out the new section. Also found a small hiking trail just off the path. This city is lovely that way. Rather than risking having actual development on the flood plain, it's all parkland and natural spaces save for a few pockets.
Quote by Rumple_deWriter

BTW, yesterday I seem to have 'lost' Inspirations. I mean to say, no link to this scene of old world culture and charm could I find. Today it has returned but while I'm glad, I'm also very confused.


I'd love to say something like "we were running in stealth mode" but there's no such thing. Suffice it to say there will be a new Inspirations in the new Stories Space, assuming things proceed. Coffee will be perking, kettle will be boiling, monkeys will be swinging from the rafters and the cats will have taken up all the chairs near the fire. No change, in other words.uDOMJhM16vTWYG62

Nice-ish day here. Maybe go out somewhere to walk or bike later. Had to push the mower yesterday and my yard is just big enough for that to counts as exercise.

For now, I shall settle in with tea and cookies.
I am not sure that I have ever been there for the birth of a new band before, but as a fan of Erie, Pennsylvania cover band First To Eleven, I literally heard them announce their spinoff project for original songs, Concrete Castles. Here's the third single from that "new" band.



Lead singer Audra Miller is 20 and has been singing, IIRC, since she was eight or something. The drummer and guitarist are of a similar age. All three are incredibly talented young musicians.
Nice day here so far. Could get shower-y later but the chance is not high.

Brilliant is a stretch. I'm no Gav, just a guy who has worked most of his working life in some kind of IT role so planning and executing IT projects is my life. In fact, if I was doing a project like this at work, I'd stop at the planning and assign the execution to my development team (the "Gavs" in my real life), not doing it myself. The joys of being a "manager". There was a day, though, when I was a one-man show and did everything related to tech.

Need more tea. And some cookies.
* Grabs a couple peanut butter cup cookies and makes a green tea *

Good evening, folks. Nice see you, Gil. Nothing much planned for tonight. Just veg after a long work week.
Quote by verbal


I'm writing and running several tons of errands - Talia is physically at work today, so it's just me and the cats.


As long as Talia doesn't come home to find your half-eaten corpse on the floor and the cats with satisfied smiles on their faces.

(See, I can write horror, too. )

As for the site, I am going to put my plan together. See the discussions in the relevant thread for where that is coming from. Should have more on the weekend. I'm going to build a prototype to test out a few ideas.

Meanwhile, time for an afternoon hot beverage. Getting into green tea time, I think.
Good morning. Sun is out, birdies are singing. What else could I ask for? Well, the day off comes to mind but doubt the boss will go for that.

I am drinking Irish Breakfast tea but there's lots of options and the kettle is still hot.
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Mendalla, he wrote: (a woman at work was pregnant again by the time she came back from her first mat leave) kind of leave me wondering how they do it.

Me, I suggested: Private hospital room? ;)





I meant how do they cope with having two babies in the house but I like your version better.
Nothing like giving birth to your own small corporation, eh. Frankly, one at a time is quite enough work. Even folk who have them fairly close together (a woman at work was pregnant again by the time she came back from her first mat leave) kind of leave me wondering how they do it.
Quote by MagnificentBastard

Please help Mandalla. He has a Cadillac stuck in his eye.


Hur hur. You think I can actually afford a Cadillac? Besides, aren't they all godawful SUVs now? Or is that Lincoln?

Quote by MagnificentBastard

Was watching West Side Story the other day just to torture the kids.


The torture is that they are remaking it. For f-s sake, it's one of the best musicals ever made on stage or screen. New stage productions, sure. But the movie does not need a remake.

(End rant)
Good morning all. Henrietta, you might want to check out my latest post in that thread. There's more than tech to talk about, esp. since Nic's latest post in the closure announcement suggests we might (hopefully not, but might) need to start clean and rebuild.

Kettle is on for some tea. I have a nice blend called Sunday Tea. Black tea and vanilla.
Quote by MagnificentBastard


Yes, start that thread. Once we have more info, we can post so all can see. As the thread grows, we can periodically summarize so we don’t need to read through all the posts.



C'est done: https://forum.storiesspace.com/yaf_postsm182790_The-new-Stories-Space.aspx#182790

(I went with it being better seek forgiveness than permission so if TPTB don't like it, consider forgiveness proactively begged)

Debating whether to copy some of the posts here over. I'd just create a post and put them all in quote blocks. Unless some kindhearted mod or admin wants to help sort out which ones and move them.
Quote by MagnificentBastard

Sara commented about accessibility. It currently is accessible on all of those platforms. R\


The forums still don't even adapt properly when zooming on a PC screen, let alone when viewing them on a smaller screen like a phone. At least they fixed it to the main story site works more or less properly now. That's a priority for fixing if we stay on this platform but likely goes away if we move to more modern software (Xenforo adapts to basically any sized screen automatically).

Incorporation is going to matter if we are handling significant amounts of money. It may be less important if we run as a small non-profit. I have never incorporated Wondercafe2. Our budget is c. $400 per year or less even after converting to CAD.

May I suggest starting a thread somewhere to discuss this? Seems like we are kind of cluttering up the cafe with our geek talk.

I'm sure the administration will be okay. It is how we did a lot of the org work on setting up Wondercafe2: threads on the original Wondercafe.
And we do need to look at a spruce-up of the styling. I also have a list of pet peeves (like how quoting insists on nesting the quoted post's quotes) that should be fixed and, in some cases, were on the sister site. If there's a newer version of the codebase that could be used and might get the feature set up-to-date, that's another project to look at. That's part of why I was thinking in terms of migrating to different software. Modern forum software like Xenforo is much more capable than what we have here.
Quote by rolandlytle

I have to say that the news of Stories Space's closure is a huge blow. I am home-bound for the most part and my time with you here on this site is my only person-to-person contact, except for my wife. I cried this afternoon and had to take medication for when I have an emotional break.


Roland, it is looking pretty good for some kind of replacement. I'll sit back and see how things go with MagnificentBastard's friend, but I am talking to some people with experience as well. Just not as far along.

That said, if things go South and you need a place to interact, I would invite you to join Wondercafe2, the site I run. It's a friendly bunch, mostly older folks (I'm one of the youngest at 56) and we even have a thread called Room for All that was kind of the inspiration for this thread. Link is, I think, on my profile. No story publishing capabilities, though I can do something called an article forum that could be used for that purpose.


Things look positive. Let’s start with that. My friend and Gav had their exchange. Questions asked. Questions answered. We now have a better idea of what we are dealing with. I still have lots of questions but essentially, it might be best to purge inactive profiles and threads, to ensure we have the smallest, tightest amount of data to transfer to a new database, server, etc. Having said that, and Mandalla knows this far better than me, things can go a bit wonky with database transfers.


So we are talking just moving the current system to a new server? And your friend will be the new "Gav" (will she use a stormtrooper as her avatar)? I was thinking we might be best to move to a commercial solution like Xenforo (my preference) or IPS. More work upfront but easier to maintain. But if we have someone who can do the work to maintain the open source, obviously just moving the existing code and data to a new platform is simpler.
If/when we move to a new site, we definitely need to make sure the cookie jars get packed. And the coffee maker and kettle.

We just had a horrific act of white supremacist terrorism (or at least that's how many of us are reading it) here. A guy drove his truck in to a family of Muslims out for a walk. Four dead (grandmother, parents, teenaged child) and one child in hospital. Guy has been charged with 4 counts of murder one and 1 of attempted murder. May also face hate crime and/or terrorism charges. The cops are still working that file with help from the Mounties. Meanwhile, my city is in mourning.
So here is a story.

In 2014, the members of a board called Wondercafe that was run by the United Church of Canada learned that the church planned to close it down and force them on to a Facebook group. The site used custom board software built on top of their website content management system and upgrading to a new version was going to cost an ungodly amount of money. There was almost universal dismay at this plan but the church felt the site had run its course and did not want to spend the money.

So three members with suitable backgrounds (2 in IT, 1 had run forums before) realized that the board could be recreated much more cheaply using off-the-rack software and set out to create what is now called Wondercafe2. They had support, but not wholehearted, from the owner of Wondercafe but definitely had the support of the community. They drafted rules, found a host, chose software, appointed the first moderators and, almost exactly seven years ago, wondercafe2.ca went live.

The punchline is that I am one of those three members and am still the principle administrator of the site. And I have emailed my interest in helping keep this place going in some form to Nicola. Unfortunately, I may not have the time to spearhead an effort, but I am game to help.
Quote by MagnificentBastard
But damn it, no caffeinated beans were ground so I started my morning with pre-ground McDonald’s decaf. No kick. But their coffee is surprisingly good; better than a lot of swill out there.



My son, the coffee geek, prefers Mickey D's to Timmy's (which he regards as a couple notches above sludge). Even buys cans of McCafe in stores for when he is staying with us (we don't have a grinder here). For whole beans, he is currently ordering from a roastery in Montreal, I hear.
Quote by Dreamcatcher


You left out:

41. Flat top haircuts
42. Butch wax
43. Pocket combs
44. Brylcream
45. Burma Shave road signs
46. Rolled up shirt sleeves
47. Transistor AM/FM radios
48. Wooden screen doors with long springs that would slam it shut
49. Dutch doors
50. TV Guides


Pocket combs and Brylcream I know.

Rolled up shirt sleeves, I still do (my arms hate being covered unless it's seriously cold).

Transistor radios I dearly miss. Even had one that mounted on the handlebars of my bike.

We had 48 at the cottage (maybe still do for all I know). Actually, we had that type on the back door and a modern aluminum screen door going on to the enclosed porch/dining room.

And I do so miss TV Guide. My parents subscribed. Coming home each week to look at what was coming up on favorite shows, what movies were going to be on, and so on was a part of my childhood/youth. And those Fall Preview issues where you got to see what was coming up in the new season.
While you folks are enjoying the boys of summer, we just found out that the boys of winter will be allowed to cross the 49th without quarantining. Still have to do regular testing and live in a bubble, but the Stanley Cup playoffs can go on unimpeded by 14 day quarantines. Not that I have the foggiest idea who is doing what at this point in the NHL. I know the Leafs got booted in seven by the Habs but that's about it.

And here in town, we are celebrating that a GIRL from one of the towns around London got drafted as a goalie in the Ontario Hockey League. As one of Canada's premier junior leagues, the OHL is a stepping stone to the NHL and a chance to win the Memorial Cup, one of the most prestigious hockey trophies short of the Stanley. Sadly, it was not the local team, but one an hour down the highway, that got her so we won't get to see her play here that often.

Got pretty sweaty doing some gardening this morning. This twit (ha ha) kept nagging me as I worked. Must have a nest nearby but I can't find it. It's a grackle for those who are into birds.


Quote by rolandlytle


I played 78s, 45s, and 33 vinyls.


It is interesting how vinyl came back into demand there a couple decades ago and still is to some degree. You have major acts doing limited edition vinyl releases and stuff. I've even heard of 78s being released, which is bizarre since even in my childhood, some record players no longer supported that speed. I had 45 singles and 33 1/3 albums but, as I said, the 78s were all old ones belonging to my parents. Later I started buying mostly cassettes for portability.
Damn, someone is having a great food day. Green banana in coconut cream sauce sounds fascinating. Hope it's been a good one, Etairay.

And for those on this side of the Pacific who are just rising, coffee is on, kettle is boiling, and I've got a pot of English breakfast tea steeping.