It's quiet around here... too quiet.

[Aceman]

Hey everyone!

We wanted to drop you a short new post to let everyone know that, while things are quiet around here, it's not for lack of trying.

Here are few news bullets to let you know what's up with SFM:

• BLOGS - Yeah we got them, but I'll be honest. I expected alot more usage then I've seen. But I'm delighted that a few of you have taken the bull by the horns and are using the new feature to share your experiences with the rest of the community. I hope more people will take advantage of this feature to share tutorials, experiences, art, etc.. it's upto YOU what your blog is about. Adhere to the TOS for the site, but the blogs are YOUR soapbox. So have a look, and try it out!
• AWARDS - I'm aware that awards aren't working properly. And I'm WAY behind with regard to awarding the winners of the contest their icons. I'm going to try and get this fixed this weekend but computer issues are making that hard. (more about that at the end of this post)
• TECHNOLOGY - I've been thinking about what I can do to spark some energy into the site. I've considered a PodCast (video) that would have some snippets of how-too's and scifi-related news, and featured artwork. The blog was an easy addon, but a monthly podcast may be a bit more then I alone can tackle. I've got to think on this more.. maybe I can enlist a few people from the various software platforms to help me create some brief quicky how-to-do that are specific for their application, I'm more then able to create the podcast, it's my lack of knowledge on apps that would be a speed bump in the creation process. While I think I know max pretty well, I definately am NOT a pro, nor do I profess to be one. At best I could merely share the way I do things with you. But I'm not sure if that's the correct way to be instructing people. I think you see where I'm headed with this.
• ACEMAN - OK.. so some of you may be thinking, 'I've not seen much from Aceman lately' or 'and he didn't finish his Sacagawea class starship!'. Well it's not my fault! - mostly. My home computer has died. And so everyone can give me a shoulder to cry on I'll share what's happened because, well.. it's my site and I need to vent. (btw- I'm using my wife's POS laptop to write this) So, I come home 2 weeks ago to find my computer with the blue-screen of death, I rebooted only to find that the PC wouldn't restart, and now merely greets me with a long beep, followed by two short beeps (My Specs: ASUS A8N-Sli Premium with 2x 6600GTs in SLi, 2 Gigs of Corsair RAM, AMD 4400 DC,). I have researched what the heck these beeps mean and it's got something to do with the computer not being able to find the video cards. I have trouble shot this like crazy, swaping cards, ram, in various combinations. I have also purchased a new PSU (580W), and even put working parts from work computer into my machine to see if that fixed the problem and the beeps never fail. So I'm pretty sure my vid cards are ok, the ram seems to work fine in a work PC, and well the PSU is brand new. So at this point, I've exhausted every option I can think of regarding the computer's parts, expect for the motherboard. Soo. I have emailed ASUS to request help/RMA to get my card replaced/fixed but they haven't responded yet. So it's a wait and see game at the moment. I can't afford a new motherboard, because I'd have to get a new processor, cause they don't make 939 boards any longer. Uggh, what a headache. So I'm PC-less at home (save this low-end laptop) for the time being so I can't get alot of things done like I would have liked. Ie.. the BattleStar Galactica Razor videos, etc.. this laptop wouldn't handle it. I do apologize!
• OFFTOPIC: Ok.. so while my PC is dead in the water, my xbox is keeping me warm at night lately. I'm playing Mass Effect at the moment and WOW.. loving that game. Like every game, it's got it's little flaws, but damn the storyline is good, and the graphics are off the hook. So till I can get the PC humming along again, I'm resigned to running around the galaxy with Kaidan and Jenkins... DAMN.. Kaidan's down.. Kaidan's down.. OMG.. runs off screaming..
• IPHONE: OMG I love my iphone. I saved my pennies for months to be able to afford it, and finally the magic happened. So lately, a few of you may have noticed that my email responces have been rather snappy. This is because I get my SFM email on my iphone also. So, while I'm offline at home, I'm not offline completely.
• FINAL THOUGHTS - OK, so I can't do podcasts, graphics, or see images bigger then 800x600, but I apparently can write perfectly fine. I still can't spell.. that train left the station long ago. I hope everyone here at SFM enjoys their experience here on SFM. I promise to keep working hard to keep the site online, and enjoyable. I want to make this site YOUR place to come for fun, scifi and 3D graphics. Your participation and support continues to amaze me and I love working on SFM.

Thanks for listening to my rant.. but I've gotta admit I feel ALOT better and I had fun with this post! BTW - ads are in the gutter, so if you see an ad that interests you, support the site by taking a visit. Please do not spam click, it won't help us. Just use the ads if and when you can. Simple as that.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you U.S. based users. I hope you and your families have a great holiday. And for the rest of you, have a nice day at home, work or school, or where ever you may find yourself!

Aceman

[Ramiel]

Man, this reminds me my last 3 months... Computer dead, not able even to see the 'Net, etc...

Also, if you can't post a rant here, who will?!?

I like the idea of the video-podcast, these could be done also with one of those "screen recoders" like the tutorials of Andrew Kramer...

[Lord Ravensburg]

Happy Thanksgiving Ace, I also like the Idea of the podcast. That would deffinatly come in handy... Sorry to hear about your computer wows... I have the same type of Processor slot, so I know how hard it is to get parts. I do know some one that might be able to help. If your interested just shoot me A pm.

Happy Holidays

[Shadowman99]

Thank you for SFM Aceman! Happy Thanksgiving!

[Nadesico]

If you want to give me a Blog aceman, I'll write in it, it wont be politically correct, 3d mesh related or anything of that type, but i'll probably write in it. (If you call the occasional drunken rant "writing")

[DAve]

Sorry to hear about your PC problems.

As to all the new features, while they will all be cool I don't think they are _needed_.

IMHO the strength of this site is its community, and that is one of the best online.
Fancy new features would be interesting, but the basics are solid.

So (coz we don't say this enough) - Well Done Aceman, mods, admins and infact the membership as a whole!

DAve

[Alec Trevelyan]

I have the same motherboard, and I had the same beep code. While the internet will tell you the long followed by two short beeps is a video card issue, I'd put money on your RAM. Good luck!

[Viper]

Reading this now, I think what you have is indeed a motherboard problem. The Asus A8n Sli usually gives voice warnings to issues you might be having instead of blips.

[Samurai]

Could well be an issue with the card socket on the motherboard- I just took a Fujitsu Laptop back in thats got exactly the same problem. Pretty rare to see them come back actually...

[IRML]

Originally Posted by Viper

Reading this now, I think what you have is indeed a motherboard problem. The Asus A8n Sli usually gives voice warnings to issues you might be having instead of blips.

if he doesn't have the deluxe or premium boards he'll only get a beep, I remember debating whether or not to go deluxe when I was buying my A8N-SLI, but an extra network socket and voice warnings didn't justify an extra £20