tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526688992318743402024-02-20T06:50:59.732-08:00ONE SWELL FOOP ...A MEMBERS' INTERACTIVE FOOSPAPER TO HELP US STAY CURRENT... GET THE SCOOP IN ONE SWELL FOOP!
GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-25213562821014840062015-04-14T14:38:00.003-07:002017-02-20T17:11:01.837-08:00Watch This Space...it's been quite a while with no significant input from the site - whether actual developments or even a concrete update on plans. We're still firmly in Dr. Ron's corner, but it's getting harder to justify the lack of word.<br />
<br />
In the meanwhile, we are in the process of drafting two things : a retrospective of our experiences on Foo, from 2009 to present...and a series of recommendations on ways the site could constructively move forward.<br />
<br />
It's taking longer than<i> </i>we expected - the first because there have been so VERY many changes it's actually hard to remember exactly when certain things took place, and the second because we are doing our level best to accomodate ALL points of view onsite, whether we agree with them or not. Give us a few more days, and...<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>WATCH THIS SPACE !</b></i></span>GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-2936664329470611172014-12-22T14:17:00.000-08:002014-12-25T14:14:35.345-08:00Exit, Stage Left?We've seen more change in a month or less than in the last three years, and it started out so hopefully... welcoming back the disenfranchised, restoring member-to-member sales, and getting rid of the bounty on FooSheltering pets. I was ecstatic.<br />
<br />
Now...you can HAVE an unsubscribed account (or two, or ten : which I think was a mistake, they should be one to a customer) - but there isn't much you can do besides revisit and rebond your pets. User sales, breeding, and gifting are still not enabled for unsubscribed members, despite the fact that it is depriving the site of the income they could provide over and above what it receives from subscriptions (and this is a REALLY dumb time to deny them motivation to purchase FD packages, as this time of year many people who could not otherwise afford to spend receive gift cards). My cynical side is beginning to see the whole affair as a more subtle form of the emotional blackmail we used to get from Rivet to subscribe. I really hope I'm wrong.<br />
<br />
After much bellowing and wailing from those who bred specifically to use their babies as cash cows (growl), AC/FooShelter buyback was reinstated - originally just for a month to accomodate those who already had litters on the way, but ultimately for keeps. <u><i><b>GOD</b></i></u>, I wish Dr. Ron hadn't caved on that one... it was one of the brightest rays of hope in the "new" Foo. <br />
<br />
Despite gentle hints and pokes, we still have no word regarding the return of open fostering or discount subscription packages without FD/gem bonuses, but with the other subscription benefits.<br />
<br />
The "new and different" pet finally made its debut and is simply a retread of a Rivet design... and an ugly one at that, though I suppose it has its charms. (I was rooting for the "hybrid" Pokeys featured on a FooMart item)<br />
I had thought that introducing a new pet - and the furor it created - was intended to distract from the issue of opening sales/gifting/breeding to unsubscribed members, but it now appears that it was intended to usher in the restructuring of from-the-site pricing. No problem with that - I go back to the days when all but a few pets were 300FD a pop, and the "AC" pricing was way overdue for some kind of overhaul... but I was hoping it would take the form of a return to the original site sales vs. FooShelter (no more candycoating where disposed-of pets are going), and getting the whole shebang the *bleep* OFF of the play page. It has always bothered and annoyed me that in order to look for other pets, one of yours must be left standing and waiting. On the plus side, in the course of repricing the site pets, the buyback rate
ratio has been dropped - breeders can still more or less break even, but
it's less profitable than taking the time to find buyers.Score one for the good Doctor, who hates the very idea of AC buyback almost as much as we do.<br />
<br />
The site needs income. We get that. We ALSO get that there are a lot of ways that income can be generated, from subscribed and unsubscribed members alike, that are not being utilized. Bringing back product endorsements, reworking FD packages<span style="color: red;"><b>*</b></span> to better reflect the current site economy (and thus furthering their sales to ALL members), setting up more levels for subscription both above and below the existing ones, selling additional pet slots, and even RL merchandise like Tshirts/sportwear, plushies, and even a FooPets pet products brand, are all viable revenue sources to explore. There are probably dozens of others that I haven't even thought of.<br />
<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>THIS JUST IN</u><i> - FD costs when purchased in packages have been HALVED. Go Ron! </i></span></b><br />
<br />
If FooPets wants to make money, they need to be seen as WORTH money... and after a brave start, I'm not seeing it anymore. Dr. Ron, <i><b>please</b></i> - there's a better way.GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-81403067929259327282014-11-14T17:11:00.002-08:002014-11-14T19:57:47.168-08:00No More Black April - It's SWEET NOVEMBER !!!We <b>TOLD</b> you to keep the faith...<u><b>NOW</b></u> look !<br />
<br />
<img src="http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/aa192e2a3b328c282ee26cac014a756e.jpg" /><br />
<br />
For those who can't read this (I'm too excited to SS again right now, I'll see what I can do later), all those members left out in the cold during Black April can now <b>COME BACK</b> - FREE.<br />
The 20-pet cap applies only to newly started accounts.<br />
<br />
Member-to-member sales of pets and items have ALSO been restored, though I am still looking into the specifics...but this news was too good to wait.<br />
<br />
<i>STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AND DETAILS - WE'RE <u><b>FOO</b></u> AGAIN !!!</i><br />
<br />
<i><b>Onsite Announcement quote from Ron : </b></i><br />
<br />
"I just deployed major changes, most notably user-to-user sales of
FooMart items (for any price) and user-to-user pet sales (for any FD
price above a minimum), 1-year CF membership packages, and the
re-institution of free memberships.<br />
I’ve updated the FAQs to reflect the changes. There’s a nifty chart
describing the membership features for all three packages (free, CF, and
CF+) at <a href="http://www.foopets.com/faqs#club">http://www.foopets.com/faqs#club </a>(see above)<br />
You’ll also find that chart at <a href="http://www.foopets.com/club">http://www.foopets.com/club</a>, where you can upgrade/downgrade easily.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: red;">Legacy free members who were kicked-out in the Foopocalypse of April
2011 should be able to log in and re-unite with their pets, inventory
items, and scenes.</span></b></i> (color and italics mine)<br />
Looking forward to hearing your feedback!"<br />
<br />
And the very <b>BEST</b> news - the bounty on thrown-away pets has been abolished (to much crying by those who invested in CF+ for the free LLs and were caught with their britches down...) <br />
<br />
So far the ONLY downside I see is that it requires a paid account to direct-sell pets and items - those who wish to ought to be able to afford at least a $5 month membership...and this really was necessary to appease those who have been paying these long last three years.<br />
MEMBER SHELTERS CAN OPERATE AGAIN!!!<br />
EVERYONE CAN COME HOME!!!<br />
We have achieved EVERYTHING we wanted except open fostering...and the night is young, lol.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Raise a glass to Doctor Ron on us - he's earned it!!!</b></span></i><br />
<br />GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-77545397958960294852014-10-29T12:58:00.001-07:002014-10-30T10:49:17.016-07:00WUXTRY, WUXTRY! The Doctor Is In the HOUSE!O ye of little faith...we are looking at a return to free membership. Yes. Really. It won't be tomorrow, and the details have to be worked out, but it's official - Doctor Ron wants his baby back - along with all the people who love it.<br />
<br />
<center>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>YES!!!</b></span></center>
<center>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span></center>
Additionally, for those without an "inside line", pet limits on subscribed accounts have been raised to 60, images can now be posted in the Forums, and Instacare is now running nicely. Most recently, the backdrop and layout have been buffed up (and are now back to Foo Blue), and a new Chat system has just been implemented.<br />
<br />
<center>
Excelsior!</center>
GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-71526684447362334772014-10-22T10:59:00.000-07:002014-10-22T15:17:29.828-07:00Times they Are A-Changing ?Doctor Ron has actively returned and appears to be making an honest effort to get the site functional once more. As must be expected, given the state of the coding (even excluding the muddy bootprints left behind by Rivet), it's not easy, and there have been setbacks, but for the time being we'd advocate cautious optimism - Ron DOES love the site, as we all do, and we believe has its best interests at heart...all we hope is that we can all agree as to what those best interests are.<br />
<br />
The main efforts currently focus around basic functions like pet care and breeding, with a few dividends thrown in (you can once more post images in the Forums, and - remarkably, as we would have expected to see it as a paid-for feature - pet slot limit has been raised from 50 to 60 per profile. For those who have not been around since the early days, it used to be 10, with paid subscription - way back when, lol - allowing 20). The downside is that Forum posts - and pet profiles as well - must now be in Textile rather than HTML code (and changed over spontaneously), which has - sadly - caused a lot of lost graphics. (Personal profiles are not - as yet - affected, for which we and many others are grateful.) Apparently it was a necessary, and unalterable, side effect of repairing profile loading and pet care, but as some of the images were irreplaceable, it would have been nice to have some warning so they could have been preserved somehow. Perhaps the across-the-board flipover to Textile was unanticipated, a side effect of the Forum edits and/or InstaCare repairs.<br />
<br />
Progress does appear to be fairly steady, with setbacks being promptly addressed insofar as possible, and we applaud the changes overall - it IS a huge amount of work to deal with repairing or rewriting even minor amouts of code here...and an effort is being made to keep members up to date on what is happening, a vast improvement in itself. M.foo - which now requires a separate login, for reasons as yet unknown - and widgets are presently out of action, however.<br />
<br />
Given all that, there ARE a few areas which we'd like to see addressed once the dust settles...some gentle pokes and reminders have been tossed upon the waters of the Forums, with no response - even from other members - turning up as yet.<br />
<br />
<b>ONE - a return of open fostering</b>. with Pay-To-Play firmly in place (and yes, it's necessary, though discounted levels without FD bonuses would be helpful, as well as something along the lines of Gift Certificates to help friends without FD access), the main reason for its restriction is gone...and with the Widget mode apparently being eliminated, it will be the only way to access nonfriended pets, including our own bred babies on dormant accounts.<br />
<br />
<b>TWO - the return of direct member-to-member sales of pets and items</b>. We have encountered a number of double-confirmation trading systems on various sites, many of whom have volunteered to share their code. This would eliminate any possibility of scamming even the greenest players and generate far more site income in the form of FD purchases than the present buyback systems. It would also eliminate the need for a separate Gifting mode, more than making up for whatever bitspace it requires.<br />
<br />
<b>and <u>THREE</u> - eliminate the bounty on FooSheltered pets</b>. Direct sales will obviate any need for it, and we have NEVER seen the point in rewarding people for throwing their pets away. It encourages irresponsible breeding, undermines good pet care habits, and flies in the face of everything Foo is supposed to stand for. As it costs nothing and takes up no space to keep babies on a profile (they can no longer even be lost due to neglect, another change we might take a fresh look at), the ability to get rid of them at a profit only encourages bad habits and attitudes toward virtual AND real-life pets.<br />
<br />
All of these were Rivet innovations, and were introduced primarily in an attempt to assume control of finances and pave the way for Pay-To-Play. They no longer serve any positive purpose. Let's get back to our original ideals !<br />
<br />
<i><b>(by the way - as we have had to deal with it on another site - anyone who needs help with Textile coding, give us a shout) </b></i>GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-50739714459903078052014-05-20T04:32:00.000-07:002014-11-08T17:30:45.017-08:00THREE YEARS...Well. I was just looking back, and realised it's been a little over three years since Ron, Scott (where IS he, by the way?), and Eugene (who was never a very visible presence) rescued the site from the ashes of Rivet and restored it to functionality.<br />
<br />
We still have pay to play - I can understand this, the original fiasco happened because OPM (Other People's Money) got control of the site, and forced contribution is preferable to another Riveting experience - but repeated requests for a budget plan without FD bang have fallen on deaf ears, sadly. Gifting has been restored, the Mart is back (sort of), and playmode, so far as I know, is running smoothly.<br />
<br />
We still have the Junior Contingent - I don't see anything that can really be done about that, aside from creating a separate twin site for adults and lettting those who wish migrate their accounts there - and the accompanying restrictions on links and so forth. We still have an inflationary economy due to the vast influx of "free" FDs from memberships and the lack of direct member-to-member sales of pets, services, and items (this also means we effectively no longer have member-run shelters). We still cannot foster/care for pets whose owners we are not friended with. We still have the bounty on throwing pets away, with free LLs via Premium to facilitate the process. We still have (stop me if I'm wrong, it's been quite a while since I braved the Forums) runaway censorship of anything remotely negative...which appears to include nearly any constructive suggestions for change.<br />
<br />
What <b>DO</b> we have? And what would we like? Or are all those still on board resigned to taking whatever the site hands them - are all the "activists" gone now?<br />
<br />
(<i><b>NOTE</b></i> - <i>due to repeatedly getting my head bashed in, the Foop no longer has any links - or even real mentions - onsite, so few if any who weren't already here know it exists, much less where to find it. Should I toss it onto - shudder - FaceBook?)</i><br />
<br />GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-70705051431939577692013-12-01T16:46:00.002-08:002013-12-01T16:49:46.103-08:00Screw Politics...Let's PARTY!<center>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Enough of being serious - the holidays are here, let's just enjoy ourselves - and each other - for a while! </b></span></center>
<center>
</center>
<center>
</center>
<center>
<a href="http://magistreamsing.blogspot.com/"><img alt="" src="http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af156/canaanschild/christmas%20treats/grinch_cartoon-1.gif" /></a>
<b> </b></center>
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Welcome to the Fourth Annual - and for the first time, multisite - GrinchFest! Come join us, make friends, and see if you can win the prize! Click image above for game page, directions, and a bunch of other fun stuffs.</b></span></center>
GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-86808414800310129142013-09-29T18:23:00.004-07:002013-10-05T13:33:48.639-07:00Pok(ey)ing Under the Latest Rock...Updated!Having been auditing the latest uproar onsite - the sudden appearance of shiny new Pokey pups in a number of new accounts - and having puzzled and puzzed over it all for a while (and yes, having chimed in on the side of "At least FOO them, don't just delete"), I finally went and did a little detective work, and at first it did indeed appear that the site's claim that code manipulation was required was legitimate.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I did not carry it far enough - I have received (off camera) confirmation that even now you can change breeds during a new-join adopt with a URL flipper - the breed-specific URL appears after name and gender are selected, and a link to a Forum thread concerning one of - if not the very first - cases documenting it happening has been kindly provided. (I must say I am astonished that it was not quietly disappeared from the Forums...) It appears that the first instance (or close to it) was not only a new and inexperienced member who not only didn't know what Pokeys <b>were</b>, but didn't even actually WANT one, lol. Nice to see that some of the respondents immediately tried to protect her from the predators...still not sure how the URL flipper came into play, but it looks conclusively innocent unless it's the best-thought-out and <i>cleverest</i> case of CYA I've even seen, lol.<br />
<br />
Pokeys do indeed seem to have been removed from the page coding now so that their breeds/numbers can no longer be accessed, accidentally or otherwise. Crucifying people - or their pets - for something that was publicly available at the time, however, especially legitimate new joins, is probably the most inappropriate action the site could take. Like the male Calicos (a <i>genuine</i> glitch, not just existing code, and not only still onsite, but <b>breedable</b>), these pups are the result of an oversight on the part of the coders for which the - now paying - membership cannot and SHOULD not be held responsible, much less culpable.<br />
<br />
At the VERY least, these pets should remain in their new owners' hands in their Foo incarnations - strictly speaking, they ought to be allowed to remain Pokeys. The only issue I see with that - and it IS valid - is that we will have yet <b>another </b>"rare glitch pet!" for people to fight over. Perhaps their owners could agree to sign a "non-tradeable" agreement as a condition of keeping their babies...providing a face-saving way out of this dilemma without injury or hard feelings on EITHER side.<br />
<br />
<i>(Should I CC this to one of the Forum threads, guys?) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b></b><br /></i>GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com238tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-72147049590269647242013-09-10T09:42:00.001-07:002013-09-10T09:42:59.857-07:00Still Here, Folks.I know I haven't been notably active here for some time, and I apologise - RL flattened me for quite a while and I am just now digging out from under - plus my email decided for some reason not to notify me of posts here, so unless I found time to check I had no idea if anyone was around.<br />
<br />
I am in the process of catching back up on "current events" onsite and would appreciate any input from any of you still listening (blush). I am willing to go proactive but first we need to decide what the site needs here and now - and not things like "get rid of Traci", please, we are looking for practical ideas and that just doesn't make the list, regardless of anyone's personal feelings on the matter. Bear in mind we are interested in the good of the site as a whole - try to look at the big picture.<br />
<br />
What needs to be brought back? What needs to be eliminated? What needs to be added and/or modified?<br />
<br />
Thanks!GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-41343824577461554772013-04-01T08:07:00.001-07:002013-04-01T08:09:26.977-07:00Avril Poisson<b>As promised, we're back with a new post - just for fun this time, but there WILL be a serious post to follow shortly. Open to suggestions as to what is the most important issue to address here and now...as far as I have seen, the basic functioning of the site is now decently reliable, so what do you all see the next priority?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Now for the giggles " FUN FOOP SPAM!</b><br />
<br />
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<br />
<b> </b>"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "<a href="http://fooscooper.blogspot.com/2012/03/whos-on-first-whats-on-second-i-dont.html" target="_blank">Who's On First, What's On Second, I Don't Know's O...</a>":
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<br />
<b> </b>"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "<a href="http://fooscooper.blogspot.com/2012/12/nitties-getting-gritty.html" target="_blank">Nitties Getting Gritty?</a>":
<br />
<br />
This is a common misconception which will be resolved only <br />
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coping reviews from competitive websites to show you <br />
have circulation and satisfied customers, your website is <br />
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<b>(this one truly left me scratching my head...it goes on MUCH longer and in great detail - and might have been a very useful data resource had they actually LOOKED at the Foop first...)</b><br />
<br />
"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "<a href="http://fooscooper.blogspot.com/2012/03/whos-on-first-whats-on-second-i-dont.html" target="_blank">Who's On First, What's On Second, I Don't Know's O...</a>":
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<b>(relatively innocent...but I want to know who squealed to <u><i>stumbleupon</i></u>, lol)</b><br />
<br />
"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "<a href="http://fooscooper.blogspot.com/2012/05/moving-onward-and-hopefully-upward.html" target="_blank">Moving Onward - and Hopefully UPward.</a>":
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<br />
<b>...and this one, symptomatic of most...</b><br />
"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "<a href="http://fooscooper.blogspot.com/2012/12/nitties-getting-gritty.html" target="_blank">Nitties Getting Gritty?</a>":
<br />
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Howdy I am so excited I found your blog page, I really found you by <br />
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just like to say kudos for a remarkable post and a all round <br />
exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over <br />
it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and also added in your RSS feeds,<br />
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<br />
<b>Hopefully now that I've stopped collecting these (and will be roundfiling the ones I did), my spam filter will go back to normal and we won't get any more strays. </b><br />
<br />
<b> It's been about a year now since Ron and Co. officially took back the site. Most of the "cleanup" work appears to be done - which I'm sure was a massive undertaking - but it's time now to look to the future. A site which does not grow, dies. So does a site that grows too fast, or in the wrong directions, a tendency that led to problems here in the past. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Where SHOULD FooPets go from here? </b>
GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-10411827304031591652012-12-20T12:56:00.004-08:002012-12-20T13:02:18.154-08:00Nitties Getting Gritty?It appears we are getting vocal enough to be officially noticed...not only was a thread discussing making pet care an important part of Foo once more deleted along with all attendant posts, but a strafing run was made over at the FooBA4U profile, where not only the nasty, dangerous links (not just the one to here, but to KibbleCat, and to the Rescue League click-to-feed...horrors, what if a CHILD stumbled on the opportunity to help real animals just by clicking! stamp that out quick!), but the attendant graphics and text were neatly edited out as well - and just to be EXTRA thorough, they fiddled with my Status Box (make a note, those are not sacrosanct either), where my text was edited to replace the phrase "google fooscooper" - which is not, as far as i know, a link - with "removed by an admin" or words to that effect.<br />
(for what it's worth, and for those who need a giggle, they were not nearly as thorough - or as clever - as they thought they were...)<br />
<br />
personally, we're a bit flattered to be thought so influential...actually RESPONDING, though, either here or onsite, would have been a more appropriate and mature reaction...oh, i forgot - "mature" is now a dirty word onsite, isn't it.<br />
<br />
the last time this was an issue (on the singingbadger account), i received a polite message from an amb asking me to remove the links, which i politely proceeded to do. apparently times have changed, or at least manners have. do i smell insecurity? or possibly paranoia?GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-16448492073353598532012-12-15T11:16:00.001-08:002012-12-15T11:45:24.833-08:00WTH?anybody else getting Mad Kitty on their profile page? i know i didn't get busted for the holiday events, lol, as i can still access individual pet profiles, so it's not me being locked out. coming up on both Canaan and FooBA4U on mobile and normal modes on FireFox - off to try Chrome. (and with the exception of a 501 error that went away on reload, Chrome is normal. curiouser and curiouser...)<br />
<br />
it also won't access the pets in Play mode, only profile (defaults to AC shop/adopt page). Forums come up normally from the foot of the page, so it's not a general site problem, and there was no comment on it there i found. Hm.<br />
<br />
...aaaaaaand now everything is normal here on Firefox as well. most odd. granted, i did file a report, but the day anything gets acted on THAT quickly pink owls will fly in the daytime, i suspect. GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-62390141265548867752012-12-03T17:24:00.004-08:002012-12-03T17:33:36.548-08:00the hell with being serious for a while...Happy Holidays!<center>
<img src="http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af156/canaanschild/Trim%20Up%20Your%20Tree/ChristmasComing.gif" /></center>
<center>
<i><b><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">here are (some of, still coming up with new ones, lol) our 2012 holiday events - the two multisites are clickable from Born2Can<span style="font-size: large;">a</span>anCatHaven and FooBA4U respectively, the Grinch quiz is exclusive to the Foop. Enjoy!</span></span></b></i></center>
<br />
<center>
<a href="http://5siteadvent2012.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/6f33e596eb3f617f46c62b599b0d36be.jpg" /></a> <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">~</span></b> <a href="http://getyourgrinchon.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af156/canaanschild/christmas%20treats/grinch_cartoon-2.gif" /></a> <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">~</span></b> <a href="http://2012holidaycard.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/69291b8f3cebbc353c6fb2f041dd9115.jpg" /></a></center>
<center>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u><i>CLICK 'EM!</i></u></b></span></span></center>
GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-23673766019020530332012-11-15T13:04:00.003-08:002012-11-15T13:04:48.665-08:00State of the FooNion(just put this up in CF Ideas etc - we'll see what comes of it)<br />
<br />
"we as members have a lot to say about what we want and expect from FooPets. well and good - we pays our money and makes our requests (bad grammar deliberate, don't kick me, lol).<br /><br />but what does MANAGEMENT want from the site? where do they see it going, and what do THEY see as the next move? now that InstaCare and related issues appear to be stabilized, and they have a chance to start looking ahead a bit, where do they see FooPets going, in the short and the long term?<br /><br />i think it's about time for a State of the FooNion Address from our Fearless Leader(s), don't you?"GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-53788646868695128232012-10-22T14:53:00.006-07:002012-10-22T17:09:32.190-07:00Amazon Playing Early Halloween Trickonce again Amazon - our server, along with MineCraft and a number of other sites substantially bigger and louder than us, lol - has crashed our part of the Internet. not Foo's doing and completely out of their hands, unfortunately. they apparently went down (and took us along with them) around 10:30am Pacific, or 1:30pm EST today.<br />
<br />
FooPet updates are on Twitter, but i recommend leapfrogging to Amazon's twitter page (clickable from several Foo tweets) - both more constructive, and totally hilarious. you think our members rag the management? wait until you get a load of AMAZON'S patrons.<br />
<br />
UPDATE - back online around 7:30pm EST (so about 6 hours) - still a little slow and erratic, they probably are still bringing servers online, but not as bad as it could have been. GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-41056944138163338442012-10-03T09:45:00.001-07:002012-10-03T09:48:27.750-07:00It's Almost Halloween, Mwah -Hah-Hah<center>
<a href="http://foo103112.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/d3cd407eb206e5b5a8a42a14ef1008dd.jpg" /></a> </center>
<center>
<b>Click it…i dare you.</b></center>
GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-89185961020291955872012-09-15T12:51:00.000-07:002012-09-15T12:56:11.760-07:00The Cat Who Came Out From Behind the Curtainour dear Doctor just made his first public appearance in quite a while, to post an updated Rules list <a href="http://www.foopets.com/topics/show/2387700?forum_id=6&page=1#post-57260612">here</a>. while the changes are not sweeping, there are a few critical ones - outside links are once more unequivocally banned, for one. also in plain language is the restriction on sharing even your own information (email etc) onsite. time will tell how the rulings against trolling and harrassment play out...<br />
<br />
One of the major changes/additions is a ceiling on pet prices in trades, restoring the original max of 10,000FD. while they have a few loopholes to close in this area, the September Update announcement thread offered a glimpse of hope for the restoration of direct member-to-member sales...while the subject was pets, hopefully items will be included as well. assuming the same tax structure as member-to-site, this would give FooPets at least as much chance to siphon "surplus" FDs out of the economy as under the site-only sales system, and probably a good deal more, giving the site tender a chance to rebalance and regain its value.<br />
<br />
one of the issues i had with the original version of the rules is still prevalent - though in some areas they are specified as site-wide regardless of location, the stricture about image posting is obviously limited to the Forums, though it doesn't say so, and other subjects retain the same vagueness as to whether they are general or Forum-specific.<br />
<br />
welcome back into the public eye, Ron - glad to see you! along with the recent restoration of features phased out by Rivet, this visit gives me great hope for the future.stop by and chat sometime, we miss you.GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-49186073952601815852012-09-07T14:40:00.003-07:002012-09-07T14:57:04.154-07:00Daylight Finally Showing?we've had some interesting developments recently, primarily in response to intrepid members refusing to be fobbed off with illogical explanations and fandancing...the FooMart has been largely restored, and the Footax bite, while still considerably higher than before, has been cut in half to 25%, a vast improvement and a figure we suggested might be a reasonable compromise when the original horrendous increase went in.<br />
<br />
the fact that these welcome changes were not announced <i>prior</i> to implementation - even when the FooMart issue was hot-button and the public answer to <i>"why not?"</i> was <i>"we can't"</i> (lol) - suggests that they may have found buried sections of code that made them possible...and that they ARE listening to member input if we say it often and loudly enough, even if the inForum responses are less than forthcoming. hopefully our coders will continue to find more nuggets as they mine the scramble that is our base programming.<br />
<br />
<b>onwards and upwards back to the real Foo - excelsior !!! </b>GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-58504633389201806922012-08-04T12:44:00.001-07:002012-08-04T12:54:02.226-07:00HMMMM...well, somehow they managed not only to reinstate pet drag-and-drop, but replace all (or at least most, judging by the thread) of the pets into the order selected by the members - no mean feat. the only two ways i know of offhand would be a system restore to just before the crash, or manually recording pet sequences for all members before taking the code offline - both of which present a host of headaches, so big points for making the effort (<i>cynical side must add, unless it was a side effect required by something else they were doing...</i>).<br />
<br />
interesting tidbits...it seems Scott is still both a member and an A here, for what that's worth and what it may signify - ran across quite a few folks we thought were MIA, including Corie, in the course of rambling around. also note that after simultaneous Announcements were made by MissJoeyLee (Ron's niece) and ParrotLady regarding the Adobe update, they seem to have standardized on our beloved ParrotLady as the best bearer-of-news, good OR bad. she also hosts the suggestions for games/contests - dropped a note there regarding the site co-hosting some Canaan-style events down the road. we'll see what comes of it...<br />
<br />
by the way - i will go back and check myself to be sure, but it seems to me that whenever we had an explosion in Comments and had to move on, we were in the process of advocating suggestions and improvements in the main post at the time. i may be mistaken, but if not, it raises some very interesting questions...once being accident, twice being coincidence, three times (which is the present count) enemy action...sure hope this is just paranoia on my part, very disturbing if it turns out to be the case.GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com110tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-16459125359224650432012-07-16T06:53:00.000-07:002012-07-16T06:55:44.401-07:00Undercurrentsit would seem that we were premature in expecting only good things and good will from the return of the "original" management...the initial open communication appears to have broken down, and there are disquieting backstage rumbles. one of the people attempting to be reinstated has been shut down at every turn, in some cases with highly spurious justifications - in one instance we are actually looking at death by typo...("tuck" for "truck", which was read as something nastier, and the reported word being taken as gospel rather than the original reference checked), and Scott, who did his best to act as a go-between to resolve the problem amicably, is now reported as no longer associated with the site management...whether by his choice or otherwise is unknown.<br />
<br />
it is distressing to see the renaissance of FooPets - which we were hopeful, and incautious, enough to endorse - stalling out due to what amount to ego wars...what are other people's sense of the state of our once-happy little nation? it would be nice indeed to hear from management as well as members, but it looks like those (brief) days are gone.GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-32809259309709774482012-06-29T08:47:00.001-07:002012-07-01T05:09:39.214-07:00Once More, With Feeling(we tried this once before, but it kind of got trampled and lost...bear in mind that the new systems - ChatBlog for off-topic, and any personal attacks etc. being moved to the Rant blog, access to which can be requested by emailing me, addie top right - are still in force.)<br />
<br />
okay. as far as i have noticed, pet care is running decently (* - well, sort of - see Comments below) and most basic functions are at or near normal ops. so far, so good. there are still questions and issues arising from the Gifting Glitch, but we are trying to deal with those backstage for the time being - meanwhile, let's look at the site as a whole, and what it needs.<br />
<br />
every day it seems to be more and more obvious that FooPets does not run well as a one-size-fits-all (i.e. the same features regardless of age group) site. at the very least, the Forums would benefit from being segmented by age, with people registering for and subscribing to the one that best fits their needs as a member. i would even be willing to deal with a (minimal) fee for private age-restricted Forums, to defray the cost of setting them up and facilitate their creation. i still believe that retrofitting an adult site does NOT make it suitable for under-13's, and that there should be a separate "Foo Junior" to meet their specialized requirements. (see "Where Do We Go From Here?" at <a href="http://4anewfoo.blogspot.com/">this link</a> for recommendations on this and other issues)<br />
<br />
member-to-member sales, with a secure double-consent trading system - not that hard to code and implement - need to be reinstituted, for a variety of reasons. among other things, this would allow gifting via the trading system, removing the need for a separate Gifting function and the potential for abusing it. (see <a href="http://www.foopets.com/topics/show/2341518?forum_id=28&page=1#posts-56463541">this thread</a> for a discussion of this topic)<br />
<br />
the outside link ban could stand to be addressed as well - perhaps desired links to useful and/or innocent things like off-site pets that need clicks and sites like KibbleCat/Dog could be submitted for approval and a tag supplied to indicate that they have been vetted over by the site.<br />
<br />
some kind of discounted system for ClubFoo - either a low-cost option without extra "perks", simply account access, or a package deal for multiple accounts from the same IP, preferably both - would go a long way toward boosting both site income and the flagging membership roster. a "legal", site-facilitated program for gifting CF memberships would also be a very welcome addition.<br />
<br />
something that just occurred to me the other day...this is the only site i know where "private" messages are displayed for the world to see. as much fun as i have had "eavesdropping", a LOT of problems could be solved by making personal messages visible ONLY to the member and the person with whom they are communicating. most PM systems are set up like mini-Forums, with each conversation running on its own thread. like trading, this is commonly in use and i am sure the coding is either easily available or could be obtained at little or no cost from another site.<br />
<br />
<b>what are YOUR thoughts and suggestions?</b><br />
<br />
<br />GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-87142372951137475712012-05-31T05:11:00.000-07:002012-06-01T07:15:51.411-07:00Moving Onward - and Hopefully UPward.a public newpaper does not have any control over who reads it. an online paper like the Foop, unless they are willing to practice censorship, which I am not, has a similar lack of control over people's expression of opinion. the reason I don't censor is NOT to give people a license to go after each other, but to prevent the accusation - and very real possibility - that a slanted viewpoint is being presented. the only way to show all viewpoints is to ALLOW all viewpoints, whatever my own feelings about them. however, this does not mean that personal attacks and threats - from <b>anyone</b> - need to be tolerated any further. the fact that we provide an open forum for discussion as a public service does not mean it, or we, have to permit abuse.<br />
<br />
I have set up two satellite blogs - a <b>Rant</b> page, and an <b>Off-Topic</b> page, both accessible top right. Off-topic will be public, Rants will be private. Comments made here that belong in one or the other instead will be copied and transferred complete with poster's name, date, time, etc. to whichever applies, and if a Comment is moved to Rants, whoever made it, and any who wish to subscribe, can get access by emailing me with the username of your choice (which i will use to list you as a member of that blog, with reading and comment privileges). People are also invited to post directly in Off-Topic at will, and enjoy that much as they do the Foop proper.<br />
<br />
That said, I will continue to pursue the aftermath of the Gifting Glitch and its collateral damage privately, as this seems the most likely way to gain any kind of satisfactory resolution for all parties involved. among other things, i think <b>everyone</b> - members and management - will have to forego "apologies", public and/or private, in the interest of putting this mess to bed as equably as possible for all concerned, and ALL need to be willing to go on from here onsite with good manners, respect for one another, and a clear, stated policy for handling glitch abuse in place for the future. if you wish to be included in this effort, please email me (info top right) with a brief description of your situation and any concrete evidence you may have : i will assemble everything and try to do some good with it. obviously i cannot make any guarantees, but i will do my best and having it quietly and privately handled via a neutral party may help.<br />
<br />
i thank all readers, and participants who comport themselves as interested and caring FooPet members rather than tantrummy children, and look forward to being able to return the Foop someday to its original purpose...a place to have fun and exchange information.GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-68168472931541810672012-05-22T08:55:00.000-07:002012-06-01T06:57:27.989-07:00Quoth the Ravin'...In a distressing short length of time, FooPets has gone from a new sense of hope and progress to being once more a place of fear, suspicion, and restriction. We were told by our new/old team that they valued us as members, welcomed our input, and were not intimidated by criticism, as it provided useful input into what might need to be done to improve the site and insure its place as a treasured and enjoyable place to be online.<br />
<br />
This frightening reversal was brought about by a relatively small number of members exploiting code-repair glitches that allowed them to acquire item and tender assets in disproportionate quantities, putting honest players at a disadvantage (if they value such things - I personally do not, but obviously others do) and further damaging an already shaky site economy. The lion's share of the damage was done via the Gifting glitch, which the management team, in the form of Traci, our Community Manager, responded to by suspending/banning what I believe was originally a total of 28 people. The staff being as limited in time and numbers as they are, it was almost inevitable that some sheep get swept up with the goats, and that there would be grey areas of culpability.<br />
<br />
Subsequently, members who felt they were included in the roundup in error - and I have little doubt that those who <b>were</b> indeed guilty did so as well - approached Support to restore their accounts (and assets and good names). For whatever reasons, the situation began to escalate out of control. Threats, abuse, and vituperation proliferated on both sides of the conflict, and it has now reached the point where those who were declared innocent of deliberate wrongdoing, after doing their best to comply with all conditions and requests made by Support, are being penalised again for the crime of returning. For unknown reasons, a gag order was imposed on them forbidding them to admit their accounts were restored - an odd measure, as their return was sure to be noticed, and their innocence clearly implied thereby - and apparently now members totally uninvolved in the glitch pogrom are being suspended for simply welcoming friends back.<br />
<br />
Additionally, any and all criticism of the site, anywhere, seems to be once more grounds for suspension as well. Criticism is <b>NOT</b> "bashing". It is as valid, and often more useful and constructive, as praise. While I and all sensible people deplore insults and namecalling, pointing out an obvious problem and asking that it be addressed is <i><b>not</b></i> destructive - far from it. Sweeping an issue under the rug by forbidding discussion does nothing to solve it. Nor does it prevent word from spreading. You do not heal a wound by sealing in the poison : you open it, and thereby heal it.<br />
<br />
At this point, there is a horrendous amount of resentment and hurt feelings on <b>BOTH</b> sides. Traci has only been on Foo since the middle of February and "active" as Manager for a little more than a month. She had almost no time to get to know the site and community before this bomb went off, nor they her, which may well be contributing to the way she is handling this ugly situation. It is time for <i><b>all</b></i> parties involved to step back, take a deep breath, and reapproach this in a fresh, cooperative state of mind.<br />
<br />
There is no sin in making a mistake - only in refusing to admit it. A person who apologises for an error and makes it good as best they can is respected. One who rants and lashes out to defend a wrong action even after it is recanted will never be seen as a responsible community member or leader. We have what should have been a minor problem getting rapidly out of hand and threatening to tear FooPets apart as more and more people get involved and choose up sides. <b>THIS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE.</b> We are <i><b>all </b></i>FooPets! The New Foo Crew is understaffed, overworked, and overstressed even <b>without</b> this additional headache, and the surviving members are already shellshocked and sensitive from a long, hard road. Those of us still here after all the site has gone through are here for love - and we were told that Ron, Scott, and Eugene feel the same way. Let's find a way to <i><b>fix</b></i> this...<i><b>together.</b></i><br />
<i><b> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></i><br />
<i><b>(NOTE :</b></i> it is requested that any comments here be posted under a <b>name</b> - <u>ANY</u> name - please use the name/url posting mode, with a name and url of your choice. this will allow you to protect your identity if you feel the at-the-moment-understandable need to, but still post as a distinct individual. Also, I have faith that everyone responding will comport themselves as ladies and gentlemen, making reasoned - and hopefully brief and pertinent, lol - points without resorting to personal attacks or hurtful language. <b><i>Thank you!)</i></b><br />
<br />GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com300tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-83691531242248825542012-05-06T15:54:00.002-07:002012-05-11T15:24:28.230-07:00Lyin's and Tigers and Bugs, Oh My...<b>5/11/12 : </b>sadly, it appears that patience is NOT being rewarded - a sad turn of affairs for such a promising beginning. screenshotting and sharing your OWN Support information is now once more specifically forbidden as a potential invasion of privacy...though as the only one with access is the person to whom the Support ticket refers, it's hard to see who needs to be protected.<br />
<br />
from what i am hearing, accused (and convicted pro tem) members, who are unable to obtain evidence from their own locked accounts, are not having success requesting Support to copy and present the relevant ledger/gift log/etc information on their Support threads. this is a far cry from the spirit of member/management cooperation with which this "new era" began...and while i can understand there being hurt feelings over the glitch exploitation on management's part, it seems to be descending into pettiness - a failing i really did not expect to see. management needs to bear in mind that the person SENDING the glitch gifts is the one at fault, not the recipient, unless they immediately cashed in or regifted them - and even then in some cases there is a gray area, unless it was an absolutely hopeless quantity.<br />
<br />
once more, the desperate need for a reliable two-way trading system is spotlighted : this would have prevented the gifting glitch from ever happening, and would cut off all scamming and shady dealing at the knees by requiring mutual approval of all member transactions and providing a clear, undisguisable "paper trail" for all exchanges. <br />
<br />
<b>it is profoundly hoped that our faith in, and support of, the New Foo Crew was not premature - or unjustified. we are still early in the game, and mistakes made by both sides can still be corrected with honesty and without rancor...i hope. </b><br />
<b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </b><br />
<b> 5/6/12 :</b> the current folks inherited the problem code, they did NOT create it. and they are trying to make the best of a difficult situation by fixing the mess they took on with the site <b>running</b> - for OUR sakes, not theirs - as best they can. to my knowledge, so far nothing they have done in the course of fixing code has caused any members harm unless they exploited what (in all the cases i've heard of) was a fairly obvious "oops", which is a lot more than we can say about Rivet's coding...and i don't remember this sort of outcry then - even here, much less onsite.<br />
<br />
they let the unicorn room glitch exploitation slide. people complained. so they penalized members who looked like they exploited the gifting glitch (and unavoidably caught some innocent with the guilty, which we and they are working to correct). people complained. they tried to fix a glitch first and discuss it afterwards. people complained. so now they are posting glitches as soon as they notice them and then trying to fix them. people complain. to paraphrase Barnum, you can't please all of the people all of the time, unfortunately. give then credit for trying...<br />
<br />
at least now we CAN complain (as far as i know) - not just here or on Twitter or FaceBook, but onsite. there was a time when that was neither safe nor even possible...though i agree that all info should be available onsite as well as on FB/twitter, all i can think is that that is faster if they are elbow-deep in recoding. still, not everyone is on the Forums, either. even emailing everyone (a horrendous amount of work) wouldn't guarantee everyone hearing, as a lot of people use dedicated emails for Foo rather than their "normal" one. if anyone has a good idea for this, i (and management) would love to hear it, it would help a lot. Karlia's idea about using the daily popups has potential, if it can be done without a huge amount of recoding.<br />
<br />
until they are able to get the kinks out of the existing code (which came with the package and are NOT their fault), there will be glitches and oddities. so far, none of them have been calamitous or seriously impeded normal play for any length of time, which is a miracle to be appreciated. if members see a site function doing something strange it would be nice to see it reported, rather than exploited...which would help management get the base code repaired to the point where they CAN improve it, not just tweak in fixes and pray that they don't set off five other problems.<br />
<br />
yes, we still have to pay - and i expect the site is running in the red regardless. look at it as an investment in something we all believe in - members and management alike, for a change...and maybe a way to return to free play once things are up and running properly and new code and features can be input without setting off time bombs.GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com144tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352668899231874340.post-303855068423513312012-04-20T06:41:00.001-07:002012-04-29T10:51:05.780-07:00NEWS DU JOUR - and what comes next.<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="color: #38761d;"><b>4/25/12 - <u>BREAKING NEWS</u> - GIFTING IS BACK UP !</b></i></span><br />
<br />
...and the fallout from the abuse of it is falling everywhere, it seems. from what we're seeing, some sheep were hung for goats, some goats got overlooked and are still merrily at large, and in general it's a mess... surprising no one, management surely included.<br />
<br />
sadly, until there is time to go over in <b>detail</b> who did what when with whom, this is bound to be the case - what we will be waiting to see is how the "misses" - which were inevitable - are handled over time. this is probably one of the reasons the affected members were put on indefinite suspension rather than banned outright, it leaves the door open to correcting mistakes in <b>both </b>directions.<br />
<br />
one thing that ought to be borne in mind is that one of the things influencing and motivating the present action was the previous justified indignation on the part of many members that others had profited unfairly at the expense of honest folks. there is no such thing as a perfect answer, or one that pleases everyone - the real tale will be told over time, when we see the actions taken with regard to those who may have been targeted unfairly, or guilty parties that may have been initially overlooked.<br />
<br />
<i><b>in order to further the discussion of this, and hopefully facilitate resolution of the problems involved, i have created a satellite blog tasked to this issue accessible</b></i> <a href="http://giftglitch.blogspot.com/">HERE</a>.<br />
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4/20/12 ...i have just been informed that a new set of rules have been posted...and the reviews here (i haven't read the post yet myself, will in a moment) sound ominous.
you can access the link to them <a href="http://www.foopets.com/topics/show/2310198?forum_id=6&post_count=1">HERE</a><br />
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once i have looked them over i will probably augment this post...and maybe tweak a few ears elsewhere.<br />
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<i><b>(ED)</b> well. don't see all that much difference from Rivet's iron fist...or any lessening of the semi-arbitrary "in our judgement" wiggle room entitling them to knock out pretty much anything - or anyone - someone in authority happens to dislike. very disappointing - and NOT the way to rebuild trust in or grow the site, i'm afraid. </i><br />
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<i><b>4/21/12 : </b>just received input regarding the Rules updating process, courtesy of our Comment section (thank you, Kaylina), that indicates that the present Announcement is a pro tem solution until our New Foo Crew has time to actually sit down, evaluate them, and create a system that is truly theirs. as with the "old" Rules left in place until now, they are apparently a placeholder to permit some guidelines to remain in place until new ones can be generated. (cautious optimism returns...)<b><br /></b></i><br />
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<b>4/21/12 :</b><i><b> </b></i>all right -<i><b> </b></i>time to get back to work. i have roughed out something to email to management when the consensus seems to feel it is ready - please go <a href="http://4anewfoo.blogspot.com/">HERE</a>, read it through,and append a BRIEF pertinent comment and whatever name you choose to go by.<br />
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absolutely <b>NO</b> "anonymous" for this. use the "name/url" mode under Reply As (with any URL you like, including the Foop if it will let you) - if you care enough to post, the tiny amount of extra time it takes to do that ought not to be a dealbreaker. Nor do you have to use your "real" name, Foo or otherwise - just something to identify yourself as an individual - thanks!<br />
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one post per person, please - if you want to discuss it, i request you do it here on the Foop. Also, if you have something you feel should be added to the body of the text, as opposed to going in the Comments, let me know here or via email and we'll work together on it.<br />
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<i><b>thanks - and all who love the site, join me in praying that we can do some good with this.</b></i>GOLD RUSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18045270881280445499noreply@blogger.com115