It was 15 years ago today that Donkey Kong Country was released on the SNES.
And with it, brought forth this absurd notion that Better Graphics = Better Game.
Eye candy doesn't hurt, but this game was great because it was fun. Gameplay and control were spot-on, and had some very cool level design and environments (snow, swimming & cave levels FTW). It was definitely the kind of game that was easy to get lost in for a few hours at a time, and had plenty of varied & challenging (yet not too challenging) levels to do just that.
DKC shares an important place in what became a small flood of top-shelf games in the Fall of '94 that included Final Fantasy "3" (6), Illusion of Gaia, Earthworm Jim, Sonic & Knuckles (though IMO Sonic 3 was as good as the series ever got), Sega's 32X (okay maybe not all were 'top-shelf', but I have fond memories of playing Doom listening to Green Day's 'Dookie' album, so I'll include it), Killer Instinct in the arcade, the Sega Saturn & Sony Playstation in Japan, among others I'm sure.
Ah memories.
Damn I feel old now. :)
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
In September, I began purposely distancing myself from various faucets of life. In particular, my online presence, Flickr, Vox, Facebook & Twitter, became virtually non existent for almost 2 solid months, some longer. Even recently my activity has been guarded.
I purposely took myself offline, and removed myself from real-life social situations in order to refocus on myself. After the events of 2008: being laid off, our miscarriage, moving out of our inner-city apartment, which became symbolic of our inner-city era, which were easily the best years of our lives, I found myself floundering through life. Putting on a brave face to the world, full of ambition, but feeling dead inside. Feeling guilty, feeling like I had failed, feeling hopeless.
Admittedly, I had a lot of hate in my head. It wasn't the result of those events in '08, or even the subsequent struggles of '09, it had been building for years prior. The drama and the politics, and perhaps the injustices of life built up gradually over time, and came to a head. My anger was directed at various people and various situations, and in many cases it was justified, but it blinded me from the joy and positivity of life. I moved forward with a sense of false direction or purpose. I was motivated to act more by revenge, as if to attack with a "I'll show you" mentality, sizing myself up to others every step of the way. It took me nowhere, and by September I had hit my breaking point.
It's really only been in recent weeks that I feel I've had that "eureka!" moment that has changed my perspective, or at least begun to. Every day is a challenge, and some are better than others, but at the root of it, a single word has become the foundation from which to build from: Discipline.
Inspired by Theo Fleury's recent comeback attempt to the NHL, and all the "positive chaos" that has surrounded him in recent months, I realized that I was heading down a road towards self destruction, again. I had no structure even in my day-to-day routine. I realized I needed to focus solely on myself, and get back to basics, and that required discipline. I began by focusing on my health.
Whereas most people "hit the gym", I chose to "hit the rink", and began ice skating twice a week, by myself, having not skated in almost two years, and even back then, only skated for a few weeks, casually with Ange. In a way, I hadn't really skated in over 10 years. I started from scratch, I paid my dues, got hurt, got injured, and have fallen flat on my ass a few times. But in a way, it was symbolic of the woes of life. I think that people sometimes think that if we fall, some mysterious person will come by to pick us up, and essentially do it for us. There's no one coming to save you. It's all up to you. When I fell on the ice one of my first times, I remember sitting there, cold, covered in snow, wondering what to do: get up and leave/give up, or get up and try again. Either way, I had to get up by myself. What I chose to do afterwards would subsequently dictate the direction of my attitude. I chose to get up and try again. I've been going to the rink twice a week ever since, and today I skate better than I ever have before, and improving every time I go because I purposely challenge myself to try something I hadn't tried before. Discipline got me there.
I had issues brewing inside that I had merely tried to sweep under the carpet and forget, but that doesn't mean they went away. I realized I needed to bring those issues to the forefront and confront them, because otherwise, they simply linger by the wayside, waiting for an opportunity to attack and consume your mind.
Again, Theo Fleury helped inspire this realization after a post he made on his blog in which he lists the 12 steps from AA's "The Big Book". One step in particular that struck a chord with me was: "Made a fearless and thorough moral inventory of ourselves." To be brutally honest with yourself about the state of your life, and identify those demons responsible for bringing you to the place you find yourself now. To hold yourself accountable.
I have had a lot of hate in my head, but much of it was never confronted, or again, blinded me from acting with the proper intentions.
I've only just begun confronting those demons, where possible, but already I've seen a shift in my perspective. I've tried to turn the other cheek and, if unable to confront things, at least come to have peace with it, to put it behind me, but not out of hate, but out of growth. I've actively chosen to remove people and situations from my life whose energy is toxic to my own, who radiate negativity and engage in drama, politics or gossip. It does nothing positive for me, and I choose not to expose myself to it.
For me, a new chapter has clearly begun, and though every day is a challenge, I at least wake up every day looking forward to them, as opposed to trying to skirt by them just to get through the day. There has been a lot of changes that seem to have come as a result of this new-found discipline and attitude, and plenty more to come, I'm sure of it.
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Have a great weekend,
daisy, Team Vox
In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.
Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.
Thanks! :)
