We did a little bit of clean-up work on a few of the databases connected to JoeUser today.  Here at the office, it feels like the site has been snappier in pulling up articles. How does the site speed "feel" to everyone else now?  Were you even noticing any slowness the past few weeks?

The new forums went up the other week, and the reaction has been decidedly mixed, with some very vocal opponents to the new format. The goal with the forum upgrade was to have a consistent forum system across all the Stardock sites that was: 1. Faster (the old system was very slow under load) 2. More Stable (Fewer server application errors are a good thing!) 3. More closely resembled the "standard" sort of forum layout you see elsewhere on the 'net, making it easier for new people to ge...

The forum updates that have been going on across the rest of the Stardock websites have finally made their way to JoeUser.  There are a whole slew of changes that hopefully I'll get to describing and documenting later for everyone, but one of the most immediate differences people have already noticed are the Forum Avatars; the little pictures that appear next to people's names on forum posts. We've had avatars for a while, as anyone who had one before would have it show on any comment they ...

Is the list on the right actually updating?

The day approaches... soon now I will load up all my worldly goods into a truck, and then set out for the mysterious land of... Michigan! But before that day arrives, a great number of things must be done… oh a great number indeed! If you've never had the pleasure of moving across state lines, by yourself, then you are missing out on a unique exercise in misery and frustration that can only be somewhat approximated in written description. However, I shall do my best to communicate to yo...

Welcome back LEGO Fans! After a 6 month haitus, I'm back with my LEGO Star Destroyer Photo Blog. When last you read about my progress in October, I had completed the base frame, stand, and one quarter of the hull plating. Well, after months and months of delay I sat down again with all the bags of plastic pieces strewn about me and set to work. I only intended to get maybe the rest of the hull plating done and then save the rest for another weekend, but well... that didn't exactly work. ...

WARNING: Self-congratulatory fluff type of article follows. If you don't like anniversary/milestone posts, please go elsewhere! Two years ago today, I posted my first article here on JU. It was just days after I had graduated from college and was setting out on the grand adventure called life. In the article I set myself 5 goals for the following year. Get a job, become financially indepenent, become more social, meet a nice girl, and start to figure out what I want to be doing in lif...

This is a test post... does JU work yet?

Star Destroyer - Day 3 October 22, 2005 Day 3 Today was a marathon session. I sat down around 1pm and pulled out all the little lego bags, and the frame section I built on Day 2. I kept at it until 7:30pm. While my back and knees aren't all that happy with having sat cross-legged on the floor for 6.5hrs, I got a lot done on the set. I started with a non-descript triangle and ended up with something that is definitely starting to resemble an Imperial Star Destroyer! Today's ac...

The Imperial Star Destroyer LEGO Set Purchased: Oct, 2005 I recently broke down and picked up the ISD LEGO Set at a LEGO store in MA. This is the second largest set LEGO has to offer, clocking it at an impressive 3104 pieces and boasts to be over 3 feet long when finished (the recently released Death Star II set beats it by about 400, coming in close to 3500 pieces). This set put me back about $300, which is a hefty chunk of change for what most people think of as a little kid toy. But...

I have a challenge for all of us here on JoeUser. It's not a complex challenge with a lot of rules, and hopefully it shouldn't be too hard to meet (at least I hope not). So here's the challenge: For one full week, Sept 28th - Oct 5th, do not post any mean or nasty or hateful articles. This means anything insulting the left, or the right, or religion, or a political figure. Do not attack other users for their beliefs, do not insult anyone because they disagree with you (in both articles...

JoeUser... I come before you on a matter of grave import. I come to speak to an issue that threatens the very fabric of our little Universe, our sacred corner of the great Information Superhighway. This is a disease of the mind, one that is highly contagous and is slowly eating away at the moral and intellectual fiber of this great place. You know what I speak of, deep in your hearts you know exactly what this threat is.... Silliness. Yes, that's right, silliness! It comes disguis...

Alright, judging by the little box on the sidebar of this site, I've finally reached the 100th article milestone! One year and 10 months ago, I created my blog here at JoeUser, and at first I didn't post a whole lot, I think it took me something like a year to break the 1k point mark alone. When I was first here I was a minor voice that most didn't pay much attention to, so many of my articles went unnoticed. Which was a shame in my (not so) humble opinion, since I thought I had some damn ...

Today, Scott Kurtz, the author of PvP Online a very popular and successful webcomic posted a blog entry below the latest cartoon regarding the Ethics of Depublishing. A blurb from his article: "Depublishing is the practice of posting something to the web, often an inflammatory post to a weblog, then removing the inflammatory parts or deleting the content altogether. "... " People would frequently discover entries they linked to or commented on had suddenly disappeared, or been sub...

Here you go Doc I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. I will not disrespect my elders. ...