Ever since I moved the old messageboard to my site there was something missing, besides that funky old lava lamp and the security deposit. See, when I moved my board and my blog to my site here I left the board intact, with all the old posts so that people could have a chance to save what they could and wanted to remember. Until everyone had a decent chance to go through the old stuff, I really couldn’t do what I needed to do; what I knew I needed to. I couldn’t revamp it to more reflect my sense of community, spirit or put the end result of so much of my effort back on the right track. Fully on the right track.

After the board moved though I must admit I was quite proud of what happened. See, the people that really wanted to be there, that really wanted to get along with their board mates and have fun started posting again. They had stopped a loooong time ago but the board move seems to have signified to them that things were changing for the better and they were happy happy and came back! Yowzas!

I hadn’t even implemented any changes to the board and oldtime users that were there at the very beginning came back and picked up where they left off like nothing happened which makes VERY proud and smiling from ear to ear! It’s great to see things starting off on the right foot and now it’s time to put in place that which was missing… the board revamp is HERE!

Originally I was trying to get the whole board to follow a city theme, based on the Navarino Unincorporated sign, which of course became this site’s name. However, the town and city theme has pretty much been done to death before and I was having a hard time coming up with names for the different areas that fit and meshed together well. It was VERY important to me that this revamp was done perfectly, funny and really reflected my unique way of looking at things. It was Minnietaur that saw it wasn’t going to work out and started tossing off some wacky forum names and encouraged me to lose the city theme and just go bonkers; something I do well… and I did.

The Navarino Unincorporated City Hall board revamp is finally done! It’s pretty insane if I don’t say so myself, others surely will…

The board is back as it began, focusing on people of all walks of life coming together to have fun and relax in a casual and friendly environment, free from the troubles, troublemakers and unpleasantness that so plagues other communities. Whether you want to catch up on news already printed elsewhere, chit chat with your board mates about life in general, technology, laugh, tell jokes or help each other with your computer and non-computer problems the board is ready, waiting and able. We’ll see you there!

Alert! Alert! Alert! Kevin Mitnick’s Dog is being held hostage in an undisclosed desert location by a member of the radical extremist group known as Ala Fahim La Ahmed Calamarr! Marshall Mitnick otherwise known as Marshall Wood disappeared from Mr. Mitnick’s car right after he handed him over to a Mr. Vincent Navarino of Las Vegas, Nevada for safekeeping. Vincent is currently leading the search parties after reportedly being accosted by the Ala Fahim La Ahmed Calamarr brigade who then absconded with the four legged “son they never had yet” of Darci Wood (formerly from TechTV) and Kevin Mitnick (who is most legendary for his cameo in the hit series, Alias).

A ransom note was recently received by PETA (The People Eat Tasty Animals organization) that contained instructions and a picture (top left) of Marshall, the now world-famous canine hostage. The note apparently demanded an ATI All in Wonder 9800Pro or a GeForce 6800 video card be sent to Vincent Navarino to ensure the safe return of the captive canine. It was also noted that a 6800GT would ensure not only the safe return of Marshall Mitnick/Wood but also he’d be fed properly during his “stay.” Also Mr. Navarino’s mother was heard to comment “I like good Italian food, that can’t hurt either.”

The police investigators on the case did not think it odd that the ransom demand was for a high-end graphics card for Vincent, a victim in the dog napping case as kidnappers often try to throw off suspicion onto a victim and/or victims’ families. When reporters inquired about the Italian dinner thing, they replied hey, she’s a nice lady why shouldn’t she get a good meal - it’s not like she can cook or anything according to her husband and son…

We’ll keep you apprised as the case of the Missing Marshall unfolds. Marshall is being used as the first test case of the Dander Alert System, a system where an abducted canine’s information is broadcast in Petsmarts all across the country. If you spot Marshall or his abductors police recommend don’t try to be a hero and do anything but phone the authorities immediately. They also recommend the ransom be paid for the best chance of a happy outcome.

More updates as they come in. And now for the local weather…

“This is a test of the Emergency Blog System. The bloggers of your area in voluntary cooperation with the Federal, State and local blogging authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of a blogging emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, the Attention Signal you didn’t hear would have been followed by official information, news or instructions. This blog serves the readers of Vincent Navarino. This concludes this test of the Emergency Blog System.” Beeeeeppppp!!!

In case you haven’t noticed, and I took great pains so you didn’t, there’s a big change to this blog o’ mine. Take a sec, look around and see if you can spot anything that looks out of place. It’s OK, I’ll wait.

(starts to write thesis on decreasing attention span of internet users)
(proofreads thesis)
(gives thesis draft to friends)
(realize friends are stupid and get new friends)
(finishes thesis)
(cover old friends up with lye, prodigious amounts of dirt, 1″ layer of topsoil, 4lbs of grass seed and a small brass plaque that reads ‘Plot 27/50′)

Give up? *giggle* snort! tee hee!

My blog has been ported over from the hell that was Movable Type to b2evolution, a new up-and-comer in the world of blogging software solutions. Thanks to Ben Franske, boy genius and semi-retired pudding wrestler, my blog has been ported over to b2 and I’m happier than… than… uh… a person that’s slightly less happier than I am! :-) Just go with it.

This also signifies a huge step for me, as all my stuff is now on my site from this blog to the new community I’m building out of what used to be the old Labmistress boards I used to run, now called The Navarino Unincorporated City Hall. Even better, my entire site, both the blog (b2) and the board (phpbb) are running open-source software! I can’t believe it myself. If someone told me before this that I’d be running a place using just open-source solutions I’d tell them they were nuts… what a difference doing it makes, thanks to some good people and great advice!

So feel free and enjoy the blog as I tweak it around some (want to format the comment popup better) and please stop by the new message boards and become a part of the wonderful and exciting online community we’re starting… together from the ground up! Full speed ahead… zip zoom away! *trip* AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEeeeeeee *thud* /splat/ MEDIC! *gasp* eeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEE