August Newsletter Articles and Who is Writing Them.

TY Leo and Szark, now you got me raining (andnot nly that my friend brought rain back, grr), misty eyes and all (I'm still sitting outside like al the days I've been here, but the parasol doesn't do a great job as parapluie, if I don't respond the coming days: my laptop wasn't rainproof ;) , friends are sleeping from their long drive home, and I feel very comfortable here, alone, with you, how's that! TY!)

I love to WIKI! It's one way for me to get it 'right', and have guidance,
Aargh, now I've read the story... the GoMa progress... Oh my... that's a story on progress I would like to read as a Uru explorer!
Yes, it is a great lesson, now I know why I am always serious and 'at work', I really can't handle vacation & relaxation, and I should learn to do that (sometime), but in the meantime, I'll follow my instincts, and do the hassle (& get that whip again, never mind who holds it, lol)

Still, I'm very available to resign/learn to/from our new messengers that have signed in with great qualities and knowledge.

Szark.. on Publisher....:
I'm very curious if there's a free/all systems good program for editing/assembling. Right now I'm thinking of saving for a mac-system, for Apple Pages is better to do this kinda job. I wish there was such a program as Paint.net to do this kinda stuff, does anybody know of that? Publisher is like Word and Outlook... very perculiar when you want to do something obvious but then you have to have peace with it for it doesn't like you to do obvious things (lol).
But then again, copy-paste will be the same on any system!
And next time I'll include reading in my internal huma system!

Still, can we make up for this, in one way or another?
(tears and rain dried up, while I was typing :D TY)

Okay, I'm lost. maybe as usual. I undertstand now what is missing from the August newsletter. A simple oversight, really, that should have been caught in the process by us, more of us ?, looking at it. More eyes catch more things.
What I'm lost about is the Newsletter. Where is it, or who has it. I checked the Gome RSS Feed, it has July's issue posted the 20th of August. I go to the GoMe websight Library. July newsletter isn't there, August newsletter isn't there. Yes I know why, shimmer is in Japan. Someone else needs to know how to connect the final newsletter product to the GoMe library. Yes?
When does it get on the RSS feed, the announcement that is? Who put's it there? If there is NO announcement on the RSS and it's not in the library, where is it? Is it public anywhere? No, then fix it before it goes public, if Yes, then publish it again when it is fixed and announce there is an error with the previous edition. Am I looking at the WRONG FEED? Where's the correct one? I don't even know what that (wrong feed) means.

I know I am :mrgreen: in all this publish stuff to web and rss. So, I'll let Marten get the webmaster to agree she needs a backup. get the publisher to agree she needs a backup, get the editor, the reporter, the ??? .
I agree that the newsletter effort is better as each month goes by, but it becomes a credibility issue over time when we can't establish some kind of consistency even among ourselves. Volunteers or not, part of publication is check, check, check then check what the other one is doing too.
No matter who wants to help with what, they require the tools and the tutoring to learn and make things happen.
We, all, are making some assumptions about each other that are basically not true and it's because we don't ask. OR Our expectations of the other person are more than can be handled and they don't say so.
I am not a writer, so I don't want to 'do the news', I'm not an RSS guru but I could be if someone explained it to me, top to bottom, to get done what GoMe needs it to be.
I could learn to publish the newsletter to give blutec some help and it would be my pleasure to do so. I don't hink blutec can explain it to me, top to bottom, because it is a more subjective effort, outside of the tools used. I can't afford the tools yet, so I'm stymied. Someone else could jump in, but no, that isn't happening.
You think a wiki is going to solve all this. NOT happening. It may help A LOT, be a benefit to everybody, even make the effort more collabaorative so that we don't point fingers and gripe at each other so much.
So it is a matter of working together, even when the hard spots come, because someone will always need someone else at their back, even if they don't ask. And the smooth spots will be even more enjoyable because we handled the hard ones so well.

Tear it apart. I didn't name a name to blame because we are ALL responsible for the final product. I'm as guilty for job not well done as the rest.
Alkaera

Yes all these posts and things put other posts back a page or two.
Al if you look here

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=260&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=75#p4036

Page 6 and then here

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=260&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=75#p4054

and then here Page 5

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=260&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=60#p4031

and here

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=330

I think this will answer some of the first questions.

As for redoing it, that is not a bad idea AlKaera

Y

I wish it was happening, I have tried, see this

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=306&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15#p3981

Szark

I'm in a hurry so I'll make it short and later respond to every post.

I see 4 alternatives for the newsletter:

- Admit that there was one more mistake with the newsletter and sent it again(including the full article) to the 360 subscribers
- Post a Guilding Part 2 in the next newsletter in 3 months
- Post the full Guilding article in the next newsletter
- Release a single page for the Newsletter with the full article

I'm inclined to go with this option: - Post a Guilding Part 2 in the next newsletter in 3 months... because saying we made one more mistake would reflect badly on the newsletter. We may even call the separation of the article an editorial decision by me.
But if you guys want do go a different route, I'll support you.

Nobody else knows how to connect the final newsletter product to the GoMe library. We are completely stuck without shimmer. There is nothing that any of us can do about it. My stomach balls up into a knot every time I think about this, so no, you are not the only person who is unhappy about it. I'm sorry.

The newsletter is not yet on the RSS feed because Szark is waiting for approval to post it. This is a good thing, because already the announcement has changed a few times as it has been refined. Szark will post it to the feed after (a) Andros approves the final message, and (b) Szark is awake. I believe it is naptime on his side of the ocean right now, and I hope he is getting some rest.

The newsletter is considered "public" now because it was e-mailed to everyone on the distribution list. If we put a different version on the website than what we e-mailed to everyone, that seems a little awkward to me. If the newsletter team decides to "fix" the issue, here is what I'd do, if I were the one being made to do it (call this "alternative 5"):
* Put a revised copy of the newsletter onto the website, AND
* Send an e-mail to everyone on the distribution list, including the omitted text (no special formatting, no PDF), and with a link to the corrected newsletter for anyone who wants the revised PDF

The above solution is more bandwidth-friendly than sending the whole PDF out to everyone again, and only people who care about archiving a corrected version would come to the website to grab the fixed version.

I agree that sending another e-mail with another correction, after the distribution "issue", would also be awkward.

While we're talking about corrections, if you decide to go this route, please fix the problem in the middle of my article. Between the two pages onto which it was split, a small part of the text is repeated.

Did I miss any questions that I can answer? :)

Oh. I could look into putting a wiki on Rel.to for temporary use, since we can't do anything about the GoMe server for now.

Thank you all, I have a lot better understanding already with your help.

Szark you are good at this, fast too. I finally figured out the Newsletter is on Veralun's server with the uruachive address, but you can't see it when you go there. Also why it's not on guildofmessenges website due to shimmerillion hiatus. pooh pooh on her for that.
As far as the rss feed goes I still have no idea about it and maybe this is not the time to train AlKaera. That's ok.

Ok and I kinda like Martens idea about the fix for this issue. Time is going by and a decision is needed to start working the fix or not.

Dittos on awkward.

Andros, don't include me in the 'we may call the mistake an editorial decision by YOU'

What I don't like is the idea that the mistakes that are in the public view are somehow not mistakes anymore because the GoMe is.. (is covering up a nice word for LYING?) I would rather not have the public question our integrity as a guild because of some lame excuse offered through a member that arbitrarily decides to change the truth.

About the wiki. My NOT happening comment was about the ability or willingness to resolve some personnal differences about how we do things. I wish something was happening with a wiki too, whether it tries to fix this situation or not. I know it's being looked into anyway. and thank you Marten, maybe a test case on rel.to would be a good idea. we all just need to be around at the same time, sorta, to collaborate.

Yes blutec, we can. I would think the community expects nothing less than we at least try.

AlKaera

It's a visible mistake for those in the GoMe and not for the cavern community.
"Covering it up" would only mean dealing with this matter only in the Newsletter staff and not announcing to the world that a part of an article is missing because the cavern community is not aware that there is more of this article. Frankly, I doubt that they even care.
"Covering it up" is not the word I would choose because we will deal with this mistake and the other half of the article will be seen in one way or the other in the newsletter. I prefer the word "spin" by making this into a editorial decision by me if people want to know. But honestly, I don't care if we call it a mistake or an editorial decision. :roll:

Blutec:

Blutec, you did a great job with the Newsletter. You did one mistake. It's hardly worth resigning over this. The positive comments to your assembling job in the survey is overwhelming that you are doing a great job:
#10 What do you think of the look of the Newsletter.?
"I like it a lot. It is colorfull and well-laid-out."
"Looks very smart and professional, you guys do a great job. :)"
"I like it a lot. It is clear, easy to read, and isn't bland. "
"I thought it was nice and clean. "
"I love the pictures and graphics more than just text."

You're not perfect but I've made even more mistakes in the Newsletter than you.
#1 Email privacy problem
#2 Not making sure the articles weren't cut
#3 Rushing out the Newsletter because if I had waited for internal approval of the Newsletter before sending it to the subscribers, Szark and Marten would have spotted the mistakes with their articles.

So basically, if you are resigning, so am I because I've done a worst job than you.

As the Logistics Manager, I don't want to put to much pressure on Dot with doing both the Newsletter and the Archiver. If she want to get involved in the Newsletter after finding out that the Archiver is not filling up her time, fine. Otherwise, right now I will not pursue her into handling the assembly of the Newsletter

Right now, it's fine. ;) Do not worry about it. It's a minor mistake. I apologize again to Szark though, he must have fell bad about it. Yet, it still remains a small mistake.

Leonardo:

It's one possibility that I will look into.

Don't worry, the second part of the article will be published one way or the other.

Szark:

Before involving the Wiki, I'd first change the structure of the Newsletter staff to make sure everyone has back-ups and mistakes like the ones that happened in this edition don't happen again.
The Wiki project lacks someone to be in charge of it or at least a group of people working on it. The special thread about it has been kinda dead for a while.

Alkaera:

The Newsletter is consistent from month to month. This lacks of consistency among ourselves only indicate that there are things to fix. It will fit with the restructuration of the Newsletter. Our credibility is more than fine.

It doesn't need to be 100% perfect. 80% perfect is enough for me.

I've always been an open ear for the messengers to talk to and discuss things.

I said the August Newsletter is fine as it is. There is no rush.

OK. Wrap up:

Regarding The Trim Guilding
(that's a pun. Gilding and Trim are both decorative.... oh, nevermind.)
To help settle the issue, I'll side with Andros. Let's say August is done. We'll sort out any missing information from the newsletter in a future newsletter. If anyone from the Guilds who were not reported upon ask why, direct their question to me and I'll answer it frankly and truthfully. No "cover up", no "spin." If they don't like it, they're welcome to prove they can do a better job. Right? :mrgreen:

Regarding the Panacea Wiki
AlKaera is right. A Wiki can't solve ALL of our problems. It is only a tool, and I think it will be useful and will make our lives easier, but we'll just have to see HOW useful it really is. One thing a Wiki cannot do is be a final proofreader... an article can be fully proofread and a work of art, and then you put it into a PDF and there's a little mistake copying it into the publishing application, and you're just not going to catch that unless you have someone proofread the final article.

Regarding Mistakes, in general
I don't mean to suggest that we should catch every mistake. We're not making pacemakers, we're writing a newsletter. It doesn't have to be perfect. The greater assurance you want that a thing, any thing, is perfect... then you must exert an exponentially increasing amount of effort. It's not just worth it. blutec, Szark, AlKaera, Andros, you are all doing a fine job and it is not worth tearing ourselves up over our mistakes. Just as long as we're learning as we go along. And, while I'm passing out the Kudos, Leonardo deserves some too, although I admit I haven't looked at his Italian version... I don't think Google Translate works on PDF, does it? ;) Um... did I miss anyone?

:shock: :lol: :roll:
I think most things have been said but I would just like to add a couple of things.

No I don't, honestly. I think this one aspect of me that you should understand, errors will happen and I understand that completely. So no I still very happy. But do look at the missing text and will we see that it cannot wait 3 months for the next issue. So I don't know what to say apart from, do what you feel is best. But if you were to wait for the next issue then I would personally delete it, sorry Leo.

Wiki will not solve all the problems but it will solve a lot. I can't explain how Wiki works any more than I have, but I will try a bit more. It would be best if we get something up (good idea Marten and thx) then it might become clearer to you. Probably easier to explain when it is in front of you. But there would no multiple PM's, that are hard to find among the wads of other PM's.

Post the text once to Wiki, in a section for each newsletter.
Proof-reader comes along makes and records the changes, for all to see.
Editor comes along an does His or her thing.
Assembler comes along copies and paste said text and assembles.
This way you eliminate the need for sending one article back and forward multiple times. Things can be changed quickly. I do believe it is a good tool for us to have for the newsletter production.

Tip of the day. When the Archiver draft is ready, it is put on the FTP server for all of us to give it the once over. This is can be via e-mail with us as we don't have FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Then we can review, inform of mistakes, get them edited and then Publish. And yes even with all these mistakes still happen but not that many.

Szark

Marten, you are correct, the price IS too high for a bunch of volunteers who do this part time. Excellence, on the other hand is within our grasp.

Andros, your decision about the August newsletter standing as it is is fine with me. My concern is/will be the reputation of the GoMe, not it's members individually. We all contribute to it's greatness or we don't, that in itself will sort itself out.

Thank you Szark for adding still more sound reasoning to giving the wiki a whirl. :D
and blutec... we really are glad that you are on this team. If not, the newsletter remains a boring, drab, unicolor font. :roll:

AlKaera

LOL yeah I will get there eventually Al, cheers.
Szark

OH...I'm not worried. I was just kidding for Blu :D

right, that was my concern. Because Guilds are working somewhat fast, the news of this month won't be so much news for next month.
Example for the GoMa: the news regarding GoMa in the newsletter aren't recent news even now; some things have been done at the beginning of summer. The more time passes the less they are "new" news.

Thank you Marten!
Ehehe, no Google doesn't. You always like to check things double time, eh? Don't worry, I haven't rewritten your article. :lol:

Marten: you forgot Gbadji!

Leo: :D love your humour, it's so close to mine, it's hard to translate to US/pondcrossing Enlish I guess :P I even can't explaine in English what the difference is, I like the pondcrossing not stepping on toes, but the English just can't capture irony (well, I can't... and I just learned to use emotes to express that, but that won't always do, lol)

Right niw I'm trying to get the pictures zipped to Gbadji, tomorrow I'll be occupied with travelling, and I completely forgot my mother is coming over, but I am available on sunday, so please PM me if ther is anything you want me to do. I PM'ed Gbadji that if the (uncontrolled collection of) pics are not complete I'll get back to her on sunday.

edit:
ty for the survey & personal compliments on my account: but really: it's Shimmer's format, and I still don't have too much to do about that, it's a great format to work with, and if not I really had changed it by now, sure, there are some alignments and such that could bet better, but it works (for me as a noob in this program and on assembling). I really hope our newbies can transform this thing to the needs of the communities respons, and I love to be a part of that, but doesn't have to be, I've learned so much last months (well, th edays of assembling in those months), and I'm ready to learn more, but I'm not an artist, have to work with guidance and rules/lines etc., but within those I know I can accomplish some, but it wouldn;t be if I hadn't had & have such great 'collegues' , I love this team/family :D Thank You!

Then, Thank you, Gbadji !

Oh, I'm very glad you like it. Usually people don't like it, they look at me strangely :?

yeah...it is a little difficult to express irony in english, just like you I use emotes...they help very much

Proof that "irony" isn't clear in the English language:

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironic_(song)#Linguistic_usage_disputes[/url]

:)

You are wellcome Marten, it's correct I haven't yet finished my "homework" and export the french translation ;)

thanks all for your jobs.

Hi,

can I have "french reading" please before I make my announcement?
http://www.gbadji.net/GoMe/GoMe_NewsLetter_Aout_2008.pdf

Thanks.
See you soon.

Beau Travail/Nice work Gbadji.

Merçi beaucoup, thank you very much.

P.S.
If ever you need a french "proof reader", you should ask Annick's help at Eden Gira.

She is one of the nicest person I know. (with you, that makes two)

Hi Nanouk,
Are'nt you french?

Your from P.Q. Canada.

Shorah SeerJustice,

That is a very good question. I need both french and english to make my way in life.

Usually, the french people see me as an english person and the english see me as a french canadian person. My french is as good as my english and is far from beeing perfect. I guess that makes me a "language metis". Just like on the forums, I really do not fit well anywhere. :shock: :lol:

My near ancestors were french, scottish and Huron. (the perfect mix. :mrgreen: )

Because you are new over here, you should know that due to communication problems, I am trying to have a little break away from the GoMe at this time.

Actually the only place you should fit in is the North Pole Nanouk. :mrgreen:

The GoMe is looking into opening up a branch there. ;)

Gbadji, I read it all and it appears to be fine. ;) My only comment would be that the little pictures next to each headline are not the same colour as the rest of the headline which makes it look weird. It's only a comment though... it can go out into the community as it is. ;)

I did spend a lot of time in the Ungava region helping a friend who has a business up there and those were definitivly the best times of my life.

Away from civilisation and driving a vehicule similar to this one

The Rolligon, 8X8

Good for you. ;)
I honestly hate winters so I can't imagine going up north to suffer harsher winters. :?

Thanks Andros and Nanouk ( :oops: ) for your reading. I have updated the french newsletter and I'm going to make the announcement on Eden Gira and Mystpedia (frenchs forums).

See you soon.

Done. Posted on Mystonline french forum.

Great! Thanks guys. ;)

________________________________________
Ditto: Posted on ubi- English-Uru forums.

Ans still slowly updating my Threads Of Special interest List on Mystonline forums
http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=269070#269070