Friday Q&A

Questionable Degradation

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome to another edition of the Friday Q&A. For at least a couple of months now, this regular feature has served as a bastion of reasonable discussion. Thanks for joining me again. This week, I'll be taking a look at the ongoing transfer of our community's off-site discussion area away from the ailing Scrutinizer forums.

Q: Is the new Squirrel forum online yet?

A: The Scrutinizer forum's replacement debuted a few weeks ago to much fanfare. Misfitsquirrels.com was created by the venerable i-dig after Mr Squirrel's site got haxxored. Kudos to everyone involved in the construction. If the recent first round of an ongoing tournament there is any indication, that site is destined to provide hours of entertainment.

Q: So the Scrutinizer isn't going to be fixed?

A: It would appear the days of that particular resource are numbered. Without at least some level of attention by Mr Squirrel, everything Scrutinizer-related is on a fast track to Shitville. At this point it seems likely that the site will disappear completely in the near future, given the pending status of that domain's expiration.

Q: Is it hard to say goodbye to the Squirrel forums?

A: It's certainly been sad to see everything fall into a state of disrepair. Like many of you, I still remember when the Squirrel forums and even the Scrutinizer itself were brand new. Over the past several months, Mr Squirrel's site has begun to decay rapidly. It was a bit like watching a mall go out of business. At first, only a few shops are boarded up. But next thing you know, the only place open is an Orange Julius with a Grade D health code rating.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. Thanks again for stopping by. I'll continue to follow the development of this new haven for Fark image manglers, as well as the further decline of Mr Squirrel's famous resource. I'll close this post by once again thanking everyone involved in the new site's construction. You might be looking for respect from the unwashed asshole of our community, but you've certainly earned it.

Stay tuned for more sincere appreciation from the Doctor!

Friday Q&A

Questionable Continuation

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Q&A. In this weekly feature, I examine issues facing Fark's Photoshop community. Let me start by offering an enthusiastic hello to any new readers. You might not fully understand this blog's true purpose, but that's probably just due to the fact that you're a stupid imbecile who doesn't understand the purpose of anything. Once again, I'm glad you're here. Imbecile.

Q: What is the status of Theme Crisis 2010?

A: It still seems to be in full effect. As you may recall, last week's Q&A centered around the decidedly small amount of theme contests approved to Fark's Photoshop queue. Once again, we had a grand total of two approved. Only letting a trickle of themes through at a time seems to be the new status quo for Fark's admins. It's a policy that I really wish they would reconsider.

Q: Why is the disproportionate number of "O"s to themes a bad thing?

A: Whenever a PSer argues for having more themes approved, they inevitably bring up the apparent popularity of that particular contest type. It's true that theme threads often dwarf their "O" counterparts, both in voter turnout and number of entries. But historically, during the brief periods of time when an equal amount of themes and "O"s were being approved, participation tended to even out. That's because there are actually two different groups of Photoshoppers coexisting in Farkistan.

Q: Is the disparity between these groups really that great?

A: Absolutely, though few outside of our community would make the distinction. Usually, Photoshoppers either tend to gravitate towards "O"s or themes. There may be a few that enjoy both (I call this particular group Daywalkers), but they are decidedly in the minority. Regardless of whether you prefer "O"s or themes, you pay Drew $5 a month for the privilege of posting early in Photoshop contests. Theme 'shoppers just get decidedly less bang for their buck, with only a handful of these contests being approved each month.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. Thanks again for stopping by. I'm glad you were here to witness my latest rant about the current lack of themes. Hopefully, Fark's admins will see fit to approve a few more. Or not, since my frustration with the contest approval process may well yield enough fodder for a thousand blog postings.

Stay tuned for more endless repetition from the Doctor!

Friday Q&A

Questionable Administration

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome to another edition of the Friday Q&A. Thanks for joining me again. Each week, I discuss whatever complex issues are currently facing our community, in simple terms that even my most ignorant readers can understand. Today, I'll be taking a look at the recent drought of theme contests. This post is not a repeat from 2007, 2008, or 2009.

Q: Why is it so hard to get a theme approved?

A: This is a question that I would really like to ask of Fark's administrators. It seems like every week, someone is complaining about the lack of themes in the Photoshop queue. Clearly, there is a portion of our community that favors that type of contest, and absolutely no shortage of theme submissions. Yet somehow, we're lucky to have one or two themes approved per week.

Q: How long has this been a problem?

A: Lack of themes in the queue is not exactly a cutting-edge topic. I've probably discussed that subject at least a dozen times by now. Except for a few brief interludes (often caused by a Zerg rush of theme submissions to the TotalFark queue) we've had to contend with this same problem for several years. Despite their popularity (amongst both PSers and fans), only a handful of themes are typically approved each month.

Q: How can we get more themes in the queue?

A: That's a question I'm afraid I can't answer. As previously stated, the only success we've had in the past was to submit massive amounts of themes, flooding the TotalFark queue and giving admins little option but to green at least some of them. However, last week that tactic fell short on multiple occasions. The interest is clearly still there, but for whatever reason the powers that be are only letting one or two through per week.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. Sorry I can't offer more solutions to Theme Crisis 2010. Perhaps you can refer back to my suggestions from 2007, 2008, or 2009. A sizable percentage of PSers seem to prefer the more freestyle form of image mangling these contests provide. Despite previous flirtations with heavier theme approval, current administrative policy appears heavily biased towards "O" submissions. Hopefully Fark's management can be persuaded to give the voters and artists more of what they actually want.

Stay tuned for more faltering optimism from the Doctor!

Friday Q&A

Questionable Identification

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome to another edition of the Friday Q&A. In this weekly feature, I examine issues facing Fark's Photoshop community. You can expect an in-depth look at all the topics other ass-faced bloggers dare not touch. No need to thank me, it's just my way of giving back without actually trying very hard.

Q: How is Cliche City doing?

A: Pretty well, for an unauthorized reproduction that I found in the dumpster behind Grampy's house. It's been about a year since I took over administration of Cliche City, after a cockamamie legal threat shuttered the original site. I've always considered that resource to be important, so rebuilding it was my top priority (at least after I determined no one else was going to do so).

Q: Have you continued to update the site?

A: Cliches are constantly evolving, which makes it necessary to periodically revise their descriptions. Just recently, I received an email from alert Farker luciphercolors about the true identity of Mosh Girl (aka: Moshzilla). This curiously-proportioned character has been stomping through our contests for a number of years, but her name was hitherto unknown. If the forum poster at this link is to be believed, Moshzilla is a girl named Sam from California. I for one, am thankful that I won't be losing any more sleep over that mystery. I prefer to limit my mysteries to which pile of laundry is emitting the corresponding foul odor.

Q: Any chance on getting an interview with Samzilla?

A: While it may sound intriguing, the prospects of such are highly unlikely. Like so many other memes, Sam apparently doesn't enjoy the digital notoriety she has achieved. Her parents have threatened to sue the proprietors of moshzilla.com on at least one occasion. No word on how they feel about Moshzilla 2.0, but my guess would be the opposite of how you feel when you don't want to file a frivolous lawsuit.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. I want to once again thank alert Farker luciphercolors, for helping to fill in the back story on Mosh Pit Girl. It's nice to have a name to go with such a pretty face, though the history of that meme doesn't do much to disprove my theory that all of Fark's beloved cliches are angry and litigious.

Stay tuned for more accurate assessments from the Doctor!