Out of the Blue

[Nov 01, 2009, 1:57 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The change I hinted about recently has come to pass, and as of today we are no longer part of the UGO network. Some of you may have noticed there are no ads here today, while many of you are finding things no different, as you have taken to blocking ads here due to the preponderance of pop-ups and takeovers. Ads will return tomorrow or the next day, but without the types of disruptive ads we've seen in the past, and they will not return unless there is no way to keep the site online without them. More about this going forward.

Other stuff: More kudos to Frans who helped make this transition go smoothly. To those who wanted pics of the doggies in their minimalist costumes, I will try and get one up soon, in the meantime, here are a couple of shots of Bellevue's TF2 Engineer and Sentry getup. Also, today is the first day back on Standard Time here in the US, but there probably aren't too many who need reminding of that with so many clocks on cable boxes, computers, and cell phones able to update automatically.

Finally, happy birthday mom. I still miss you.

Ad-free Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Flood Fill. Jane's Realty.
Stories:	DARPA "balloon hunt" could win you $40K cash. The History Of Halloween. Thanks Acleacius.
Science:	The unromantic truth about why we kiss - to spread germs. Thanks Digg. A farmer's field of dreams buries climate change war. Thanks Slashdot.
Images:	Dear Criminals... Thanks Digg. Tattoos: What Were They Thinking? Thanks Digg.
Media:	Remix- Home Alone meets Saw. Cool Pumpkin Design. The Flying Eagle - The Coolest Bowling Shot Ever.
Follow-ups:	Controversy erupts over mock lunar lander contest.
The Funnies:	How Different Age Groups Celebrate Halloween. Thanks Digg. UserFriendly. FoxTrot.

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27 Replies. 2 pages. Viewing page 1.
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27.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 2, 2009, 11:16

Xymph

It'd also be nice if we could get an actual forum, so that we could talk about some things for more than two days before it disappears again.

You mean like a few boards with categories where people themselves can initiate a thread? Like still exists on Chatbear?

http://www.chatbear.com/unity2/1066/unityhome?v=flatold

That might be feasible with the stripped down Chatbear code in use on this site, the basic support for multiple boards is there I think.
As for a whole separate phpBB or vBulletin forum, that's less likely to happen.




-- Frans

26.

Flood Fill.

Nov 2, 2009, 09:24

rocketpcguy

yeah, leaving the UGO ads was good, any low bandwidth replacement would do. BTW: anyone know of any instrumental music, free or otherwise, that's like the one running the flood fill game?

25.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 2, 2009, 08:19

nin

I'd love to hear the back room dealings on how it came to be that Blue left UGO.

One would hope it involved HtWD biting someone at UGOs nutsack, after all the stupid assed links they'd burden this page with...




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

24.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 2, 2009, 00:11

jdreyer

I think Blue should run a semiannual fundraiser, although I'm not sure he could make enough from it. The Gamers With Jobs guys do it, NPR does it, World of Goo did a "Pay what you like" deal. I'd shell out 20 bucks or so every so often to support this site, and if you get a few thousand people doing that, it adds up pretty quickly.

I'd love to hear the back room dealings on how it came to be that Blue left UGO.




Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

23.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 2, 2009, 00:03

Creston

There was talk about a subscription fee a few years back. I'd be apt to agree to a subscription this time around, provided we get some moderators on the forum to get rid of some of the retarded trolling that's going around here. It'd also be nice if we could get an actual forum, so that we could talk about some things for more than two days before it disappears again. Creston

22.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 22:42

Kxmode

I would pay a subscription fee (yearly) if you drop the ads Blue. Free of the UGO overlords! Yay! Stephen I would donate to if you put up a Paypal link. Or whatever you want. I disabled ABP for this site. Anything you need financially just ask. I love this site. This comment was edited on Nov 1, 2009, 22:43.

21.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 22:19

Ray Marden

I am happy to see UGO go - from the obtrustive ads to technical issues, doing something different will be greatly welcomed.

Having said that, what are you going to do going forward, Stephen? I would highly, highly encourage you to open up the site to taking donations as I am sure some people would give willingly, but what long-term, permanent direction(s) are you looking at or going in?
Death is dumb. Such a waste.
I can appreciate advertisements as a needed evil, but they definitely need to be more focused and significantly less obtrusive than those from UGO.

Not having a lot of games to look forward to in the next two months,
Ray




Anna. Anna? Anna...is that you? http://www.youtube.com/blacklily8 I love you, mom.

20.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 21:32

Dr.Del

Ob, btw, I would pay a subscription fee (yearly) if you drop the ads Blue.




Join the BluesNews Facebook Fan Page - DrDel

19.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 21:31

Dr.Del

Boy does your site load a lot faster without those obtrusive, irritating UGO ads.

I can't believe I am saying this but I don't miss the NSFW scantily clad women in bikini ads from UGO either.




Join the BluesNews Facebook Fan Page - DrDel

18.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 21:28

OldElfin

Here's yet another ad-block whitelister. Go Blue.

17.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 21:02

Creston

Let us know what we can do to keep you up and running, Blue. If you take paypal, put a button on your site somewhere, and I'll gladly send you some moolah. I have to admit that I've been blocking the ads here, because they were just getting crazy. I couldn't click on a single damn thing without an ad popping up, under, beside, over or inside my browser. It was just ridiculous. Let's hope that you can keep things running smoothly! As an aside, to all Dragon Age fans, Steam is now preloading it. Creston

16.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 19:07

zer0nin

Thanks, Blue. Ditto everyone else about dropping UGO and their seizure-inducing (and adblock-inducing) ads. I hope you can keep this working as a business.

15.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 18:26

xXBatmanXx

Yea. After that happened, I went and found he save games....a little late, but oh well....I know what the quest tree is - but having 15+ quests now over 6-8 levels is just stupid. I can't believe they set the game up like this. It just boggles my mind that MP is so F'd up and yuor game is screwed like that. If that missed testing....there aren't words that could describe the level of idiocy that should be attached to that.




In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. / Few men have virtue enough to withstand the highest bidder. Playing: RL

14.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 18:17

Dev

LittleMe: Just posting an informative post like the top 10 selling titles isn't really advertising or promoting, its just telling interested parties what games are popular right now on steam, etc. For instance, the NPD numbers for retail sales, no one gets paid to post those, but there IS interest in them. I don't think anyone pays to post those kinda things sorry. Similarly posting sales lists there's probably no affiliate system even in existance with steam, (and probaby stardock or D2D or gogamer). Steam probably isn't even interested in such a system, it would add expense and complications, and they get plenty of exposure and sales they way they are currently doing things. Blue is posting that for OUR benifit, although I wouldn't mind if he got paid to do so Personally, I would much rather see things like ads and donation options, or merchandising (like a blues news t-shirt or mug or whatever), than blue getting paid to put up certain posts However, as long as he noted which ones were getting paid for (like if he said "Paid Posting") then that should help keep things impartial. Edit: Are there any bluesnews merchandise? I just took a look at the left and top navigation bars and didn't see anything applicable. This comment was edited on Nov 1, 2009, 18:47.

13.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 18:15

Dev

xXBatmanXx: I personally have been doing save backups (they are saved in the MY GAMES folder) on occasion because I've gotten screwed by games autosaving before. I'm sorry to hear about your experiance, but I'm glad you were the guniea pig. I still have yet to play multiplayer, but since I've finished my first playthrough, I dont really care if the missions all get screwed up now. Anyway, if your level is close to what each quest is, it doesn't really matter which ones you do, if you do the ones in the sector that you last got to in the story you can probably keep fairly close to it. I've seen a quest list, somewhere, that might also help in telling which to do first. Sounds like gearbox shoulda done a little polishing in how the game interacted between games.

12.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 17:55

xXBatmanXx

UGH! Now I am pissed....I went to join a game of a guy in Borderlands that said he was a close level to me....but was far ahead even though lvl was the same....now i have a TON of missions to do - and I have NO IDEA where I am in the story! THEN IT FUCKING AUTOSAVES!!!!

Now my game is screwed! So frustrating.




In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. / Few men have virtue enough to withstand the highest bidder. Playing: RL

11.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 17:54

Cutter

Grats Blue! Good move! I was ready to shoot someone if I had to see that stupid xbox live ad anymore.

And wow, what a crazy night last night! Good times!




"Are you crazy? Is that your problem?" - Jack Burton

10.

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 17:43

Kxmode

here are a couple of shots of Bellevue's TF2 Engineer and Sentry getup. Where's the guitar?

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 16:23

MTechnik

My condolences on the loss for the Giants today. And with your removal of the flash splash ads, I have whitelisted the site in adblock plus. Thanks!

Re: Out of the Blue

Nov 1, 2009, 16:05

strich

Congratulations for tearing free of UGO, Blue.

I'll be pulling my scripts off of your site to show the ads now.




I don't believe in a lot of things, but I do believe in duct tape.

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