After an hour of reading some of the documentation from exim, as well as getting a verbal refresher in MTAs and how/why certain variables will not get read in the order of which they should. Needless to say, the problem of fixing some of the mail relay problems on faye have been solved. Finally, emails can be sent out from the game and guests can actually use the @request command like God intended. Thus, no more wizard-handholding and changing passwords on-the-fly. The next step is getting some sort of webmail client reinstalled and put it back in use by the good folks who actually donated money to the game. After all, I’m going to try my hand at setting up a mailing list frontend like we had before. But, of course, at the pace at which I move, it’ll be another six months before that even comes to fruition.
Last night, after work, I settled into my chair at my desk and I downloaded and installed Trillian Pro 2.0 Beta 1. For the uninitiated, Trillian is a unified instant messaging system that allows one to use AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, and even IRC within the same application. Think of it as a sort of Swiss Army Knife for instant messaging. Version 1.0 Pro is one of the most robust applications I’ve ever used and it’s worth the $25 a year for me to subscribe for patches, support, and other useful updates. The problem with 2.0 is that it will take your Yahoo and ICQ lists and re-request for authorizations if necessary. I ended up talking to several people in the middle of the night because of it, including some old friends I hadn’t spoken to in years.
One of those old friends was Ray Nagar, with whom I had only met once, but following that meeting, we ended up speaking heavily through IM. His production company, Project760, produced an anime show locally called World of Anime. They covered anime news events, conventions, and then would broadcast on public access cable throughout the Bay Area. When I was the director of promotions and publications for the 2001 edition of FanimeCon, I handled all press relations personally, and despite WoA reputation, I had to really call in favors to get them press access to the con. Ray was a friend, and it was his move to otaking.org that really put us on the map as far as the anime world was concerned. I think worldofanime.otaking.org was one of the most heavily trafficked subdomains we had had since www.washu.net’s massive mp3 archive.
As our renewed conversation continued, he mentioned that he was putting together a convention/party of sorts up in San Francisco this September, called the Japantown Anime Faire. He was feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of planning, communication, and coordination it takes to put a con, albeit even a small con, into reality. I offered some monetary assistance, I even pre-registered, even though I probably wouldn’t attend. But it was the vision he had that inspired me to volunteer for staff. I offered my services and put in my vacation time for that weekend to help him out some. Once again, I break another promise to myself wherein I just decided to never staff an anime convention ever again.
Once more into the breach, dear friends…
