4th Anniversary Project

[crossfire]

Wow! Thanks to Project, Muse, Judee and Pat for all the great work!

Happy Anniversary, IW!!!

Thank you to Alpha, our hostess, and thank you to all of the great members who form the community!

[Vigo]

Wow! Thanks to Project, Muse, Judee and Pat for all the great work!

Happy Anniversary, IW!!!

Thank you to Alpha, our hostess, and thank you to all of the great members who form the community!

Here here! I second this! What a truly great community that we are blessed to be a part of. Special thanks to all those who hold this place dear and who have entered these portals seeking the truth!

[fabzilla]

Absolutely beautiful project.

peace Rick


Jim

[SquidInk]

All I can say is... AWESOME! All of it, the people, the "vibe", the new looks & links. A technological wonder!

Thanks to all of you!

-gc

[snowbird]

Thanks Alpha and Project and everyone else who is actively working at keeping things here on the straight and narrow -Happy Anniversary to you all. Peace to Rick - I hope that he's discovering wonderful things we can only dream of right now.

I was ready to stay up tonight, so I apologize for missing the celebration last night. Can't believe I did that. ...

snowbird

[maryals]

I love this new look, thank you! WOW has it been 4 years? Somehow it feels longer, like, we've been here Forever almost.
I hope the Celebration goes on for more than just 2 days! Hey, we are Party Animals
Thank you all for your support and friendship it means a lot to me.

Hugs all around

Madelyn (MaryAlice)

[bagbear]

Happy Anniversary, wish I was here, bb

[Alpha]

Happy Anniversary, wish I was here, bb

Thank you bagbear So good to see you...hope you are well. Don't be a stranger!

[MuseNoir]

Hi bagbear! Hope you are doing great! Hope to see you around more soon

[Alpha]

My Fellow Explorers,

4 years of mysteries, of friends and of discussions. 4 years of being together, of sharing the good and the bad. 4 years of exploring this strange place we inhabit, the places minds fear to tread, the thoughts banished by light. 4 years of friendship, of hardship, of love, suffering, delight, and misfortune.

Something draws us together, something beyond day-to-day camaraderie, a desire for more; more information, more sharing, more love. In this spirit and vein I would like to challenge both myself and all of you to try to put aside any differences we may have, to strive to be accepting of people's views, to be supportive and interested, with less confrontation and more brother and sistership.

I am honoured to have been present during this time; we have traveled together through momentous history, we have witnessed a time which will be long remembered, for better or for worse. We took part in the cultural exhibit that is the rise of the internet, of global communications, of extreme shifts in geopolitics, in technology, in biology, in the environment and in matters of the human condition.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to you all for helping make this forum a special and unique place. Our members are the cornerstone of our existence, without them, there is nothing. This forum is what it is because of all of you, and I respect and honour you all for your time, effort, and friendship.

To all who came before me, from BadBoy's initial technical setup, to Bobby's investment in the name, to Sean and Circledancer who made the place vibrant and friendly, to Gormworm who filled our heads with amazing stories and ideas, to Smadewell, Nightcat, all those no longer on the same ride as us. I apologize to those I did not mention, but please know that all of your efforts are appreciated.

Moreover, to our mod team, Blackeyes, Crossfire, Dark Skies, Judee, MuseNoir; this place is made great by the work you do, and the care and love you show. I myself would not have a drive to improve if it were not for the work these people have done. Thanks to Judee and her friend Pat for making the great poster for our anniversary, way cool!

To my special partner and friend, Alpha: we have had a powerful friendship since almost the day we met online. We seem to be destined to work together on a project such as this one. Let us never ever forget our great times together, and may there be endless days to enjoy our friendship, partnership, and time together. Your time and investment are appreciated by all, and you always lead us forward with your spirit.

Lastly, to our beloved Captain Beyond. It is with a heavy heart we say goodbye to our old and good friend. He was with us through the best and the worst of times. He made me realize much about the world of which I was previously ignorant. In his posts, forbidden areas of history and lost knowledge were presented to us, with information that seemed dredged from a mystical tome he had hidden somewhere. He brought out the best in many people, challenging them, teaching them, learning with them, and always with an eye to the mystic, to the unknown. Everything I have done in preparation for this anniversary was done with you in mind Rick, I hope that you smile on us as we try to find our way with no Captain at the wheel. May you help us guide each other.

Your friend,

Project



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Now, let's get down to business, and see what we have for this anniversary!


So, since we are at 4 years, I have prepared 4 announcements:

1. You have no doubt noticed a new look to our forum! This will be the new default “skin”, and will be our image going forwards from here. Special thanks goes to MuseNoir for singlehandedly designing the header banner you see at the top of your screen, I think it perfectly fits our theme, and is stylish and professional looking. Thank you Muse!! The old skins are still available, you can select them at the bottom of the page, in the left hand corner, or in your user control panel. I am still tweaking the theme, so if you see anything horrible, please let me know. You can open a thread in the tech help deck.
2. I would like to announce the newly updated IW Cookbook! This is a collection of recipes culled from the monster thread of the same name. It is up-to-date as of today! There is need for more work to make it pretty, but the hard part is mostly done. If anyone wants the raw openoffice/word file to work on and resubmit, ask me You can grab the latest version here http://drop.io/imaginativeworlds/ass...ecipes-11-2008 (they have a flash version or you can hit download to get the full pdf with index).
3. I have made some video tributes to Captain Beyond. I have probably overdone it, but there are 3 different versions. The images are the same in each of them, although in a different order, and presented differently. The main difference is the accompanying music track. I am sorry, but lower-than-youtube-bandwidth ones just are not possible right now (however, here is a downloadable version of the first one, it is higher quality too http://drop.io/hpocv1f). They are quite melancholy of course, but please, think of the good times as you view them.
4. IW Chat and IW Drop Box are now available under 'Quick Links' on your navbar. Iw Chat is a simple, secure chatroom you use in your web browser. I am often sitting in there IW Drop Box is a http://drop.io (pronounced drop-ee-oh) box for members to use. You can put links, files, notes, voicemail, email, messages of nearly any kind. You do not need to login, just pick what you would like to upload at the top of the page, and follow the instructions. The FAQ is here http://drop.io/faq and there is a video tutorial here http://static.drop.io/howto/index.html which you should not need, it is quite easy. Feel free to open a thread in the tech help desk if you need a hand. Anything added to the drop will be automatically posted here by rssposter, each night!

Happy anniversary everyone, and thanks again!

I don't think that I ever thanked you enough J.

Your choice and legacy in tribute to Rick and all of us here, us beyond anything words can express.

Thank you my friend, partner and all of you, for sharing the "life and death" of a more than very special soul

[Biker]

Appreciate all you do, Project, Alpha and the rest of the usual suspects.

Y'all have truly built a fine community here. I feel at home here. Respect is given and returned and knowledge is shared.

Biker