Newsletter 104 is out now. You can check it out online at http://nl.ehtiecorps.org/nl104/ or download it via http://nl.ehtiecorps.org/nl104.zip It's 11.4megs. Part of the size is due to a rather large number of submissions. The other reason for the size is in recent NLs, I've been excluding the roster and medal board. Since this is the NL for June 2004, it includes the roster and medal board from those months, thus increasing the size. There's also some interviews and a little article from myself about the outage of the TIE Corps site. Letters of Achievement (well over 100) have been recommended for both TC and DB member submissions.
One thing that I noted while doing the newsletter was the gaps in CO reports. Reports should be submitted to the other COs via email and posted on the TIE Corps site. This has been a standing rule for years (from before my time as XO). It's not a massive task to do both. On a more positive note, some of the EH task list reports from the COs this week were quite good with some progress being shown. Good job to those who did those reports.
The other important bit of news this week is Freeworlds has been approved as an official EH platform by myself and the FC. Freeworlds is a mod of Freelancer, a game made by Microsoft and Digital Anvil (a developer started by Chris Roberts of Wing Commander fame). The mod replaces the standard ingame craft with TIEs and other Star Wars craft. The game isn't too demanding in the specs department and seems responsive enough on my connection in Australia. If you're interested in finding out more relating to Freeworlds, check out the Freeworlds forum at http://www.ehnet.org/mb/viewforum.php?f=118
Fans of Knights of the Old Republic might want to check out the sequel website at http://www.lucasarts.com/games/swkotor_sithlords/ There's some more info about the game, plus a walkthrough video (in Quicktime format, about 11megs) of some of the gameplay.
Going back to the newsletter for a moment - there's been a lot of talk about why the newsletters are so erratic. The simple fact is I just don't get enough submissions. To get a NL of a consistant size I use batches of 30-50 emails (each email having usually 1-5 submissions). NL 104 represents the last full batch of submissions I had. That means I need a lot more submissions. Submissions can include written items (articles, reviews, stories, etc), graphics and so on. The best images of the month get a Bronze Star, while all other submissions get a Letter of Achievement. Anyone in the EH can make a submission to the newsletter. Just check out the guidelines at http://www.ehtiecorps.org/xo/newsletters.asp
I'm also running a bunch of competitions for the next month. The first relates to the "true" story of the TIE Corps database outage. The second is to come up with a name for a hosting service that I will provide to the EH. The third is a SWG screenshot caption competition. URLs to each will be detailed below.
For their hard work in restoring the data on the TIE Corps database, I awarded a Gold Star to FO Cyric and OPS Foley this week. Well done to them.
Lastly, application details for Senate Chancellor and Internet Officer have been sent to the FC. Expect to see them in the next EH domain update.
XO Links
TIE Corps Site Suggestions - http://www.ehnet.org/mb/viewtopic.php?t=2702
TIE Corps Site Issues - http://www.ehnet.org/mb/viewtopic.php?t=2280
TIE Corps Site Update Log - http://www.ehnet.org/mb/viewtopic.php?t=2766
EH Tasks List - http://www.ehtiecorps.org/xo/EHTasks.htm
The True Story behind the TC Database Outage Comp - http://www.ehtiecorps.org/competitions/details.asp?ID=1329
Hosting Service Naming Competition - http://www.ehtiecorps.org/competitions/details.asp?ID=1330
SWG Screenshot Caption Competition - http://www.ehtiecorps.org/competitions/details.asp?ID=1331
XO-FSE/SA Astatine/CS-2/SSSD Sovereign
MoH/ICx2/OoR/GOE/GSx2/SS/BSx3/PC/ISM/MoI-DC/IS-3BR-3GR-2PR/LoC-Rx1/CoS/CoE/CoLx3/LoAx3/OV-6E