Whenever this actually goes up, sorry about that. The server (you know, that marvelous thing that keeps bringing us database errors) has apparently decided that it likes shutting its actual web serving off for no discernible reason.

This has a bit of a backstory. You see, I had no Internet for several days last week, because apparently the fiber-optic cable providing us with an Internet connection was removed or something. So we had to contact the phone company to get us a new Internet connection, with a DHCP router instead of the static IPs we used to have, which also means that I no longer have the ability to throw things I want to show people up on jupiter.vilhjalmur.com/butterfree to make them immediately accessible online. Also thanks to this change, I was cut off from my remote folder on the site server through which I update the site, since it was set to only allow folder sharing from my computer's static IP. So yesterday (the sixteenth), I went to access the server on Remote Desktop to change these IP settings, first trying to allow it for the whole range of IPs my computer could be, but that didn't work and I still couldn't access the remote folder. So I temporarily changed it to allow folder sharing with any IP, just to see if the dynamic IP was actually the problem. It still didn't work. My dad theorized it was because of some firewall settings on the router. I went to change the IPs back, but then the remote desktop connection had been cut off, and I couldn't connect again, and all of a sudden the site was down. Marvellous. So then we submitted a support ticket to the company that runs the server farm to have it restarted, and we waited for more than twenty-four hours for anything to happen, and then finally just earlier the site came back! ...but then I went to try to the remote folder thing again, since my dad had disabled the router's firewall thing, and it still didn't work. So I went to log onto the server through Remote Desktop to fiddle with some settings, but then after I logged in, while it was loading my personal settings, I lost the connection with the server again, and the site was down again. Right now the server has every indication of having shut the serving randomly down again, and I don't have the faintest clue what is going on with it anymore. Whenever you actually see this, the server is presumably back, but yeah, this is what's been going on.

As for me, I've been working on the ninth movie review, watching a whole lot of Buffy, and going through the affiliation requests and error reports that I've been starring over the past few months. I'm not too far behind on the affiliation requests right now, amazingly enough; I had a spurt of going through some a couple of months ago too, so although I didn't quite finish them then, it was oldest first and in this affiliation-spree I started with submissions from early September, so it's not that bad compared to sometimes. Of course, so far (I'm up to mid-October now) it's been all rejections except for one tentative I-really-want-to-affiliate-but-I-have-pet-peeves-and-am-torn thing that the webmaster will have to get back to me on. As always, going through affiliation requests has inspired me to add to my webmaster sections, here the Affiliate with TCoD page (added a bit of a very relevant rant about reading over your own pages instead of just leaving them to rot with oodles of painful mistakes you'd notice immediately if you just bothered to take a look at them) and the Website Tips (added a note about specifically not asking for affiliation with people until there actually is something on your website as well as a new layout tip and a bit about direct linking).

I also happened to read over my Making Fake Pokémon guide and realize that not only had the main text of it not been updated since the third generation but I also just wasn't very satisfied with it in general. Which brings us to the next point: I want to rewrite the entire guide. There are several reasons for this:

• As I said, it's outdated. I redid the bit about evolution methods to reflect the fact that leveling up with an item is not a new method of evolution anymore and that there actually is an item called "Razor Claw" as well as inserting some references to how my examples of move level patterns and the moves I gave the example fakes are from the third generation, but I'd prefer to make things actually reflect the current generation of Pokémon instead of just excusing myself with "This is old." As for why I can't just update those bits instead of rewriting the whole thing? Well, then I'd have to remake the movesets for all those eleven fake Pokémon, and I'm just not very keen on that, because there are eleven of them after all and it's kind of annoying. Which brings us to the next point...
• The ratio of rambling on about my example fakes to actual guide content is way too high for my current tastes. I mean, really. Eleven examples just to teach you how to make fake Pokémon? Jesus Christ. What's worse is that because they're all one evolution line, they don't even give a useful, versatile sample of different concepts in Fakémon creation; in a rewritten guide I'd like to have one completely original example, one counterpart to an existing Pokémon, and one (pre-)evolution of an existing Pokémon, just to be able to discuss the differences between how to approach these three kinds of fakes and illustrate different methods of doing things. The Malkee line is just really not very well suited to being an example here.
• Also, I must confess that much as I like some of my general concepts with the Malkee line, the general Eevee-ripoffishness kind of makes me cringe, as do some of their names and the lack of any actual design for Malkee. I'd be glad to be rid of those.

However, because I have been a webmaster for a while, I already know that the general visitor response to this will probably be "OMG NO! I LOVE THE MALKEE LINE AND THE FAKE POKÉMON GUIDE IS AWESOME AS IT IS! IF YOU CHANGE IT I WILL KICK PUPPIES!" So I'm offering you a say in it. Please vote in the new Site Poll.

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