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Myr

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  1. Myr

    Tech Tuesday - Story Formatting Issues

    By Myr,


    Technology Archive
    This week's blog is going to be a little light.  I'm extremely busy with my move.  I will be relaxing this time in two weeks, I hope!
    Now, I think everyone has bumped into some weird spacing issues or weird formatting issues when reading stories on the site.  This is especially true of older stories that were brought in from the days when we hosted stories as webpages.  @A.J. has been working hard to clean up visually, by having the system fix the code on the fly.  We are working on a way for you to report a formatting issue or hit a button saying the formatting was just fine.  This will be coming.  In the meantime, keep an eye on the Announcement forum as we ask for volunteers to test the display filter.  It is our goal to prevent poorly formatted stories from going into the system in the future and clean up all the stories posted in the past as well.  With almost 35,000 chapters posted on the site, this will take time, of course. 
     
    If you come across any severely broken story chapters, please read this topic and follow instructions:
     
    We are all busy right now dealing with real life, so it might take a bit of time to get to them.  However, having sample stories of bad formats will also help us know what to filter and fix for.
     
    Thanks for your help!
  2. Myr

    The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart

    By Myr,


    Books
    I'm sure the first thing that pops in your head is... why are there 5 different books here for a Trilogy?  Depends on how you look at things.  The hardcover (listed first) contains the 3 books listed next. (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment)  The trilogy follows the life of Myrddin Emrys or Merlin if you prefer.  I love books 1 and 2 and found book 3 of the trilogy dry and boring.  This does boil down to my interest as in books 1 and 2, Merlin is young to middle age.  He's an old codger in the 3rd book.  Book 4 follows Modred, King Arthur's bastard son by incest with his half-sister (per this version of the tale).  This book is also quite interesting as Mordred is not a bad guy in this tale and the conflict with his father the King is not intentional.  
    The reason I like the books... The Crystal Cave is the coming of age of Merlin.  The Hollow Hills is the coming of age of Arthur.  And The Wicked Day is the coming of age of Mordred.  Mary Stewart does a great job of coming of age.  The Last Enchantment is about the end of Merlin's days and that's not nearly as interesting to me, at least.
     
  3. Myr

    Laminator and Sheets

    By Myr,


    Gadgets
    Get your very own laminator and lamination sheets cheap.  And why not?  The price is right.  I picked this up for a little project.  I won't use it all that often, but the price was cheap enough that it's worth it.  Check it out!
  4. Myr

    Anthology Flashback: Fall 2008: Anniversary

    By Myr,


    Anthologies
    Another week has arrived and it's time for another Anthology flashback.
     

     
     
    As always, we thank all these authors once again for participating.  If it is not too much trouble, would you be willing to write a review for these authors?  Even if some of them are no longer around, I'm sure other readers will appreciate the effort.  The authors that are still with us surely will.
     
     
    For Authors!
    We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
     
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthologies
    2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th 2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
  5. Myr

    Notification Settings

    By Myr,


    News Archive
    You can find "Notification Settings" under your name in the upper right menu.
    https://www.gayauthors.org/notifications/options/
     
    The first batch of settings is about how things work:

     
    "Send me news and information" - Everyone should keep this checked so that we can email you. "Automatically follow conent" - This allows you to automatically follow things so you get alerts to things that you involve yourself in. "Method to use for content I follow Automatically" - Select how you wish to follow stuff.  Notification preferences - This allows you set how much alerting you get. On the right side is the Browser Notification which allows Gay Authors to alert you even if you aren't on the site.  They can be pretty intrusive.  If you wish to change them, it is at the browser level. If you want to change your browser notification, here is a how to video:
     
    The rest of the notification page allows you to set what you get as inline notifications or emails:

     
    Hope this helps!
  6. Myr

    Mysterious Skin

    By Myr,


    Movies
    In last week's promotion of Latter Days, I mentioned the trivia that Joseph Gordon-Levitt auditioned for the lead gay role in the movie.  Well, he got it in this movie.  There are actually a couple of sex scenes in this one and you get to see stuff. lol.  It is funny that for a long time if you typed "is Joseph Gordon-Levitt gay?" in google, it popped up to Gay Authors and a topic I made years ago...
     
    Anyway, the movie itself is a bit odd.  It was definitely interesting.  Different.  And worth watching, even without the eye candy incentives. 
     
    Check it out!
  7. Myr

    Tech Tuesday - Spoiler Tags

    By Myr,


    Technology Archive
    Hello!  Welcome back to Tech Tuesdays!   Starting today, we are planning on bringing this feature back for you every Tuesday.  Most of them will be short but will highlight either existing features or coming features.  
     
    Today, we will be going over the use of the spoiler tags.  These are built right into the editor and should be used to hide information that would otherwise spoil someone's enjoyment.  This often applies to the big twists you see in books, movies, tv shows, games, etc.  It is considered rude and obnoxious by many to let out a big secret before others have had a chance to get to it themselves.  On GA, you can hide text in many places like Stories, Forums, or Clubs. It's a good way to hide sensitive material such as reader reviews as well as large blocks of text that you want to share but don't want always visible, such as a story or chapter sample for feedback. 
     
    It is especially important for Gay Authors to use Spoiler tags because the activity stream shows content out of context.  For example, the latest reviews and latest story/chapter comments can be seen in the stream, and it's very easy for someone to read a comment on a story they haven't had a chance to read yet.  The information inside Spoiler tags is NOT shown in that stream.
    How to use:
    Click the "eye" icon on the toolbar. Type your spoiler information inside the box that appears. Type the rest of your comment. Submit your comment. and you get this:

     
    Also, here is a video that walks you through it:
     
  8. Myr
    Mark Roeder has a pretty massive collection of stories.  Some of his early works suffered from poor editing, but his work improved a lot over time and I think he's even gone back and updated his early works with improved editing and cover changes. 
     
    I really liked this story when I first read it mostly because it appealed to my 90's fascination with the Nifty Boy Bands section.  It definitely played up to some of the classics in that genre.  This was worth the read.
  9. Myr

    Dice, Dice, Who has the Dice?

    By Myr,


    Gadgets
    I remember when I was actively playing AD&D and I needed dice.  They were so expensive back then.  $10 for 1 set.  You can now get 7 sets for that.  or 20 full sets for $30.  Crazy. 
    I've gotten Wiz dice before.  I have a few sets on all the desks I work at it.  They are great for randomizing things or using the handy roleplaying charts for writing details.  lol.
     
    I definitely recommend these if you are dice obsessed.  Or if you like shiny objects.   Or if you like pretty baubles.  Or if you are looking for your own precious with little numbers on it.
     
  10. Myr

    Anthology Flashback: Summer 2008 - Escape

    By Myr,


    Anthologies
    This week we jump back 10 years to the Summer of 2008, where we must Escape...

     
    Here they are in no particular order:
     
    As always, we thank all these authors once again for participating.  If it is not too much trouble, would you be willing to write a review for these authors?  Even if some of them are no longer around, I'm sure other readers will appreciate the effort.  The authors that are still with us surely will.
     
     
    For Authors!
    We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthologies
    2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th 2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
  11. Myr

    Tech Tuesday - Recent Updates and Coming Updates

    By Myr,


    Technology Archive
    We've recently had a couple of noticeable updates for authors and for everyone pasting a story link.  I wanted to make sure everyone saw the information.
    First, some changes to the software:
    Also, A.J. has been able to fix the Preview Chapter button so you can now see how your story will post into the system, with all of the filters applied:
     
    As mentioned in the first topic, when you place a link to a story in a post or a blog, etc, it will now format with a story banner.  Banner priority - Antholology Banner, Story Banner, Author Banner, then Category Banner.  So every story will get something.  Cia updated our Fiction banner:
     
    Or maybe it's a Valdemar FanFiction:
     
    Or Star Trek:
     
    Or an Anthology:
     
    If you're just clicking Newest Stories, remember, you can click "Categories" and get the list of all sorts of stories that are in the system.
    https://www.gayauthors.org/stories/browse/category/
     
    Forums 4.3 software has entered beta testing, and we'll be looking at getting everything updated to work with it.  Some new things with Forums 4.3 include:
    Improved Search.  They have really focused on improving search so things work more as you'd expect them to.  They have also implemented a third-party search solution that we will be deploying on Gay Authors that should improve search noticeably. They are deploying Emojii support in the editor.  This will vastly increase the amount of readily available emoticons. The current smilies are supposed to still work the same.   They are making Clubs a lot easier to find and deal with, including better Follow features and more visibility of topic forums. Gallery is being made a LOT easier to use. Blog is getting a facelift. There are improvements in payment methods for Premium Content subscribers.  
    I would expect that we'll be able to upgrade in about 4-6 weeks.
    We also have some structural improvements to simplify the Stories interface that has been in the works.
     
    Hope this helps.  Be sure to Like the post and Follow the Site Technology blog so you don't miss any updates!
  12. Myr

    Latter Days

    By Myr,


    Movies
    Like last week, I've pulled this movie out of my gay movie collection.  This has some nice eye candy is a touching movie. 
     
    Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in this movie as well.  He auditioned to for the gay lead. (just a bit of trivia from IMDB on the movie)
     
  13. Myr
    Check out the Spring 2006 Anthology!

     
     
    Be sure to read and review!
     
    For Authors!
    We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthologies
    2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th 2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
  15. Myr

    Anthology Flashback: Spring 2009 - Oops

    By Myr,


    Anthologies
    Before we get started with this week's flashback, I wanted to remind all of our authors that there are two anthology topics and a novella coming up.  You can find more details and weigh in on your progress here in the Writing Club:
    If you aren't a member, join up!  There is a lot going on in there for authors.
     
    Now, on with the show!

     
    Would you be so kind as to take a few moments to review the stories you read here?  You never know when you might inspire an author or even a new author with a review
  16. Myr

    Anthology Flashback: Spring 2007 - Fairy Tales

    By Myr,


    Anthologies
    Take some time to check out our Fairy Tales Anthology from Spring 2007
    In no particular order:
     
    Would you mind taking a few minutes to leave a review for our hardworking authors?
     
    For Authors!
    We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthologies
    2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th 2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
  17. Myr

    Anthology Flashback: Winter 2009 Deceptions

    By Myr,


    Anthologies
    This week's Anthology Flashback brings back to the Summer of 2009: Deceptions

    As always, we thank all these authors once again for participating.  If it is not too much trouble, would you be willing to write a review for these authors?  Even if some of them are no longer around, I'm sure other readers will appreciate the effort.  The authors that are still with us surely will.
     
    For Authors!
    We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthologies
    2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th 2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
  18. Myr
    Mercedes Lackey excels at telling stories of the coming of age of characters blessed... and cursed... with special powers.  Lavan is an interesting young man with a tragic story.  This story truly pulls at your heartstrings, which is one of the things Mercedes Lackey really excels at.  If you like reading fantasy stories, this story is well worth the read!
  19. Myr

    Anker USB Cables and Charge Pad

    By Myr,


    Gadgets
    These days, so many of our devices are charged and powered by USB chargers.  I've gotten to the point now that pretty much everywhere I sit, has a wireless charger pad or a charge cable.  And I mean everywhere. I have a ton of these things.  Well worth it.  I shopped around with a lot of different options and I'm really hooked on the quality of the Anker stuff. 
    Be really careful with the wall chargers out there.  Some of them overheat really easily.  The Anker has been the only one so far that works well.
  21. Myr

    Phillips Hue

    By Myr,


    Gadgets
    What can I say about Hue?  Man, do I love these lights.  They are powerful and handy.  The fact that there are apps you can use to play around just adds to the fun.  They also tied into Alexa easily.  As I mentioned in the post on Echo a few weeks ago, I use Alexa with my Hue lights constantly.  I have programmed different scenes so that if I want to watch a movie, it'll just the lights very low and turn them red so as to not distract from the screen. 
    I mentioned playing... here's an app that flashes the lights to the music.  This is in my mancave:
     
    This was made before I filled the rest of the bookshelf.  The posters on the wall have separate blacklights focused on them that are mounted on the back of the movie screen. (The blacklights are controlled from the Wink Home automation)
  22. Myr

    Tech Tuesday - Settings, Emails and Profiles

    By Myr,


    Technology Archive
    There are a lot of settings and options on the site.  It can be a real chore for people who don't make a habit of clicking on things.  I'll admit, I'm an engineer, and I tend to explore every option.  I realize most people aren't as shiny object driven, however.
    So... settings.  You can find the link in the pop-up menu under your Display Name on the upper right part of the site.  (Or in the hamburger menu if you are on a mobile device).  Choose "Account Settings".
    Today we are going to cover Changing your Email.  It is important that you have a working email address for using Gay Authors.  If you need to update your email, it is under Account Settings -> Email.
    https://www.gayauthors.org/settings/email/

    Very easy to deal with. Just enter your new email address and your current password.  If you have set up Account Security, you might have additional passwords to enter as part of multi-factor authentication.
     
    The other topic for today is Profile Settings.  You can go to your profile by clicking your account picture in the upper right of any page.

     
    You can add a Cover Photo, which is the cool image that you can have on your profile that goes in the dark blue space shown above.
    You can also easily edit your profile by clicking "Edit Profile" in the upper right of your profile page.
     

    First up is your birthday.  Please make sure that it is accurate. It is not displayed to others unless you choose to, which you can do farther down the page.
    Second, you can enable Status Updates on your profile.
    Next, if you are an author, you can fill out your Author Bio.  This appears in the Author listing when you post stories.  It should be a general promotion all about the stories you write and about yourself as an author.
    Next, is the About Me section.  Let people know about you.  This appears only on your profile.
     

    Next up are gender and sexuality.  You can fill these out if you wish to share or leave them blank.
    Next up is important and is required.  You can choose to show your Birthday on the Calendar.  If you choose yes, your birthday will display in the Calendar App and in the Today's Birthdays widget on the main forum page.  The default is off, and you must choose to show it or not.
    Next is where you choose your favorite genre.  You can select multiples by holding down control and clicking the ones you want.  Or, if you like everything, you can scroll to the bottom and choose All.  Or you can ignore it altogether.  Your Favorite Genres appear under your name when you post on the forums.
    You can choose to mention your location.  If you are not an adult, please do not show your real location.
    Interests are next, and you can just type some more stuff about yourself there if you are so inclined.
     

    Contact Methods is last up.  Here you can share the various ways to get in contact with you.  Obviously, anything you show here is public to everyone.  So don't share anything here you don't want public.
     
    Hope this helps!  Be sure to follow the Site Technology Blog if you find these posts helpful. 
  23. Myr

    Beautiful Thing

    By Myr,


    Movies
    So this week, I wanted to break into my extensive collection of gay movies.  This is a good movie.  The British accent can be a bit much at times if you are in the USA.  It sounds sexy though, even if you can't figure out what the hell they are saying.  That really is only a few scenes.  It is a good movie.  Well worth having in the collection.
     
    What are you waiting for?  Go get it
  24. Myr

    X-Men First Class

    By Myr,


    Movies
    I loved the eyecandy on screen.  Special effects and good looking actors.   It was a good movie.  Plenty of action and it tied logically into the existing X-men movies. This is definitely in my collection and staying there.
  25. Myr

    Glimpses by Lynn Flewelling

    By Myr,


    Books
    If you like the Nighrunner series, this anthology of short stories gives more insights to the histories of the characters.
     
    And the cover is cute too!
    Definitely worth the read!
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