DYK 22: Did You Know?

That at the time of this post (April 6) there were 816 members on RAF Forum?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

RAFchat Meet and Greet on now!!

The RAFchat Meet and Greet is on Now!! Go there and talk if you are a new or old member!

DYK 21: Did You Know?

That the first post on new RAF was created by Duff on May 30, 2008?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Are you a New Member?

I am making out this blog post to all the newer members out there (older members are allowed to use this too)! First I would like to Welcome you to RAF! This is the Ultimate Animorphs Forum.

I have composed a short list of helpful things that you may want to look at and/or use and/or do, so here we go!

1. Introductions and Departures Sub-Forum

This is probably the first place you should go if you have recently joined, or just want the other forum members to get to know you better! You make your own thread, talking about yourself and who you are! This is really the only way to make sure that all the members have a chance to get to know you. This is a "Sub-Forum" of the "RAF Social" board.

2. Member Profiles Sub-Forum

After you have created your Introduction, you may want to create a 'Member Profile' for yourself. This is your own topic where you can basically make blog posts, post pictures for the forum, answer questions asked by other RAFians in your thread, and more! This is also a "Sub-Forum" of the "RAF Social" board. NOTE: A good example is Richard's Member Profile.

3. Attend a RAF Chat Meet & Greet

This is a great idea for any member, new or old! A RAF Chat Meet & Greet is basically what i see as sort of "Dinner Party" at which the members of RAF can mingle and talk with other RAFians and get to know everyone better. Held in the RAF Chat, it allows New members to meet Veteran members and vice versa. Also, Richard has shown up on occasion so you can get to know the Creator of RAF a little better.

4. Read the rest of the Animorphs Series

If you haven't finished the series (missing books, pages, etc.), then I would STRONGLY recommend that you DON'T enter the Animorphs Discussions yet. You may ruin the ending for yourself and that isn't fun at all. But have no fear, for the eBooks are here! RAF, the original uploaders of the eBooks, has them available for download here. Best part: they are FREE!! Every Animorphs book (also has the Vegemorph book, a parody) is available for download either as PDF or in a ZIP file.

5. Get involved in a RAF Project

There is no easier way to feel included, than to become involved. RAF has many projects on the go, from recording the Audiobooks, fixing the eBook errors, creating Smilies/Emoticons, creating the Animorphs Graphic Novel, and many more. Go here to see the RAF Projects board and get involved in one!

5. GET OUT AND POST

While we do allow lurkers (and have created a member class for such people), we much prefer posters. There are may topics on RAF spanning a very wide range of subjects, so it's very easy to find something to suit your fancy.


Well I do hope this little guide (that isn't finished I bet, and i'll probably come out with a 2nd Edition in the near future) has helped you figure out what to do next, and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to PM me, and ask me!

- Adam

One More for the Road

Soo... it's 1:42 AM and thus technically Saturday where I am...
...but two timezones west of me, it's only 11:42, so I am redeemed. ;)

This Sunday evening I'll be taking my computer up to my dorm, where it will stay the better part of the year.
There's no telling what speed my internet will run there.

That being said, anybody interested in reading banned and censored books needs to check out this website:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Banned Books Week isn't too far away, and I've found myself reading more and more Bradbury as it approaches (and if you get the reference to him in the title of this post, you win a free hypothetical cookie!!), and I've found a few teen books like "The Libyrinth" by Pearl North that address the subject of bookburning in new and intensely interesting ways.

I wonder how many books you all read have been banned somewhere.
Have you ever enjoyed Harry Potter, The Giver, or Where is Waldo?
Have you sat down with your older relatives to hear about Red Riding Hood?
Maybe Judy Blume, Jane Yolen, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Bruce Coville delighted you as a tyke... but I bet you have no IDEA how much of their art has been removed from libraries for reasons that most free-thinking people would regard as perfectly ridiculous.
To Kill a Mockingbird... required reading at my high school: banned.
Fahrenheit 451... suggested reading at my high school, and addressing bookburning: banned.

It's really a sick irony, but books that defend books are most frequently the books removed from public libraries and recommended reading lists.

Oh, and if you've ever enjoyed Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov, Eoin Colfer, Herbie Brennan, J.K. Rowling,
or K.A. Applegate...
...then you are automatically a reader of banned books. Those four authors hold rather an interesting distinction in that somewhere on Earth, every last one of their books written under those names (non-pseudonymous) has been banned.
Sometimes people take it so far that they ignore the genre, plot, and quality of a book, and they want it gone simply because of the name printed on the front.

Why, you may as, is Estelore suddenly championing banned books?
Well, two reasons:
1. I spent these past two summers doing volunteer work at the local library. It's impossible for me not to love those books and the knowledge in them.
2. There is enough stupid in the world. Rather, there is far too MUCH stupid in the world, and by removing books, we are removing chances to lose some of that stupid.

Little Scout Finch in Harper Lee's much-contested classic said it about right:
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

I don't know about you, but I love breathing. I love reading. Heaven help the fool that tries to take that away from me or the people who feel the same as me about this.

Well, it's late. I wish you all a lovely weekend, sweet dreams, and a superabundance of quality reading materials.

Read on.
-Estelore

Thanks to Ash & Nina for their donations!

Both Ash and Nina's donations went through today. I'd like to use this opportunity to thank them for their contributions toward RAF.


Ash is now a Gold Member, and is just shy of #5 on the Donator leader board.

DYK 20: Did You Know?

That there was a board dedicated just to the Animorphs characters on RAF Classic?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

So Begins the End of the Beginning.

Well, folks, here it is: University season (and just plain school for most of the rest of you).
Thursday next I move into what will be my residence for the duration of the coming year, and Monday after begins my semester.

Also, today my router died twice, and tomorrow I'm away with family for a few days, so my communication before I leave is likely to be not-much-at-all. I should have web at the dormitory, but I make no promises.

So, in the event that I am kept from you overlong:
I love you all. You are wonderful to me, and I cannot thank you enough for it.

Blessings and much fondness to you all,
Estelore

Meet & Greet 2

Tonight is the second Meet & Greet. So Everyone get in the RAF Chat from 8:30 to 10:30 pm EST.

DYK 19: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs (defunct) was created in 2001?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to AniDragon for her donation!

Long time I haven't made a donation post. Well thanks to AniDragon, I can finally publicly thank an individual for his/her contribution.

She will now enjoy the benefits GOLD MEMBERS enjoy, which now includes access to the Donator Lounge.

Thanks again AniDragon.

RAF Shortcuts

Because I am lazy, I've created these shortcuts for me (and you) to easily access certain pages on Richard's Animorphs Forum.

animorphsforum.com/animorphs
- Takes you to the Animorphs Board

animorphsforum.com/audiobooks
- Takes you to the Audiobooks Board

animorphsforum.com/classic
- Takes you to RAF Classic

animorphsforum.com/digg
- Digg RAF

animorphsforum.com/everworld
- Takes you to the Everworld Board

animorphsforum.com/facebook
- Takes you to the Facebook Page

animorphsforum.com/gone
- Takes you to the Gone Board

animorphsforum.com/login
- Takes you to the login page

animorphsforum.com/members
- Takes you to the member list

animorphsforum.com/party
- Takes you to the RAF Party main thread

animorphsforum.com/passwordreminder
- Takes you to the password reminder feature

animorphsforum.com/register
- Register with the forum

animorphsforum.com/remnants
- Takes you to the Remnants Board

animorphsforum.com/rules
- Takes you to the Rules thread

animorphsforum.com/social
- Takes you to RAF Social

animorphsforum.com/staff
- Takes you to the Staff list

animorphsforum.com/support
- Takes you to the Support Board

animorphsforum.com/twitter
- Takes you to Richard's twitter page

animorphsforum.com/wap
- Takes you Mobile RAF

RAFrecommended Reading Lists

For those of you not in-the-know regarding my day-to-day life, you might like to know that I move into university on 20 August, a Thursday.
That means that after this post and maybe another one next week, it is very probable that I won't be keeping up with my weekly article segments.
All that being said, I've decided that this penultimate (and possibly last) Friday blog post will be about books, since that's what brought me to RAF in the first place.
Specifically, it will be about the books on my nightstand and overhead shelf. I think of them as my Required Reading, since they've spent the whole summer within arm's reach of my bed.
To you, they are my Recommended Reading. There is not a book on this list that I haven't loved in some way. Some of them aren't for everybody, but here they are, just the same:

Ray Bradbury - R is for Rocket ; S is for Space ; The Martian Chronicles ; Fahrenheit 451
Isaac Asimov - The Martian Way ; Nightfall and Other Stories
Jeffrey Deaver - Twisted
Margo Lanagan - Black Juice ; Red Spikes ; White Time
Voltaire - Candide and The Maid of Orleans (one volume)
Herbie Brennan - Faerie Wars (whole series)
Scott Westerfeld - Peeps ; The Last Days
Marcus Zusak - I am the Messenger
Cornelia Funke - The Thief Lord
Sun Tzu - The Art of War
Jasper Fforde - Thursday Next
Alyson Noel - Evermore ; Blue Moon (it's not vampires, so don't write it off as a Twilight-mimic, even if the plot is a little hard to believe)
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game/Shadow ; Xenocide/Speaker for the Dead ; Ender in Exile ; Shadow of the Giant ; First Meetings in Ender's Universe
Lois Lowry - The Giver ; Gathering Blue ; Messenger
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Jane Langton - Fledgling
Mitch Albom - Tuesdays with Morrie
Katherine Paterson - Bridge to Terabithia
Rodman Philbrick - Freak the Mighty
Conrad Richter - A Light in the Forest
Caleb Carr - The Italian Secretary
Caroline B. Cooney - Code Orange
John Barnes - Orbital Resonance

Well, I've made this post too long as it is. Like I said, these books individually aren't for everybody, but trust me: there IS something here, at least one book, for every member of RAF to enjoy.
G'day, my dearlings!

-Estelore

DYK 18: Did You Know?

That there was a Birthday Board on RAF Classic?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Year 1 With Google Analytics

So our first year with Google Analytics passed on the 14th of July.

Here's the breakdown:



Click to download PDF

Are you an Audiobook actor?

If you have expressed interest in acting in the Animorphs Audiobooks, please check your PM inboxes (click here). Jess, who is helping to restart the project, has sent out an important message!!

If you have any questions regarding the Audiobooks, please talk to Jess, or any of the other project leaders: Mr. Guy 36, Morfowt, and WildWeathel.

I look forward to hearing you all very soon.

-Adam