Issue #1

Welcome! [by Brady]

Ahoy and welcome to the first Outpost 10F Blue Report. What is this strange and wonderful thing you may be asking, and why does it seem kinda familiar? All these questions and more will be answered for you right here..

The Blue Report is a reincarnation of the One-Zero Report, a monthly 'newsletter' from ST Sector Command and the OZD that ran for a year and informed the membership on all sorts of aspects of Sector Command. This new 'Blue' incarnation has the same aim: To facilitate communication between Sector Command (the leadership of the community) and the community itself. You'll find several familiar elements in this report, but there is a major difference. This project is a true collaboration between all three genres through the Sector Command support groups - the Wizards, the Senate and the One-Zero Division. All SCs and DSCs will have a hand in the content and direction of this report, with the assistance of one genre editor from each team.

We'll aim to keep you up-to-date with the (non-classified) going ons of the EC and the genre support groups. We'll give you an idea of what we're doing behind the scenes. We'll give you a taste of what we might have up our sleeves for the future. We'll even provide some comic relief for no extra charge.. and much more!

So how did this report develop? As we've already covered, it's a refurbishment of the One-Zero Report run by Kym (CL8) and myself, which itself was a spin-off of the monthly Entertainment report of donkeys years ago. This new report was a product of several discussions between Hobbie (CL7) and myself (that may or may not have involved rocks, photonic canons and 'ray' beams) but was really brought to life because of the collaboration between, and support of the SCs and DSCs. Jaden (CL8) and Hobbie (CL7), HAL (CL7) and Luc (CL7) and Iain (CL8) and myself. We've also been under the watchful and supportive gaze of two thirds of the charmed ones: Vice-Commander Crazy Texan (CL10) and Quadrant Commander Hongjun (CL9). With the basics in place, we brought in the experts. Bria (CL6) of the Senate provided the gaphical and design elements, while Iain (CL8) created an impressive dynamic management system. Finally, representing their genres, Senator AJ (CL7), Wizard Alivan (CL5) and Agent Kayana (CL5) went to work on creating the actual content of the report that you see before you. As you can see this has been a truly collaborative effort, and all the people mentioned here have contributed to what we hope will become an effective and sustained means of communication and information for our community.

Before all the boring jazz is over with, let me give you a rundown on what you might expect to find in any given issue of the Blue Report. Each month the genre editors will give you a rundown on what has been happening in the genres and in their genre teams. You'll also find interviews with Patrons of the Month, Special Recognition of active members of the community, a list of Promotions for the month with comments on some of the promoted members and often some random and miscellaneous goodies like cartoons, competitions, and more interviews!

One final explanation that may be needed is 'Why the Blue Report??' Quite simply, the Blue Report will be an End of the Month publication in conjunction with Awards and Promotion announcements. And what colour is the alert status of the outpost at this time of month? Blue!

So be sure to click in every month so you're aware of what's going on and even how you can get involved in this little corner of cyber-space we call Outpost 10F. Thanks again to all involved and happy reading!

Brady (CL8)
ST Sector Commander
OZD Team Leader


P.S. See! Not one reference to hats. I'm saving that for later. ;)
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One Zero Division Update [by Ms. Superfantastic Kayana]

Yoy hoy hoy! (K's variation on Brady's usual greeting ;) ) Over at the OZD, the OZD decided to transform TF into the Matrix for April's Fools. All complaints can be directed to Iain. ;) Special thanks to Raine for the avatars, Brady for the chattop and the rest of OTF for participating! Over at the OZD we're settling down for Easter and planning our next big jok-er event. If you want a really good April's fools however check out Google Romance. ;)
Cheers,
Agent Kayana
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Senate Update: Classified [by AJ]

Hey folks, welcome to the Bothan Report on recent Senate activity!

Well, the main place to start for this month would be the recent addition of the wookiee affiliation to the CCC login form. This new affiliation, credit be to Osiris for his work on it, came about after Iain 'accidentally' 'lost' Grant near some galactic black-hole. We obviously couldn't let Iain go without a wookiee in his life, so the Senate worked on a replacement - and boy, did we come up with a treat for him this time. Instead of bringing in a replacement wookiee (it's a nightmare to hoover the Senate carpets after having a wookiee walk though), Osiris had the ingenius idea of giving the Cantina a wookiee affiliation! This would mean that Iain would be able to have a wookiee whenever he liked, and we wouldn't have to follow him around with a Dust-Devil2000 cleaning up wookiee hair!

Jaden approved the plan and Osiris got to work. He devised the wookiee ranking system, armory functions and helped with the rank image and wookiee colour-scheme (Iain's suggestion of hot pink was dismissed, and Iain banished to Uruguay). After working day and night on the new affiliation, it was finally ready to be sent to the mighty Hong for approval. (Editor's note: At this time, Bria's suggestion of a Rancor affiliation was similarly dismissed. Bria was last seen plotting counter-measures against Hobbie). After much bribery, the new affiliation system was put into place by Iain, who apparently finished it off with a "loving kiss". Everyone then retired to the Senate chamber where AJ was flogged for allowing Iain to return from his banished-land.

In other news, the Senators have been filmed turning the Senate chamber into a trendy nightclub for the birthdays of Senators Majin Kaze and AJ Cardall. They turned 20 and 19 respectively on March 7th, and Jaden gave the go-ahead for a party. Big mistake. QD was left in charge of making the drinks arranagements, but due to a misunderstanding, the Senators were left with 25 cases of Romulan Ale. Hobbie, suitably unimpressed, was blamed, fired, re-hired, and blamed again. AJ decided it mattered not, and proceeded to get completely intoxicated: he was last seen hugging a park bench. The police were notified.

So, what else have the Senators been up to besides making wookiees and having parties? Planning future changes and projects, to be precise. Well, I say 'planning'...

And before Jaden feeds me to the Saarlac, I must vanish! Ta-ta!

AJ (CL7),
Entertainment SM,
Senator of Onderon

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The Wizard Update [by Alivan]

Over the past few weeks, the Wizards team has become more active than it has been for quite some time. That’s right! We’ve dusted off our wands and robes and have gone to work. Numerous projects and events benefiting the fantasy community of Outpost 10F have been created, and are now being worked on by the dedicated members of the team. Since many of the projects that the Wizards team are working on are top secret, we cannot reveal all of them to the community. We do, however, have a couple of projects that we can share with you in this issue of the Blue Report, as well as some important Wizard team news.

First off, after a number of fantasy patrons suggested that we should add new avatars to the Minas Tirith chat, we couldn’t refuse. A few of the Wizards on the team, including former member Cynara Jade, collected a number of avatars from various fantasy subjects (not just from LotR) and are now in the process of deciding which ones should be added to Minas Tirith. We unfortunately cannot add all of the avatars compiled, as there are quite a few. So, if you’re tired of always using the same old boring avatar in Minas Tirith, then keep your eyes open for these brand new ones. They should be added within the next few weeks or so.

Secondly, with the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie about to be released, Wizard Ryo Crimson has decided to plan and create, with the help of a few other Wizards, some Outpost 10F events that go along with the movie and game. He didn’t want the events to be normal events such as trivia’s or game discussions, but rather events in which members of Outpost 10F could actively participate. After brainstorming, he came up with a few possible events including a chocobo race, a monster masquerade, and a battle tournament. While none of these events have yet been declared official, they are now being worked out and more ideas are being discussed among the Wizards. More information on the Final Fantasy events will be coming soon!

Thirdly, the Minas Tirith chat room is now back to normal after being turned into the Golden Girls palace. The Wizards have decided that knitting is not their hobbie (as several of them managed to sever their hands in the process) and that the Golden Girls chat top was a bit too much. We would like to thank Phill, the Wizard's graphic guru, for designing the chat top, and all the rest of the wizards who helped out to make one of the greatest April Fool's jokes ever.

Finally, we would like to bid a very fond farewell to CL7 Cynara Jade. She has recently left the Wizards team due to real life complications. Cynara was a devoted member of the team for months, and we really hate to lose her. We would like to thank her for all of her great contributions that she has made to the Wizards. Cynara, you will certainly be missed!

That’s it from the Wizard team this month. We hope that you’ve received a better understanding as to what we are working on. We are always looking for new ways to better enhance the fantasy part of Outpost 10F, so if you have any suggestions or questions about anything, feel free to contact any one of the Wizards. As always, remember to keep your eyes open for new projects and events happening in the Outpost 10F fantasy community.

Alivan (CL5)
alivan@outpost10f.com
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ST Patron of the Month Interview [by Ms. Superfantastic Kayana]

March is my favorite month, mostly because it's my birthday. Also because the snow in Canada starts melting then. Well....at least in BC. Without further ado, I present March's ST Patron of the Month, The Agent Formerly Known As Zarak- er, CL5 Raine! Congrats Raine!!!

1)How does it feel to be ST Patron of the month?
Strange, I was pretty sure there was some kind of curse on me ever winning an award, excluding the ones at the Anniversary.

2)Any idea of why you won it?
'Cause I'm a hard worker... Nah, i don't believe that =P I'll put it down to all my bribes and blackmail, remember children, in the words of Al Bundy, "It is only cheating if you get caught!"

3)Would you like to have won it for a different reason? What reason?
I don't mind what the reasons are, as long as it is a shiny medal, I like shiny things!

4)You've received a nice big shiny award. Anything else you wish you had won?
Lots and lots of things! Like a Pony!

5)Anyone you would like to thank/curse?
I curse thee all! I'm being fair that way, no playing favourites here! Actually I curse that FM more!

6)For those OTF members who're considering what genres to join what would you tell them?
Join ST or I'll cry, I mean it =( You don't want me to cry!

7)If there were Oscars for Patrons of the Month what would you wear?
Well me being me and being lazy, whatever I could find, 'cause I'd get dressed at the last possible second! But if i were to try it'd be my jeans and my shirt!

8)Where do you see yourself in the next 5 minutes?
Could be anywhere, i really need to do the food shopping but I can't be bothered, or I could be in the game shop buying games, or go back to bed, or just continue to sit here. Life is so uncertain!

Thank you Raine!

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SW Patron of the Month Interview [by AJ]

CL4 KypD was nominated the SW Patron of the Month for March. CL7 AJ stalked her until she finally answered a few questions:

AJ: You were awarded the SW Patron of the Month, recognising your work for the Outpost. How does it feel to have been recognised for your work?
KypD: Pretty good. It's nice to know that someone noticed!

AJ: You said it was nice to be noticed and rewarded. What do you think it is that earned you the award?
KypD: Well, I'm usually pretty polite to people and I try to welcome newbies in the nicest way possible.

AJ: You're a relatively new member to the Outpost, yet you're already very popular around the place. What is it about OTF that you like the most?
KypD: What I like most about OTF, is that so many people are really friendly and fun to talk with, and I share the same types of interests with them... in my RL, usually,I won't go around blabbing around about SW, so I can do that all in OTF

AJ: You're famous for the clicking habbit. Any idea what started this habbit to click all underlined words?
KypD: Hmmm...I think it started with Iain just putting links up...then he would underline random words...after that, anyone would put links up...I guess it just kinda stuck!!

AJ: So Iain is to blame, and not Hobbie? Interesting turn-up! What's your best memory of OTF so far?
KypD: *LOL* Best memory? There are too many! But it had to be the time when I got my rank "Ultimate Clicker"... I guess I passed Hobbie's clicking test, but other than that, it's probably whenever I get SPs during trivia. Or winning Trivia!

AJ: Do you have any long-term plans and dreams as far as OTF is concerned? Such as.. reach a certain rank, join a certain department etc?
KypD: Not really... I kinda like where I am in ENT, but I'd really like to get into ISA and reach Cl 7

AJ: Good luck with that! You're on the right-track for both, I'm sure! Last question. If there was an ultimate battle between ST, SW and FY; who would win, and why?
KypD: In terms of OTF fans, I think right now, SW would win...the movie came out not too long ago and there are more and more fans everyday. Also, ST hasn't been running new episodes for a while now, but even as there are so many ST fans in OTF, they might be getting out numbered. But in phsycal terms, I think SW would still win, because they have lightsabers and all that other cool junk :D

Interview conducted by AJ (CL7)
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FY Patron of the Month Interview [by Alivan]

The last winner of the Fantasy Patron of the Month award was long time fantasy patron and former Wizard, Cynara Jade (CL7)

1 - What kind of contributions did you have to make to the Outpost 10F fantasy community in order for you to receive this award?
Sitting in MT for hours on end *l* that's what I used to do, and hope others logged in. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.

2 - What made you take such an interest in the fantasy sector?
I wasn't really interested in it until I started becoming really close with Luc Deathstryke, who just so happens to be my best friend now. After talking to him for a while, I was lured over to the Fantasy sector.

3 - Did you expect at all that you might receive this award?
Never. I never expect any awards, promotions, etc. Why? Because I do what I think is fun and I never expect to be rewarded for doing something fun. It's like getting paid to play games and do something you love everyday.

4 - How long were you a member of the fantasy affiliation?
I was a member for about a year. I was originally Star Wars, then Star Trek, then Fantasy and now back to Star Wars. So I've been a part of all affiliations. Out of all of them, I enjoyed the Fantasy affiliation the most.

5 - As many know, you have recently left the Wizards. What are you going to miss most about the team?
The cool rank =( although that's not all. I liked that we had input to the fantasy part of OTF, like our opinions mattered and we could make decisions.

6 - Do you plan on working with the Outpost 10F fantasy community at all in the future?
Most likely. Right now, I need to concentrate on Guilds and most importantly, real life problems that have kept me busy. You never know what the future holds and maybe I'd go back, but not at the moment.

Alivan (CL5)
alivan@outpost10f.com
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Promotions [by Sector Command]

To CL7:

  • Bria Terrik (SW)
    • For the leadership and designing skills she has shown in Trivia, the Senate and the ISA in the past months.
  • Cynara Jade (SW)
    • For all she's doing in Guilds, as Assistant Manager and in the Library.
  • Ohm (FY)
    • Ohm has been doing work both with the Wizards, which you will see soon hopefuly, and behind the scenes with InDev as well. The Topsites project is at the top of his list of completed projects as an example of his work.
  • Osiris (SW)
    • For his behind the scenes work in the ISA and the Senate, in particular the Wookiee affiliation.

    To CL6:

  • Matt (FY)
    • Aside from being "Amanda's Hero" he is also the ATL for the Gateway project while working on the Tribune, constantly supplying it with new and fresh ideas.
  • Raine (ST)
    • Raine has been instrumental in all One-Zero Division projects and activities since he joined the group. He is also one of the most active ISA Deputies, and a hard working member of the Guilds. He has been of particular help in the development of the Library. Well done Raine!

    To CL5:

  • Alivan (FY)
    • Alivan is what you could almost call the "New Mister Wizard." He has been working his tail off not only for us, but for both Communications and Entertainment as well.
  • RPMObsession (SW)
    • For her work in the Music Guild.

    To CL4:

  • one by one (SW)
  • Darth_Dylan (SW)
  • Ninavask revan (SW)
  • PC1314 (SW)

    • To CL3:

  • 9 of 12 (ST)
  • Capitan_Jon (SW)
  • darkfuryjak (SW)
  • Ice (ST)
  • Sica Meni (SW)
  • Sloppy (SW)
  • STAR WARS (SW)
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    Agent of the Month [by Ms. Superfantastic Kayana]

    Hello everyone! OZD is proud to bring you Agent of the Month, a monthly feature featuring a roatating OZD officer telling you a little about himself/herself/itself (watch out, the Betazoid Box might come back) and the going-ons of OZD. This is so that those of you who miss us in the chats can have the opportunity to get to know us a little better and hopefully, get to know TF better as well. Without further ado, I prevent Cl7 Zildjian!*

    Cl5 Kayana
    Blue Report Editor

    *No touching the funny OZD Agent children, keep your hands behind the bars,and above all DON'T feed the monkeys!!!

    Hi,
    Your friendly neighborhood Zildjian here, reporting live and well, from an undisclosed state of classification. If that makes you think for a minute the Hobbie box (suggestion form) allows 2500 characters of text..

    Moving on! Are you sure this is an interview and not an audit? *shreds something* So about me.. Well, I've been roaming around in OTF for a little under five years now. I started out in Research and Development before it was merged with Engineering. After that merge I climbed to an assistant manager position while doing the same in the ISA and now, since December '05, following me filling in for the since resigned ST DSC, Kyyyyym, and a few months of the OZD, I've been settling in as the ISA Director. An interesting job to say the least. *infinite evil smilies here* One thing I can say without hesitation is that I am proud to work alongside so many awesome people. =) It is their dedication and good hearts that make the ISA the most efficient department I've been involved with.

    Who is Zild really? Nobody really knows aside from the few seen bypassing the safety codes on the airlock. Many rumors roam on this but I am not Bigfoot, or Mister Smith, or animal of the week on animal planet..I am real, not a bot or a script of Iain's... I am from Michigan in the US where I.. live and do stuff =D Mostly work which is unfair. I highlyprotest this in fact. I keep telling my boss that as the ISA Director he needs to listen to me or I'll level 6 him, but he keeps hanging up on me when I reach the point of yelling; I should get FOUR paychecks each week, KHAAAAAN!!! Then one day out of the blue he listened to me and I now get FOUR checks but the bank teller looks at me kinda strange as I deposit FOUR - ten hour checks.. btw, This is all untrue.. I think. My dreams have been coming true and my reality has been becoming dreams lately. :? Anyway! Onto the more interesting stuff. These questions =D *puts hand on ISA manual and raises left hand.* I swear to ban the lamer, the whole lamer, and nothing but the lamer.

    Zild

    My favorite part, question time! -K.

    1)What's your favorite type of chocolate?
    Milk chocolate.. specifically, someone elses.

    2)Iain, Piraeus's reincarnation?
    Absolutely not! This is ludacris =D Iain is a tad more active.

    3)What's your favorite genre and why?
    ST. Because it is literally relateable as a decent concept of a possible, and nice future for mankind. I also enjoy its congruity and overallcode of morals. It just rules, let it be known

    4)Favorite ST episode?
    Hmm.. The one where Deanna Troi gives birth to Iain! *lol* Hmm... That is a tough question.. Out of hundreds of episodes I'm not sure if I could single any one out as a particular favorite.. You must watch them all for yourself.. Or atleast up to the second season of TNG to see Iain bring the Enterprise nearly to its knees. =D

    5)One item of clothing you own that you'd never tell anyone about(pink bunny slippers? bellbottoms?)
    My cloak. I do speak of it but being invisible as it is, nobody believes me.

    6)One movie you can watch over and over.
    I can't stand to watch something a second time usually. *lol* My memory finds it too repetitive. My favorite movie 'at the moment' however is Snatch.

    7)How does it feel to head the ISA?
    Honestly I don't know if I feel much about it. It has its rewarding moments, is a lot of work and a high sense of objectiveness is needed. One is highly scrutinized with such a duty. *l* It has its perks on the other hand. Those are classified. *coughs and makes cut scene gesture*

    8)Ever felt like coming up with a mock l8mer to shoot over and over again in the D'D?
    Absolutely not *l* Non-mock targets give a much better bounty, err

    9)Borg, everyone's favorite bad guys or just in need of some loving?
    They are Borg, they will add you to their technological network and there will be no more questions.

    10)There is not a tenth question, how do you feel about that?
    Mutiny!

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    The REAL story behind Star Wars... [by AJ]

    STAR WARS

    Episode IV
    A NEW HOPE (Rewritten for the pleasure of OTF's Galactic Senate and the unwashed masses)

    From
    The Mind of the vaguely sane.
    by Us, the OTF Senate.

    Revised Fiftieth Draft
    March 12th, 2006

    SENATE FILMS tm

    A short time ago, in a chat room far, far, over there...

    A vast sea of stars (is this this the Oscars?) serves as the backdrop for the main title. Bongo drums echo through the rest rooms as a memorable intro crawl slowly sildes into infinity.

    It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden Cantina, have won their first victory against the evil Jaden's Galactic Empire of DOOM.

    During the battle, fighting with paper cups, plactic knives and stale pizza, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, Iain's Vespa of Destruction, an armored scooter with enough power to destroy an entire Intergalactic MacDonald's.

    Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Bria races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...

    1. SPACE, it's really big.

    The beach fun yellow planet of Tatooine emerges from a total eclipse, her two moons glowing against the darkness. A tiny beat-up old spacecraft, a Rebel Blockade Runner firing lasers from the back of the ship, races through space like a Police car late for lunch. It is pursed by a giant, tortilla-chip shaped Imperial Stardestroyer. The audience ducks collectively. Hundreds of deadly laserbolts streak from the Imperial Stardestroyer, causing the main solar fin of the Rebel craft to disintegrate. Ooopsie.

    2. INT. REBEL BLOCKADE RUNNER - MAIN PASSAGEWAY, JUST OUTSIDE THE DISCO.

    An explosion rocks the ship as two robots, Ajay-Detoo (AJ-D2) and Q-Deepio (Q-DPO) struggle to make their way through the shaking, bouncing passageway. Both robots are old and battered, though not actually with batter. Ajay is a short, claw-armed camera tripod, sporting a shock of brown hair. His face is a mass of computer lights surrounding a radar eye. Deepio, on the other hand, is a tall, slender robot of human proportions. She has a gleaming bronze-like metallic surface of an Art Deco design, think Metropolis, but shinier. Another blast shakes them as they struggle along their way, pleasing small children and merchandising everywhere.

    DEEPIO
    Did you hear that, what a flamin' racket? They've shut down the main reactor and all the coffee machines! We'll be destroyed for sure, and how will the Captain fly without his daily shot of caffeine?This is madness!

    Rebel troopers rush past the robots and take up positions in the main passageway. They aim their weapons toward the door.

    DEEPIO
    We're doomed, bah, I should have stayed in bed!

    The little AJ unit makes a series of electronic sounds that only another robot could understand, most of which sound decidedly rude.

    DEEPIO
    There'll be no escape for the Princess this time, I hope she has third party on the ship.

    Ajay continues making beeping sounds, you can just feel the sarcasm. Tension mounts as loud metallic latches clank and the scream of heavy equipment are heard moving around the outside hull of the ship.

    DEEPIO
    What's that? Was that the wing mirror?

    3. EXT. SPACECRAFT IN SPACE, OOOOH LOOKY AT THE PRETTY EFFECTS.

    The Imperial Tortilla-Chip craft has easily overtaken the Rebel Blockade Runner (Maybe they should try sounding less conspicuous. 'Friendly Taxi of the Stars' might work). The smaller Rebel ship is being drawn into the underside dock of the giant Imperial starship.

    4. INT. REBEL BLOCKADE RUNNER, BESIDE THE EMERGENCY EXIT.

    The nervous Rebel troopers aim their weapons, surely, they have the upper hand as they pwn the corridor. Suddenly a tremendous blast opens up a hole in the main passageway and a score of fearsome (can you be fearsome in plastic and lycra?) armored, spacesuited stormtroopers make their way into the smoke-filled corridor- ruining the perfect white paint job Princess Bria splashed out on only three days ago. In a few minutes the entire passageway is ablaze with laserfire and hurled insults. The deadly bolts ricochet in wild random patterns creating huge explosions and strangely only hitting the good guys. Stormtroopers scatter and duck behind storage lockers. Laserbolts hit several Rebel soldiers who give out girly screams and stagger through the smoke, holding shattered arms and faces (can you hold a shattered face?). An explosion hits near the robots.

    DEEPIO
    I should have known better than to trust the brochure...

    Ajay counters with an angry rebuttal as the battle rages around the two hapless robots.

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