She's ALIVE!

Daria and Jane are all dressed up and ready for National Frankenstein Day, and they've even given us a bonus Igor as well! If any pedants get huffy about Jane technically being Frankenstein's monster rather than Frankenstein himself, then just remind them that the real Frankenstein is the friends we made along the way!

I would suggest that everyone celebrate National Internet Day, but I suppose you already are. If not, then how the heck are you even reading this right now?

In honor of National Cat Day, I hope that Jake finally gets that pet cat that he's always wanted, in spite of his father's attitude. Unless, of course, his unfortunate run-in with Mr. Whiskers put him off the feline critters entirely.

Fandom News!

• R.I.P., June Lockhart.


• janendaria4life posted a new Iron Chef: Daria's Stolen Notebook.

There's No Way This Will End Well

Jake's getting a little too enthusiastic about National Cat Day, and I think Mr. Whiskers is about to teach him the error of his ways. To all the cat lovers out there, please enjoy this day responsibly!

Today is also the anniversary of a major milestone for the internet in 1969, which is very appropriate. What goes together better than cats and the internet? Nothing, that's what.

Fandom News!

• somitomi posted a new artwork thread.


• Szcz posted a new Iron Chef: Uncovered Links.

A Trillion Channels and Nothing's On....

...except great fanfiction. Stay tooned for updates.

PPMB

• The Bleakness That Lies Ahead, by Malakite (COMPLETE!): [Won't spoil it. Great angst!]
• The Curse of El Smoocho, by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): [Won't spoil this one, either.]
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 6: Beautiful, by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later when she pushed her way into his room. Her brother was lying face down on the floor.
• Sinspiration, by Vlora (Part 22): Trent seemed reluctant to reply. His hand scratched at the back of his neck. "Why do you always make me feel like an idiot?" "I could ask you the same question." "‘But you’re smart. I’m just a musician, I think with my heart and like… I dunno Daria, you make me feel like I’m always on trial."
• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Hump Day), by Greystar (COMPLETE!): This will not end well.
• Unnamed story (TAG: write a fic based on this bombing of the moon quick!), by Brandon League (COMPLETE!): "Gee, Daria, that moon really bombed," a smirking Jane Lane quipped....

"Why, someone ought to sue!" And then... someone did.

Remember the good old days of the Internet, when everyone got involved in flame wars and you could say anything about anyone and no one could do anything about it?

Those days are over.

If you operate a blog, log into chat rooms, post in message boards, or send e-mail, you are strongly advised to read this news item about a legal case in New York in which a blogger (using Blogger.com, by the way, the same megasite this blog is on) insulted a fashion model, and the judge ordered Google to turn over the blogger's IP address and e-mail address to the model's attorney, who plans to sue the blogger for defamation.

When you finish that, see some of these other views on the issue: ZDNET, CBS, Guardian. This is big. Think about this. Very, very carefully. People have been insulting each other on the Internet for well over a decade.

And now the gateway to hell has been opened. The lawyers are coming out.

What do you think will happen next, now that a legal precedent has been established for defamation on the 'net? I think I missed my calling, that's what. Internet law. I could have been a billionaire by now. Good thing I made up my mind early on to be nice here.

Will this have any effect on Daria fandom? That depends. Do you engage in flame wars on any Daria-related message board? This might be a good time to call it quits and keep disagreements to private mail and e-mail, or just ignore everyone you think is an idiot.

Wishing you the best in court,
TAG


P.S.I was only kidding about the connection between lawyers and hell. You do understand that, right? It was meant to be humorous and not real or an insult or anything. I like lawyers. Some of my best friends were eaten by lawyers.

A Significant Day for the Computer Age, Indeed

Sit back in your computer chair for a moment, ignoring the squeaky sounds, and cogitate on the following importance of this date.

141 years ago today, a man named Christopher Latham Sholes was granted a patent by the U.S. government for inventing a thing he called a "Type-Writer." Others had attempted this, but he put everything together and got it right. He went on a few years later to invent the QWERTY keyboard you are probably using right now.

97 years ago today, a man named Alan Turing was born. He is nowadays regarded by many as the father of computer science. Time magazine said of him in 1999: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine."

66 years ago today, a man was born named Vint Cerf. He is presented regarded by many as the father of the (capital I) Internet. He was involved in the creation of ARPANet, the Internet's predecessor, and now works for Google.

Finally, 45 years ago, Joss Whedon was born, who later went on to create Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which in time became one of the favorite, if not THE the favorite, TV show of Quinn Morgendorffer, per the episode "Speedtrapped." He also gave us the fandom term "Jossed," which has no relevance to Daria fandom now that the show is over.

What does this mean? It means.... um, wait, I went too far. Skip the part about Joss Whedon. Strike it out.

What it means is that today is VERY IMPORTANT in the history of the very item you are staring at right now. I mean the whole computer, not just the monitor. VERY IMPORTANT. Don't forget that.

Today is also the 83rd anniversary of the very first SAT test as we know it, which gave us the P-STAT that caused some distress among the Fashion Club in Is It Fall Yet? Is that cool or what?

That's all I had. Enjoy.

One J at a Time, On Time?

A few days ago I somehow got the idea that the anniversary of "The Story of D" had just come and gone. Except that I was two months off. That happened on March 19th, not May 19th. Sorry.

"One J at a Time" (and I have checked this twice now) was broadcast eight years ago tonight. Must be the flu and the frustration of trying to post on PPMB getting me all screwed up.

More shortly. Interesting that Tom bought Daria a rare book from the Internet. Interesting if after Daria and Tom broke up, she got something else from him that he ordered off the Internet, either before or after the breakup. Very interesting.

PPMB

• Don't Bet on It, Episode V: The Final Chapter. Srsly. by Lawndale Lurker (COMPLETE!): “Jane, be reasonable. I know a little about your financial situation, remember. Your mortgage is due. Your cupboard is bare. The wolf is at the door. The owl is on the roof. You're about one heavy knock on the door away from sleeping under the railroad overpass with the winos. Or becoming your mortgageholder's kept woman. You can't afford to keep going double or nothing like this."

Happy Birthday to TEH INNERNTZ!!!!1111111!!!!!

Today, according to some mythologies, is the 39th birthday of the Internet. The Internet's birth cry sounded like this.

This day is also the 60th birthday of the World Health Organization (WHO), making it World Health Day. Don't get sick, damn it.

More soon, including a picture illustrating the importance of the Internet (no porn) and maybe something about Daria.

LATE ADD: Here's Upchuck in an updated scene from Tron. Not really Internetish, but the best I could do. Happy Birthday, Big I.

Enjoy the 'net.

March Madness Madly Marches

I think I wrote something about basketball a few days ago, but I can't be bothered to go back and look. I mean, who cares, it's just a game. We have Daria to talk about.

One of the nice things about the Internet (which is spelled with a capital I by all literate, sophisticated, civilized adults who can properly spell) is the appearance of encyclopedia websites like Wikipedia that anyone can edit, even complete doofuses who spell Internet with a lower-case i. Daria fan sites and informational entries are no exception. Anyone can adopt a webpage about a favored topic and wax eloquent about it to the exclusion of all else, and if there was ever a topic worth waxing about, it is Daria.

We have the beloved DariaWiki, of course, but it never hurts to have more, more, MORE. Below are some adoptable webpages concerning Our Heroine (Jane Lane) and her sidekick Daria Morgendorffer. I have no idea exactly how adoptable (and adaptable) these are, but some note that you can add links, pictures, essays, message-board posts, and whatnot to them, even correcting descriptive information and adding your own. It's worth a try, and if you have some free time over lunch or after work to fix things the way you like them to be fixed, give it a shot.

But why do this, you ask? Because these links keep coming up on search engines, that's why. Any person researching Daria will always find one or more of them. And the more people we co-opt into supporting the DVDaria campaign, the better. True? Be an activist and go for it.

Note: This is the first installment of adoptable pages. There are quite a few of them out there.

• Animated Lust
• Cassiopedia
• Classic TV Hits
• Daria Fan Club (I've added some things to this already, but please join in)
• DooYoo (mostly reviews, maybe other stuff possible)
• SideReel

Take your pick. As I said, more to come.

P.S. If you want to use some of the Daria pictures from this blog, feel free. I messed with a few of them to improve quality when possible, or to make a point (Quinn with pi on her shirt, for instance). Use 'em if you like 'em.

Can Things Get Any Worse?

Now PPMB has gone down, sort of. The pages won't load properly and it is slow beyond belief. Well, boogers. Before the crash, the following updates were logged. Let's hope things ease up soon so we can go about business as usual.

PPMB

• And All That We've Won, by The Sidhe (Part 2): Daria is talking to dead people, but things could be worse.
• Earthfall, by legendeld (Episode 2, Part 3): Quinn's girlfriend has green blood, but things could be worse.
• Not-Quite-Forever Girl, by by thatLONERchick (COMPLETED!): Jane tells a story to a stranger, but things could be worse. Well, maybe not.
• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 12): Jake makes dinner, but things could be worse. Not.
  
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): A madman prepares to destroy the earth, but things . . . uh-oh.
• Those Who Can, by Ranger Throne (Part 1): The famous Daria/Star Wars saga continues! Jane Lane is missing, but Daria and Veronica are on the hunt.
• The 1,001 Deaths of Tom Sloane (continued): This is so cruel. Please let it get worse.

We also have word from Erin Mills that Free Radio Lawndale is open again for business. I wasn't around in the earlier days of the fandom and missed them. These stories must have been quite popular. I'm glad to see them for the first time, much big fun!

Except for the PPMB/SFMB issue. I'll go check them again.

SOME TIME LATER: SFMB still down, PPMB wonky, sometimes okay and sometimes loads all wrong, text off to the right side in high columns. Doncha just love high technology?

Anyway, a few more updates. Legendeld is a writing machine, I've gotta say.

PPMB

• Avalon, by legendeld (Part 1): Quinn had an accident. Now she's different, and it's about to change everything.
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (Part 11): Privacy issues for everyone.
  
• My Sons, by legendeld (Parts 1 and 2): Jake has trouble explaining an old bet. Everyone else has trouble believing this is not a nightmare.
• Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Dawn of a New Horror: Title says all, as usual.
  

FF.net

• Night of the Living Furniture, by Smileyfax: If you thought Evil Tom could not possibly be made more evil, you were wrong. Nasty story, very graphic. Brace yourself doubly.

Moar later when the muse strikes (ouch!).

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

SFMB is giving me one of those error readings that looks like:

General Error

SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]

Table 'p' is marked as crashed and should be repaired [1194]

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists.

So, no SFMB for now. PPMB is working, but very slow.

Update soon. Someone who went to Dariacon Orlando 2008 should update the aftermath on the Dariacon Wiki. With pictures! Or at least links to pictures.

Making the Most of the Medium

It took me a long time to understand even part of the full range of things you can do on the Internet, and every day brings some new lesson or trick I can try out, mostly with this blog. It is very different from the old days when I worked as an editor for a print magazine.

For one thing, I can fix my mistakes online as fast as I notice them. If I create a blog entry and discover later I've misspelled something, I can go back in and fix it. If I don't like the look of the blog, I fix it. If I want to use a different picture than the one I started with, I fix it. You can't go back and fix a magazine article or a short story in an anthology if you notice you made a mistake. You have to publish an erratum later and look silly to the whole readership.

I credit Kara Wild with getting me to think about putting all my fanfiction online in my own website, which was a godsend for me since I frequently re-edited my stories and sent them back to websites that had already posted the earlier, uncorrected versions. This perfectionist habit drove many website owners nuts. With my own site, however, everyone could link to each story I did and I could make all the changes to them I wanted, and the changes would take effect immediately. Webmasters could thus reduce their bandwidth, and I could also track information on my stories: which stories were most popular, which countries were most interested in reading my stuff, etc. And, best of all, I could work at my own pace toward my own deadlines.

This is such a different medium from paper hard copy, it is hard to believe sometimes. I do miss the old days on the magazine staff, but I confess this is a lot more fun to work with. One of my resolutions for 2008 is to make this blog the most useful and effective resource for Daria fans ever created, as well as one of the most enjoyable, which is a lot to ask for but I hope no one will hold it against me if I try. It could be a hoot. Happy New Year to you and yours.

High-School Journalism at Its Finest

What the heck is going on here? I cannot believe they said Anna Nicole Smith was ranked higher on the 2007 scandal scale than Britney Spears. That is such a crock. I'll never watch Entertainment Tonight again. What a load of bull. Where do they get off saying . . . oh, jeez, wrong blog! Sorry!

Uh, yeah, the Lawndale Lowdown, that's our topic. Right, here's the lowdown on the Lowdown. Ever since Lawndale High's school newspaper was introduced in "Quinn the Brain," with Brittany Taylor one of its columnists per The Daria Diaries, the paper has found a nice little niche for itself in fanfic as a constant source of trouble. In Canadibrit's "Grating Expectations," Thomas's "The Fascist Club," Richard Lobinske's John Lane series, Peter Guerin's "Lukewarm Metal," and Kara Wild's "Breaking the Mold" (plus later stories in her Driven Wild Universe), the Lowdown offers plenty of opportunity for students to get themselves into hot water with Ms. Li and their classmates, if not the legal system as well.

High-school newspapers are interesting entities. There is an interesting website for the National Scholastic Press Association on "Trends in High School Media" that details some of the controversies in which student newspapers become embroiled. This is not to mention the perilous path tread by students running an underground newspaper, as happens in Wild's DWU. But is this issue now passé with the rise of the Internet? Why print controversial things in the school paper when you can spam the entire planet with your views about the school administration and the mystery meat in your lunch on your own website?

A high-school newspaper will always be important. It's nice to have something you can read right in your hands that doesn't need batteries or a power cord to operate. However, Daria appeared right on the cusp of a large number of changes in the school system and society in general; the Internet's full impact was barely addressed. If the show had been made today, Quinn's essay in "Quinn the Brain" would have been published on the school's website for everyone on Earth to see. (Apparently the MTV Daria pages once made reference to there being a school website, but that material has been lost.) What would Quinn have thought then? Would Daria have blogged her opinions about school? Would Jane have posted her artwork at deviantART.com? Changes, changes, changes . . .