Category: Geeks r Us
Hello all,
I just wanted to let you all know that a new web site has been started for blindies. It's just a fun place to hang out and waste time, etc. The URL to the site is http://www.luv2bablyndi.net (it's actually pronounced love to be a blindy), lol! The site is actually run by both my girlfriend and I, and she was the one who came up with a creative way of spelling it. Of course, you do not have to be a blindy to join in the fun; it was just a creative name for the site address. Currently, the site has a journal system, an interactive stories section, message boards like these, a huge music library (streaming only, no downloading because of certain legal restrictions), and you can even sign up for a free POP3 / SMTP / Webmail e-mail account on the site! If you plan on using the journal, you just have to register and start posting entries; it is a shared journal that everyone can poor out their feelings in. You are welcome to use the journal and message boards to talk about anything you wish, as long as there is no hurting others. The journal allows you to post private, password-protected, or public entries. If you plan on using the music library, everytime you log-in, please give the system a minute or two to send the page to your web browser; everytime someone logs in, the system must search our entire music database to see what files are available. During this process, if you read the status line in internet explorer, you will get an "opening page" message. Wait until the status line says "done" before starting to make use of the music library. We are still working on other features to add to the site, so please bear with us. If a link doesn't work, it means we're in the process of working on that particular item. Also, if you do stop by, please take a few seconds to fill out my gf's guestbook; this will easily let us know that we are getting some traffic. Also, along with the e-mail account you get on our site, you have access to our instant messaging service. If you want to try it out, after signing up for an e-mail account with us, sign-in to the webmail system and click on the options link. There you will see a link that says "download ComAgent". This is the instant messaging client we use. The installer file that you download is specifically customized for your e-mail account, so all you need to do is install the ComAgent software and tell it what your e-mail account password is on our server. If anyone is willing to try writing scripts for JAWS to work more effectively with ComAgent, that would be cool. Check the site out and let us know what you think. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to e-mail me at BubblyWubblyHindu@luv2bablyndi.net. Have fun!
Chet
Hey I love the idea of many places for blind people to congragate but I can't seem to get into your site. I get the message website found waiting for reply. It just sits there I understand your explanation but it sits for longer then just a minute. I have DSL. I wonder how long it would take for someone with dialup?
D-
I can't get to it...it's loading and it took about five mins and it still isn't moving...mabe there's a prob with the conection or something? but I love the idea.
I just selected it and pasted it in my browser, and I signed up on it and made my first post.
wonderwoman
Well this is strange, last night I got to it fine and signed up, but now I'm having trouble. Just like with Alison and dragonfire, it just sits there.
wonderwoman
Hello all,
Sorry for the problems you all have been having; the site was temporarily unavailable because we had to fix a serious problem with one of our databases on the server. The problem has just been fixed, finally, and from now on you shouldn't have any trouble getting in. The site is functioning normally again. If any of you signed up on the forums, none of your posts were lost, and if you have an e-mail account with us, all of your mail is still there. We have a mail backup service in place, so if someone ever tries to send you an e-mail while the server is down, the mail will still get to you; it does not bounce back to the sender. The message will only bounce back if our servers are down for ten days, which won't happen, of course, unless there is a very serious problem or because of a power-outage, both of which are extremely rare. Let me know if you all still have trouble getting in; it works fine on my end. Have fun!
Thanks,
Chet
One thing I forgot to mension in my last post: The only portion of the site that requires you to wait about 40 seconds to a minute to load is the music library -- this is because of the large amount of music we have available for streaming. All other portions of the site should load instantaneously, even on dial-up connections. We have designed the site so that users with all types of internet connections can make use of it. Some users have reported problems with streaming music on a dial-up connection. If you experience this, bear with us, as we are adding a feature to the system where you can choose the bitrate at which you would like to stream.
Thanks,
Chet
Another website for the blind and visually impaired is my site that I have had up for a while now. http://blindvi.no-ip.com it is mainly a informal website, we have a chat program (scripts are slowly being made for it.) and a message board. Both items are free to use so hope you also stop on by and check my site out as I enjoyed checking the many websites out for the blind.
Hi Chet,
thanks for the info. I believe I was the first one to sign up. I didn't sign up for the web based email, because I just use my email program for that, but I did sign up andposted an intro on the getting to know you board.
wonderwoman
This site sounds awesome! I'm going to check it out ASAP! I love communities like The Zone. I'm going to have to find more. Anyone know of any others? But thsi site sounds totally awesome! Keep it going! Caitlin
Hi wonderwoman,
Just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to, you could also use your e-mail program with our e-mail system, since it is also POP3 / SMTP / IMAP based. oh, and Blindvi, I don't know if you got my e-mail from yesterday, but I saw your message in our guestbook, and yes, you are more than welcome to link to the site; we want to promote it as much as possible, so linking to us would be great. Anyone else who has a web site and wants to link to us is also welcome to do so. Okay, talk to you peeps later.
Chet
There's a huge delay in opening the site. I was wondering if maybe you could move your library to another source then link it up to your primary site?
I just tried to get in a few minutes ago, but it wouldn't come up again. Thanks chet about the email service, but I don't know the benefit in it for me, I find it simpler just to have one email adress, but thanks.
wonderwoman
WW I too couldn't get in. So I tried to get to the forums and still I couldn't get to that either. I need to know if this site (the one listed above) is a active website before I link it up to the blindvi.no-ip.com website.
Hi Jessica,
Well it was working fine again a few minutes ago, so I don't know if it's an on again off again thing or not. So far, posts are scarce, I suspect it may be because it's brand new.
wonderwoman
I'll check it out WW in a bit. Hopefully it's up and running.
Ok, Jessica, I expect that with the sight being new, there are a few bugs that have to be worked out.
wonderwoman
Hi! I joined this site, and it rocks! I love it. I dunno if you all saw my post on the forems or my guestbook but yeah. I joined and I love it and maybe I'll get an E-Mail address just cuz I love the site name and it'd be fun to have, if it wouldn't be any trouble to you all. I'd use it with outlook Express. Anyway everyoen go join this site. It's th win! Caitlin
Hey Caitlin,
glad you love the site! Yes, you are most welcome to create an e-mail address with us if you wish. Just one note for anyone having problems sending mail through our servers using a mail program such as Outlook or Outlook Express, you need to enable SMTP authentication in your mail client, otherwise sending of mail will fail. We have implemented this feature for security purposes. If any of you need help setting this up, feel free to e-mail or PM me, or simply reply here.
Chet
Hi Blindvi and others,
There should no longer be a delay in opening our music library. We have organized everything nicely into folders and reorganized the database so it loads instantly now.
Chet
Nifty! i'll stop by today and check out the new stuff and maybe do an E-Mail address! Thank you for yet another wonderful site. I'll promote it as much as I can! Ever thought of getting a Ventrilo server for it? That might be nice.
Hello abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv,
You must understand that we do not allow downloading of our music files because we would definitely be violating copyright laws, which, as you probably already know, is illegal. I do not want to get myself, my gf, or anyone else in trouble for violating such laws, and therefore the best we can do to abide by the legal restrictions is to allow users to stream music from our servers. As much as we would like to allow downloading by our users, I think it is better to stay on the safe side of things. Glad that Caitlan, as well as a few others like it so far.
Chet
Caitlin, I think that adding a Ventrilo server sounds cool. I'll talk to my gf about it since all the servers are running on her computer. If we do it, I'll definitely post an announcement here. Thanks for the suggestion.
Chet
hey all, how long did it take you to get your reply to your email address from registering on the site? I have heard from a few tht they never got the reply. I also haven't and it's been a while! smile-angel
Yeah I totally agree with Cheat. I never download music cuz it's illegal and i'm scared of getting into trouble. Plus i don't need to, because I'm picky about my music and I can afford to buy any CD's I want. I think teh artists deserve the money they earn for working hard to make thier music. But this is for the cracks and pirating topic I began! lol. As for the Ventrilo server, 'm dyign to see that come up! It will rock. And BubblyWubbly, for you and your GF, thsi site totally rules and I love it and don't listen to old Alphabet Soup! He disses every one and every thing. Lol. As for E-Mail on the site, Angel77, I haven't signed up for it yet. But when I do I'll post about it lol! Take care all! Caitlin
Hey Angel77, which portion of the site did you register on? I show you registered on the journal just fine. I have also disabled account activation requirements on the forums to make it just a bit easier and faster for folks to register, so if activating your account is what you had trouble with, you can register again with no problems. That's weird though, you should have received a reply immediately after signing up.
Chet
yeah, when i signed up it said it would email me and i never got anything. I just resigned up today on the journal. thanks, i will try. smile-angel
yeah, when i signed up it said it would email me and i never got anything. I just resigned up today on the journal. thanks, i will try. smile-angel
ok. I signed up for the story thing, and i want to sign up for the boards...
I've signed up for the boards but maybe I'll sign up for the Journal, Story Thing and-or E-Mail. That'd be nifty.
ok, now I've also signed up for the journal, but I don't know what to write in it!
o I forgot, i also signed up for e-mail, my e-mail's either crazyblindperson or wierdblindperson. and of course it's at luv2bablyndi.net
Lol Alison you can't remember what it is? That's funny ahahaha lol. Yeah I dont' know what to write in the journal either, or in the stories section...Yet...Lol. And I still want an E-Mail thingy.
Even though I already have a ton of E-Mail addresses.
I posted in the stories thing, I posted my guide dog life, you've seen it on my website?
Oh yeah I love that story! Maybe I could post Crystal or something. Is thee a limit to how long each thingy can be, like, do you ahve to break it into chapters? I'm just trying ot decide if I shoudl or shouldnt' sign up.
Hey Caitlan,
No, there is no limit to what you can put in the stories section, and no, you do not have to break it up into chapters if you do not want to.
Chet
Awesome Chet!!! I'll definitely sign up and put some of my stuff on, at some point then.
Hi all,
For those of you who are interested, we have made a few changes to my gf's site at luv2bablyndi.net over the past couple of days. The forums system now has a point system integrated into it, so you can earn points for using the forums. Also, a pet game has been added to the forum system. More uses for the points will be coming soon too. Users' profiles now have a gender field, and the system now tells you if someone's birthday is today or is coming up within the next week. Check it out if you want.
Chet
Awesomeness! Will definitely check this out. Rock on thsi site is the bestist!
Hi Chet, do you plan on adding a quick note feature? I've only joined the boards so far, since there is a writers pad on the boards, I don't know what the difference is in that, and signing up for the stories, and anyway, all the ones on the site so far are all from the zone, so everyone has already read my blind halucins story, and my 3 poems.
wonderwoman
Ooh Quicknotes woudl be fun to have!
yes, from the way chet runs his sight, I think I could use public quicknotes on there, and be comfortable with it.
wonderwoman
That would be awesome to have quicknote convos with you again WW. Heheh.
thanks Caitlin, it would be nice to have quicknotes again with you also, maybe it'll happen some time.
wonderwoman
I certainly do hope so. Quicknotes are great fun, if you get into it and there's some good peopel to talk to! Hehehe.
I tried out the site, and i had to do some playing around with the volume on my pc b/c of the music on the home page. I like it, just have to figure out how i can hear jaws and lower the music volume. What is that song BTW? So, after doing some playing w/the volume, i went back, and it says "cannot find server." So, will be anxious to try it out! Especially if I get my BrailleNote upgraded. The newest version of KeySoft supports wireless connectivity. So, having a free pop3 server would be the bomb!!! Keep up the work!
The song is Cannon in D, I looove it hehehehe! Also Katie, if you wanna hear Jaws and want to turn th song off justh it escape. I dunno how to turn it down thogu hsorry! Hope this helps! Caitlin
Hey all,
Sorry I haven't replied to your questions in a while; we've been busy fixing some things on our site. We are still working on trying to implement a Quick Notes feature, but it's not ready yet -- we still have quite a bit of testing to do. We've been busy fixing some problems that people have been having with our e-mail servers, and I'm proud to say that we've fixed all of the problems we've found ourselves and heard about from other individuals, so anyone can now sign-up for an e-mail address at luv2bablyndi.net and send mail without encountering problems. And WW, to answer your question, the stories section is mainly for people posting big stories and wanting people to add to them later, and the Writer's Block on the boards is a place for small things like poetry, short stories, etc.
For those of you who would like to turn off the music file that plays when you visit the front page of the site, just press escape once it starts playing. We will hopefully have a Ventrilo server running soon as well.
Chet
hmmm: you sed about linking up to it, what about a sort of affilliate program?
i mean, after say 100 people visit the site from your link, a part off the site that is just for affilliates now becomes useable, more features in return for more visits? b3n.
Hi Chet and All! I've signed up for the Journal, E-Mail and Music sections of the site now. Pretty cool!
thanks chet, well so far, everyone who has posted to luv2bablyndi is on the zone here, so they've already read my poems and my blind halucinations story. It's too long to be a short story, about 102 braille pages, so it's somewhere between a short story and a novel, but not long enough to be a novel.
wonderwoman
Ya ... I hope and trust that we'll get some new non-zone posters on Luv2bablyndi ... how else have you been pumping this Chet? Maybe y'oughta join some mailing lists and pump i there...
Hi all,
For those of you who are interested, we now have a Ventrilo server running on our domain! It supports a maximum of 8 users at once. To connect, just go to the front page of our web site (http://www.luv2bablyndi.net) and click the link that says "connect to Ventrilo voice chat server", and there ya go. For those of you who would like to connect manually using the Ventrilo client, the host name is luv2bablyndi.net, the port is 3784 (the standard Ventrilo port), and the server password is simply luv2bablyndi.net
Hope you all enjoy this new addition to the site.
Chet
Hi Chet,
Will the Ventrilo server work only for people with broadband? Or will dialup modem users like myself be able to access the server?
Blake