The fireside

[Nannan]

This thread is for general (and occasionally pointless) discussion.

[Nannan]

I will take the honor to melt the ice in the fire.

Which sites do you visit often and what do you find inspiring about them?

As for me (in order):
LAML- I am an admin, it is my obligation and a pleasure to implement changes
FBTB- so many people and AFOLS, post once and you'll get ten replies, some simply marvelous.
Google- the one stop for everything.
Dictionary.com- nothing more refreshing than to learn a new word.
B-Shelf- always something new and inspiring to see.

RhymeZone- brevity is the soul of wit. Speak fluently, and you'll speak concisely.
MOCpages- the incarnation of what the eye perceives on B-shelf. Now the mind can get a taste too.
IMDb- the biggest movie database: for boring weekend nights.

In today's busy world, I am a rather simplistic guy, a regular visitor to only 5 sites, yet I'm most satisfied.

[TheQ]

Hmm.. Sites that I visit regularly.. This is gonna be long list but here we go:

Daily

• LAML forums - Naturally, being a webmaster (althought I tend to leave the forum side to Nannan and Jamit)
  
• SW:TOW - A Star Wars themed Total conversion to old game called Freelancer. I have a reasonable position in the Rebel Alliance so I need to check forums every day.
  
• MOCPages - I rarely spend time at the B-Shelf but I wonder in MOCPages often. Althought I must say that the current status of it is rather rough. All the greatest are now in other places...
  
• LUGNET - I always check the LUGNET when I am in the net. I don't wander around so much, just check the hotspots and perhaps look if there is anything new in Space or Build/Mecha -sections
  

Weekly

• Zemi.net - Design vise my favorite website in the whole Web. I come here to see the hot news and new SHIPs.
  
• Classic-Space Forums - Interesting place where one can meet all the best builders out there. I have been hoping that some day I will join that party too.
  
• Classic-Space Concept Art - One of the best places to look for inspiration. Sadly, it is hard to notice if there is anything new in the site..
  
• Flickr - If you have been watching the AFOL community, you can see that quite a number now have their MOCs in the Flickr. I don't know exactly how it is used, but it seems iinteresting. Plus it is always nice to see some views about how the masters make their MOCs.
  

-Q, "Mladen's website.. Hmm.."

[CrustaceanFreak]

Saber Scorpion's Forums: As a long-time member there and an Elite there, I'm failry familiar with all good members there, and some of the bad ones. It's a nice little community with my interests.

LAML: Nice little community with a lot of kind members and just about no "n00bs".

Classic Space Forums: Although some of the AFOLs there are kinda stuck-up and rude to anyone under the age of 18, there are still a lot of nice guys there. It's great to see what all the masters are working on in the Spacewerks forum.

Albinoblacksheep: Hilarious and random flash animations hosted by a funny webmaster. Has just about every good flash aimation on the web.

Brickshelf: Although now overrun by crappy Bionicle "MOCs", it's somewhat good to look out for good MOCs ever one in a while. Then go on a wild goose chase tracking down a forum thread or MOCPage about it.

Halo.Bungie.Org: A great site in the bungie.org webring dedicated to daily Halo updates. And the home of the 117 comics.

Google: Awesome, and fairly organized websearch site. Has several good services, like GMail and GTalk.

Wikipedia: The Online Encyclopedia. Mostly for when I'm bored, but also used as a good reference source for current events.


I'm probably missing a bunch. But those are the main sites I visit daily or weekly.

[Paddy <3 Morphosis]

Boards.theforce.net - the biggest SW forums on the internet, IIRC. I don't go there to talk about SW, though. I go there because the rules are far more lax at the community (the world-famous JCC), and I can get away with really raunchy comedy... until the mods find it and deem it too offensive.

FBTB.net - the forums. close knit group for when the crazy atmosphere of the JCC is just a bit too much.

Gmail - nothing like checking the ol' gmail.

Google.com - for whatever.

LAML - I can't seem to log in on my mac, and I don't want to create another account

[Nannan]

padawan716 said:

I go there because the rules are far more lax at the community (the world-famous JCC), and I can get away with really raunchy comedy... until the mods find it and deem it too offensive.

What a concept! I've already experienced some tight rules at FBTB. Here's my complaints:

no delete post option
no post counts
worst of all- contest entries cannot be amended? WTF?

[Jamit]

LAML - If you don't know why then CrustaceanFreak's claim about almost no "n00bs" is wrong.

Brickshelf - The only reason I'm here is to fulfill my life three year old dream of becoming the top viewed gallery.

Google - When in need, Google it!

NHL - Live radio and highlights of the best game ever. What more do you want?

Wikipedia - When Google only turns up sites with spyware, I know were to turn

NFL - Stats, yum

[Nannan]

No "n00bs", that a very insightful statement from my ephemeral life at a few large forums such as Newgounds, Proboards support, and now FBTB.

As proven by time, n00bs cannot survive at small communities like LAML, their only chance is to thrive in the din of megaforums.

[Nannan]

Mission Objective: raid the nearest TRU of best deals on LEGO.

Initiation Time: 1800, 12 hours after store opening on the day after Thanksgiving.

Parking space available: 20%

Success probability: low

Weapons and Equipment: fully-charged credit card, $10 gift grenade, price indicator stations (located inside TRU).

Mission brief:

Citadel of Orlan:
Price: $25
Discounted: 50%
Location: 2nd shelf
Items left: 0

X-wing:
Price: $25
Discounted: 50%
Location: 3rd shelf
Items left: 0

Ogel's mountain fortress:
Price: unmarked
Discounted: N/A
Location: storage shelf
Items left: 2
Indicator price: $20
Discounted: 71.4%

Total price paid: $33.14
Items aquired: (2) MISB Ogel mountain fortresses

Mission status: completed

[back2murder]

lol i go to:

www.laml.proboards3.com it's just an awesome site and so manny nice people
www.fbtb.net i cant become a member but it stil is fun to watch all the cool creations
www.j3di.net my clan from the star wars game Jedi Knight 2
www.brickshelf.com so manny good ideas
www.vahki-forums.tk my own site. that's why i like it lol
www.bzpower.com the best bionicle news. so i just have to see it

[Jamit]

Nannan, you got some good deals there. But then again, your talking about US Dollers.

[Steven329]

MOCpages: If T what to rate a good MOC, I will be there.

B-shelf: Browsing makes MOCs even better.

LAML: Nice people, Great community.

NLN: A LEGO forum that talks about LEGO system.

Google: Try Google for searching the web.

Oracle of Hyrule: A forum about Zelda games.

[dyip_90]

Brickshelf: good place to look for MOCs
FBTB:good forum
LAML:duh...
CPTDB:Place to talk about transit.
M2K2 (Metroid 2002):Good place to exploit glitches and see speed runs of Metroid games.
dict.die: My internet dictionary.

[TheQ]

Okay, looks like most of the members have answered so I ask another question:

What kind of music you listen when you are building?

I personnally listen these:

- System of A Down (good for "fast ships", since the band packes a punch)
- Star Wars soundtrack (Space)
- Heavy Rock ballads (I have couple of them and I usually play them when I am building medieval stuff)
- Techno (for mechas and spaceness)
- Soundtracks of Alien movies and Predator (the Predator theme is very good "stealthy" song)

That should be the main bulk. Also, some other bands like Korn, Beastie Boys and other kind of bands are listened..

-Q

[dyip_90]

I don't listen to music as I build.

[CrustaceanFreak]

I listen to The Matrix: Revolutions soundtrack, the Halo Soundtrack, Jazz, and Weird Al Yankovic. However, the types of music I listen don't really affect my construction.

I more often watch movies while I build.

[Steven329]

I listen to Homeground or offspring while I build.

[RSP]

I know I'm late with this but I go to:
LAML
Airsoftcore.com
World.guns.ru [Russian site with perfect data on many small arms, great for replicas]
And NLN.

[Jamit]

Weird Al Yankovic

You got to love him. "Living in an Amish paradise..."

I sometimes listen to FM Static when building. But most of the time I just listen to a NHL Game (like I am now).

[J1A3L5]

Okay I'm a bit late on this one but...

Daily, I visit many site:
-LAML
-Classic-Castle
-MOCpages
-Brickshelf
-Bricklink
-LUGNET
-Peeron
-PirateBricks
-VLC
-Ebay
-Megadeth.com
-Probably many more I can't think of.

Weekly, the list is massive. Remember, not all these sites are really visiting so much as checking for any new news...so sometimes a visit totals just a few seconds if there is none.

Weekly,
-Brickset
-Geekbrick
-Classic-Space
-LEGO.com
-S@H
-Herzeleid
-Vault Of Deth
-Tons more...




Okay, so music? Nothing specific, other than the same music I listen to anywhere else. Pure Metal!

Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Rammstein, Trivium, In Flames, As I Lay Dying, Stone Sour, and many, many more!

Metal's King back then, and still is this today, others imitate or challenge, but it never goes away!

-John "J1A3L5" Langrish.