Horribly sorry to hear of your loss Props. I hadn't known you were going to college in that area. As for the damage of the general area, I have a slight look in to the nightmare through my Uncle, who lives there. Not only is there mayhem due to the storm itself, but also due to people commiting crimes during the time of "lawlessness". It is not too far off from an anarchy down there, and I hear it is spreading. Any building intact that may have things of worth in it is being looted. This catastrophe is not only effecting your area, but also the entire nation (though obviously, in a much lesser sense). Prices for just about everything (especially gasoline) are flying sky high. People are becoming quite agitated due to this... including my parents. All I can say right now is, "Thank God I don't have a car." Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, and am quite thankful you came out of that monster alright.


Anyway... this is my first post on my new computer. I JUST finished setting it up (it is 3:17 A.M.). Of course, I mean the preliminary set up, as in... none of my old files are installed just yet. It took me the entire day to burn all of my important files, though that was mostly because my older computer moved SO slowly. This computer is pretty much better in EVERY way, so it should be a little faster getting things on it than it was to get things off the old one. I probably won't be ready to do any work for a little while though, so don't expect me to be throwing out the new version of the petition for a little while.

Anyway... see you around. Now then... where'd I put all of those back up disks... *...yawn...*

Yeah I heard about all of that too Apoc. I was just trying to post something before Prop left, because he was editing his message. But yeah Prop, you can't show the full extent of the damage with just pictures.

Oh my God, Prop. You have my deepest sympathies. It's not right that something so horrible should happen to you, of all people.

I'm still in shock over Katrina. They're saying she was the most devestating hurricane in recorded history -- worse than Andrew. And from what I've seen, I believe it. I just can't believe New Orleans is gone...Mardi Gras will never be the same again...

Yeah, Apoc, I've heard of the gas problem. A good chunk of the oil refineries that turn our imported oil into gasolene have been wiped out, not to mention that the oil pipelines that used to run in and out of Louisiana aren't functioning any more because of the lack of electricity. What all of this means basically is that the gas stations are running out of fuel, so the prices for gas are becoming abysmally high. I heard that we'll probably have to pay $3.00 per gallon by the end of the week, and $4.00 per gallon by the end of the month. If you have an electric-motor vehicle, use it. (Luckily, I don't have a car either, Apoc, so I'm safe for the moment. )

On the bright side, this incident will most likely serve as the kick in the pants needed to make Congress stop pandering to the oil companies, and instead think up some energy alternatives.

Wait a second, something just occured to me. If Prop's possessions were destroyed, how did he get online to make those two posts? Does he carry a laptop?

"Pete the Propogator", hee...

I saved my laptop and a few shorts and shirts. And a Pillow.

...Hmmmm... I don't really know how I should put this...

I suppose when one of you mentioned something concerning problems reinstalling my old software on the new computer; you were pretty accurate. I can't get my version of Photoshop to work on the new computer (I just copied the Program File on to a disk, which often works.) Seemingly, the programmers put a smart function in... which in a basic sense, checks what computer it is on in comparison to the last one it started on. Obviously, since the new one isn't my old one... the program doesn't work. Unfortunately, I lost the install disk quite some time ago... I think someone may have accidentally thrown it out. I might be able to get a copy off of a friend of mine, but that won't be possible until school starts... which would be the seventh. Not good, obviously. Very ironic that now that I have a nice MODERN computer capable of using photoshop effectively, it won't work for me. *sigh...* Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Sorry guys, it seems someone might want to consider making that preliminary version of the petition for me; the only other choice is to wait... and I believe we are on some sort of deadline, correct?

It's a fairly soft deadline, but yeah... I have Paint Shop Pro 7, and if I know what to make (what WERE you making anyway?), I can take care of it along with the petition document... I'm just more concerned about the verbage for now.

"Padme" has been slacking in getting the document to the attorney, unfortunately. I'm thinking of asking her for his number so I can just get it to him directly. She's got too much on her plate, and keeps forgetting.

I told Jake on AIM so he knows what he is working on.

LOL. Poor Apoc. I warned you, didn't I?

Does Paint Shop Pro 7 have all the functions of Photoshop?

And Apoc, why not just buck up and use your old computer to do the Photoshopping?

I think it has enough features, Jake got cocky and said he could do it easily when he found time. lol

Actually, I can't use my old computer anymore. It now belongs to my sister, who isn't exactly living in the same general area as myself. As such, it is impossible to get access to photoshop. Not the greatest position to find myself in. Doing ANYTHING on photoshop on my old PC took quite some time ('twas very laggy), though I know for a fact it would be totally fast with this new computer. I can't do anything until I get photoshop off of one of my friends.

Hey, it wasn't me being cocky, but fading a few pictures and giving them a tint is a pretty basic thing... It doesn't take the most advanced program in the world to do it. Then just slap 'em into Word. Not a whole lot to it.

Just a question of when I'll get the time to.

I was just joking around.

You don't use emoticons, so it's tough to tell when you're joking or not.

Got the pics done, just need to slap 'em into Word.

About those pictures...

- Robo's picture doesn't seem to have much of any color added to it.
- All of the pictures might be a little too dark; you might need to lighten them up. Alot.
- This is just my opinion, but I think the purplish hue chosen for Magus is too light. It seems sort of... pinkish.


Otherwise the coloring is good, but I think a few tweaks will make it better. Afterall, if it is too dark... you won't be able to easily read the text. And... while not far off; the purple hue for Magus seems a little too pink for the great Shadow magic-user. Just trying to help.

*edit made on September 8 2005*

Just thought I would mention this. I got photoshop back. I am pretty sure Jake-A-Roonie is probably just about done by now with the petition(s), but if any other help is needed... I might be able to help over the weekend. I am in school at the moment, and while I have some homework, I should have a little time left to play around with some images.

...On other news, how is everybody handeling themselves with the return of the dreaded "school"? This year for me will be both harder and easier on various aspects. Afterall, while my Engineering class is no longer teaching new material... I STILL have that Senior Project... which shall be a nightmare. In addition, I have some of my favorite teachers this year. The problem is, they are teaching the hardest courses the school has to offer. *sigh...* Good things can not come without their horrific consequences.

Apoc, why don't you just go ahead and make your own versions of the petition's background images? I liked the one you did with Magus (the fading on it was just perfect), and you'd probably save Jake the trouble of doing it himself (he's a very busy guy, I'm sure he'd appreciate it). I agree with you that Jake's images are too vivid in hue -- they need to be lightened up, and you've already amply demonstrated your ability to do that with Photoshop. So, please do so if you don't mind.

As for Magus's color -- yeah, I can understand how you'd think that, you'd probably prefer a more indigo-ish hue than a violet one, right? But the problem is, if you make his color too dark, it would be difficult to read black text on it. So it's most likely that the more blueish and less reddish that you make the purple color, the more you'll have to fade it out to make the text readable.

It would be funny as hell if we did make Magus's color pink, though. We'd be able to laugh our asses off just before we get clubbed to death by his rabid fans.

If you look closely, you'll be able to tell that Robo's picture IS colored, in tan -- but a faded tan, so it's hard to see. It's easier to notice the color if you compare his picture to the other pictures.

On a side note: why is Magus's picture smaller than all the others?




School? Ugh. Don't talk to me about school. I've gotta get up at the crack of noon every day so I can get to college by 3:30, sit through two classes, and be home by suppertime. And then, if you can believe the rotten luck of it all, I get Fridays off! So every weekend for me is a three-day weekend, and I can usually stay up till 2 AM on school nights with no dire consequences. Curse it all!





BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Actually, I LOVE my schedule. It's definitely much better than High School (no more 7 AM wakeup call for me, no sir! ). I don't think I've ever been happier going to school in my entire life.

Hmmm... well... ok...

My new computer is much better, so I can pop out those in about a minute (or less) each.

They're done now. Here is my version of the pictures.















How are they? Any good? I'll add them to the petition later, if everyone like's em. I think I'll do the single image petitions first though. I'll release the multi-character petition later.

Originally posted by Stoney

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We'd be able to laugh our asses off just before we get clubbed to death by his rabid fans.

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Careful what you say about us man. We have ears everywhere.

Originally posted by Propagator4

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Originally posted by Stoney

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We'd be able to laugh our asses off just before we get clubbed to death by his rabid fans.

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Careful what you say about us man. We have ears everywhere.

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You guys are rabid about him, though. Don't deny it.



EXCELLENT pictures, Apoc. I love 'em much better than the other pictures (no offense, Jake). I see you've chosen to make Magus be Dark Blue while Marle is Light Blue. That's fine, I guess, but I don't know if it has as much variety as one of them being blue while the other is purple. *shrug*

(For an example of what kind of shade of purple I'm talking about, look at that picture of Schala located off to the side of Jake's posts. See those sleeves of hers? That's the kind of hue I was thinking of. Compare it to the Dark Blue of the cloth on her shoulders in that same picture. See the difference?)

Oh, and I really do love that particular shade of Light Blue that you used on Marle. It's very...icy.

By the way, you ARE going to make all of the pictures the same size when you eventually put them in each version of the Petition, right? 'Cause I'm noticing some peculiar size differences here...

I had a feeling some people would complain about Magus and Marle. Truth is, Magus ISN'T blue there. He is actually a pretty dark purple. When I lightened things up a bit though, the purple started to look a little more bluish. Only the more "reddish" purples didn't look blue when I lightened them... and they just didn't look right for Magus. As for Marle, that was the kind of blue for her I was thinking of all along. Turned out pretty nice I guess.

As for the whole size issue, that was actually something CuteLucca must have done herself. Magus is the only differently sized character there, to my knowledge. That then raises the question... shrink Magus or enlarge everyone else?

I'll have to work on the petition some time later though. Apparantely my old computer, for some bizarre reason, is not working correctly for my sister. She goes to college, so she REALLY needs a PC in her dorm. While normally able to connect to the internet, the college requires you to run some sort of program while trying to connect to the network. For some reason this doesn't work. Some techs she went to basically said "some files are corrupt" and recommended her to reinstall Windows XP. For all intensive purposes, I as an Engineer, do not see how this could be the problem. I think they just threw out some big words to confuse her, since they themselves didn't know why it didn't work. *sigh...* And now I have to figure it out... though I really think it is just the school software itself causing the problem. Wait... how did I get in to this?

About the sizes...it's not just Magus being bigger, Marle & Robo are different sizes, too. I say, enlarge everyone else. Marle & Robo's pictures are already close in size to Magus's, and everyone else's pictures have lots of little tiny details in them that are only visible when enlarged. So, go for it.



Ah, now I see the purple in Magus's picture. But it's hard to notice. Have you considered just making his purple color slightly more reddish? It doesn't have to be as much as Jake's version, but a little bit would certainly help. If you honestly cannot stand the idea of the great wizard being given such a hue, though, then okay, I'm fine with it.



Wow, man. Your woes sound like the plot of a weekly sitcom.