April 14, 2005 Newsletter

Again there hasn’t been too much new material on the site. That is largely due to the fact that I have been spending my time finishing up sites for clients and putting on the final touches of the new Artistic Network site.

I announced the launch of the new site a couple weeks ago, but not until a day ago was it really ready for promotion. My friend and fellow co-owner of Master Web Designers Andrew Penry helped finish implementing some last-minute functions for MP3 play lists on the new site. Now that that is out of the way, I really want to get the word out.

The Global Artistic Network is similar to my site in many ways… but in reality it is much more sophisticated and useful for the general public. I want to recommend current members of shawnolson.net create accounts on the Global Artistic Network and start using that site. People receiving this newsletter are also encouraged to start using the new site.

A list of features on the new site include:

• Open Member Directory of artists and arts organizations with extensive search features to find members.
• Article and News Posting to all members from the moment of sign-up
• Personal Event Calendars that display events for each member; events go into home-town calendars. Advanced event searching.
• Photo and Art Slideshows. From the moment you sign in, you can upload images to your profile and articles… and they all appear in your slideshow.
• MP3 uploads to profiles and articles.
• Networking Features allow members to create linked friends groups.
• Online Help with growing list of helpful documents on using the site.

When logged in, members see a large list of helpful articles on the FAQ page. I will add to that page as time goes on.

Already there are a few members on the site, some of which are familiar to members of this site, including some of my friends that will help administer the new site.

I really hope that any creative artists, writers, photographers, poets, designers, musicians, bands and programmers start using this new site. The software behind it has been in development for several years now, and I know that it will prove invaluable to artists and art-related companies around the world.

In other news, the Noise Auction website was down for a couple weeks due to a mix-up in the registrar contact information. That issue has been resolved. As I know that many of the recipients of this newsletter are fans of Noise Auction, I wanted to let everyone know that the site should be back online in the next 24 hours. Noise Auction is currently touring in Georgia and Florida.

In yet other music news, Liquid 6teen will be getting a facelift on their website soon. So keep an eye out for some long-awaited changes for this well-loved Ohio band.

I have posted a couple new cartoons . I have also been serving some Counter-Strike games lately using some of my custom maps. Gamers are welcome to download my de_weldonsquare and join us at 65.60.234.8:27015 in the evenings. (That IP may change... but refer to the de_weldonsquare page for updated IP address.)

That’s it for now. Have a great week.
Shawn

Totals on Artistic Network

Stats	Total	This Period
Visitors	725722	40467
Articles	1021	6
Members	131	0

Laptop Cartoon of a customer asking questions about a laptop. Posted on 04.14.05 by Shawn Olson

Website and Network Stress Monitoring Why serious ecommerce websites need some form of stress testing tool. Posted on 04.07.05 by David Leonhardt

The Weather Forecast on Your Computer There are three ways (at least!) to get weather forecasts from around the world on your computer. Posted on 04.07.05 by David Leonhardt

Server Outtage We were down for a few hours on April 5, 2005. Posted on 04.05.05 by Shawn Olson

My Son A Poem for my only son. Posted on 03.31.05 by mark matheny