Official NyanNyanKoneko Campaign Thread

[NyanNyanKoneko]

Why Vote for NyanNyanKoneko?

A) No Drama!
I believe in free speech, but drama doesn't help anyone.  I promise to do all I can to minimize drama the amount of drama on the board while maintaining Pixelopolis's high level of intellectual exchange.

B) Minimal Interference!
You have a right to free speech!  It's not the governing body's place to dictate what you can and can not say, nor should it edit posts unless absolutely necessary.

C) Encouragement!
I believe we should encourage new people to post here by creating a welcoming environment and plenty of opportunities to draw.

D) Capability!
As a programmer, I have the skills and dedication to maintain and add to the software of this board. 

About NyanNyanKoneko
I'm a 25 year old programmer from California.  I currently attend UC Riverside where I major in English.  I enjoy writing video games, drawing pixel art, and composing music.  Outside of computers, I enjoy reading, flying (I fly a Cessna 150), and outdoor sports.  I have served as a moderator on several other boards and IRC channels. 

Pixelopolis is one of the most important board on the Internet and on the the cutting edge of the modern artistic movement.  I feel we should all treat Pixelopolis as the important website it already is, and not just another chatting forum.

What are some of NyanNyanKoneko's ideas for improving Pixelopolis?
I would encourage the creation of online tools to make the exchange of pixel art even easier.  For example, we could come up with a cooperative pixeling java applet, so two people can easily edit a single image without sending it back and forth.

Often newbies don't know where they can upload their pixel art.  By either enabling uploads on the forum, or by designing an upload site on another sever, we can make the process of uploading our art even easier.

Of course, anything we add has to have the approval of all the artists on Pixelopolis.  So, before making any changes to the board, I would suggest holding a vote, open to all members of Pixelopolis.

Please feel free to ask additional questions below.

I appreciate your support in the upcoming election.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

If you want to chat or share your ideas with me personally, here's my contact info.

Yahoo: handka2
E-mail: kathandels@sbcglobal.net

[Dogmeat]

firstly, don't take this as a personal attack, I know how you like drama...

But I hope you don't honestly believe this is a moderator position, all we do is spend a lot of time coming up with creative ideas to challenge and grow the community. It's alot of thinking and writing, not a lot of programming and domination over the forum software.

And whats with all this thing about free speech and no drama, do you have some angst about something, did a moderator wrong you and you're out for revenge?

I'm sorry, but you're political spiel is really coming off to me with evil intentions.

Instead of talking about how you're the best programmer in the universe and how you're going to revolutionize the forum with mindbusting software that will make it so we can pixel using telekenesis could you describe to the community, what kind of ideas you have on activities, challenges, critique, etc.. that you plan to work on while you're in office?

Word up to the 909 by the way, didn't know you lived in the valley of the dirt people all you so-callers out there know what I"m sayin, uh huh, uh huh.

[Gil]

I have to second Dogmeat here. Pixelopolis is still about pixeling, and Pixelation has a long past of making things easy instead of complicated. These ideas remind me more of an oekaki board than a liberal pixelation board...

I agree on the minimum interference though. Pep will like it too

[flaber]

I am fond of the idea of the upload feature to the site but...
you only haev a few months to do all these projects in that you have listed. However, the whole change to the board doesnt interest me. It works fine as is right now, everones happy, why change?

you want to reduce drama by not interefering on anything?? those kind of counter each other. But first lets take a look at our situation. There really has NOT been any true drama in here, comparitivly to the past, which means everyone is generally fine as to whats happening. People have been kicked out, people have made huge deals and such, yet now all old members have returned and the forum is generally happy. You also do not want to interfere on anything. Interference can be a good thing. You can catch a comment that may start something and delete it before it gets out of hand. If someone posts a useless 1 liner or a bump, you can get rid of those. Its not always a bad thing to do that. But at the moment there is no real need for that, so I dont see why you even brought it up. We arn't swamped with new people posting their 4min work and 30second crits. We arnt having wars between people at the moment.

lastly, we arnt being promoted to moderator. We are just Daijin. In comparison to those with power we really dont do too much. We are to help with forum etiquette, we are to come up with challenges, we are to come up with learning activites. We are not put into this position to make dramatic changes. We are there to fill in the cracks between the public and admin. We can be spokespersons for issues brought up by other members, but we may not be the ones to have the power to change it.
So just keep in mind, this position does not have revolutionary capabilities, but rather to help give a nice friendly fun face to the forum.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

You're right!   Of course this isn't a moderator position.

Remember that a daijin is supposed to, "govern over forum etiquette matters."  I stated my views on the subject clearly above.   I want to focus on minimal drama, and free speech.  Also, I wanted to make my intentions clear that I want to help this board and the people on it.  Part of my platform is that my only objective is that I want to help, not rule, not be popular, and not even set up a nuclear launch site through a money laundering scheme.

My ultimate goal is to promote an encouraging atmosphere.

EDIT:

What kind of ideas you have on activities, challenges, critique, etc.. that you plan to work on while you're in office?

As for critiques, our current system of letting everyone post and get critiques currently works just fine, and I wouldn't want to change that.

As for activities and challenges, as mentioned before, I would like to set up activies that encourage new members to participate.  Most of the current activites and challenges focus on being the best.  I think, when we pixel, we are all winners.  Therefore, I would encourage "pixel for fun!" activities that focus on imagination as opposed to raw skill. 

For example, we could set up an activity in which I give a basic outline or theme, and the participants only goals are to be original in their work.  The most creative pixel wins. 

But lets face it, the activities will be largely based on the conscenscious of the board at the time.  It's better to gauge the situation in the future and come out with specific plans based on the most relevant data available instead of giving X, Y, and Z which people may like now, but may not like 3 weeks from now.

I want to make sure everyone can and is enjoying this board.  I'm open to all ideas.

You're the best programmer in the universe and... you're going to revolutionize the forum with mindbusting software that will make it so we can pixel using telekenesis.

Thank you.  I think so too.  I hope to gain your support.

making things easy instead of complicated.

I'm all about trying to make things easier as opposed to more complicated.   That's why I want to make it easy for people to upload their work.  I also want to make it easier to do colabs.  Most likely, such changes would have to take place on another server, obviously.  But like I said, if the artists think its not worth the time or effort, I will listen to you 100%.

this position does not have revolutionary capabilities, but rather to help give a nice friendly fun face to the forum.

I want to do what I can to help this community.

EDIT 2:
I've been thinking about who I would choose as daiyo, and there are a couple of people I would choose.

Number 1 would be Dogmeat.  He comes across to me as someone with a lot of ambition and thought.  He's someone I would trust to tell me the truth, and to work along side me.

Number 2 would be Evan.  Evan is someone I've known for a long time, and I trust his opinion to gauge what would be most fun for this board. 

Another person I've seen on the board and admire a lot is Indigo.  I really like his laid back attitude, but he's not afraid of work either.  He comes across to me as someone with a lot of tallent, not only in pixeling, but in many areas of his life.

[Helm]

What does or doesn't get edited is up to moderators. This doesn't mean they'll act like horrible beasts (well, besides me), but really, free speech or lack thereof have nothing to do with these elections. In fact, 'free speech' is a term that's completely redundant in the confines of an proactively moderated forum such as this. Posting is a priviledge, not a right, and to have that priviledge, people forfeit aspects of their free speech at the door. For example, given free speech you could go severily OT in a topic, or you could call people names. These aren't tolerated. Drama aside, free speech is simply not a debatable issue here. If you're using this as a platform to get people to vote for you because they like the idea of more freedom of what to post, I'm sorry to burst bubbles. Just a few clarifications, of the official kind.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

People will vote for me for what I represent and what I believe in, not what's in or outside my scope to control.   

[Helm]

That statement makes no sense, but okay, good luck.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

Helm, does this mean that I can expect your support in the upcoming election?   

BTW: PM me if you're still curious and I'll explain what I meant above in further detail.

[flaber]

People will vote for me for what I represent and what I believe in, not what's in or outside my scope to control.

you really havent stated very well what you represent. im still left wondering.
in your first post you stated all these ideas you had, we commented, then you said you realize you cant do much of that.
Then you really didnt restate what you wanted to do.
perhaps i missread, perhaps im wrong. I doubt it though, because iv read this thoroughly.
please rewrite your ambitions in a clear way, that will leave no questio as to what you stand for.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

please rewrite your ambitions

I'm glad you asked me to do this!  My first post was an introduction to who I am and what I believe, and the qualities that separate me from the other canidates.  I avoided specific policy issues since I know we all say similar things, and I don't want people to vote for me without knowing first and foremost what I believe in and who I am.

What I would do as Daijin.

Work With the Community to Set Up Fun Activities. 
I stress "work with the community" because the activities we choose has to be fun for everyone.  I'm interested in asking, "What do you want to do?" as opposed to telling everyone what I want to do. 

Now the second part of that statement mentioned fun activities.  These are activities that promote an encouraging and constructive atmosphere for everyone on the board.  I want to minimize competition and maximize cooperation.  To do this, I suggest the following...

A) Activities that stress creativity over skill.
B) Make it clear there are only winners, and by participating we all learn something.
C) Use these activities as a way to improve our skills.

Since we want to encourage new members to come to this board, I will be dedicated to doing the following.

D) Setting up activities that only require a basic knowlege of pixeling.
E) Setting a good example by welcoming and supporting new posters.
F) Doing what I can to minimize the hastle of uploading new art by offering advice, webspace, and information.

However, most of all, as Daijin, I would do very little other than be outgoing, kind, and drama-free while trying to make sure we are all enjoying ourselves through drawing activities.  Now of course, I do the first part as a regular poster already.

What Specific Activities Do I Suggest?
I'm for gauging what kind of activities we should do based on the attitude of the board at the time and everyone's comments, however, here's what I would reccomend based on my beliefs mentioned above.

A) Tips & Tricks - In this activity, everyone shares a tip or trick they have learned from pixeling, and one or two pixel art pieces to demonstrate it.
B) Be Creative! Contest - In this contest, I give everyone a vague topic to pixel about.  A good topic may be, "Green" or "Famous," and the most creative content wins.
C) Tutorial Contest - In this contest, the goal is to write the best tutorial on a single subject.  At the end we vote on our favorite tutorial.  This is slightly different than "tips & tricks" in that we expect a full tutorial from start to finish with many pieces of art to demonstrate the progress. 
D) Let's Game! - As mentioned before, I'm a programmer.  I can make a shell of video game, and the goal of this contest would be to see who can come up with the most creative art to fill in the pieces of the game.  For example, I make a simple space shooter, and all the sprites are colored boxes, as well as the title.  So the artists fill in the art, give the game a title, add whatever music they want, adjust some settings like speed, and upload their final work to some space on my server.

I can't repeat this enough though, the best activities are the ones that bring us together and we all want to do, so I'm more interested in hearing your ideas than promoting my own.

[Gil]

All this talk about how you will create games and we add art in and it gets stored on your server really doesn't please me. This board is still mainly about pixel art, and it's not like there aren't tons of programmers on these forums, so why would we find YOU to be the candidate to programs for us?

It's cool to have a programmer do some stuff for the community, but then we need a position for that, I'm wondering what your programming skills help with when coming up when something as complex as a forum activity that contains elements to improve certain artistic techniques.

Another question, can you please explain to us which artistic background you are putting behind this? I'm not saying the best artist needs to be voted for, but I would have a little troubles with a Daijin that doesn't know the jist off delicate subjects such as sel-out, aa, pattern dithering, hue control and pallette limitation.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

So why would we find YOU to be the candidate to programs for us?

As far as I can see, I'm the only canidate who programs.  This is one of my skillsets that sets me apart from the other canidates. 

I'm not saying the best artist needs to be voted for

I'm glad you said that.  I think so too. 

Now, I'm the first to admit that I'm not the best artist on this forum, far from it.  I came to this forum to improve my artistic ability.

As such, I pixel every single day.

In fact, currently I'm pixeling an RPG tile / sprite set at the moment for practice. 

Although I have far from mastered all the skills you mentioned above, I certainly know what they are, and the basics for how they work.

Sel-out, more commonly known as selout or selective outlineing is the process by which the outline of a sprite is smoothed out by using chunks of color instead of a single outlined color.

AA - Antialiasing.  The process by which the edges of sprites are colored to better blend with the background.

Pattern Dithering - Dithering uses a small pixel "checkerboard"-ish pattern to give the illusion of a change in color using a limited pallete.

Hue Control - You mean adjusting the shade or tint of colors. 

Pallette Limitation - Choosing only a select number of colors from which to pixel with usually consisting of a few base colors and some hues to add shading. 

I appreciate your concerns on the matter.  However, I do pixel, in fact quite often.  Now, I may not be the best pixeler as I can barely draw stick figures and circles on paper.  However, I work hard at what I do every day, just as I will work hard as daijin.  I've said time and time again, I'm going to listen to the other artists on the forum first and foremost.

EDIT
Gil, if you want to call for a debate, then I call you to it, and we'll set up a time, place, and perhaps even moderator.

You have every right to post in my thread, and I encourage your posting, but since I doubt you have any questions as to who you are going to vote for, I want us to play nice and let the people choose who they want as daijin with a minimal amount of drama.

[crab2selout.png]

Another question, can you please explain to us which artistic background you are putting behind this? I'm not saying the best artist needs to be voted for, but I would have a little troubles with a Daijin that doesn't know the jist off delicate subjects such as sel-out, aa, pattern dithering, hue control and pallette limitation.

If you are going to ask this, then I hope you plan to propose it to every candidate. It would not be fair to NNK if he were the only one to have to do so.

While I am inclined to agree that artistic background is certainly important if one is going to be proposing challenges and activities, skills in other areas can be a great contribution to the board. Take that fighter portraiit flash movie Scuba Steve posted a little while ago. If not for him taking the time to put that together, I and other newish members would not have known or seen the contributions to that challenge. Having practiced in something as tedious as programming should also make NNK an ideal candidate for doing boring organisational tasks.. j/k

EDIT:

Gil, if you want to call for a debate, then I call you to it, and we'll set up a time, place, and perhaps even moderator.

You have every right to post in my thread, and I encourage your posting, but since I doubt you have any questions as to who you are going to vote for, I want us to play nice and let the people choose who they want as daijin with a minimal amount of drama.

Just want to add that even if Gil doesn't have any questions as to who he's voting for, I like seeing the candidates taking an active interest in this. Afterall, if the people running aren't going to take an interest in going over the other candidates campaigns, then why would the other members of Pixelopolis feel compelled to? I'm happy to see the elections gettings off to such a strong start, even if it is primarily you NNK who's been getting the most attention so far. I'm sure that having the most active and interesting campaign thread will prove to be valuable for you when it come time to vote. Something about how all press is good press or something like that comes to mind.

[NyanNyanKoneko]

Crab, you're awesome.   

I hope you win...  along side me, of course.   

[Gil]

As far as I can see, I'm the only canidate who programs.  This is one of my skillsets that sets me apart from the other canidates. 

You're not the only candidate who programs, that's a very bold statement, I'd check your sources

EDIT: I like the debate idea . I'll send you a pm about it soon.

[Dogmeat]

NyanNyan, you come off as a loose cannon, are you trying to portray this persona to possible supporters?

P.S. not a good thing

[NyanNyanKoneko]

NyanNyan, you come off as a loose cannon, are you trying to portray this persona to possible supporters?

Nope.

I'm campaigning hard, and making a strong argument for myself. 

For example, I put parts of my text in bold print to allow voters to skim over what I write while still being able to get the gist of my campaign.  Furthermore, I'm trying to answer any and all questions as completely, and concisely as I can.  When I speak bluntly and put sentences in bold, I'm implementing a formal writing style.  I appreciate your concern, however I am enjoying my campaign and responding to the various posts.

Honestly though, I've kept a good attutude throughout this race, and really hope everyone does well.   

Thanks for your concern; I hope you'll vote for me.