HELP WANTED: OverClocked ReMix Staff Positions

OverClocked ReMix is looking for individuals to fill three staff positions.
Japanese Language Correspondent/Translator (2)

These two positions would be available to djpretzel, the judges panel,
and other OCR staff or project coordinators for translating material to
and from Japanese. Possible contexts would be contacting Japanese
composers for questions/interviews, translating site materials into
Japanese, translating submission emails made in Japanese, and
performing site-related research using Japanese websites.

We’re NOT looking for third or fourth-year Japanese students who
have a basic proficiency with spoken Japanese and hiragana/katakana
only. We’re looking for fluent readers & writers specifically, with
a strong grasp of Kanji, who can visit text-heavy Japanese websites and
without much effort know what’s being said. I don’t want to discourage
people *too* much, but I know that a lot of OCR visitors are anime
fans, like myself, who know at least a little “otaku” Japanese from
watching Evangelion, etc., and I want to be clear that we’re looking
for fluent readers and writers of the language. There may be some sort
of test involved, depending on interest.

Neither of these positions would require too much time/effort – it
would be intermittent, from month to month, probably going weeks or
months without any requests – but when a need does arise, we’d like a
couple dedicated, fluent folk interested in helping OCR out to be
available.

If you think you could fill one of these positions, contact [email protected].

T-Shirt Shipping Assistant (Southeast Michigan ONLY: Ann Arbor, Saline, Dexter, Ypsilanti, etc.)

As some of you are (painfully) aware, we’ve been having problems
shipping shirts out on time. Part of this is because Zachary Williams,
who hosts OCR for free and runs the store from which the shirts are
sold, simply doesn’t have the time and resources to actually do the
shipping. He’s looking for an assistant in the Southeast Michigan area
that’d be willing to help ship things out as orders come in. This would
involve some traveling to his house and perhaps to the local shirt
store where the shirts are printed, preferably on a weekly or bi-weekly
basis.

Zach’s got more details if there’s anyone in the area that can help
us, and him, out. There’s a possibility of limited pay involved, but
certainly there’d be a free shirt or two, and some other goodies that
the ztnet store sells.

If you think you could fill this position, contact [email protected].

ReMixing OverClocked ReMix

Yesterday Dhsu approached me about heading an OCR Project, but not a project like RotC or the recently released BotA. This project would be an OCReMix ReMix project where people create and submit CSS altercations for OCR that could be utilized via Firefox’s userContent.css or Stylish/GreaseMonkey extension.

I wasn’t entirely familiar how possible that kind of thing would be, as I wasn’t really familiar with altering CSS via Stylish. So I went to work to seeing just how much I could get done, and the result were pretty suprising….
From the thread over @ OCReMix:

Remember when OCR4 came out and everyone was crying about how much it hurt their eyes? Well, I offer you a solution:

http://ramaserv.thasauce.net/images/OCRCSS/OCR4-Contrast/preview.png
http://ramaserv.thasauce.net/images/OCRCSS/OCR4-Contrast/preview-forums-index.png
http://ramaserv.thasauce.net/images/OCRCSS/OCR4-Contrast/preview-forums.png
http://ramaserv.thasauce.net/images/OCRCSS/OCR4-Contrast/preview-forums-thread.png

No, that’s not a sneak preview at OCR5. That’s a [near] complete reskin of OCR4.

About OCR4 wrote:
OCR4
represents a clean-up of the PHP, XHTML, CSS, and XSLT codebase that
OCR3 initiated. The site is now completely XSLT templated, outside of the forums, and the design itself is dictated entirely by CSS.

DJP was in no way lying.

The only elements I couldn’t move were:

-“Welcome to www.ocremix.org

-The java naviation menu

-Most images (well, I could hide them all but…ya’know)

-iframes

However, the forum CAN and WAS hidden.

The entire site is skinned except for the alphabetical mix pages. There
are probably errors here and there, because I haven’t gone over the
entire site yet, but for the most part all core elements are done.

This CSS features:

-removed top ads

-no sidebar for the forums

-[near] complete reskin of the entire site

The CSS file can be found here, and can be used via userContent.css or Stylish Firefox extension.

As for the project itself, I wanna make sure I have a completed CSS file (song navigation included) before I actually start pitching it. I’ve already setup directories to host images for the scripts, and you can bet you’ll see a post before the end of the week.

OverClocked ReMix gets a makeover!

So, obviously, most of our readers browse OCR more than once a day, but for those not in the know, ocremix.org had a small redesign on April 9th. The site is still very much the same color. However, DJ Pretzel has incorporated more gradients and greys, and has also changed the border images. The difference is most notable on the remix page, and on the forums.

April 1st Baltimore OCR Meetup (No, really)

From pixie’s post on OCR:

DrumUltimA and I have been discussing the possibility of hosting an OCR meet here in Baltimore, Maryland for a quite some time now. …Rejoice, for this dream has now become reality! Yes, it’s on April Fool’s Day, but no, it’s not a joke. ^_~
When: Saturday, April 1st @ 12:00pm (i.e. noon)
Where: Peabody Conservatory of Music. We’ll meet outside at the
Washington Monument, where North Charles St. intersects with Monument St.
What: Lunch and dinner at any of the local restaurants of our choice, gaming at the
ESPN Zone arcade, chilling in Baltimore’s lovely Harborplace, wreaking April Fool’s havoc in our dorm, and possibly even an evening show at the IMAX Theater!
Bring: Videogames, money for food, arcade (if you wish), and $8.00 for an IMAX show.

Parking is available in the Peabody garage if you can’t find a spot on the street. If you are coming from afar, there is also the option of Amtrak, which arrives at Baltimore’s Penn Station just a 15 minute’s walk from Peabody.

We’re gonna have fuuuuuuuuuun! ^_^

Confirmed:
pixietricks
DrumUltimA
D-Lux
Upthorn
StanTuna


In addition, on Friday, March 10, there will be a meetup at Bowl America in Glen Burnie during the early afternoon, and possibly extending longer into the day if everyone can hang around long enough.

Here’s the address so you can punch it into google earth/mapquest/whatever to get directions:

7155 Ritchie Hwy
Glen Burnie, MD 21061

Stay tuned for more details about this in the next few days as an exact time and schedule is worked out.

zyko no longer on the Judges’ Panel

From Gray’s post on OCR:

I’ve been getting bombarded with PMs and whatnot from you guys about this, so I guess now is the proper time for this.

The panel has in recent months adopted a policy where judges must meet
certain activity requirements in order to remain in the panel. The
policy is paying off, as we are in striking distance, for the first
time in over 3 years to reduce the queue backlog entirely. We are on
the brink of reducing the submission queue to the range of 2 weeks
-> live.

Ultimately, Zyko has other priorities that need attention and due to
this is no longer able to continue his position in the panel, at least
in the short term. In his almost 11 month term, he has brought new
perspectives and ways of thinking to the panel. Viewing this as both a
friend and as colleague, it is a great loss. The panel and myself would
like to wish him the best of luck and give our sincere thanks for his
help through these many months. If circumstances permit, and he finds
more time in the future to contribute he’s more than welcome to rejoin.

Newest OCR judge announced: The_Orichalcon!

Last night with the posting of Suzu’s track from Rise of the Star, DJP also went on to announce the addition of TO to the judges panel!
He’s been involved with the site for some time, both as a ReMixer and on the forums, and even thrashed the formidable Mr. GrayLightning a few times at the manly and testosterone-infused game of chess. We thus welcome him on board, so to speak, and promise to respect him and treat him as an equal… when not making cheap Paul Hogan jokes at his expense, and tying his kangaroo down, of course.

Congratulations to TO and good luck on the panel =P.

Baranowsky and Shnabubula No Longer Judges

Danny B and Mr. Shnabubula are no longer judges at OCR.

After a long and honorable stay as Judge, Mr. Baranowsky has left his
post in order to pursue his career in the film industry. Since joining
the panel in February 2004 as well as being a long time contributer to
the site, he has become a valued and respected member of the OCR
Community. His departure as judge may come as a surprise to some, but
he will be missed by all.

After a relatively short stay as Judge, Shnabubula was decidedly
removed from the panel through an agreement by his fellow Judges. “He
just wasn’t a fit with the panel for various
reasons and we have decided it would be better to part ways with Shna
at this point.” says GrayLightning. Many doomsayers have pounced on
this news, making vague accusations about foul play by DJP and the rest
of the judges. DJP has responded to such accusations: “
While the usual dirt-diggers might try to read a
lot between the lines here, which isn’t surprising, I’m cool with Sam,
Sam appears to be cool with me & the rest of the panel… In general this just wasn’t very scandalous, nor
do I think it reflects poorly on anyone in particular.” he says. In any case, we’ll be sad to see him go.

DJP is expected to make an announcement about this turn of events in an
upcoming write-up. There are no plans to replace these gentlemen on the
panel in the near future.

Israfel steps down from Judges Panel

In his comments for Jivemaster’s remix “Lava Reach” on Wednesday, djpretzel announced that Israfel is voluntarily stepping down from his position on the Judges Panel “probably for good.”
He is the third judge to leave the Panel in since May. djpretzel did not name a replacement for him.
“…a humongous thanks to Mike for his musical and critical contributions
to this site, which have incalculably improved our standards and vastly
widened our horizons,” djpretzel said.
Israfel, A.K.A. Micheal Dover, has stepped down from
the Judges Panel once before due to time constraints, according to
djpretzel, but he “graciously returned” when his schedule became more
flexible.

Jivemaster returns to OCR

Jivemaster, also known as Joel Bird and remixer on
OverClocked ReMix since his song “Chemical Juice” was posted in
September of 2000, returned to OCR on Wednesday after a two-year
hiatus. His new song, like many of his others, is a remix of a song
from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games. Based on “Lava Reef Zone”
and “Hidden Palace Zone” from Sonic & Knuckles, it is entitled
“Lava Reach.”

ReMix page for “Lava Reach”

“This is a remake of an unreleased mix I did back in
2001 that I wasn’t overly happy with,” Jivemaster said in a letter to
djpretzel.
He forgot about the mix until recently, he said, when he decided to rework it.
“…it was about time to release something again for all the people who have enjoyed my stuff in
the past and for those new to OCR who may be saying ‘Jivemaster? Who’s
this Jivemaster fellow?!?'” Jivemaster said.
11 of his now 14 ReMixes posted on OCR have been
from games of the Sonic series, including Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3, Sonic CD, and Sonic 3D Flickie’s Island.

Summoning of Spirits closed to new remixers

KyleJCrb, organizer of the site project called Summoning of Spirits,
announced on Sunday that the project is closed to remixers not already
signed onto the project.


Summoning of Spirits’s thread
in the Site Projects forum.
The project plans to remix music selections from both Tales of
Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia. The first due date for the
now-official group of remixers to submit works in progress is August 1.