5MV Update History

maintained by Zeke

OCTOBER 2003

October 1

The next time I even think about making a content declaration that includes the word "tomorrow", HIT ME WITH A STICK. Ahem. Anyway, the new Ent fiver is mostly done now but not quite in time. So what I'll do is finish it tonight, then either toss it in with the Blabbed-About Event or do it first and the event as a Supplemental. And here, as a bonus for those who read the News page, is a free sample! This scene introduces a running thread in the fiver:

Archer: That Xindi database from last week (See? We have continuity. See?) gave the location of a planet they visited.
T'Pol: Well, let's take Enterprise there.
Archer: Oh yeah, I've been meaning to mention something: we're not supposed to call the ship just Enterprise anymore. Starfleet's changed our name to "U. S. S. Enterprise."
T'Pol: A typical absurd human idea. And why did it take you six weeks to remember that?
Archer: Well... ya know.

October 2

And here's Five-Minute "Extinction."

I'll have to ask you to bear with me one more day for the event. It's almost ready, but I want to really get it right, and if I rushed to finish by tonight it wouldn't be. I'm sorry I stated a timeline I couldn't keep.

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October 3 and 4

Here, at last, is the promised event of this week: a major expansion of our Babylon 5 content, and changes in Sci-Fivers to go with it. Here's the run-down:

• Nan and Sa'ar Chasm are the big producers this time, having written three B5 fivers faster than you'd believe. Their joint contributions are "Comes the Inquisitor," "Ceremonies of Light and Dark," and "A Late Delivery From Avalon."
• Making her debut with this event is someone the forumgoers will recognize: Taya17. An old Deltachat buddy of mine, she's contributed Five-Minute "The Parliament of Dreams."
• I decided to take this opportunity to do my usual fiving-the-pilot thing. B5 started with a movie called "The Gathering," but I went with the first actual episode, "Midnight on the Firing Line."
• Finally, you'll notice that Sci-Fivers now has a new front page, and that the B5 and Movies sections have been upgraded to "minisites." This is for several reasons -- mainly to keep the size of the 5MSF front page down, but also because both sections will continue to grow, and because I just like making new graphics. (There's another reason you'll be finding out before long.) The new subsite FAQ will also appear in the next few days.

(Oh, speaking of Kira, she put in a lot of extra work on this event. She oversaw the editing process for the guest fivers and did all the boring parts of the HTML work. My thanks to her for this latest round of exemplary Site Managing.)

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October 5

Taking a short break today before tomorrow's update, which will be quite a good one.

October 6

Kira here. Today's update is a double bill from yours truly: Five-Minute "The Price," which I started nearly two years ago, and my second venture into the Original Series, Five-Minute "The Lights of Zetar."

Also, a reminder to everyone to hit Zeke with a stick; you'll notice he used the word "tomorrow" in yesterday's update.

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October 7

Zeke here. I've got a real treat for you today: Five-Minute The Fellowship of the Ring. This one's been waiting nearly two years, and this time the fault is purely mine, as it's almost unchanged from first draft... yes, I've been that bad with email response times. Fortunately, BR48 is a patient guy -- and, you'll find, a very funny one. Dig in.

In defense of my use of "tomorrow" yesterday, I knew Ki's fivers were ready to go, and with her in charge of the update, I was pretty confident it would be on time. However, I did say it, so I appreciate the various stick-beatings I've now received. I'm going to cancel that request now because it's hard to talk about the next day's updates without the word "tomorrow." ::: hums "Tomorrow" by Avril Lavigne :::

(By the way, you can go here for a sneak peek at my next Enterprise fiver.)

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October 8

Here's Five-Minute "Rajiin."

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October 9

::: borrows Phlox's pimp hat ::: Nan has a new comic up over at Working Title. Go read it. ::: returns the hat :::

October 10

No update today -- I've been catching up on some site business and trying to decide what to do about a couple of things. Be sure to come back tomorrow and Sunday, as there'll be new content both days.

October 11

All right, not new content both days. Today you'll have to settle for a cool link. Andrew Lipson has made some astonishing Lego sculptures, including five Escher paintings (!). You can find them here.

October 12

Happy Thanksgiving! Today's promised new content is my fiver of the Angel season premiere, "Conviction." I'm not planning to take on Angel on a regular basis (my last go at two simultaneous series didn't work out so well), but I love the show, so you may well see more fivers as the season progresses.

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October 13

Okay, technically today is Thanksgiving, not tomorrow -- my mistake. (And happy Columbus Day to our American readers.) Today I've got a new subsite FAQ up, this time for Sci-Fivers.

October 14

5MV just celebrated two big milestones; one was due to happen today, and we timed the other to coincide with it. First of all, we just got our quarter millionth hit! I think that's a pretty good total for just over three years online, and I'm deeply grateful to all who have helped us get there. Readers, that would be you. I also extend my personal thanks to Marc, IJD, Derek, and most especially Kira for their tremendous and continuing contributions -- I couldn't do this without you guys. I don't need to list the dozens of other people who've been of help to me and to 5MV. You know who you are, and I thank you.

The other big event is about Five-Minute Next Gen, which today both attains and surpasses the 50% series coverage mark. The two fivers by which it does so are Marc's "Contagion" and Nic Corelli's "Phantasms." I did my whole hooray-for-5MNG spiel just last month for the two-year anniversary, so I won't trot it out again, but suffice to say I'm very proud to see this subsite reach the 50% mark. Enjoy the fivers (Marc's will ring a lot of bells for PC owners).

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October 15

Nan has a new hub site which links to her other sites, including 5MSG. You might like to drop by.

October 16

Here's a preview from the upcoming Enterprise fiver "Impulse":

Mayweather: This asteroid here is big enough to mine Trellium-D from. Want to do that now, or blow up the lab a few more times first?
Tucker: Very funny. We'll take a shuttlepod down in two hours.
Mayweather: Why two hours?
Tucker: I do want to blow up the lab *one* more time.

And here's one from "Exile":

T'Pol: I've been analyzing the anomaly location data and I have a theory. I believe there is a second sphere.
Archer: Rats, that messes with my theory.
T'Pol: Your "theory" was that the Expanse was based on water polo.
Archer: Exactly. There's only one ball in water polo.

I had a few minor items to mention, but right now the only one that comes to mind is that I really want this T-shirt.

October 17 & 18

Here are "Impulse" and "Exile," as teased. I'm declaring this both Friday's and Saturday's update, because I'm going to get onto that damn earlier-in-the-day schedule if it kills me.

(Update: Okay, the files are actually there now. Sorry for the delay... last night I somehow managed to upload every single file except the two actual fivers.)

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October 19

Today's update is a very strange one. As you may know, I'm a huge fan of webcomics, and in fact I read far too many (on the order of 30 a day lately -- I really ought to cut back). One of my favourites is called Triangle and Robert. It's a bizarre strip with geometric shapes for characters and a fascinating, convoluted plotline, and it recently completed its fourth year.

That last point is the relevant one here. I wanted to do something for the occasion, and what occurred to me was the idea of a stats page. Some of the larger comics have fan-made stats pages that count and compare the number of appearances for each of the characters; why not T&R? So that, in fact, is what I did -- I whipped up a Triangle and Robert Stats Page.

Let me emphasize that this is not taking any significant amount of time away from Five-Minute Voyager or, for that matter, my schoolwork. I couldn't afford for it to. It's a very small page which will take very little time to update, and I only plan to do so once a week. But I wanted to make the link available, because Triangle and Robert is something definitely worth getting into, and I may as well see if 5MV's audience has any overlap with T&R's. Have a look at the stats page and see what you think. And if you have any comments, please do let me know.

October 20

No new content today -- I've got a really difficult assignment due tomorrow morning.

October 21

Sorry, no content today either. There are a number of things in progress but none actually ready to go. By the way, since there's no new Enterprise episode this week, I'll be continuing my catch-up of Season 2 with "Marauders."

October 22

New stuff's still not ready, but I do have a cool link to hold you over. One of my favourite webcomics, Whale!, has been on hiatus for about a year now. I was pretty much resigned to the fact that it wouldn't be back -- but it is! I highly recommend dropping by and visiting the archives. Whale! is a lighthearted, fun comic in an Internet full of strips that take themselves too seriously.

Also back from hiatus is Random Axe of Kindness, which I linked you folks to a while back.

October 23

I've been advised of a couple of fivers which remain unblurbed and unlinked to, despite having been published. In both cases it was one of my updates, so the fault is mine. I've fixed the one at 5MVG (Five-Minute Armada); the other two, "Night Terrors" and "Equilibrium," will be supplied shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I know you've been waiting longer than usual now for actual content. I'm afraid you'll have to bear with us. I have major school obligations right now (my honours project is due Monday after next), and Kira's still on her relentless quest to redefine the word "busy." Daily updates will continue, but they may be mostly filler for a little while.

On the plus side, I'll make the filler worth reading. On any day I don't have something 5MV-related to say, I'll link to a site I think you'll find interesting or amusing. Don't worry, they won't all be webcomics. And if you're really lucky, I'll get Kira to suggest some so you don't always have to put up with my ideas of interesting and amusing.

Don't misunderstand -- I'm not saying there won't be content, just that it may come less often than you've been used to lately. I've overtalked this, but I wanted you to be aware of the situation and the reasons.

October 24

Finally, new content! And this one's been a long time coming, too. Pteryx brings us Five-Minute Final Fantasy Tactics, Chapter 4, at last concluding her take on the game.

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October 25

Today is one of those non-update updates. Go visit WHEDONesque, a group blog for all your Buffyverse needs.

October 26

Nothing new today either, though there's another fiver that'll be going up as soon as I hear back from the author. It's probably among those you're least expecting to see, too.

For today's link, since we're getting close to Hallowe'en, why not go check out ringworld? The Ring is my favourite horror movie, and never fails to scare the screaming weasels out of me, as Kira can tell you; what North American viewers may not know is that it began as an enormous Japanese phenomenon, in various novel, TV, and movie forms. ringworld is a comprehensive source for the whole series, with reviews, FAQs, and a full English transcription of the original Japanese film, among other things. Well worth a visit, whether you've already seen The Ring (and somehow survived) or want to get into it (and have NO idea what you're in for).

October 27

You're not gonna believe this one. Tate, who brought us Chex Quest, now brings us Chex Quest 2. Yes, they made a sequel. Apparently the earth somehow failed to swallow them whole for making the original....

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October 28

Today's link: HomestarRunner (requires Flash). This is an original online cartoon show, and funnier than a lot of what's on TV. Well worth a visit. (Particularly noteworthy are the Strong Bad emails.)

October 29

One more link day, and then we're onto some new content. Want a quick way to check the local weather? Try Weather Pixie. The information seems accurate enough, and it comes with a cute pixelated girl (and sometimes a cat) in one of various possible outfits selected according to the weather conditions. Plug in your city of residence and see what you get.

October 30

Today is yet another milestone for Marc (his third in two months!). First 5MNG turned two, then it hit 50%, and now Marc has written his 47th fiver. That makes him the first person to do so besides me; all three of the other staffers are almost there, so it was a close one.

Marc's fiver is new territory for him in more than one way: it's his first non-Trek fiver and his first two-parter. Believe it or not, he picked Battlestar Galactica. The fiver is "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero," and you're sure to find it an interesting read. When you're done, you might want to drop by the comment thread to give Marc your congratulations. I'll give him mine here: nicely done, Marc, and here's to another 47.

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October 31

Happy Hallowe'en! We at 5MV decided to do a mini-event for the occasion: each of the staffers picked an appropriate episode. Here are the first three:

• DS9's "Empok Nor," by Derek;
• TNG's "Aquiel," by Marc Richard (he hates this one and did it anyway, just for you -- don't you feel special?); and
• Angel's "Rm w/a Vu," by Kira (her first Angel, and I hope the first of many).

(PS: Happy birthday to forumgoers Celeste and Standback.)

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Five-Minute Voyager and subsites are © Colin Hayman.