GPF News Archive

Greetings, Faulties! I've got a couple of really exciting announcements this week, so I won't waste time on formalities. Let's jump right in, shall we?

First off, I've been informed that Book #2 is almost ready to ship. Plan Nine is expecting to receive the book this week, so hopefully anyone who has pre-ordered will get their copies before Christmas. If you haven't pre-ordered, now's the time, because, the price goes back up to the full cover price once it begins to ship. Hurry if you want to get your pre-order discount!

On a similar note, I'd also like to announce another Plan Nine treat! Plan Nine is releasing it's 2000 Christmas Annual this year, chock full with holiday mayhem from your favorite Plan Nine artists. Included are stories from Bruno the Bandit, Nukees, Kevin & Kell, Sluggy Freelance, Zed, Ozy & Millie, "Courageous Man", Newshounds, Toy Trunk Railroad, and of course, yours truly. The GPF entry is something a little different than what you'd expect; it's an illustrated poem/parody entitled "How Trudy Stole Christmas." That's right, we've taken Dr. Seuss' beloved, timeless tale and cast Trudy as the Grinch, trying to steal Christmas from our favorite geeks. And, as a teaser, you can download this MP3 sample (1.76MB) of my dramatic reading of the poem, just to whet your appetite. (I'll see about getting Plan Nine's permission to post the full poem later.) Unfortunately, the book hasn't got to presses yet, so it's unlikely it will arrive before Christmas, but you can pre-order it now and they'll ship it ASAP.

Another exciting announcement: We've been playing around here behind the scenes, and we've finally created a brand spankin' new GPF store! After much prodding from colleagues and a lot of experimentation, we've finally managed to set up an online store through CafePress. If you've kept up on the message boards, you'll know I've had trouble creating a satisfactory T-shirt there, but I just got another sample and I'm highly impressed with it. So now's your chance to get a piece of GPF merchandise. Right now, we only have two items: A Fooker "Ubergeek" T-shirt and a "Barely Verbal" coffee mug. We've also designed a Ki "Geek Goddess" shirt for the ladies, but we're waiting on our sample to arrive before we decide to go ahead with the design. (We're working on redesigning the Dragon*Con Fred shirt too, but we want to see how successful these new designs are first.) We've also been informed that CafePress guarantees orders made by December 12th will arrive before Christmas, so if you'd like to get one of these nifty items as a present for your favorite geek, you'll need to order right away. We'll be working on new designs as quickly as possible, so start watching the store for more nifty products!

Now, some news re-runs for those that may have missed 'em: Next March, I'll be attending Technicon 18 as a guest! Technicon is a sci-fi convention held each year at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. This year, the Con is March 16-18, and I've been asked to come as a special guest. While I'm not 100% sure of all the details, there are rumors about GPF merchandise for sale, special GPF items for auction, and even a GPF skit in the works! Yeowsa! Plus, there are plenty of other guests and events planned, as well as gaming, masquerades, dances, and artist jam sessions. I'll post more information as it becomes available, so keep watching our site (of course!) and the Technicon site for more details!

In addition, we're adding a new subsite called Shows and Conventions. Since I had so much fun at Dragon*Con this year, I'm definitely planning on looking into other cons, and this subsite will help you find out where I'm going and when. It also gives some info for con program designers who might be curious about bringing me in as a guest. (Hey! Don't laugh! Those Technicon guys want me!) Check this page for more kewl con info!

Now, here's some odds and ends:

• Are you a Perl hacker with a little free time? Then help out the KBB crew! A group of Keenspot fans (including some loyal Faulties) are fed up with the unreliable, buggy Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB) scripts that Keenspot uses for it's message boards, and they're taking matters into their own hands. If you have some Perl knowledge and want to help out, check out the Keen Bulletin Board home page for more information.
• Check out the Dragon*Con Special Report for news and pictures from our Atlanta excursion (our first convention!). (Note this page has moved from its old location.)
• Make sure to sign up for the Plan Nine mailing list to pick up special discounts and exclusive deals on Plan Nine titles (including GPF books and (potentially) other merchandise).
• As always, feel free to let me know what you think of the site and the strip either through the GPF Message Boards, or drop be a line.

Catch you next update, gang!