Two New Forum Features

I'm proud to announce a couple new features that have just been added to the Tampa Bay Anime forums. 

The first one is something a lot of people have asked for.  There is now a section at the top of each page that shows the date for the next TBA meeting.  It automatically updates itself, so it should always be accurate.  If we are going to skip a meeting date, then this will be updated so that it skips that date and reminds you why the date is being skipped.

The second feature is much more fun.  There is now a code that you can use to embed YouTube videos directly into your forum posts.  All you have to do is find that video's id, and then type it in surrounded by [youtube] and [/youtube].  To find a video's id, look at its url. Find the characters after the "v=". If there is an "&" after that, the code is everything between "v=" and "&". Otherwise, it's everything after "v=".

For example, if the url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8ODecbuhA, then the ID is "OM8ODecbuhA". If you want to embed that in your forum post, type in this:

[youtube]OM8ODecbuhA[/youtube]

When people read your post, they'll see this:

We're always looking and listening for new ideas, so let us know if you have anything you'd like to see added to the site or the forums.  Have fun!

Discuss this in the forums...

A Special Treat for the February 16 Meeting

My good friend Chohatsu Sensei (aka Justin) will be in town this weekend, and he'll be bringing his imported copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl with him. He'll be bringing it with him to the meeting, for us all to enjoy! Justin's an avid gamer, so he's bound to have unlocked all kinds of interesting things. So, make sure you get to the meeting on time. We'll be ready by 6 PM. Don't miss this rare opportunity to get your hands on the most anticipated Nintendo game yet!

Discuss this in the forums.

Do You Want Video Games in TBA Meetings?

Those of you who have attended Tampa Bay Anime meetings regularly will remember a few times that we've had video games to watch and play. Most recently, Guitar Hero III on my PlayStation 2. We've seen demos, videos, and gameplay from some PC games. We used the Wii to try out our brand new AV equipment last year, during our Holiday Extravaganza. We've relived the olden days of video gaming by showing games some of us may have missed.

Some of you may also remember that I've tried using my XBox 360 to play videos, as an alternative to lugging my huge computer to and from meetings. Well I abandoned that plan, but recent developments may make the 360 a more common part of our meetings. Having a game console in the meeting all the time could mean that we see and play more games at our meetings. Is this a good thing?

I want to know what you guys think about this. Go to this short new article to read about it, then comment and vote in the poll to tell us what you think of the idea.