Well, I didn't place in the competition. I was pretty disappointed but oh well; I'm trying to win a scholarship right now. The scholarship is a lot more important. I'm saddened to say that the judges at the national competition did not understand what I was talking about and they seemed pretty bored with my presentation. I had a chance to look at some of the winners' site, not very impressive, but that is just my opinion and obviously not the one that matters.
All of my competitors used commercial software meaning they paid for it while I modified some open source e-commerce software and actually got my hands dirty.
If you want to look at my site visit:
http://www.usharrypotter.com/surfnsun
It is pretty bland but so were the other websites, but we scored extremely high in the technical area of the sites in contrast to our presentation score.
UPDATE: I finished the scholarship you can view it at http://www.usharrypotter.com/mg/
Lost. Not exactly sure why though.
Not Another Vacation. A Competition.
I will be in Anaheim, California for an E-Commerce competition from April 21-28. Wish me luck. ^_^
A New Administrator
Arch Auror Errol has been promoted to Deputy Headmaster Errol. I have been in need of more help (especially since AstarianJewel and Inee left) for quite some time, and I am glad to say I have finally found someone I can trust. On a further note the next version of Hogwarts Live will be released in about two months.
Spring Break Vacation
I will be gone from March 30 to April 4 because I am going up to Northern Utah to see some friends of mine. I will also be taking today and tomorrow (March 29) off because I need to finish all my assignments for school before I leave. Sorry, in advance if this proves to be an inconvenience for anyone.
Geting Stuck?
If you get stuck or your account gets frozen whatever you want to call it, please take note of the area in which you got stuck in before petitioning the staff. Also, please try to avoid the area you got stuck in after we fix your account. I am aware of various locations that are needed to play the game such as the Forbidden Forest, the Clan Halls, and the Dueling Club that have bugs, I will try to have these worked out by April.
Thanks.
Database Errors
I know I said there shouldn't be anymore database connection errors but this one was not caused by something else. The problem is still unfixed, though I can easily bring back the game I still do not know what SPECIFICALLY is causing the database to crash. Yup it crashed and then shut me out so I couldn't log in and fix the problem till today. If it goes down you can always try http://www.usharrypotter.com/forums.ushp and post the problem there, cause I was not immediately aware of the site going down.
Where did everything go???
You may have noticed that A LOT and I mean A LOT of features of the game are missing, I had to deactivate a lot of stuff in order to figure out, which modules are slowing down the site. Please be patient!
Database Transfered!!!!
Fortunately, I have finally transferred the Hogwarts Live database to the new server! What does this mean? Well for one you should experience A LOT LESS downtime, that means this site SHOULD be up most all of the time!
New Rule Regarding Aurors
A new rule regarding admins or mods (people with specially colored names) has been established. To even be allowed to send us your application (including a personal statement) you must either be a God or Goddess. Also, at the current time we are NOT accepting applications for Aurors. Any submission or questions relating to becoming an Auror will be ignored.
Thank you for understanding. :)
Backlog of petitions
I would just like to check that everyone who currently has an open petition still needs their problem fixed. The following people should owl me (ArchAuror Scellanis) if they can now log in properly and play the game without any errors:
Firstyeargirl Khradijah, Gladiatrix Aliana, Firstyeargirl coreyschic, Secondyeargirl KathrynHawk, Elphie and Nortney, Firstyeargirl hermione, Firstyeargirl harryrocksmysocks, Viscount leejordan and lastly Archtitaness FoxyStarr.
If I don't receive an owl from the player I will assume the problem is not fixed yet.
P.S. This does not mean everyone else gets to owl me directly with their problems. If you are stuck submit a detailed petition. If your friend is stuck then they should submit a detailed petition and you should get on with your game.