As we get ready to leave we are selling off some pretty fun stuff. Currently we are working on posting our photo equipment and software. Soon we'll start on the computers.

To find our ebay [ebay.com] auctions you can try this link [ebay.com] or search by the seller named bpm98. If you happen to live in the Portland, OR area we still have some larger furniture items like a bookcase and some really nice wine racks. Send me an e-mail if you're interested.

Where are you leaving to?

...he says after all the auctions have apparently ended.

In Response to mcgrue (#18797):

Aren't Oedipa_Maas and spouse going off to the Peace Corps?

In Response to Rich (#18834):

Yep.

Mali.

But they're offline for about a month, and then on the job.

So likely, if it hasn't gone yet, it's gone.

In Response to zamphir (#18839):

She's going to MALI!!! wow. one of my best friends is going to Mali in the peace corps, in a month.

Online life merging with real life...must run and hide...

In Response to michele9993 (#18921):

TIMBUKTU!!!!!

In Response to zamphir (#18839):

And I'm back online for the next couple weeks. We leave for Mali around Sept 20th. We left our consistent internet access at the end of July, and have been visiting folks. It's amazing how many computer-phobes are in our circle of family and friends.

We still need to sell our computers (iMac and Windows box, sorry folks we ended up donating the Amiga) since we didn't have time to move our files before we were on the road. We might sell the iMac locally. If not, we'll list it on eBay within the week as well as the Windows machine. If you're interested you should check our our auctions around Friday or so.

In Response to michele9993 (#18921):

She's going to MALI!!! wow. one of my best friends is going to Mali in the peace corps, in a month.

This is a wee tiny world after all, isn't it? It sounds like we'll be in the same group of trainees as your friend. What assignment will your friend be doing? Feel free to pass along my e-mail address to him or her.

Because I barely ever post here (though am an avid reader) I couldn't start my own thread. For this post, I apologize to whoever started this one.

I'm starting a comic at www.internalburning.tk. Please check it out and give feedback through the about page.

Also, Jon or Phillip, how do you copyright your comics? I want to the US copyright website and couldn't make head or tail of it!

In Response to thinksoft (#19334):

They draw it and put a little copyright notice on it so that people know that made it.

At least, that's what I presume.

Copyrights exist as soon as something is created (Though it's sorta tricky to enforce such things).

In Response to themysticalone (#19349):

Copyrights exist as soon as something is created

In the civilised parts of the world, yes. In America, not quite. Without registering a copyright, you aren't allowed to sue someone. To sue you fill in the right form (there's a standard one on the US copyright office web site) enclose a printed copy of the strip you wish copyrighted, and pay a fee. There is a system to allow multiple issues of a serial to be copyrighted as a batch for a single fee, but I don't know whether a strip like Goats would qualify.

Luckily for the rest of us, the US is so keen on enforcing intellectual property rights worldwide that they have now agreed that anything that is fully copyrighted under our laws is acceptable for a suit in America. So if you are outside the US, simply creating something automatically allows you to claim all copyrights on it.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to albionsoft (#19365):

I think this is inaccurate, although I may be wrong.

There are two levels of coyright: plain old vanilla, and registered copyright. Works are copyrighted as soon as they are created, and you can sue for damages if the copyright is violated.

Registered copyright means it is on record with the copyright office; you've filed your forms and gone through the bureaucratic hokey-pokey. This alows you greater protection (as the copyright is provable in court) and allows you to sue for triple damages.

Since there is a fee for each filing (about $30, IIRC), we don't do each strip individually. Instead, we register the book collections, which covers all the contents within. Makes it much easier for us.

Phillip usually handles these sorts of technicalities, so he may have clarifications and corrections on the subject.

In Response to jon (#19377):

Ok, more questions: Comics seem to like running on PHP pages with an argument in the URL for which comic to display... Any suggestions? (I hate making a new page for each comic) Er, so , actually, that was only one question... Thanks for the prompt response to the other one!

In Response to thinksoft (#19381):

We don't use PHP, and this isn't the place for these sorts of questions. A google search for comic automation scripts will likely help you more than I could.

In Response to jon (#19377):

Well, the US copyright office website [copyright.gov] claims that "Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U. S. origin." Obviously, this may be wrong, over-simplified, contradicted by state law, or whatever. The implication is that you could only register a work when you intend to sue someone, providing you have some other method of proving ownership.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to albionsoft (#19401):

That's true. It says that "Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright." Which means it's still protected; you just need to register before you go suing someone, which is probably not a hassle in comparison to all the crap you need to go through in order to get to court.

Which, in review, is pretty much what you've already said. But I took the time to type this, so it's getting posted.

In Response to jon (#19402):

Thanks! And, people can feel free to actually READ my comic! (http://www.internalburning.tk) Thanks again for help!

In Response to thinksoft (#19405):

Sorry for killing the convo about people going to Mali...

In Response to thinksoft (#19381):

For my comic, we have a database for the comics which is accessed by PHP.

It basically stores series, series number, comic number, and date. Comics are displayed up to the current date, and are grouped by series, and ordered by comic number. It's a fairly simple thing to get working, from what my software engineer buddy tells me, since he got it set up. Befare we used a comma separated text file to store the comic info, and we used php to pull the needed information out and display stuff.

In Response to albionsoft (#19401):

I was also told by someone who handles copyrights within a company that if you get a person to sign your piece of work and date it, and if that person knows the significance and meaning of that piece of work, that that person's testimony in court would normally be sufficient to prove copyright infringement. But I can't be certain of that.