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Behind the Scenes is a regular video feature that concentrates on the latest and greatest developments in technology companies, as well as giving you an insider's look at what it's like to work there. Our debut video features Dr. John Buchanan of Electronic Arts, who discusses, among other things, bi-cubic surfaces and their use in gamescape development.

Inside the Box is second video feature that focuses on digging into the psyche of interesting products and services. Our first review is conducted by our very own Alpha Geek, Jay "Yohimbe" Thorne. If you're a technophile, or someone who likes lounge singing, you really need to check this out. At least he does a better job than Kevin Costner. Trust me on this one.

Last but not least, the GeekBazaar is a collection of smaller technology and service companies who we think deserve a higher profile, but who get lost in the noise of the 'Net in general. The Bazaar features an ongoing UF-spinoff cartoon updated a few times a month and supported by the companies who congregate there. Every time you visit the sponsors in the Bazaar you're helping these smaller, less-noticed companies staffed (and often founded by) by fellow geeks, you help UF, plus you just might stumble across a product or service that you'll really connect with!

The videos are offered in Quicktime and MPEG formats; in the Quicktime versions, keep an eye out for the nifty links appearing in the sidebars of the video features -- you can click on them and be taken to another video stream, and then get sent back to where you left off.

We very much hope everyone enjoys the new features!

...or one of them anyway! The folks on the founding mailing list for the UF community invite one and all to join. Details from the community page: This was the first mailing list created for fans of the comic strip. To subscribe, just send mail to userfriendly-request@lists.paralynx.com and put "subscribe" in the body of the text. This is a high traffic list, so you may want to keep that in mind. Alternatively, you can ask for the digest format by sending the same message to userfriendly-digest-request@lists.paralynx.com. The list is run by a committee of five UFies and can be reached by email to admin@uflist.org. You can also visit their webpage for their charter and other information.

There are other UF mailing lists available, including ones devoted to UFies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in the US Midwest. More details can be found here.

Geri, the captain of the UFie Sun Run has someone's sunglasses. If you lost a pair at the Sun Run, please contact her.

Steve Petrucelli of the User Friendly Tribe for the game Tribes 2 sent in these two screenshots [1|2] of a couple of UF skins. Cracked me right up and made me proud. :) If you want to join the UF Tribe, contact Oneiros at his site.

Finally, the Intruder project is still under way, albeit we're in a bit of a lull due to the time of year as well as a bit of slowness on my part getting the signups collated and the design document finalized to ver 1.0. If you're keen on joining the fun, please visit the signup form and let us know who you are!