I promise nothing posted in this article is an April Fool's Joke!
AND THE WINNER OF "ILLIAD FOR A DAY 2005" IS: Ag_Wyvern! His entry takes top honours (by a slim margin!) and therefore he gets to pick half a dozen of his fave strips from the archives and have them sent to him on acetate, signed if he wants. He also gets 12 months added to his ad-free membership at UF. Well done, AW! Drop me a line and let me know which six 'toons, ok?
The two runners up (and there could've been four, it was that close) are SnappingTurtle and maximumbob! Both of them receive a 12-month ad-free membership as well. Way to go!
My thanks to everyone who entered IFAD 2005! Details for the next contest will be coming up before the end of April. The next first prize will be a date with Steve Ballmer at a sock-hop something else.
TRUE OR FALSE?: Most of you in the U.S. will have noticed that we're running a campaign for True.com, a dating site. Most of you will also have noticed that the True ads feature tanned, fit women wearing cling-to-the-skin clothing. I've received about a dozen complaints in email about the ads -- mostly complaining about the fact that they can't have that sort of thing on their screens at work, which is when they usually peruse UF. I can certainly understand the concern at work. It's the "moral" question that doesn't sway me, as you see similar or worse on the news on TV in the evening.
Even though there have only been a very few complaints (out of over a million readers, 12 isn't that big a number), I am as always sensitive to reader discomfort. I am not interested in seeing people get fired from their job because they were reading a cartoon and a co-worker flips out because they spotted the chick in the short-shorts in an ad on UF. On the other side of the same coin, UF is receiving a fair sum for this campaign. The money isn't exactly unneeded.
So I see a few solutions: the campaign runs until the end of April (IIRC) -- come back to the site then, or only view the site at home until then; or, buy a $3.95 a month (that's cost of a latte) ad-free membership and you shut the ads off; or we pull the campaign.
Obviously the last choice is the one I least want to make. But as always, I listen to what you guys have to say, and so I bring this matter directly to you and ask for an email or posted comment if you have any thoughts about the True.com campaign. I'm ready to listen. Even if your comments don't affect the current campaign -- and it still might -- it may help us with campaigns similar to it in the future.
THE SPRING SPONSORSHIP DRIVE IS SOON UPON US: Yessirree, the next sponsorship drive with nag strips, goodies and ad-free memberships will be upon us soon! Look for the launch on or around April 11, running until about May 13. And there's a new limited edition print to be had! Details in Backfeed 1.1!
APRIL SHOWERS BRING...:...the UF April 2005 Wallpaper Calendar [NA version] and of course the EU version as well. [.PNG, 1600x1200, ~500K]
BY YOUR COMMAND: UFie Greg E. sent in this most excellent suggestion for a new chair for Pitr! I still remember John Colicos sitting in that chair and looming over his Cylon minions. Heh. I'd love that chair myself. I'd loom over the grass blades and cold beer on my patio this summer. Thanks Greg!
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