WHR Year in Review: 2009 – The Good The Bad The Ugly The Pragmatic and The Ecstatic!

Happy New Year to Everyone!

This special news report has been in draft form for some time. Included directly below is another in our music news series announcing coverage of the first of many exciting new science fiction series like FRINGE. Watch the video till the end and see the cool “Gate” and other great Fringe sequences!

The purpose of this news report is for an introspective analysis paraphrasing our report title from an old western movie starring none other than the outstanding Clint Eastwood! WHR Year in Review: 2009, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, The Pragmatic and The Ecstatic!

The Good:

There is much good in what has occurred here and it is all thanks to you, our visitors the numerous fans of the conventions and series franchises we have covered. When WHR was founded, we requested your support. We have been more than pleasantly surprised, in fact astounded by the level of support we have received from every group, studio, and virtually every fan and or organization we have had the privilege to work with. Thank you!

Of interest is that despite my continued projections that visits to WHR would level out, especially during the Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas holidays, I have been proven dead wrong each time by you, the visitors to WHR and one of our most gifted reporters, MeaganSue!

What is nearly beyond comprehension is that we closed posting new reports for the last 10 days of 2009. Despite having over one third (1/3) of December days not having new posts, the number of visits more than doubled (again) to over 26,000 visits servicing over 600,000 pages with a shade below 2 million web hits for the month ending December 2009 with over 100 gigabytes of news data delivered! For this we at WHR are humbly indebted to each and every individual who elected to visit WHR and to all our contributors as well.

That is not about us tooting our own horn. What it means is this is about you, our visitors! You all made this happen!

WHR are simply your humble servants and WHR reporting staff will continue to internalize the suggestions we receive at conventions, in direct e-mail received, on Facebook, on Twitter, by direct comment and critically from the studios which we have had the honor to be allowed to work with and report on. Thank you!

More good news is that a special program implemented months ago has been a resounding success. I am speaking of the Twitter Blending program page installed on our primary news blog. Accessed by clicking the associated page link on the top of the blog, this program accounts for over 15 percent of all web hits (not page views) we have been fortunate enough to receive. The program was implemented for individuals who do not access Twitter directly for various personal reasons, but whom enjoy reading what the fans of the franchises we report on are discussing at any given moment. WHR will be expanding this program for those who prefer not to ‘tweet’, but enjoy the ‘read’.

Next is a comparison of video news reports (specifically convention panels) versus the written words of convention reports. While accounting for some two point five (2.5%)  percent of all activity at WHR, these video convention reports pale in comparison to the written transcripts prepared by our reporters by a factor of over thirty (30) to one!

WHR will continue to produce video reports of convention panels when authorized by convention producers, but the reports will be accompanied and or preceded by the detailed written report. Why? Feedback and data analysis clearly indicates that the WHR reporter perspective opinion is critical to the enjoyment and fun associated with our detailed convention reports.

On the subject of video news, our music news series also outpaced convention video panel reports by a factor of over six (6) to one accounting for greater than 15 percent of all activity in 2009. Analysis of video data indicates that the length of a panel video (~45 to 60 minutes) when compared to a three (3) to ten (10) minute video music news report is the answer. The duration of the video (length / time) is the factor which accounts for the difference. Many people have expressed that while they truly enjoy the longer video panels, they often do not have an hour to devote to viewing when they can read a panel report much faster than viewing one. Therefore, WHR will endeavor to publish both reporting styles wherever possible for the very same event.

On database search and font display properties, we have more good news. The WHR news database has been upgraded and all posts are in process of being re-indexed for easier and faster search capabilities so you can find the stories that you find interesting. This process will be completed by the end of the first week of January for your benefit. During the re-indexing all posts and pages will be enhanced using the same easy to read font featured in posts since October 2009. It is a fair amount of work, but is being performed for consistency and ease of reading by you our visitors.

If we miss something please drop us a line at our new updated blog Feedback Page or by sending an e-mail to info@WormholeRiders.Com – The new blog and web based feedback pages will be published concurrently upon completion of the aforementioned enhancements. Our target is Monday January 11, 2009.

The Bad:

There is a notable exception to ‘The Good’ which we will discuss next.  One disappointment is the Fan Photo Opportunity program also known as ‘Fan Photo Op’. Despite the best intentions, this program has been a dismal failure accounting for less than 1/1,000 of a percent of all web activity at WHR in 2009.

Not from want of trying mind you, quite the contrary. However in discussions with many dozens of fans at the recent Los Angeles Stargate Farscape Convention, the same note of discussion rang true over and over again.

People pay a lot of hard earned money for their Fan Photo Op’s. Virtually everyone we spoke with there, except for our own reporting staff said the same thing or a variant thereof; We are concerned about having our (their) photos available in high resolution multi-mega-pixel images displayed on the web no matter what precautions are taken to inhibit image copying.

Publishing high resolution images is a matter of personal choice. We at WHR completely understand these concerns and we respect them. Unfortunately due to lack of interest the WHR Fan Photo Op program is being suspended indefinitely pending further notice. All high resolution images in the program have been removed from our web pages as of publication of this report and can no longer be accessed in high resolution.

There was a notable exception, a very kind person named Mr. Sean Koo whom I will respectfully refer to as one of the “Kings of the Fan Photo Op”! Mr. Koo provided over ten fantastic photo images from his sizable collection. However, as the old adage accurately identified “no man (woman) is an island”, but we sincerely thank you Sean!

Regarding retention of said images, any and or all may be featured in special reports at lower resolution in various news stories scheduled throughout 2010 and beyond.

Said photos were contributed at the time of submission without reservation in every instance. Additionally journalistic ethic case law on this matter is quite clear. All contributed images will be retained for such purposes deemed appropriate by WHR. As with any news organization, WHR uses of same is deemed appropriate within the purview of our reporting and or within our low resolution convention news slide shows which are themselves news.

The Ugly:

Only two points here. We will be brief. First about the people whom have attempted to post foul language or hateful comments about Stargate, V, Farscape and or any actor in any franchise series we have reported on.

We appreciate that people can differ in what they enjoy or dislike about a character in a series, even the story-line or series itself. However nasty comments, when directed at the actor or actress and or others like series creators, producers, or crews for their portrayal of anything is not appreciated nor will such behavior be tolerated.

Note: Tasteful and well considered critical comments are allowed and we have posted same when done in a respectful fashion. All others are considered spam and are deleted.

Speaking of spam and or attempts to access restricted areas of our news site. These also will not be tolerated. For those of you engaging in such heinous activities and who attempt to disguise your IP’s, WHR has very bad news for you.

We have access to the “secret decoder ring” and can ascertain your original IP location in every instance. So too do other agencies of a more stern nature. So behave yourselves or you may find someone with a badge paying you a visit for a not so special and rather Spartan hotel accommodation.

Thank you for your cooperation in this regard and for being good.

The Pragmatic:

On a different and more pragmatic subject, the same precept as discussed above (photo document retention) holds true for our reporter biographies. As with any newspaper, magazine, periodical and or on-line news source, all WHR reporter biographies will be retained in perpetuity, even for those who may elect to pursue other interests rather than report for WormholeRiders. Naturally we wish all such individuals well.

Also of import is the fact that WHR will now post all biographical information with our real names beginning soon in 2010 as such is a requirement for any news organization.  It is also simply a sound business practice that people deal with real reporters, not just screen or pen names.

Only one exception; Subsequent to receipt of a written signed and notarized notice to not include a specific name, and to instead substitute a legal “Doing Business As” also known as a DBA certification, all reporters names will be published. The DBA documented, as filed in the county of residence recorder’s office, MUST accompany the written request. There will be no exceptions to ensure appropriate legal considerations.

Any and all such notice requests must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2010 at the WHR business address noted below to be considered an official business request:

WormholeRiders
P.O Box 22485
San Francisco, CA 94122

Note: E-mail is not considered legal notice in California where WHR is based. For that matter such is not proper notice in most of the world unless special digital procedures are utilized or a written legal contract to that effect is in existence prior to receipt of said e-mail request attesting to the efficacy of the electronic document. Such e-mail are not required to be responded to as an official business request to WormholeRiders. This does not apply to requests for news coverage or other matters, only to official business. If you have such a request to not publish your real name, you are expected and are required to follow the procedure above by writing to the address provided including all required documentation. Thank you.

And The Ecstatic

Saving the very best for last WHR is proud to announce that we will expand our coverage of new series and conventions in 2010 as noted above in our music news on the subject!

To this point some of you may have heard of the person featured in a CNN news report who sees the smiley face everywhere she goes photographs them and has created the following web site? http://www.spontaneoussmiley.com/

Well we at WHR see Wormholes in most if not all aspects of our reporting and in our encounters with real life on our fair planet Earth itself.

Although not ‘invented’ in either the movies, or in the three series, Stargate certainly is responsible for acceptance of the theorem in the minds of much of the general public throughout the world. We compliment the creators of Stargate for nurturing the seeds of wormholes for over 15 years and WHR will continue to report on anything with Stargate wormholes as is our practice!

Therefore WHR will begin immediate coverage on a relatively new series with a “Gate”, alternate realties and parallel universes. Our announcement of course is about the fantastic series produced by Bad Robot as shown on the FOX networks … Fringe!

We will not say more at the moment as new detailed reports with a special new reporter will be posting here very soon. Suffice it to say that Fringe contains all the elements required for most fans of science fiction and wormholes, not to mention many of the great actors who have crossed over from the Stargate franchise. Who? Well watch Fringe on FOX and stand by for more wormhole fun from WHR in 2010.

In conclusion of the year 2009 in review, we end this report with the following Breaking News: WHR will be adding more resources, more reporting staff, covering more convention and science fiction than ever before, and we will be providing exclusive coverage of evermore science fiction events across the globe in the years to come.

And for this we sincerely thank you for your continued support!

Happy New Year and Best Regards