New Theme

If you’re looking around the blog at this moment, welcome to the new theme of the CEN.TAKU.ME blog, codename CENTAKU. I realized that I did not give the previous theme, which I called Sherbet Text, an update of Sherbet News a chance in the spotlight. It was going to be finished in increments after launch, but it was never happened, and not giving it the chance to talk about it. It’s no use talking about it now, but perhaps I can give a better explanation of the CENTAKU theme, as it’s based on Sherbet Text, but focuses more on readability.

CENTAKU is more of a magazine theme (which seems to be hated as more professional leaning sites use them), yet it’s also a traditional blog theme by visiting the blog area of the blog. Also on the front page, you can see the latest posts filed under the Anime & Manga and Fandom tags*, along with the option of using tags to focus on the regular series of CEN.TAKU.ME.

*Please read next heading.

Recovery Efforts

Also, if you are reading this, the site has been under attack by hackers as of Friday, affecting the redirect file (.htaccess) causing the pages to return 404 errors with this injection. I’ve been working almost around the clock to store everything in working order despite the injections returning after changing passwords. It also ruined the Sherbet Text theme, leaving traces of malicious code.

I was hoping to have one more day of tweaking of CENTAKU, but due to the emergency, there will be a few things missing until everything is restored.

New Host

There was some downtime for the blog over two weekends ago as I changed the DNS over to a new host: DreamHost. There were a few reasons why the decision to switch was made: 1) to alleviate the database problem, which looked like was fixed on HostGator‘s end later, and 2) to use the latest version of Rails (v3) for the AniBroad Project. It appears I could have stayed on HG if it weren’t for the database, but I really wanted an updated version of Rails to work with without paying more for a Virtual Private Server… yet.

Now Accepting Donations!

I’ve pondered over this for a long time after opting in of accepting advertisements to support the longevity of the site. That did not go so well–as in no one came forward. But I’m taking a risk and will now accept donations.

Donations are accepted via the PayPal button in the sidebar (or above this paragraph). By donating to CEN.TAKU.ME, it will help pay for the site hosting every month and for other site related expenses: oh, I don’t know… would you like to help buy a pass or hotel for an upcoming anime con? Or it could go towards a Virtual Server? Any amount goes a long way. It also motivates the appearance of more content to the site! If you don’t wish to donate straight cash, commission from purchasing merchandise from our affiliates goes to funding. Either way, there is another option to help out authors in need. ^_^

There is more on the way, so stay tuned to CEN.TAKU.ME on updates! Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.

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According to this post on Ampercent, it explains that the “wp_posts” table is crashing. The fix is by repairing the database, or at least the “wp_posts” table, to restore the posts. Thankfully it means that the posts are still there, but it means that I’ve lost potential readers after finding out they are being fed nothing at all! /OTL

This experience has taught me a lesson that every blogger should know: BACKUP YOUR DATABASE REGULARLY!!!

Some possibilities for the cause: there are too many records in the database, or that the update of the newest version of phpMyAdmin is causing the problem as the old version did not. And it’s likely that it has something to do with WordPress’ database thingy since 3.1, blah, blah, blah… Who knows? Either way, a busy site should have a database management solution to rectify such problems when they occur unsupervised.

I’ve been using WP-DBManager that performs and schedules backups–the most important feature of the plugin, repairs, and optimizations. I recommend it for WordPress users looking for a free, easy to use database manager. The plugin author is Lester Chan, and it can be found on his programming page, along with other useful plugins!

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July 17th marked the 4th year of the Center of Otakudom and Anime blog! Another milestone in the career of blogging! The blog has come some ways from a just a Final Fantasy XI blog… then a World of Warcraft blog, and finally an Anime blog. Moving away from the first two blogs and reviving the third created this CEN.TAKU.ME blog; centering around my favorite geeky subjects!

In the four years of existance, the blog as earned a place on the Internet for like-minded readers to call home, be it for my frequent Gundam observations or my rants of Dragonball Z and Bleach. While this may seem cliche for some, having an Otaku and Anime centric blog, you can’t help but make frequent posts about them, but it adds to the conversation in the fandom, and add variety to an always growing blog.

Being a blogger this long also opened up other opprutunities to expand my knowledge of the Japanese culture blogging community, and learning some tricks of the trade: that is becoming a member of the press. At this past MTAC, I got to interview Eric Stuart and meet some awesome people in the local Nashville Otaku scene.

As in my previous anniversary post, I take a look back at by best posts of the last year and in the previous years in the blog. But taking a slightly difference stance in my style of blogging, that moment will come eventually. Although my roadmap of my fourth year of blogging will be planned in the coming weeks (or months). As I write this, I do have an announcement coming up on the status of one of my projects, and a new feature that has been around on the blog for the past month.

A new year of the blog would not be possible without the awesome readers and supporters. Here’s to another year of CEN.TAKU.ME! Thank you everyone for sticking around! ^_^

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After spending the past month and a half recovering from my trip to Atlanta, playing Dissidia, and finding a job to accommodate hosting expenses and a part of 2010 convention plans, it’s time to get back to wor—er.. posting. I did a lot of tweaking and adding a bunch of new features to the blog to get it ready for 2010.

Wibiya Toolbar

You may have noticed by now that we have a toolbar at the bottom of the screen. That is the Wibiya Toolbar. You can easily browse articles and share them to social networks or email them to a friend from the bar with just a click of a mouse.

You can also see them action on other blogs like The Banzai Effect. (The use of the toolbar seems to have been inspired by the one on Danny Choo‘s site ^^). Getting one of your own requires a beta invite from the Wibiya team.

CEN.TAKU.ME on Facebook

The CEN.TAKU.ME now has a fan page on Facebook. You can now check updates directly from your live stream. Please feel free to suggest us to your friends! We’re also using the NetworkedBlogs app, so you can follow us as well. ^_^

Theme Tweaks

Many months ago when the new layout was launched, there were a few problems with the appearance of article thumbnails on posts that were posted before the switch (Red X’s). This has been fixed with the Mass Custom Fields Manager. No more Red X’s of Death…

New Writer

CEN.TAKU.ME finally has a new writer! We should give him or her a new welcome, but it’s a secret as to who the actual person is… Shhh! Patience!

One more thing… the “Wave” project is still in the works, but it is delayed a bit due to some limitations. The announcement is on the way, however…

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Sanjo-chan desu! It’s been a bit since I posted anything but my AWA blowout posts. I’ve been busy playing Kingdom Hearts II and Dissidia: Final Fantasy, catching up on Bleach (Fade to Black to follow), watching Ouran High School Host Club for the first time (impressions coming soon), and recovering from an unexpected post-AWA cold (I took care not to catch the con crud, but running back and forth from the Galleria to the Sheraton in the rain was to blame).

In the meantime, I’ve been working hard to finish the “Wave” project, which I hope to launch soon, as well as lending a hand in the upcoming launch of the official website of the Boogie BAM Anime Jam club.

As for CEN.TAKU.ME, new posts are coming up very soon, along with a new giveaway! Lastly, I am considering adding a new writer to the blog. I’ve mentioned this a long, long time ago, but now it’s “Go!” time.

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The blog was recently updated to WordPress 2.8.4—the first update since the upgrade to 2.7. Upon the RC (Release Candidate) Release of 2.8, the Sherbet News theme was tested on a local server to make sure everything was in working order… It appears that I was wrong.

Right now, a few things are broken, such as the post preview on the front, search, and category pages. The problem is currently under investigation. The problem of missing post thumbnails is also being looked at… which was broken to begin with when the theme was launched. ^^;

For WordPress(.org) users: If you haven’t upgrade to WP 2.8.4, it fixes a security problem with “special” URLs that a hacker can use to send a password reset request to the Administrator. More and the download link (or upgrade from the Dashboard) at the WordPress Blog. 2.9 is getting closer.

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While taking micro-breaks from blogging, I’ve been working on my mystery site project, codenamed “Wave”. The project is coming along nicely, but it will be a while before the site officially launches for everyone to try out.

In other news, CEN.TAKU.ME turned 2 years old on July 17th. I feel bad that I couldn’t do anything to mark the occasion, but the only thing that’s important is the blog’s growing readership: a week later, CTM.info hits the 200 subscribers mark! (Thanks, everyone!)

It wasn’t that long ago when the 100 reader mark was reached. The goal was possible thanks to Feedburner’s last-minute support of FriendFeed, as mentioned on John Chow’s blog. CEN.TAKU.ME is listed on my FriendFeed account (Sanjo-chan), but I’m not sure the number of people who actually follow my account as I have yet to keep up with the service. ^^; But either way, it’s still quite an accomplishment!

Private Advertising In, Project Wonder Out

On August 7th, 2009, I will be removing the Project Wonderful ads on the blog. The move is the make sure the ads are targeted within the blog’s main content after putting up with the irrelevant ads appearing. (And I really hate to have to ban people just because the ad doesn’t match, as well as approving every one of them at a time).

To replace the Project Wonderful ads, I will be (finally) investing in private advertising. Advertisers can apply directly to me to advertise on CEN.TAKU.ME for a month or more via PayPal. As an introductory offer, I’m offering 2 125×125 Posts for 1 month for only $3. It’s first come, first serve!

So if you have a Web Comic, Convention, Cosplay, Store (including Esty accounts), or another server to cater to other Otaku, then this is the place! Check out the Advertise page for more information.

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I’m back, everyone! I apologize for the lack of updates aside from the huge Gundam 101 feature that wrapped up last month. (The biggest article ever written! ). Taking time off from posting articles, I’ve decided to update vital parts of the websites-most importantly the Comment Rules. But first, the exciting news!

On Saturday, May 30th, CEN.TAKU.ME hit the 100+ subscribers mark! 105 subscribers to be exact in the picture above, and the highest count recorded so far. This is also a momentous occasion as July 17th will mark the 2nd year anniversary of CTM.

Back in December, the blog hit 50 subscribers. This was only 6 months ago. How did I get double subscribers in just six months?

• Visitors from Otaku.fm – It’s thanks to Otaku.fm, owned by fellow Otaku, Danny Choo, that the blog broke though the 50 subscribers mark in late 2008. As of June 2009, this is a continuing factor in growing readership. If you have an Anime or Otaku related blog, then you should take a look at Otaku.fm as an instant alternative to Google.
• JapanSoc, AllTop, and 2JPN – Another source of reader support comes from the kind people over at JapanSoc. It’s due to their engaging community activities that CEN.TAKU.ME is becoming the most read blog in the Otaku and Japan-related blogosphere. CEN.TAKU.ME is also listed on Alltop‘s Anime and 2JPN‘s JapanSoc listings, which have added to the growing readership.
• Twitter – Another tool in my success. By simply keeping up with my fellow Twitterers (370+ of them) and posting blog updates as they are posted to Twitter was another factor in my goal.
• Members of Boogie BAM Anime Jam – Being a part of Chattanooga’s first Anime Club is another added benefit of being an Otaku and a blogger. Not only that I’ve met some awesome people around my neck of the woods, and it’s also the first opportunity that I have gotten to promote the blog offline. A big thank you goes out to Nick of BBAMAJAM and Zippy (@TokyoTowerWAWL on Twitter) of Tokyo Tower FM for spreading the word!

Continuing with the site updates: The Comment Rules have been updated thanks to the growing number of comments and then some (Thanks! And no thanks to the trolls…). It’s also embedded into the comment form, just in case a comment of your goes missing with no warning.

Next up is the About Page, which really needed to be updated. The page should be easier to understand than before. I may update the page again within a couple of weeks, but it already has key points of how the blog got started, and who reads it.

Finally, two more pages have been updated: Privacy Policy and Disclosure Policy. The Privacy Policy was important as Google recently updated their Terms of Service for the AdSense program, letting publishers know to update their own policy. A link to the page is also embedded into the comment form, next to the Email Address field, as a reminder that I will never, ever sell your email address for a profit.

Thanks again to everyone for reading and here’s to another 100 subscribers and another year of CEN.TAKU.ME! ^_^

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It’s time for the third quarter statistics report! Unlike the previous reports, I’m a month and a half late with this one–but the wait might have been for good measures. I’ll explain in a little bit, but on with the stats!

Statistics Report for July-August 2008

Compared to the last quarter, traffic is significantly higher than in the second quarter. The previous three months were good–despite a problem with August (6th-11th)…when I messed around with the Google Analytics plugin adding extra code from some of Google’s Analytic embed code in the plugin settings, rendering it useless–ack!

September was the best month for the blog, thanks to the new blog theme, increased search engine traffic, and a few linkbacks. The majority of the traffic was all thanks to YouTuber “bleachcenter” for mentioning about the third Bleach movie premiering next month! Not only that this post became to be the most popular on the blog, but several others stood out as well:

1. Win Tickets to Death Note: The Last Name!
2. Second Death Note Movie in Theaters in October
3. Gurren Lagann Debuts on SciFi
4. Create a Manga Avatar with FaceYourManga
5. Viz Releases Box Sets of Popular Shonen Jump Manga
6. A New Fullmetal Alchemist Anime: FINALLY!
7. Luffy Fuses with Goku–as a Figurine
8. [Video] Final Fantasy XI, Fullmetal Alchemist Style!
9. Real TV Shows From the East You Should Watch: It Started with a Kiss
10. A Byakuya Fan Gets Her Wish

For the last quarter of 2008, I looked at other opportunities for more traffic, as well as better content. First is the increase of anime-related topics. Any gaming related posts will continue to be posted on this blog, but many of them I will contribute on VGPro. I also have my feed featured on Danny Choo‘s Otaku.fm site. If you came here reading this from Otaku.fm, then I welcome you! Feel free to find out more about me, and be sure to check out the archives! It’s time to reach out to other anime bloggers and readers besides relying on BlogCatalog, MyBlogLog, Entrecard, or search engines.

This will be the last statistics report for 2008. The next one will be in January for October-December 2008. But there will a obligatory Year-in-Review post next month, so stay tuned!

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I was originally going to relaunch the blog in October, but after finding the right theme, I decided to release it as soon as possible. Just in time for the first day of Fall, too! However, there are a few styling problems with the sidebar. No worries as I am working on it.

I also made some changes to the gallery. From now on, only registered users can download the original photo in its original size and without the watermark, and registered users are only allowed to leave comments.

Feedback is appreciated!

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