UKNova

And the witches, ghouls and ghosts!!

It's that bewitching time of year again soon, when we all start cutting holes in pumpkins or turnips to ward off the evil spirits that abound at the end of the month. In time-honoured tradition (well, we did it last year) UKNova will once again be holding its Halloween Avatar Competition which will run until the witching hour of midnight on 31st October 2011 (UK time).

To enter, simply design your own spooky avatar and post a copy in this thread: Halloween Avatar Competition 2011. Make sure also that your ghostly design is in use as your avatar on the evening of 31st October when the judging will take place.

There is the very traditional prize of a UKNova Prizewinners mug for the avatar judged to be the best.

So get your thinking caps on and your drawing hands ready - the competition is now open. The closing date is 31st October 2011 at midnight UK time.

Have a spookily good Halloween!!

Please note that from today, the Android app ‘Swarm Torrent Client’ is not permitted on the UKNova tracker, due to outlandishly faulty stats reporting.

We recommend noting this announcement on a Post-it and sticking it on the bezel of your monitor, next to the one with your online banking passwords.

Thank you.

To help celebrate the fifth anniversary of his weekly (ish) quiz, Deedeess will be holding a special 'Champion of Champions' Quiz on UKNova Radio on Friday 22nd April at 11pm BST (UK time), 6pm EST.

As the name doesn't suggest, this quiz is open to ALL members of UKNova and will have some fabulous prizes, including mugs, baseball caps (well, ONE baseball cap), pens, beermats, and probably some other things that haven't been thought of yet.

To take part you will need to be listening to UKNR (See here for details of how to do so) and be online in the UKNova IRC Chat Room (Either click here, or on the 'Chat' link above). You can either chat 'in-page' or via one of the IRC client programs given on the page.

And if you want to polish up your quizzing abilities before the big event, join the regular Friday night quiz at 7pm Friday night (EST) (Midnight UK time on Saturday morning) on Friday 15th April (or just into Saturday if you are in the UK).

Have Fun!!!

Few people can have missed the TV coverage of the disaster which is still unfolding in Japan. A massive earthquake, at 9 on the Richter Scale one of the largest ever recorded, took place off the east coast of Japan on Friday 11 March. Although Japan is well prepared for earthquakes, the massive tsunami which followed saw waves of 10 metres and more battering the east coast of Japan moving at speeds of 50-60 mph. The destruction which the forces of nature have once again caused in our world is horrendous to see. It is almost impossible to imagine what it is like for those affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and the nuclear problems which are ongoing. The scale of the problem is massive, and is only likely to increase in the days to come.

We have many UKNova members living in Japan and of course we all hope they are safe. But the aftermath of the events of the last few days will affect several million people, with tens of thousands likely to have lost their lives.

Rescue teams from around the world continue to travel to Japan to offer help, more than half a million people evacuated before the tsunami struck are housed in temporary centres set up in schools and public buildings and desperately-needed aid is starting to be distributed.

The Japanese Red Cross has been working on the ground since the disaster began, mobilising 86 teams, made up of around 600 doctors, nurses and support staff, to provide first aid and healthcare and assess the damage and needs of the communities affected.

The world is not a happy place. From the financial constraints that affect most of us these days, unrest and civil war adding to the everyday problems in Africa and also resulting in hundreds of deaths in the Middle East. But man-made troubles pale into insignificance when set against the scale of the latest display of the unbridled force of nature.

But we remain one world and one people. Our thoughts are with the people of Japan who are suffering their worst times as a nation since 1945. Hopefully we can gather our senses and help them with aid and friendship. We are one people and one world. If you can spare any amount, please donate here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/

(The Japanese Red Cross is accepting donations from the UK. In the event that the UK Red Cross receives more donations to the Japan Tsunami Appeal than the Japanese Red Cross and International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement can reasonably and efficiently spend, any surplus funds will be used to help prepare for and respond to humanitarian disasters both in the UK and overseas. There will be similar appeals in nations around the world if you wish to donate and are unable to do so via the link above. But do please ensure that any website you use to donate is a bona fide one.)

**Since the original announcement about Japan we have received the following:

"Hi, I saw your note about the Earthquake. I'm one of those people in Japan, thank you.

I work at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Could you please ask your British members in Japan to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (phone, email, skype etc) and confirm that they are safe if they have not already done so. All details are on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/, the helpline phone number is +44 (0)20 7008 0000.

Members in Japan from other countries should also contact their home country Foreign Department to confirm their status." **

Hit and Runners Beware!

Back in 2010 we announced that we would be changing our policy about low scores and Hit & Runners. (Hit & Running is when a user disconnects a torrent as soon as it has finished downloading.)

We are now ready to implement this policy which will target users who make no effort to seed back what they have downloaded. Users who are detected as Hit & Runners will receive a warning and an offer of help. If there is no improvement warned users will receive a further warning and will see their delay increased to 48 hours on all torrents, even those which are normally delay-free. Users with an extremely poor ratio and who cannot justify mitigating circumstances will also receive this warning.

Users who leave their torrents seeding back have nothing to fear. We do appreciate that it is difficult to seed from certain parts of the world, and we have no wish to deprive anyone who plays fairly of their source of UK television. However, it is apparent that some users are not playing by the rules and this degrades the service for everyone else.

The bottom line is: Hit & Run behaviour is not acceptable. We will be taking action against the worst offenders.

If you would like more details or if you find yourself warned you are invited to check out this FORUM POST.