UBBDev: What are the other main interests of the members on your site?
Gizzy: My members are generally interested in Gaming, Computers, Electronics and just chatting. I have a small group of people who're interested in Linux but the calling of Linux still exists. We have a large amount of people who talk about different UNIX and Linux information on the IRC and some on the bulletin board, but there's still the group of the hardcore Linux guru's that just hide in the back .
We enjoy just chatting it up on the IRC server; it's grown to be one of our favorite things to work on. I truly am thankful for Sinetific, Infinite, and SilentRage for donating their time and bandwidth to helping the site out. I'm 100% positive that without them UGN Security would have faded into nothingness.
Just as any community we can only survive with our members. We try our best in helping everyone with just about anything that can help them out. I love talking to new people and getting to know them, although I don't show it most of the time.
UBBDev: Do you prefer Console or PC gaming?
Gizzy: My PS2! I couldn't live without it... I'm a huge RPG geek; if I could get paid to review games all day I'd definitely do it... I still like PC gaming though; but for more Strategy purposes (Risk, AoE, AoK, Diablo II: LoD)...
I've always been a Console geek, I love my PS2, heck if my Sega still worked I'd be playing that too (sonic rules :x)... I've had too many consoles in my day; 3 different Atari's, a few original Nintendo's, Sega's up the wazoo (Sega Nomad, Sega Genesis, Sega 32 Bit, Sega CD, heck, I even had SegaTV (the limited over the cable thing our cable co had, it was sweet; 300 games at my fingertip's and no changing the cartridge!)).
But there is just something about the console that I just love... Possibly the standard DVD capabilities of the PS2 where the XBox you have to buy an adapter no matter what if you plan on playing DVD's... But I have them both although they’ve been quite neglected as of late (been swamped with work).
UBBDev: What are the top games that you would recommend - what are your favorites?
Gizzy: Oh goodness, favorite games... I'm a fan of the classics most definitely... Sonic, Frogger, Age of Empires (leave it to me to spawn 20 years in 2 seconds)... I'll play anything once in all honesty; I don't really have any favorites... Although the Mortal Kombat games definitely come to mind when I think favorite...
I like Racing games, Battle games, heck even some games where all you do is run around and get injured... I think I sat down and played a simulation dating game as a stick figure for at least a week... But then again I like simulators just because I can beat them so easily but there are always different things that you can do in them...
UBBDev: Which soon to be released game are you anticipating the most?
Gizzy: Well, I definitely want to get UT2004 when I get a new PC (for some reason it likes to crash my dell laptop, but then again I just answered my own statement, dell)... Haven't really looked at any games lately but for some reason, I'm just mesmerized by all the DDR games... They look sweet, but if you've ever seen me, you know that Gizzy has no rhythm...
We're getting a pool this summer so I doubt I'll be gaming too much, unless I can get a portable TV and my second PS2 outside that is... Doubtful though as when I get the pool setup it'll take up a large portion of my yard (it'll take a while as we live on a hill and I have to flatten ground, I'll just think of it as a video game though).
UBBDev: What other sites do you consider to be your competitors? What do you do to differentiate UGN Security from them?
Gizzy: I don't really consider any site to be a competitor. Our site is mainly just a chat for members who are willing to listen to just sit and learn. We allow anyone who's willing, even those who break the rules, to join in on any conversation and ask any questions pertaining to any issues they have experienced with computers, the internet or electronics.
The majority of us are Sci-Fi buffs though, so don't come around on Friday nights as a majority of our Admin's are around their televisions watching Stargate SG-1.
UBBDev: Lol, as opposed to being out on dates.
When did you start using UBB on your site?
Gizzy: We purchased a license to UBB.Classic in April of 1999. Before then we were using a freeware version of the board. BlackBeard decided that the time had come to upgrade the board to use the licensed version as at least we'd get support if we needed it ... Also new features coming out we decided it was a necessity.
UBBDev: How large is your board "staff", in terms of Admin's and Moderators?
Gizzy: We have 5 Administrators (it's a necessity with a internet security board, there can be a lot of questionable content at times so it's a must to keep a staff who can maintain just about anything. Most of the administrators are in charge of the IRC Server to be sure any decisions on one part of the site are backed up on another.
As for moderators we have too many to count on both hands ... Our news staff we have 5 members, who are in charge of moderation of the news forums as well as publishing 10 stories per person each week. Other than that each forum has 2 moderators (no moderator is supposed to moderate more than 4 forums).
We're running the Mega Moderators modification to help with maintenance of the site. We have 3 Mega Moderators who assist in policing the forums.
In all actuality UGN Security couldn't be what it is now without our staff. We allow anyone to be staff member, but we weed people out due to not being dedicated towards helping the community as a whole. If the member isn't dedicated to helping people there is no way that they'd last as a staff member.
UBBDev: Besides the UBB, what other content do you have on your site?
Gizzy: We have about 500mb of text files and how to's on computers and telecommunications. Mainly the bad stuff that no one wants to admit exist, and a lot are semi outdated, but the best way to understand how things work and learn about how to protect yourself from the "bad guys" is to learn about how it once worked and what can actually be done to specific hardware and operating systems so you know how to protect yourself.
We also have an IRC server with about 30 members at most times. Our chat is pretty dead until night time (starting 6pm PST) but is usually pretty active all night. We allow anyone to register channels on the IRC so long as everything stays legal. A lot of users like to push things but they’re the few that get sent to DalNET.
UBBDev: What are some of your future plans for UGN security?
Gizzy: Future plan's... That's actually a good question; I haven't given much thought to it lately. Our #1 goal at this time is to get our advertising system up and running. I have a staff member working on it that I am expecting great things from.
I'm planning on tying the board into the site a little more, although I cannot really give out too many details as of yet since I haven't really decided what I was planning on doing in full yet.
Other options however, I've been planning for some time on doing yet another recode of the site (this would mark the third total rebuild of the site). Right now (although it may not look like it) portions of the site are Mickey Mouse'd together and the coding is a real nightmare if you ever got the chance to look at it. The recode will keep the same design yet diminish a large portion of the coding in each file of the site and tie in a little more MySQL where we decide to place it (mainly the left menu).
UBBDev: Thanks again for taking the time to speak with us, and best of luck with UGN Security.
Gizzy: Thanks, in closing I'm thankful for my members, and especially my staff. They are the best group of people who I've ever had the honor of knowing, and I hope that everything grows between us as friends as the community grows with people and content.
