Once I received permission from Thor to do this I created a "official" Runboard Products store. The store host I chose has many International sites so instead of just posting a link to the USA store I created a announcement posting in TRD here:


(click the pic)
so people can order their own Runboard products. I set the first of the official products (a t-shirt, coffee cup, ball cap, and bumper sticker) to show as featured items and have set the Runboard graphic as a template which allows you to create and order over 100 different items. Any and all profits generated by the Runboard store will go to charity. The first charity is a 114 year old orphanage located in Texas.

Recently Photobucket added the ability to create and purchase products such as t-shirts, ball-caps, and coffee cups using the pictures you upload to their site. It is kinda cool and the prices seem to be competitive with other online sites but I think they may get in trouble when users start using copyrighted or trademarked pictures and logo's.

I asked for permission from Thor before I placed my own order for a t-shirt with the Runboard logo on it (dang, forgot to ask for permission to use it on a coffee cup) because I do not wish to even appear to infringe on the owners rights.

I was going over my formal education a few days ago and noticed that I need less than 2 years to complete a bachelors degree in religious studies (kinda like a liberal arts degree). Time is precious and I have way to many duties and obligations to actually go back to college in person but I have been looking at this "online university" idea and found two accredited universities that would let me take just a course or two per semester to finish out that degree. It is kinda scary though as I have not attended any formal studies in over 30 years. Then again, it is kinda exciting to think I can finish a degree I dropped so long ago and be able to put another diploma on the wall. I went ahead and started the process of applying for grants (to late in life for a traditional student loan). Perhaps someone will be kind and grant me the chance...

I have fun with all types of puzzles and when I find a good puzzle I really like to work at it. I suppose this shows up on the RBBT and RDS side the most since the first was my puzzle solution to really nice Runboard services that were in danger of going away like the Runboard Chat and the RunSearch Engine (the last actually led to all the RDS competitions being born). Lately though my love for the puzzles concerning Runboard Skin design is in withdrawal mode. I know Thor and Lesigner Girl are doing tons of things that will make Runboard better but until the changes are made live for everyone it leaves folks like me and Joshin Josh in a lurch. I want to make new skins but don't really dare because I don't know how the new Runboard system will work. I also want to expand the original idea behind one of my "real" boards to include all aspects of the actual design process but once again I find myself stumped because there is no way to know what that process will be. Quite a puzzle yes? Now some puzzles don't really have a answer for them but my "skin design withdrawal" demanded some kind of answer just to keep me on the learning track when it comes to CSS and HTML.

So I built this board as a way for me to continue both learning and helping others on Runboard Designs. "But wait a minute Pastor, didn't you just say you couldn't do that?" you might say, and yes I did say that designing "total skins" would be a waste right now. On the other hand though, no matter how much Runboard changes there will still be CSS and HTML areas we can work with soooo... I am working at the design of tools that a message board uses such as a real RunSearch engine box and a calendar and such. This way I keep learning which helps me to help others and my puzzle solving addiction with coding is somewhat satisfied for now.

With the ability for others to make comments directly to our Runboard blogs we now have what I would call a standard blogging system which is much nicer than it was before where the blog simply acted as a journal for our thoughts. This is a nice thing I think, especially since we can turn comments on and off so when the mood strikes we can still do the "editorial" style posts.

Of course being the type of person I am I would like to see more (such as a small "custom CSS and HTML" panel so I could style my blog) but this is a nice format I can live with.

The question now becomes how to use the blog so that others can find a related community to my posts. I want to do this because I want to promote the Message board side of the Runboard system and not have things separated so that there are two almost totally unrelated Runboard systems. After thinking about it I have decided to put in a "Community Comments Link" which will take a person to the community where my blog post subject is being talked about. For example, this post deals with the growth of the blog system so when you click on the button for this blog entry it will take you to "The Neutral Zone" where we have been talking about this in a Runboard Community Message Board. If the blog was dealing with a RDS issue you might find yourself transported to "The Runboard Directory" and if the blog was Bible related you would find yourself at "It's The Bible."