Welcome to the team: Josh Stauffer!

Hello one and all!

As you may know that you've seen our site grown over the past few years. We feel that from the stress of life has made us aware that our free time is very limited and I know many of you are waiting patiently on us to release new 'magical' content for you to enjoy.

This is a great time were we feel to open a new position on the team of Themagical that we feel will be a great addition and benefit.

On the behalf of Themagical, we introduce "Josh Stauffer" !!

He'll be joining the 'Simulation Development Team' to help us bring new content and as well helping the website as well for Themagical. He as well is working on the "Coming Soon" project too!! We are very excited by how its been progressing so far!! WAY A GO JOSH!

Here's a quote from Josh about his new position to the team:

I am excited to join the Simulation Development Team of Themagical. I look forward to working with the Team to explore the possibilities of the latest tools in web development, and to help provide attraction simulations of the highest quality which can meet the demands of the rapidly evolving world of internet media. ~ Josh Stauffer

We are very pleased that he accepted his new position to help the 'Simulation Development Team'.

Coming Soon:

"Nope, guess again. This isn't what you were thinking either on the first teaser!"



(*Click on the image above to see it up close.)

Until then,


Reighard

Reflection on Japan and more...

Hello everybody.

It's been awhile that I've posted on any new posts. There's a reason why I reserve on posting anything new and I'm sorry for that. Let me explain....

Japan:

As many of you have watched, read, or even experience the earthquake (readers/community of Themagical) as well. My heart was really torn apart when I saw the images. This is really worse than Chile and Haiti.

I felt inside so numb seeing the images that has affected me to the point not to post anything new. It's really sad to see villages being completely gone in matter of minutes and its so heavy on my heart to even reflect about it.

To our visitors, community users, and readers of Japan, my heart really goes out to you. Prayers and thoughts goes out to you. We really are humbled that you tune in to read our blog and website when your country has been affected so terribly. Even if you aren't near the affected area, just know we are thinking of you and supporting through donations to help.

From the destruction and following up on our news outlet's has keep me posted on what's going on and wow...just how you guys response to it from the videos I've seen. Just speechless right now to write more about it. Forgive me to be this way but its one reasons why I haven't written anything these past days.

Ok...phew...I'm just trying to cope about the situation in Japan.

Changes For Themagical:

Recently, we made a posting on the website about some new website 'upgrades'. These changes means a better stable website and as well new interaction elements to your profile.

From the new data base upgrades, those who haven't been on our site since June 1, 2009 will be deleted and will have to make a new account. As well those who been on the site, you will (even myself) have to make a new account since the previous data system can't be moved over to the new data based system.

We apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause. Trust me, its for the better of the community and better experience for Themagical.

For those in the 'Beta List' group, we advise that you make sure your account is active on our website if you didn't do so. If your account hasn't been active since June 1, 2009, your account will be deleted and you will not be part of our list. This is a MANDATORY requirement to be part of our 'Beta List' group.

Coming Soon:

"Coming Soon! It's not what you are thinking either."

(*Click on the image above to see it up-close.)

Closing Thoughts:

Thank you again for being patient with me on blog postings as I should do normally.

We hope you have a nice weekend and as well our thoughts and prayers goes to the people of Japan.

Until Next Time,

Reighard

Japan 8.9 Earthquake

== Out Of Cycle Posts ==
We feel to bring this 'Out Of Cycle' posts to bring attention of a terrible disaster that struck the country Japan. This page will be updated with new and current information sources.
==========================

Today (3/11/2011), an approximate 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck near the coast of Japan, approximately 231 miles northeast of Tokyo at about 2:45 p.m. local time on Friday. Japan was hit by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on Friday. The magnitude-8.9 quake spawned a deadly tsunami that slammed into the nation's east coast, leaving a huge swath of devastation in its wake. Hundreds of people are dead and many more are still missing or injured.

Japan has often donated when other countries have experienced disasters, such as when Hurricane Katrina impacted the United States.

The destruction of some parts of Japan has been leveled to the point of only the foundations of buildings and houses were left. It's so heart wrenching to see the images of how badly this has been.

For concerns about a specific U.S. citizen in #Japan, please call 1-888-407-4747 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-407-4747 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email JapanEmergencyUSC@state.gov. http://go.usa.gov/4Ax

::New and Current Updates from the disaster (3/11/2011 Updated: 04/13/2011)::

• Japan raised the crisis level at its crippled nuclear plant Tuesday to a severity on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing high overall radiation leaks that have contaminated the air, tap water, vegetables and seawater. Link here (4/12/11)
  
• 7.1 earthquake (2nd time this month: 1st 4/2/11 & 2nd: 4/11/11) for Japan today. Warning for 3 foot tsunami (4/11/11) UPDATE: Warning has been lifted @5:25am EST
  
• Tokyo Electric Power Company issues temporary evacuation of Fukushima nuclear plant following 7.1 magnitude earthquake (4/11/11)
  
• A magnitude-6.5 #earthquake shook eastern #Japan off the quake-ravaged coast prompting a #tsunami alert: http://yhoo.it/h54MZC (3/27/11)
  
• Officials found contaminants in Spinach and milk products from radiation. (3/18/11)
  
• Japan quake may have shifted Earth's axis & shortened each day by 1.8 microseconds, says JPL scientist: http://1.usa.gov/ie53PT
• The Walt Disney Company is making a $2.5 million contribution to the Red Cross to help aid in the disaster relief. The company has also coordinated a charitable giving program for all Disney employees and will match donations, dollar for dollar, up to an additional $1 million. (3/15/11)
  
• All the foreign CMs at Tokyo Disney Resort are being given the option of going home. OLC is picking up the tab. (3/15/11)
• Over 460 aftershocks Japan has felt since Friday (3/11/11) , yesterday (3/14/11) and today (3/15/11) 6.5 aftershocks quakes has been felt again in Japan.
• 3 reactors are under possible "meltdown" and 1 under fire. (3/16/11)
• 3 explosions of one of the Nuclear Plants in Japan on the binge of a meltdown. The radiation exposure level is currently at *#6! (*See graph below)
• Tokyo Disneyland will be closed for the next 10 days as the country cleans up from one of the worst earthquakes in a generation, the Kyodo News agency reported early Sunday.
• Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea will be closed and to be reopen is unsure at this time. The Walt Disney Company offices and Disney Stores are closed and has been advised foreign cast members to go back to their home countries. Walt Disney Co. will be picking up the tab to fly them charter class flights to their countries and back to Japan once things are cleared safe to return. (3/23/11)
  

• The following is from the official Disney website.

  Update – Tokyo Parks
  Date: 03/12/2011
  Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea suspended operations today due to the effect of the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake on 3/11. Theme park operations will continue to be suspended tomorrow and thereafter.

  TDR will target 3/21 for a decision and notification on when to expect operations to resume.

  This earthquake did not cause major damage to the facilities and building in the theme parks, and TDR has already proceeded with safety verifications.

  The decision on the timing of restarting operations will be made carefully, taking into account the safety of the parks, and the recovery of transportation systems as well as the neighboring infrastructure. (UPDATED: 4/13/11 : Oriental Land Company released this: Reopening Date: April 15, 2011 Operating Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 pm Link to article here! )
  

• The Disney Parks Blog has confirmed that no major damage has occurred at both Tokyo Disneyland and the new Aulani Resort, and most importantly, that nobody died in the park. More, from the Disney Parks Blog.
• In Tokyo, our Resort Operations team has reported only minor damage. There are no reports of any major injuries though several people were treated for anxiety after the quake. In an abundance of caution, Oriental Land Company has decided not to open Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea tomorrow (Saturday) to allow for teams to thoroughly inspect the parks.
• In Hawaii, the Aulani resort, which is still under construction north of Honolulu, has been unaffected at this time by the tsunami waves that traveled east. The Aulani team will continue to monitor the situation as the day progresses.
• In Southern California, the tsunami waves are not expected to impact the Disneyland Resort operation, but cast members who live near the California coast should remain cautious.
• The Disney Wonder is currently near the Mexican port of Cabo San Lucas. Because the Port of Cabo closed to cruise ships this morning, we have altered the Disney Wonder itinerary to include a day at sea today.
• There are no Adventures by Disney trips operating in this part of the world at this time.
• The TWDC Corporate Citizenship team has been monitoring the situation closely and they are preparing to provide support to Cast Members in affected areas.
• Even 70,000 people are stranded overnight at Disneyland Tokyo theme park as the video show how even the guests at the parks were alerted from the affects of the earthquake ( as shown below via Youtube). Here's a link to an article in relation to the guests at the Disneyland Japan parks: http://lat.ms/hJTD7F
• The picture above show the location of towns with more than 500000 inhabitants and distances from Fukushima nuclear plant. (3/16/11)

Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers goes out to those who are affected by this and we encourage if you can help to support these people in need.

Please visit your local help disaster relief organization to donate or visit their website as well.

Thank you for your attention, we'll return to our regular postings momentarily.

Sincerely,

Themagical Staff

Changes for Themagical

Hi all,

Themagical.nl will be upgraded very soon,and it will be a huge operation.
Everybody will have to register a new account as the information from the old website cannot be transferred to the new one, despite staying with the Joomla CMS.

I will use a different profile system which is not compatible to the current one.
Beside these changes Themagical.nl will be completely down for a maximum of 2 days.
The sections http://sims.themagicalnl will stay online, so the sims can be played while the main website is offline. After the switch, http://sims.themagical.nl will be pointing to a new section.

As soon as I know when we will witch to the new website, you will be noticed.

Thank you for understanding.

Kind regards,

Martijn
Webmaster & owner Themagical.nl

Why move off of Internet Explorer 6?

Why move off of Internet Explorer 6?

There are many benefits of upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer – improved speed, tabbed browsing, and better privacy settings to name a few.

The web has changed significantly over the past 10 years. The browser has evolved to adapt to new web technologies, and the latest versions of Internet Explorer help protect you from new attacks and threats.

Recently, IE 9 Release Candidate version has been released to Windows OS users from Vista/Win 7/ Windows Server 2008. (XP users will not be able to download this version unfortunately.)

IE 9 browser is a huge milestone from IE 8/7 versions. IE 9 allows you to use your graphic card to enable new enhancements unlike ever before than using your CPU usage when browsing. This allows the graphic card enabled by IE 9 to bring powerful website experiences and as well a more richer viewing as well.

Performance of IE 9, allows more rendering of text, images, HTML 5, video and so much more so that more can be displayed without sacrificing your CPU usage on your PC.

With Flash Player 10.2 and IE 9, will enhance your browsing on websites and as well a faster rendering of them. This powerful software will bring the internet to you on a huge level unlike ever before.

This will enable you to have 'a more richer simulation experience EVER!' We recommend downloading Flash Player 10.2 and IE 9 to experience our simulations. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

For a comparison between Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 8, see this chart.

Check out how you can tell others about not using IE 6: http://theie6countdown.com/

We recommend that Internet Explorer 6 users upgrade to a newer version of Internet Explorer for a safer browsing experience. (XP Users: Upgrade to IE8)

SF Sim Updates

Hey Everybody!

I know its been a quite for couple of weeks without anything new in particular. And I'm sorry. :(

It's been a long time since we've talked about any new information related to the Dorneyonline.com Simulation updates and I should update you on it.


Steel Force Simulation Twitter Update Stats: (Twitter.com/Themagical)
* 4 days ago of 03.01.2011 EST (GMT -5 hours)

- Did some artwork changes for the #sfsim this evening, especially at the track. Also modified the transfer track code. (Mar. 1st, 2011)

- am not a programmer, but need it as a tool to let the magic "work". But some extra math lessons would be welcome :) (Feb. 28th, 2011)

- Sometimes there are moments you just get lost in your own digitally creative world/development, difficult to pick up the right trial. (Feb. 28th, 2011)

- When developing a sim, I have to prevent too much new techniques, the switch to AS3.0 was a big step to take. (Feb. 28th, 2011)

- Worked at the sf-sim this evening, tuning the visitor system, still not working as it should be. (Feb. 28th, 2011)

The webmaster/founder of Themagical.nl posted some interesting tweets recently and I thought I would keep you posted on the current status of the '#SteelForceSimulation, #SF Sim, #sfsim' updates. (**If you on twitter, be sure to follow us at: @themagical and @randydorney.)

Themagical: Web Update

Currently, as of last night (Mar. 4, 2011) Martijn Leseman (founder & webmaster of Themagical) is updating the website to a newer web structure. He said via Twitter.com/Themagical "Installed Joomla 1.6 on a test server, so I can try to find my way with this upgraded version."

Please be aware that the website may be down due to web maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience that this may cause.

Thanks for reading and we hope to hear from ya real soon!

If you haven't emailed the simulation development team to try the beta testing of Steel Force once we announce it, please send an email to sdt@themagical.nl, with your name, user name account from either Themagical.nl or Dorneyonline.com website and email address.

Until Next Time!


Reighard

Email: sdt@themagical.nl
Twitter: www.twitter.com/randydorney