Note from the Editor

You know, I've been wondering for a while why we do these silly little notes from the editor. Why do we eat up those last few hours before we pump this thing out trying to come up with just the right words to tell you what's in this issue? Seems kind of pointless, doesn't it? You can find out yourself in just one click; you don't need me to tell you. So, I'd like to try something a little different with this one.

See, every time we put one of these things out it takes the combined efforts of a few dozen people and this time around, I want to truly recognize them.

At the heart of The Smog is the people that write for us. In case there were any delusions out there, they don't get paid for this stuff. They do it to share their ideas, their passions, or just something they think you might enjoy. Or maybe they're bored. Either way, it's a lot of work.

We have a team of people that read every single one of these things and scrutinize them to make sure we don't embarass ourselves too much. Nobody appreciates a Grammar Nazi until they're covering for you. They check and double-check everything. I really have no idea why they volunteer for such a horrible job.

We have a team of people that take all of these finished pieces and turn them into something we can actually present. I've done quite a bit of this myself and, believe me, it's tedious. Why? Because.. uhh.. I'll have to get back to you.

We have a group of artists that come up with some truly amazing works just to add an extra bit of flair. No amount of "Art by xxxx" can even come close to giving these people the credit they deserve. One person in particular has produced the artwork for an absolutely ridiculous 72 articles in the last 6 issues. For the love of all things shiny and/or tophat-related, go tell Bummer how awesome he is right now. Be insistent because he hates compliments. I'll wait.

Finally, we have the staff. Yeah, I'm giving kudos to myself a little bit here. Shush, I'm allowed. It can be pretty difficult to organize this thing. Release time is particularly stressful and can show us averaging far less sleep than any functional human being should ever have.

I hope all of you will stop over at the contributors page and just take some time to tell someone there that they're awesome, amazing, or just the bees' knees. Hell, tell ‘em all if you're bored. These people come here to create something awesome for the readers and the community and they deserve way more praise than we can possibly give them.

As for news, well, we've just added a new member to the staff. Welcome to Vacate! Be sure to tell him his hair looks nice.

We're always looking for your feedback as well so feel encouraged to stop by the release thread or send a message to any of the staff if you have questions, compliments, concerns or ideas on how we can improve.

— Toast++