Backup Disk Crash

Hi,

So, my backup disk just crashed. Thankfully, it wasn't my internal one but this doesn't mean much. The only thing that concerns you is that any backups of the server are now gone. I'm backing up my system now but everything that was backed up from 5 months ago until now is lost.

Looking into getting a new drive because the one I have now doesn't have enough space for my whole computer.

So yeah. Happy Monday.

- Aidan

Through the Mines is on Google+

Hello everyone,

Today, Google announced that it had added new safety features to Google+ to protect teenagers from the "dangers of the internet" so I made an account today and got myself a little situated. If you're a teenager (Read: 13 and over) and want to join Google+, just go to google.com (log in to your Google account if you have one and if you don't, I'm pretty sure there's a button on google.com in the top right hand corner that lets you create one) and click on the "+You" button in the top left hand corner (in the picture above) and Google will do the rest.

So once you do that (or if you already did that) click here to go to the Through the Mines page: https://plus.google.com/114848317035114929277

If you added this page to your circle (I sound cool) then thanks and I'll (try) to post stuff.

Happy Google+ing? (I don't know how you're supposed to say it)

- Aidan

Please Read if You Go on the Moog/Thimble Lake City Server!

Hi Minecrafters,

The reason your reading this is that I just recently got an app that allows you to manage most of your server from an iOS device. That means no more going on LogMeIn and squinting anymore! But what it means for you is a new way to contact me if I happen to be either on my iPad or iPhone. Just type /calladmin mystupidreason(justkidding) and it will send me a push notification on my devices telling me that you're in need of help. Also, I can respond to you very promptly since this app has a built in chat feature with which I can chat with you through the app. If I for some reason can't be reached by this, then texting to my number is fine. I would prefer this however because it tells me that someone needs help on the server. Not only will this app help me with chatting, but, like I mentioned earlier, I can basically doing everything from my phone which will prove very useful for fixing things on the go.

Don't spam me,

- Aidan

P.S: If your wondering what this app is called, it's called Adminium. Get it at adminiumapp.com. It requires Bukkit and knowledge of working with a server (installing plugins, editing config files, etc.).

Discontinuing Custom John Smith Texture Pack

Sorry. Please don't kill me (again),

As the title says I am discontinuing the custom John Smith pack that I put out. I haven't updated it since 1.7, I believe, and have no reason too, since I found a pack that I am happy with called Faithful (http://bit.ly/sXI4PP), which is basically the Minecraft textures in an HD format. Once again, the John Smith textures are great and I still might use the default pack from time to time. But, I have lost interest in it and will not be customizing and distributing it anymore.

If you want to download the default John Smith pack or customize your own, you can go here: http://bit.ly/sC2l7y.

Sorry for any inconvenience,

- Aidan

New Survival Server IP

Hi,

Lethaldrive recently moved their servers to Chicago, I believe and are now hosting them themselves so that means I get a new server IP!. Yay!

50.31.24.48:25566


Other then that, there are no changes. Go on with your worthless lives (:

- Aidan

New Stuff on the Server!

There is some new stuff on the Moog and Thimble Lake City server. I'll list it all out for you (Including pictures for those of you that like picture books).

1. New MOTD (Message of the Day).

I made this new MOTD with the Bukkit plugin Real MOTD. It shows

• Who's on
• The real time
• The current Minecraft day. I don't how it got this. Maybe it's stored somewhere in the world file or something. But wow! 13,000 days is 266,400 minutes which is 4440 hours which is 185 days which means that it started counting Sunday, May 15, 2011. That's probably about the time that I got a Bukkit server.
• The gamemode
• Your coordinates
• What biome your in
• And basic commands

2. Speaking of commands, new plugins have been added to the server.

• /news (SimpleNews) Will give you categories of news to choose from. Think of it as a bulletin board to a specific topic. The two topics that I have up right now are newplugins, which will tell you what plugins have recently been added, and general, which is just general news. To go to a specific topic type /news newplugins or whatever the category is. Check them often!

This is what you get when you type /news

This is what you get when you go to a news category

• MTape. This is a really simple plugin. Just type /mtape help to learn how to use it.
• Pyraetopedia. Even if you can't pronounce it, this plugin could come in handy. Type /what is blah and it will search Wikipedia for the answer.
• This plugin is the one I'm most excited about and it's called Dynmap. What this does is it puts a live updating map of your world online. This includes moving people as well. And just to be clear, when you place a block down on this map, you will see it added to the map in real time. You can go to this map via a web browser by typing  68.4.72.62:8123 into your address bar. Whats also neat is that you can chat via the web browser and people in game will see it.

And that's it, I think. Enjoy all the new things. Remember to give suggestions by using the /suggest command.

- Aidan

Discontinuing Custom Painterly Pack

Hi everyone. Please don't yell at me.

As the title suggests I am discontinuing my custom Painterly Pack. I will probably take down the pack download tomorrow and after that will slowly weed out the links wherever I have posted them. You may be asking "Why has he done this!?". Well, it's definetly not because I don't like the Painterly textures, they are great. But, I have two reasons.

1. It takes a long time to make a custom pack. It usually takes me 30 minutes to make one pack and Painterly usually has frequent updates.
2. I don't prefer the Painterly Textures anymore. I will still be putting out my custom John Smith pack because I actually use that one unlike the Painterly one. I also sometimes will use the default pack and Faithful pack found here: http://bit.ly/u4TH1p.

Once again, I'm not saying Painterly is bad, it's just that I have found packs that better suit me. You can still go to painterlypack.net and make your own.

Sorry for any inconvience,

- Aidan

Halloween Surprise!

Hi everyone,

The survival server is now hosted by Lethaldrive! By the way, if your thinking on hosting your own server they have some great deals right now at lethaldrive.com. That means that the survival server will almost always be up for your adventuring pleasure. The new IP address is 50.97.168.125:25566

You may be wondering why I didn't choose the Moog/TLC server to run on Lethaldrive's servers. That's because that server takes up more RAM then a vanilla server and RAM is $5 per 256 MB. It was the cheaper option. Plus I can manage plugins on my computer better then over FTP.

Anyway, enjoy candy!

The Server is now 1.8 Bukkit!

Great news! The Moog/Thimble Lake City server is now 1.8 Bukkit!

That's not to say everything is good. Here are the problems I've noticed. (Edit's are in bold)

• Citizens doesn't work.
• You can't walk through doors (Use a compass). (Well, it seems you can walk through a single door, not a double door)
• Some doors appear to be missing?

And that's pretty much all that I've noticed. I'll post any more problems that come up. Bukkit will probably have a stable release soon so I don't think this will last for much longer.

Happy 1.8ing

- Aidan

Edit: Added two items


Edit 2: Bukkit had a stable release a while ago. All problems above are fixed.

Lord of the Famine Adventure Map - Download Now!

Hello everyone,

Me and my friends are finished working on an adventure map called Lord of the Famine. Go to the forum post here: http://bit.ly/n6wXyl

Direct download here: http://db.tt/KUFQsOK

Enjoy!

- Aidan

Longer Youtube Videos Ahead!

Good news everyone!

While I was uploading a video through Youtube's website, (iMovie wasn't working for some reason) I got a message at the top that said

"Congratulations! Your account is now enabled for uploads longer than 15 minutes. Click the Upload button below to select a video."

I was completely caught off guard because I believed that you had to be a Youtube partner in order to upload videos longer then 15 minutes.

I looked it up and here's what Youtube posted on their blog (Posted in Dec. of 2010):

"Your creativity isn’t bound by a time limit, so why should your video uploads be? Back in July we raised the upload limit to 15 minutes for all users. Starting today, we’ll begin allowing selected users with a history of complying with the YouTube Community Guidelines and our copyright rules to upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes.

So go find that movie you wrote and filmed last year and share it with the world! Or upload your son’s championship high school basketball game or the insightful lecture you just gave on the emerging economics of green tech. As long as it’s your original content, it’s fair game regardless of length.

This launch has been made possible in part by the continued advances in our state-of-the-art Content ID system, as well as our other powerful tools for copyright owners. Over 1000 global partners use Content ID to manage their content on YouTube, including every major U.S. movie studio and music label. We remain as dedicated as ever to building and improving the most sophisticated technology in the world to help copyright owners protect their rights"

(Full post here: http://bit.ly/qz13rI)

The only question now is: How long can they be? I think I can do a 1 hour, 20 min. video because a 40 minute video that I recorded was 10 GB, and the file size limit (When uploading it with the Java software thing that Youtube's got) is 20 GB. I probably won't be doing that. But, it's nice to know I can (:

Thanks Youtube for opening a lot more opportunities for me,

- Aidan 

(Edit: It seems as though you can't have "<" or ">" in your descriptions... That would've been nice to know...)

Preparing for 1.8 (Edited)

Hi everyone,

I relized that I haven't posted for a while. I've been too busy preparing for school and making videos, and of course... Minecraft. Which is what I'm going to be talking about (Surprise).


1.8 is coming out very soon, most likely early next week. From Notch's livestream and a video of someone filming 1.8, we know most of what will be in the new update. One of those features is the creative/surivival option. Wouldn't be great if Ops were to be able to have the creative mode while non ops got regular survival? I doubt that's going to happen (perhaps with a Bukkit plugin). But if there isn't a way to do half and half, I will probably stick with survival mainly becase the whole reason there is non-ops is so that they don't go on a lava/TNT spree. But, I am hopeful that a plugin will come along that enables a half and half funtionality.

Bukkit is usually good about updating very quickly (Example: They launched a version for 1.7 is just 15 min.!). But, with 1.8 being such a big update, they might be a day or two. So, if they are not quick, we will play on a regular Minecraft server for the time being (Read: No Mods). So don't come on the server and expect Bukit right of the bat.

That's all I really have to say. Just wanted to let you know. Here are the videos I was talking about from earlier.

PAX Livestream (With Notch playing + It's 52 min.)

An HD Look at the New Update (Only 3 min.)

1.8!

- Aidan

Edit: I have figured out that ops will be able to switch between creative and regular survival mode. Thanks to Notch for adding this. It's just what I needed!

I'm Back!

Hello everyone,

I am on the way home from Alaska and I think the server's down. I don't know how long it's been down, but I'll ask someone soon.

The new contest started yesterday and this week is aircraft week. Build the best aircraft of any size or type. I look forward to many awesome entries. See my other post for more details on the contest.


- Aidan

August is Vehicle Month!

Hello everyone,

I wanted to announce that August is Vehicle month. All month long we are doing contests with vehicles. Its going to be split up into 3 weeks:

• Aug. 8 - 14 Aircraft Week. Build the most spectacular flying machine ever built. It's not limited to a specific type of aircraft.
• Aug. 15 - 21 Car Week. Build the coolest car. 
• Aug. 22 - 29 Boat Week. Build the slickest boat. Can be a one man submarine or the Titanic!

Now for some rules and regulations:

1. No mutant vehicles. Ex. No flying boats or cars.
2. No griefing, of course.
3. The judging of all the contests will take place at 1 P.M. on the day the contest ends.
4. You can build them wherever you want (I don't mean build them in a guy's backyard. Be reasonable!)
5. There will be no stretching the time for the contests whatsoever.

Have fun building! I can't wait to judge!

Oh, and the reason that there's not going to be a contest the first week in August is because I'm going to be on a boat; in Alaska. I'll probably be able to get internet on the boat. But, I'm putting off the contests just in case...

Happy building,

- Aidan

New Painterly Pack and Customized John Smith Pack Up for Download!

Hey everyone,

I noticed that Painterly Pack had a update 5 days ago. Sorry if anyone was waiting on it. I use John Smith's texture pack now, but I still customize and put up a customized Painterly Pack because some people may prefer it.

So, my new Painterly Pack has been updated for all of the mods that Painterly Pack supports. And, like I said above, I'm putting my customized John Smith pack up for download as well. Here they are:

John Smith: http://db.tt/RhEFpsx
Painterly Pack: http://db.tt/GvYxBvP

Note: Since John Smith is a HD texture pack, I was disappointed to find out it didn't have an HD font. So, I found a font from another texture pack and put that in there so now it's totally HD! Plus, remember to use this MC Patcher for Johnny's Pack: http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1021&t=252531. All credit goes to John! All I did is copy and paste! Here's his page on the forums: http://bit.ly/nDv32J. Go there to customize your own pack!

Enjoy,

- Aidan

Statistics

Hi everyone,

I just thought some people would like to know some statistics and milestones on my Youtube channel and the server. Here they are:

Server

• The world folder (Not the entire server folder) is up to almost 1.4 GB!
• Thimble Lake City has joined our server (which probably got us up to that file size). I really enjoy not seeing just Moog City all the time. Thanks to Emilio Gutierrez for his amazing work on that city and thanks for letting me steal it (:
• In June, we transitioned from a regular Minecraft Server to a Bukkit one. It's been amazing. I love Bukkit! (Run a regular server? Get Bukkit here: bukkit.org)
• We have been griefed three or four times *Sarcastic "Yay"*
• I think we have registered about 10 people on the server... I really wish I had more. Please contact me if you want to be on the server.
• I launched a survival server (not many people have noticed though)! You can join this server if you want too. Its a bare bones regular Minecraft server.

Youtube

• One of the reasons I decided to write this post is because we recently passed... 15,000 total video views on all of my videos. It's a start.
• Almost half of those views is How to Build an Automated Boat Dock which has 7 ½ thousand views. 
• An interestion tidbit is that over 60% of my viewers are from outside the U.S. The country who has the most views other the the U.S. is the Netherlands. Interesting...
• And we have 22 subscribers.

Plans for the Future 0_o

• I'm thinking about maybe doing some time lapse videos of some big structures.
• Maybe tutorials... (On what though!?!)
• I was also thinking about maybe doing some videos of me playing some Minecraft songs. Sebastian Wolff (http://sebastianwolff.info/) hasn't made any more sheet music for Minecraft yet... Maybe I could possible conjure up some of my own. Maybe I could even create a whole different channel for piano in the future. (By the way, if you play piano and video games, Sebastion has tons of sheet music for you to play. He has Portal music too)

Or maybe I'm just tired and making up weird ideas.

Anyway, hope you like this post,

- Aidan

New Contest: The Ugliest House!

Hi everyone,

So today I thought of a wonderful idea: to make a contest! And the best part: It's a contest to see who can build the ugliest house! I want it to be even uglier then that guys house up there! Here are the rules and guidelines:

1. You must make it out of at least two materials. The more the uglier.
2. The houses will be made in the middle of nowhere (The spot will be determined by me). After the contest is finished, I'll film all the houses and film blowing them up. Then, I'll post the video on Youtube!
3. No griefing (of course).

Suggestions:

1. Use lots of materials!
2. Use too much lighting.
3. Make ugly redstone contraptions.
4. Make it random!

There will be a 1st and a 2nd place winner. The contest ends July 31 at 2 P.M. Happy ugly building.

By the way, I would give you more time. But, I'm going on vacation on the 1st and I want to be able to make and post the video.

- Aidan

New Voice Chatting Service for the Servers

Hello everyone,

I have set up a server on a voice chatting service called Imvox. You can find the client download at their website here: http://www.ayalogic.com/.  You have to set up an account (You can make one when you start up the client) and connect to the server. The name of the server is "Through the Mines Server". You need a password. Just come on while I'm on and I'll tell you the password (If you get the password from me you can tell it to only other people who are on the server).

I hope this works...

- Aidan

Server will be Down for at the Most 3 hours for System Update!

Hi everyone,

The day is finally here (for me at least), for the next operating system, OSX Lion, is here to download. Since I want this to go as quickly as possible, I've decided to shut down the servers to get peak download speed (since I'm downloading a 3.5 GB file). But, like I said, they should be up in three hours at the most (It will most likely be two). Thanks for being patient everyone and if you have a compatible Mac, go download it right now!

- Aidan


Edit: It just finished downloading. The installation should take a little more then 30 minutes.

Edit 2: Wow, this took a lot faster then I thought. It should be only 40 minutes before the server's back up!

Edit 3:  And it's done! You can get both servers now. Plus now I can access server files again. Yay!

Painterly Pack Updated for 1.7!

1.7 is out!

Although it isn't the 1.8 we hoped for, I have a customized Painterly Pack available for download. Download it here: http://db.tt/GvYxBvP

And if you don't know what's in the new update, here's the list copied from Notch's blog:

+ Added pistons
+ Fire or redstone is now required to trigger TNT
+ Fences can be stacked
+ Added shears
+ Shears can be used to pick up leaf blocks
+ Shears can be used to shear sheep without hurting them
* Sheep no longer drop wool from being punched
- Removed Herobrine


Have fun with 1.7 everyone!


- Aidan