Patrick

Hey all, I hope that you had a great day on April 1. As you might have guessed from my tongue-in-cheek retirement community marketing language in the announcement, we aren't actually changing our name to TaiChiForums.com. Given that our community is soon turning 17, an advanced age for online communities, and tai chi has been called the "perfect exercise for the elderly, we thought it made sense. Of course, our community has always been about the martial arts in general, and not just karate. We have had numerous tai chi discussions, and practitioners in our community. They span age groups. Thank you to the staff for all of their feedback, especially to JR for the idea, and thank you for your patience and good humor. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. On May 21, our community will turn 17 years old. It is amazing to sit and think back on where I was when I had the idea for this community, and where I am now. And we have a great number of long term members who I know feel similarly. We’re getting older. We can’t do all of the things that we once did. This community has always been about more than karate, but this is true now more so than ever before. It’s time to graduate, to reflect the age and maturity of our community. We’re graduating to tai chi, and I feel like it’s the perfect choice. On May 21, KarateForums.com will become TaiChiForums.com. http://www.taichiforums.com We hope you’ll be a part of this new focus on active adult martial artists. Stay tuned. Thanks, Patrick

Congrats to MatsuiShinshii on reaching 1,000 posts earlier this month! Thank you for all of the incredible contributions that you have made to our community. Patrick

I don't know how they plan to release this, e.g. all at once or over a period of time, but if all at once, you could just sign up for one month (or the free trial if you've never had it), watch it all in a month and then cancel. Or if it's over time, you could wait until they are all out, or close, and then sign up for a month. Not that you haven't already considered that idea!

Hey all, I am going to push discussion over to this more recent thread, just because I think the title will lead to more people finding it: https://www.karateforums.com/cobra-kai-series-vt51502.html Thanks. Patrick

Happy birthday to Liam (Nidan Melbourne)! Hope you had an outstanding day. Thank you for all of the amazing contributions that you have made to our community over the years. Patrick

Welcome to KF, albertnicholas61. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree for February is... mushybees. Congratulations! Thank you for being such a great part of our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Happy birthday to tallgeese (Alex)! Thank you for all of the amazing contributions that you have made to our community over the years. Patrick

Hey all, It was on the same day, 5 years ago as of Monday, that both Noah (Wastelander) and Devin (Lupin1) joined our team. To have 2 amazing people join our team on the same day is pretty amazing, but to have them also continue to be on our team for 5 years, is unique. Please join me in congratulating Noah and Devin on reaching this milestone! I'd like to take a moment to talk about both of them. Noah has been such a solid, consistent presence on our team. After about a year, he become a moderator, and has really taken to the role, and applies a great patience and sensitivity to ensuring that we are treating members, and their contributions, with the utmost respect and consistency as we apply our community guidelines. Of the many things that stand out to me about Noah is that he is someone who has a fairly well-known karate blog, but he has never put me in the awkward position of having to tell him that he was advertising his blog or self-promoting. He has always erred on the side of caution and held himself to the same standards that we expect of all members. Which, I know, is how it should be, but is also not always how it is. Noah is exemplary. He is also incredibly patient, and thoughtful in his posts here on the community. Even for someone like me, who is not a karate practitioner, it has been impressive to watch Noah grow over the 7+ years that he has been a member here, as a person, martial artist, instructor, community member and moderator. Thank you, Noah, for everything that you have done here at KarateForums.com. When I think about Devin, I think of someone who is just consistently kind, welcoming and encouraging to members of our community. I think she has really helped a lot of members, especially new members, to feel comfortable here and to come out of their shell, and to share with us. It's easy to take someone like that for granted, but it's a mistake. Sometimes, in online communities, we can get lost in who has the post posts, or who sounds the most authoritative, or who has the most likes (we don't have likes... yet), but it's harder to measure and spot folks who are not only good at making a point, but good at helping you step forward to make a point, as well. Devin's good at that. As a staff member, in the areas of the site that only staff can access (it's not fancy, haha), Devin is very present, which I have always appreciated. What I mean by present is that, when I am seeking perspectives on the community, she usually has a considerate one to share, which helps us to make the right choices to move the community forward. She can be counted on. Thank you, Devin, for all of the contributions that you have made to KarateForums.com. This community is so much better for having both of you, as members and on staff. I'm grateful to have you on our team, and for all of your kindness and support over the years. Thanks again, Patrick

That's pretty cool, singularity6!

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree for January is... RW. Congratulations! Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Happy birthday to Devin (Lupin1)! Thank you for all of the amazing contributions that you have made to our community. Patrick

Thanks for sharing this, Struggling_Mudansha!

Belated, but that's great news, Danielle!

Welcome to the community, OneKickWonder. Thanks for taking the time to say hello. Patrick

Welcome to KF, Jason. Glad to have you. Patrick

Congrats singularity6! Enjoy the move. Patrick

I think your post is one way to look at things, JR, and a reasonable way. And you definitely aren't alone in having a, perhaps, snarky take on it. It's really just a matter of what's convenient or cool to you, and what the worth of that is. For example, I'm getting ready to move to a new apartment, and it has window shades (the building actually mandates that we use them). They look cool, so that's fine. And I don't necessarily mind raising and lowering them. But I pretty much can't wait to get this: https://www.somasmarthome.com Sure, it's a luxury, but I think it's pretty cool, and I'll love saying, "Alexa, lower the shade in the living room." And when I wake up in the morning, to ask it to raise the shade partially or something like that. It's worth it to me. After all, there are a lot of things people spend money on that are worth it to them, that aren't worth it to me. Like I don't drink or gamble or go to the movies regularly or have a gym membership (I workout at home) or... you get the idea. Now, if I was in a financial place where I had debt or I had kids to feed, of course, I would never choose to spend a couple hundred bucks on automatic shade converters. No doubt. I don't really agree with the idea that "if I can't be bothered to do it, that means X is wrong," because that could be applied to a lot of simple conveniences in life. In your case, I don't see any reason not to take Echo out of the box and play around with it, at least. For example, after I shower, I'll be shaving and getting dressed, and I'll ask Alexa for the weather. When I lay down to sleep, I ask Alexa to play rain sounds and set an alarm. It's small stuff and, of course, it's not a necessity of life. I can just use my phone to set an alarm. I can use it to play rain sounds, make it pair with a Bluetooth speaker, etc. etc. etc. But I like it. Re: wanting to control lights. Depending on the type of light you mean, and what type of bulb it accepts, there are actually smart light bulbs that you can use. So, you wouldn't have to change out switches, fixtures, etc. Yes, they are definitely way more expensive than traditional bulbs, but none of this is going to be free, whether you are buying new bulbs or repaving your drive way. Example here: https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Equivalent-Dimmable-Compatible-Assistant/dp/B01M1SXLD8/ There are also Alexa compatible switches and power outlets. For the TV, you wouldn't need to buy a new TV, just a remote or hub that can connect to your TV. For example, you could buy a Harmony remote or hub, you can use the Dot to control it: https://support.myharmony.com/en-us/harmony-experience-with-amazon-alexa Again, not free ($80-$120), but it's an option. Patrick

Welcome to KF, mevis. Glad to have you. Patrick

Good luck, singularity6! Patrick

How was it, Karate_John? Patrick