Yes, it was on this day 2 years ago that Avatar, The Boy in the Iceberg first aired on Nickelodeon. Happy birthday!!

In a press release yesterday, Viacom agreed to license television shows and movies to Joost, a new online video distribution channel launched in part by the founders of the popular internet telephony service, Skype. Under the agreement, Viacom’s MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon television networks and its Paramount studios would license shows and movies to Joost.

Joost will allow users to have free access to thousands of programs and channels not readily available on the Web. Through Joost, viewers can watch programming from many of Viacom’s brands on their computers through a customizable platform with advanced television viewing features such as links that lead to more information or related websites based on the content; and a variety of plug-in applications, such as instant messaging, message boards, and news tickers.

The full press release can be found here

Whether the content that Viacom is licensing to Joost includes Avatar or not is unknown at this time. Joost currently does not allow users to post videos on it’s servers, and is only in beta testing.

Waterbender now has a layout switcher (at the top of the page) that allows you to choose the style of the site. Right now, the only other theme available isn’t very good, but the themes don’t take long to make, I hope to have red and green based ones up within a week, as well as a couple different shades of blue. Right now, the only page that the switcher is on is the main page, but it should be available on all pages by the end of the day. (switcher now on all pages)

Also, thanks to everyone who has voted for Waterbender on Itopsites, I’m now #8 on that list, getting over 100 votes a day! Big thanks to all of you!

A hilarious animated short of Avatar entitled “School Time Shipping” is now up here, the password to access it is “Koh”.

Also, the first three passwords to Nick’s Avatar Escape game are, in order:

PATHIK, BOSCO, KURUK

You can now go to this page to send me an IM (if I’m online, and my status will be diplayed), and, if you are on that page, I will be able to send IMs to you that will show up in the meebo box. A link to this page will soon be in the nav bar.

Please vote for Waterbender on iTopsites by clicking on the button right beneath the hit counter. This will help bring new traffic to the site, and spread the word through the fandom about the site. Also, each day you can vote again, which really helps to get Waterbender up in the rankings. It only takes a second, and all clicks are greatly appreciated.Thanks!

Edit: Thanks to all who clicked, Waterbender is now #51 on the list (after just 12 hours!). One more spot up, and it’ll be on the main page of itopsites. Thanks again!

Edit2: Thanks again, Waterbender is now #50, and on the main page of itopsites! Keep on clicking!

Edit3: Thanks to you guys, I just keep moving up! #49!

Waterbender.com screencaps are now online, for Episode 2 of Avatar, The Avatar Returns. Episode 1, The Boy in the Iceberg will be uploaded shortly, as will future episodes. You can check out the new section of the site here, or you can click the new link in the nav bar under “The Show”. Please rate the images that you like by clicking on the circles underneath an image (when you are viewing only 1 image at a time).

Also, near the top right corner of your screen when you are viewing the screencap site, there is a drop down box to select your theme. Find your favorite one!

Coming soon to Waterbender is screen captures from every episode of Avatar. I figured out a way to take screen captures in real time, meaning that taking screen captures for every episode only takes as long as it does to watch it. The first 2 episodes are already done, and contain 758 files (for the first one) and 955 (for the second one). I’m not sure how they will be displayed yet, so I don’t know when they will be uploaded, but stand by for that!

The password for the next section of the Avatar Escape game has been revealed, and it is “BOSCO”. Stand by for more passwords every Saturday morning on Nick.

We’ve been hearing about uneasy negotiations between Viacom (who owns Nickelodeon) and Youtube.com regarding the existence of illegal content on the popular video sharing site. As of today, Youtube has complied with Viacom’s demands (as outlined in this press release), but unfortunately, the “illegal content” includes fanvids. Most if not all avatar fanvids that have ever been posted on Youtube have now been removed. What this means for the future of Avatar fanvids is unclear, but people will probably just move theirs to Media Putfile.