JohnD

I've heard the request for an alternative color - so have implemented a new 'Popsicle Orange' color scheme. We've left the main menu and most of the forums here in the 'yellow' format - but have added the PopOrange scheme to the General Discussion and Marketplace forums. This will allow members and visitors to get used to the options available, then make an informed choice. We'll make the 'final decision' in mid-November - using the votes recorded in this poll as a guideline. Then we can set about getting CGP logo-wear put together and 'branding' the site properly. Thank you for your continued support. -john

If my statement was perceived as being rude by anyone - I'm certianly happy to apologize. I didn't think it was at the time - but can see how it might be perceived as-such. I have another skin that we can try ..... one in orange. Then we'll let the community choose one of the 3 as the permanent 'look' for CGP ..... Yellow, Orange, or the 'standard' blue - but not until we see more of the CGP membership has moved over here. Enjoy, -john

GREAT! I'm glad you're willing to suffer the color and participate in the site. Thank you. (Perhaps a pair of polarizing RayBans would help make your visit more tolerable?) -john

Nope - this is here to stay. The CGP team liked the color scheme - so this is what its gonna be. Easiest solution for your problem, Toby ..... stay in the non-Guard area of the site. -john

I'd like to welcome you all to the **NEW** home of Color Guard Planet. We've changed the look and feel to give our CGP members and visitors their own 'space' - but under the secure umbrella of the DCP site. As you may have read in my post over on the CGP forums, the software that the 'old' Color Guard Planet runs on is quite dated and exposes the entire DCP/MBP/CGP site-family to serious security vunerabilities. Sadly, fixing that situation is not easy from where we are today and the migration path for upgrade is expensive. The best solution was to move CGP under the DCP site and software. DCP has the most recent (read:secure and up-to-date) software version, is carefully managed, and shares the largest number of 'common' members. This transition will provide CGP members with the security of the most recent version of the software, the latest releases as they're made available, and a broader community of users - which will provide more opportunities for the CGP community to grow and flourish. Now, the down-side of this change: None of the posts/content of CGP or the membership roster can be migrated to this forum (under the DCP site). This is true no matter which way we go - as the design of the database by the software developer prevents any migration of posts or users between forum databases. This is a regrettable fact - which can only be mitigated by 1) remaining on the seperate version/database or 2) moving as quickly as possible to the new enviroment to ensure that new content is not lost. The former option cannot continue long. So - here we are ..... *LIVE* in our new home on the DCP site - but with our own look-n-feel for Color Guard Planet. You'll see that we've replicated the organizational structure of the old site here and those forums are ready for your threads and posts. I'll keep the old site up and online until the end of October, so you'll still have access to the information in those posts until then. However, the 'old' Color Guard Planet site will NOT be available after October 31st - after which, we'll remove the old code and with it, the associated vunerabilities. Please remember - if you're not a registered member of the DCP site, you'll need to register here so you can post. As mentioned above, the member data is not able to be transferred from the 'old' CGP database. Your moderation team, Community Administrator Rich Kleinman, and I are here to support you .... so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact one of us. Welcome Home! -john

Copy of my earlier post - buried in a thread in the Customer Service forum: The definition of the words on 'the list' and the application of the software tool requires balance and a bit of understanding - by everyone involved. The filtering of 'inappropriate language' is an 'imprecise science' in our simple application - which does not afford us the flexibility the English language provides in the use and meaning of words. Therefore, we're forced to be 'mostly accurate' - for the 'greater good' of allowing a wider age-range access to the site. My guess is that the word filters affect less than 0.5% of all the words entered into this forum. As Rich has announced in the Announcement Forum, we've made some changes to the list and its application - in the hopes that we can improve the 'accuracy' of the filters. Some words have been removed entirely - and we're going to appeal to your sense of propriety to ensure that the context of their use is appropriate for all ages (a nickname for "Richard" is one that comes to mind). This is not a declaration of "anything goes" on these terms, as the context in which they're used can vary widely. The context will continue to be evaluated and misuse will require that we remove the content and possibly take action against the offender. Our primary intent is to make this site one where the widest number of people can participate, without the worry of having to deal with language that is in-appropriate. I know that the majority of our members appreciate and subscribe to that goal. I'm hoping that 100% will respect it. Thank you for your consideration and support, -john

The definition of the words on 'the list' and the application of the software tool requires balance and a bit of understanding - by everyone involved. The filtering of 'inappropriate language' is an 'imprecise science' in our simple application - which does not afford us the flexibility the English language provides in the use and meaning of words. Therefore, we're forced to be 'mostly accurate' - for the 'greater good' of allowing a wider age-range access to the site. My guess is that the word filters affect less than 0.5% of all the words entered into this forum. As Rich has announced in the Announcement Forum, we've made some changes to the list and its application - in the hopes that we can improve the 'accuracy' of the filters. Some words have been removed entirely - and we're going to appeal to your sense of propriety to ensure that the context of their use is appropriate for all ages (a nickname for "Richard" is one that comes to mind). This is not a declaration of "anything goes" on these terms, as the context in which they're used can vary widely. The context will continue to be evaluated and misuse will require that we remove the content and possibly take action against the offender. Our primary intent is to make this site one where the widest number of people can participate, without the worry of having to deal with language that is in-appropriate. I know that the majority of our members appreciate and subscribe to that goal. I'm hoping that 100% will respect it. Thank you for your consideration and support, -john

I read the screenplay a few years ago and thought it was a very nice story. Of course, the fact that it was about the Blue Devils made it only better for me. I've had some recent correspondence with the author, Chuck Edwards ..... and hope he does well with the book. My understanding is that a portion of the proceeds from the book's sale benefit the Blue Devils organization. -john

WOW - I missed it too! The very BEST birthday wishes, Tom. Sorry they're late. -john

ZOT! I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Impulse! team has in-store for us in 07. Its gonna be an exciting year in SoCal.

Marlene, Thank you for your post and getting this all sorted out. I hope that with this note, the refined understanding we've reached recently with Drum Corps International, and a renewed committment by all of our members to respect the rights of copyright holders - we'll be able to share and enjoy the photographic history of this great activity for a very long time. I'm looking forward to it! -john

We need to install a number of updates on the server to improve our security and bring us up to the most recent versions on a number of packages. While the process itself NORMALLY runs without issue, there may be an interruption. We'll do our best to keep these interruptions to a minimum. Thank you for your patience and support. -john

We shut down the web services on the DCP server this afternoon - to clear out a number of processes that were starting to place a heavy load on the system. We're still investigating the root cause for the problem, but believe that the system has been restored to normal operation. Please accept our apologies for the disruption of service and our thanks for your patience. -john

Mike is absolutely right. DCP and MBP run on completely seperate installations of the software and different databases. I'm confident that this was done originally to help facilitate the seperate domains (drumcorpsplanet.com and marchingbandplanet.com) and their identities. Each copy uses its own (seperate) set of unique identifiers - which identify the various members, topics, posts, etc. Member #156 on DCP is not the same person as Member #156 on MBP. You can quickly see how this renders the merging of the data impossible. It was a great thought/idea/suggestion ...... but its something that we've already looked-at and reviewed with the software publisher (for another project). Sadly, there's no way to accomplish the merge or maintain the synchronization on an on-going basis. Thanks! -john

Its nice to see this thread back on-track. Perhaps I should be looking into more disk space, eh? -john

There was quite a firestorm in the Junior Historical Forum in a pictures thread a couple of weeks ago .... after someone posted that "DCI pulled the plug" on the thread. NOT the case. Yes, this IS a difficult subject - but DCI has provided us what we asked for to continue this archive of photos. -john

DCI has provided us with their position on posting photos to Drum Corps Planet. Please review carefully: Our thanks to Ed, Dan Acheson and the DCI staff for working thru this issue ... and providing DCP and its members with 'official permission' to continue the important work of preserving and sharing the history of this great activity. Our job now is to act responsibly and adhere to the guidelines set forth. We will strictly enforce the restriction on posting copyrighted materials and the 800x600 size limitation. Doing so will ensure that we, and future members and visitors, can enjoy the photos that you're contributing for a long time to come. Thank you to our members for their patience while we finalized this agreement. -john

Thank you to Ed, Dan Acheson and the DCI staff for working thru this issue ... and providing DCP and its members with 'official permission' to continue the important work of preserving and sharing the history of this great activity. Our job now is to act responsibly and adhere to the guidelines set forth. We will strictly enforce the restriction on posting copyrighted materials and the 800x600 size limitation. Doing so will ensure that we, and future members and visitors, can enjoy the photos that you're contributing for a long time to come. Thank you to our members for their patience while we finalized this agreement. -john

Thank you to Ed, Dan Acheson and the DCI staff for working thru this issue ... and providing DCP and its members with 'official permission' to continue the important work of preserving and sharing the history of this great activity. Our job now is to act responsibly and adhere to the guidelines set forth. Thank you to our members for their patience while we finalized this agreement. -john

The DCP Photo Gallery (produced in cooperation with Drum Corps World magazine) has pictures from every corps that took the field in 2005 ..... and we're working on getting the images together for the 2006 season. -john

There is no sure-fire way to prevent images presented to an internet browser from being saved. There ARE some things that can be done to disable the 'right-click' functionality in some browsers - but its effectiveness (from zero to so-so) depends on the browser itself. Further, implementing this 'hack' requires changes to the configuration and code associated with the site. That said, our forum software is largely database-driven - so the (mostly ineffective) 'typical' methods used for disabling the feature in the browser are not readily available. Bottom line - if people want to 'swipe' images from this site .... they can do it. The only protections we have are: Not Posting Copyright Law and the courts the HONESTY and INTEGRITY of our members The choice is your's to make. -john

Let's keep this thread on-subject, please. While I understand that Sue posted the picture here to use in a tutorial - we should keep the discussion about the photos in the main Historical Photo thread. This thread is intended to address the etiquette and standards that surround the sharing of photos on this site. Thanks! -john

PLEASE keep photos to 800x600 pixels or less. Anything larger than that becomes too large to store and consumes more bandwidth to display. Further, it will reduce the opportunity for those that may want to make illegal copies of the image - due to the lower resolution and size. 800x600 is fine for viewing - not so hot for printing. I am going to enforce this pretty strictly .... nothing over 800x600 .... or risk having the photo deleted from the site. Thanks -john

This, ladies and gentlemen, is another brilliant post from Eric. Pure genius ...... Eric, thank you for your astute and moving contribution to this thread. -john

Perhaps the folks at Yahoo! were nervous about being held liable for permitting the continuance of a copyright infringement. They have no responsibility to any 3rd party to explain their actions and certainly retain the right to remove any content that infringes on any person's copyright (as do I). All it takes is one complaint, folks ..... and POOF! .... they're gone. -john