JohnD

We experienced a bit of 'overload' conditions this past weekend - so yesterday we made a few changes to the 'tuning' of the servers to reduce the number of database connection errors. It appears that we over-did it a bit .... and caused the DCP web server to have some problems this (early) afternoon handling the load. Everything was resolved by 12:30pm PDST - and hopefully we've found the most optimal configuration. We'll continue to watch the performance of the systems - to ensure that we have the smoothest, most-responsive system available for you. Thanks for your patience and understanding while we get the system 'in-tune' to best handle our increasing load during the season. -john

I've been wrestling with this for quite some time ... trying to balance the multitude of copyright issues that exist and the desire of our members to easily share the wide variety of media that is available on the net. However, after having reviewed the most recent document from DCI regarding their policy on photography and video recordings ...... I'm afraid that we're going to have to further restrict the links that we permit on the site. Effective Immediately: NO LINKS to audio or video recordings, other than those specifically provided for public viewing on the corps' or DCI's website, will be permitted on the Drum Corps Planet and affiliated sites' forums. This restriction is due to the specific restrictions that DCI has published regarding the creation and publication of photos and videos. Given the sheer number of 'amateur' videos floating around out there on the internet, it is extremely difficult to know which are sanctioned/authorized and those that are not. Our only manageable solution is to permit none of them to be displayed - either directly or via links from this site. Re-transmission or transcriptions of materials that are clearly copyrighted are never permitted on or via Drum Corps Planet. I know that this position will disappoint many - but federal copyright laws make it very clear that sites such as Drum Corps Planet assume some measure of liability for copyright infringement if they know of the infringement and take no action to remove access to the copyrighted material. I simply cannot expose the site and community to that liability. Should DCI change its position on use and distribution of audio and video recordings, I will be VERY happy to re-visit this issue and change our policy accordingly. The discussion over what constitutes "copyrighted materials" and "fair use" has been going on for many years .... and it won't be solved here, without changes in legislation or case-law. If anything, the law appears to be strengthening in-favor of the copyright owners - which many would argue is a good thing, while a similar number wouldn't. My hope is that some sort of consistency of distribution policy and enforcement will be followed by the copyright owners. That said - I don't see that we have any lee-way in the decision and must respect the letter of the law. Thank you for your understanding and support in this. -john

The site without the really cool icons (however, Al Murray would like me to point-out the really cool Dynasty logo) but with a LOT more data is DCP's own Caption Ranking System. The Caption Ranking System provides both weighted (by the last 4 shows) and un-weighted (raw) statistics and ranking for every caption for ALL DCI Div 1, 2, and 3 corps. Head-to-head matchups and Highest Score analysis can be done with a couple of clicks. We've even made the stats for the past couple of years available in this year's version of the system. We update the site with recap data every evening - so the system is always up-to-date. Have a look ..... I think you'll find yourself coming back often. Enjoy! -john P.S. We're still looking at how we can include stats from the DCA sheets for the DCA All-Age corps ....

Just a bit of an experiment to raise member's awareness of the Report feature ..... which has been there all along. While it should NOT be 'exercised'/used without good reason, creating a 'false alarm' ..... it will help our members notify the Forum Support Team to issues that may arise - especially in this very busy season. USE IT WITH CARE ... but know that it is available, if the need arises. Like the fire alarm, I hope it gets little use. -john P.S. Don't be surprised if the colo(u)r [i'm bi-lingual] changes back to the original after a day or so. We'll see how this works.

How about having the blanks at-the-door .... with a Sharpie or 10. If we run-out of labels, we still have the Sharpie! -john

While there's a number of reasons for this NOT to be an 'official' gathering .... I AM happy to work on getting some nifty Hi My Name Is: badges put together - emblazened with the DCP logo .... for easy identification, of-course. -john

I'll be in Madison from Wednesday thru Sunday. The calendar's filling-up - but I'll be sure to squeeze-in a visit whenever the 'non-event' is planned. -john

The Spokane scores were not posted on Sunday evening - due to a delay in receiving the recap data from DCI. However, they were added to the system in last night's (Monday's) update, along with the delayed recaps from the Newbury Park show. All DCI scores should now be in the database and the Caption Ranking System up-to-date. Sorry for the delay. -john

GREAT Review, Matt. Thank you. -john

Please note - the standings do not include the results from last night's show in Newbury Park, CA. We're dependant on DCI publishing the recaps for our database update ... which we're still waiting on. I'll post an update here when the Caption Ranking System is updated with the results. Thanks -john

Yep - similar problem as earlier in the week. I've removed the offending change and restored. I'll open a new case with the application developer .... and we'll keep a close eye on the system. Thank you for the heads-up. -john (MOVED this topic from the DCI General Discussion Forum to the Customer Service Forum, where it belongs)

There were a few changes made to the permissions system in the past few days .... and it appears that you were caught-up in the change, Eddie. Please log out, then back in .... and you should be back-to-'normal'. While I apologize for the inconvenience ... the time away from "The O.T." may have been a good thing. Enjoy! -john

Dan, It could be the advert - given that its an 'animated gif' image, is made-up of about 30 'frames', and is a rather large file to load. Your CPU, video card, and memory will all have an effect on how efficiently this graphic is processed - once loaded. That said, the event is THIS Saturday - afterwhich, the banner will be gone. -john

Thanks for the offer, Jim. We were able to capture the offending traffic and collect the data that we needed to resolve the problem. Sadly, there's not much that we can do about the offenders - other than plug the holes and remove the nasty bits [pun intended]. This particular hack has been spreading his/her/their particular brand of 'happiness' all around the world .... so our particular incident was not unique. Many thanks to those that brought this to my attention quickly and Rich's quick thinking to take the forum 'Offline' while trying to get ahold of me (cellphone doesn't work in the movie theater) - before more havoc could be spread. We've alerted some of the other system admins that we're aware of that run this particular forum software and have pointed-out the need to get the latest updates installed as quickly as possible. We really do try to look out for one-another. Thanks again to everyone for their patience and support. We'll try to get the upload feature back online as soon as we can ... and appreciate your understanding in the interim. The security of the systems (DCP's and your's) are our first priority. Happy July 4th all. -john

Our forum was exploited this evening by a Russian hacker that has been attacking Invision Power Board forums around the world. The nature of the exploit was a re-direction to a site that then attempted to load a WMF file that was executed by the local machine - normally those running Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Invision has released a patch to their software to resolve the exploit and we have applied that patch to the system. In addition, we have isolated and removed the code that was causing the re-direction - so you should not have any further problems with this issue. We do our best to keep the site updated with the most recent versions of the software and security patches - as they're made available from the developer. IPB is one of the more popular forum applications in the market - so it is a natural target for those that are trying to cause problems. The feature that permits the upload of avatars and picture files is one of the most common ways that these sorts of exploits are accomplished. So, for that reason - I am disabling the ability to upload files/graphics to the system. We're going to look for ways to restore the feature - but in a more secure fashion. Hopefully, we'll have that solution in the near term .... however, the security of the DCP forums and your systems will be our first priority. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. PLEASE be sure to keep your virus software/definitions up-to-date .... and we suggest the use of Mozilla FireFox as a web browser over Internet Explorer. Thank you for your patience and support. -john

We've solved that problem for you - with both the most recent scores AND a statistically-weighted average score that considers the corps last 4 shows. Either way - the most recent overall AND individual caption rankings for all Division I, II, and III corps are available at Be sure to check there often - as we update the statistics after EVERY DCI show. Enjoy! -john

I'll be there ...... this will probably be my last opportunity to see the BD A Corps and SCV live before Madison. Thankfully, there's a couple more shows in SoCal which I'll be able to catch. That said - perhaps an East Coast show will be in the cards for this year. Ya never know!! See ya in Stockton. -john

John, Send me a PM with your contact info again, please. I'm traveling, but will try to hook-up with you this evening. -john

We've researched and investigated from our side and can find no issues with our DNS or routing within the datacenter. THAT SAID ........ I am happy to personally work with anyone that is having recurring problems connecting to the site. If we can find a common denominator or clue of where the problem exists, I'll do my best to get it resolved. Drop me a PM with the details of your configuration, the specific URL you use to connect to the site, and your network IP address - along with your contact info and the best time to call. We'll see what we can sort-out. Thanks -john

Sadly, no. I'm out of town thru the weekend - in NorCal for the shows up here this weekend. -john

The DCP Caption Ranking System has the rankings by caption for all Div I, Div II, and Div III corps, as well as the composite/final score for each performance. Check it out!! -john

DCP suffered a service interruption between the hours of noon and 1:00pm PDST this afternoon - for several minutes. The problem was due to a network problem between a couple of the major internet service providers and had nothing to do with our systems or applications. Our datacenter watches these interruptions carefully and does everything in their power to minimize these sorts of interruptions to our service. Thank you for your patience. -john

The penalty was recorded as a negative value - which, when subtracted from the score, resulted in an increase - rather than a deduction. We've changed the value to correctly account for the penalty and the page is updated. Please accept our apologies for the transcription error .... and our thanks for pointing this error out, so we could correct it. -john

I had the pleasure to be sitting next to 2 Kingsmen Alumni last night ... who aren't able to make the committment for the Alumni Corps - but were there to witness their 'brothers and sisters' take the field. I can't remember the last time I saw two gentlemen so EXCITED (no, they were 'giddy') and PROUD .... throughout the entire K'man Alumni performance. For those few moments - they were 20 again. Jerry's (RIP) "ducky-bumps" is the term that comes to mind for the feeling we had last night. -john

UPDATE: We've updated the DCP Caption Ranking System scores database to include the DCI Div II/III Finals, as well as the Div I Finals from 2005. You'll note that the Weighted Scores may not show the actual placement on Finals night. This is because the Caption Ranking System uses a statistical weighting that averages the last 4 scores recorded. Click on the "How These Scores Are Determined" link for more information on the algorithm used. Of-course, the unweighted 'actual' score is available by simply clicking on the "View this result with unweighted scores" link at the bottom of each table. Enjoy!! -john P.S. Sobe - The banner appears to be working just fine. Perhaps the banner link had not been fully loaded by your browser when you attempted to click-thru. Thanks for the heads-up - we'll keep an eye on things.