Grand Master Report

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Grand Master Report

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April 27, 2006: Report Thirty-One </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="5"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" valign="top"> <center>

- The Jim Report -

- The Word -

- The SCL Spot -

- The New Layouts - </center></td> <td valign="top"> <center>

- The Lightsaber Guide Updated -

- The Next Coding Project -

- The Lack of a Blog -

- The Next Alacrity -

- The Props -

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The Jim Report</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

Sorry for the lack of reports in the last while. With a lot of the bigger stuff going on these past few weeks (DV, New Layouts mainly) I just haven't had a chance to think of one. That and I really have been just using the news page to deliver my new stuff anyway.

I'm going to keep the Jim report short. I'm doing fine. Looking for summer jobs. Had one interview...it went well....I'm waiting for the call back. I have exams coming up over the next two weeks, so expect a decrease in my already random IRC schedule.

Wish me luck on the exam and job fronts. I thank the lord when it's all said and done.

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The Word</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

Speaking of thanks, that brings us to today's word:

Thanks!

I haven't taken an occasion yet to thank everyone publicly for the Silver Sash. I thanked almost everyone that has taken part in the recommendation or said congrats in other ways personally, but I hope everyone knows that I appreciate it.

Medals and promotions have never really been what I've worked for; I gave up on them a long time ago since they were few and far between It is nice to get things every now and then though -- I was floored by what everyone wrote.

I appreciate the SL, but in reality, I get enough gratitude daily from you folks. I hear a lot from people I talk to on IRC or email that they are glad for the DB because it fills some void in their life, or that they just enjoy being active in a good organization. I am always heartened by those comments, because in the end, that's the goal of everyone at the top. We want to provide the best place for recreational escape -- the DB is just that. It is a lot to so many people.

And so I extend my thanks to all of you as well. The DB is my fun, my hobby, and without it I wouldn't know what to do with my time. I enjoy working for the club's benefit and for your benefit -- thank you for letting me do so.

And that's the word.

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The SCL Spot</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

If you've followed the news the last week, you should have noticed that Rax has stepped down from SCL. Rax made a lot of great contributions in his time and I was sad to see him go.

For now, I am not going to fill the SCL spot. I need to find a person that I know can handle the workload and is someone reliable and trustworthy. I have some people in mind atm, but I need to see what they can do on some projects first.

If you know how to code ASP and would like to assist in the site development, email me.

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The New Layouts</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

Good reception came in after I posted the new layouts. I was glad everyone seemed to like them. Actually, this one of the first times that I can remember that I've posted something and I didn't see any people complain about it directly. Some didn't like them especially, but not seeing any "that sucks!" messages was encouraging.

Muz and I together put in a ton of time on the layout (I don't know exactly what Muz put in, but I spent about 20 hours on getting it up) -- so I hope it was worth it. Please send any suggestions you may have for the drop down menus. I've gotten some good ideas so far that I've put into place. I updated the gaming menu and moved the competition list to the main spot.

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The Lightsaber Guide Updated</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

I've uploaded a new version of the Lightsaber Guide that Muz provided me with. This corrects a bunch of things in the old one that were a bit off-base and talks about some new additions. Enjoy!

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The Next Coding Project</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

There's always a ton to do on the site, and without an SCL atm, I'm the man for the job. With Goat around these days I can divert some attention to coding (even though I'd rather have an SCL). So, I will be taking up a project or two here and there until we do get an SCL.

My next project on the site is a complete revamp of the Security and Permissions system. For those of you who don't know what that means, basically I am going to re-build the system that determines who has access to what on the site and how things are tracked.

Right now the system is cumbersome and hard to add to. It doesn't take advantage of a lot of things that it could and really doesn't give us a lot to work with regards to the structure of the DB. For instance, one of the main problems is that it works off of position only. So if we have a script that needs to have its access determines by rank of the member, we have to hard code it, which is never good for things like that.

One of my main goals with this is to make the permissions system dynamic. I will make it so we can base file permissions off of rank, position, order, society membership, clan membership, etc. What does that mean to you? Well, that means in the future we will be able to do things like build specific tools for specific clans or finally integrate the society, SA and other sites. All said and done -- it will be a huge improvement.

That, and the crappiness of the current system is what is really keeping us from some bigger improvements. So look out, site...here I come.

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The Lack of a Blog</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

I've been asked a bunch of times why I don't have a blog yet. Well, the jury for me is still out on whether I should join that bandwagon. I think the primary purpose of a blog is to give good information about what the leaders are doing on a more regular basis, but I already have my task list on the calendar to tell you that. I've been using it for almost a year now and it's got the listing of the 450 different tasks that I've done in that time. I put on there anything that is a special task, aka not something I would do just from checking my mail or through a routine. So -- with that you can basically see what I'm up to all the time. I added a link to my task list in the menu blog section.

But, humor me...if you really want me to start blogging away, just let me know and maybe I'll start up. In fact, I'm going to put up a poll on it.

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--> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="20"> <><li>The Next Alacrity</li></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1;" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2" height="5">

Pyralis just sent me the draft of the newest Alacrity document: Activity Tracking. He's done a good job on this one. I sent back my comments and we should have it posted in 1-2 weeks.

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BIG PROPS

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<center>- Props to everyone who deserves it since my last report! Sorry I'm not specific, but I don't want to leave anyone out, so no one gets in! -

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So...why isn't option 4 for the poll available? :P

So...why isn't option 4 for the poll available? :P

Well, I figured no one needs it, since everyone loves the Jac!

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