Since lots of things are happening right now, I wanted to provide some quick updates for members to keep everyone in the loop:
- As many may be aware, Steve Bjork, who has hosted the Glenside web site for some time, is winding down his hosting function in 2020. As such, I have worked with Steve to transfer the glensideccc.com domain name to a domain name registrar under a club login, so the club can maintain the domain name going forward. We appreciate Steve’s assistance in the past, but I think this change will create more autonomy for the club.
- As per the November meeting business, the club agreed to secure a hosting provider for the web site. We have chosen WordPress as the technology, and DigitalOcean as the hosting provider. The interesting news here is that we actually are renting an entire virtual server on the Internet, not just a virtual web site. This presents some additional options, like running an Glenside-sponsored Internet BBS on the server, or running some specialized CoCo-affiliated Internet service (maybe a Drivewire print server that will PDF your printout to you via email, probably not, but you get the idea). Right now, we’re focused on just getting the web site moved, but I’m happy to hear ideas.
- Behind the scenes, Eric Canales, 2019-20 Glenside President, has been working on a revamped web site look and feel, using WordPress. As I write this, there are a few issue’s he’s still fixing, but feel free to look at http://dev.glensideccc.com for a sneak peek. Congrats to Eric for putting in the hours on this redesign. I know some will like it, some will hate it, and some will “meh” it. That’s fine. But, for those who want the old site to just be moved over, please understand that is not possible. I asked Steve Bjork on the point, and the existing site uses a custom layout engine and CMS backend, which we do not own nor can we get. So, we’ll have to make this transition. If something is especially egregious, please let folks know and we’ll work to address it. Given the timelines, we will most likely begin that transition this week. So, I’d ask folks to please help us ensure that all of the key things you use from https://www.glensideccc.com are somewhere in the new site. We have and will continue to take archival snapshots of the old site until we switch, but the switch is coming quickly.
- Also at the November meeting, the club agreed to host a virtual MeetUp on December 20. It’s a virtual video event, low key, end of year celebration, and I’m open to theme ideas (maybe the entrance fee is to tell us about the beverage you’re bringing to the discussion, or you have to show off at least 1 CoCo/MC10/Dragon related hardware or software item
. I was out of pocket last week, so I am running a bit behind on scheduling the time and topic, so watch for a second note on this in the coming days. I’d love to see as many folks as we can engaged for a few hours that Sunday (probably early evening, but I’m open to ideas on best times as well). Above all, no prep, so no need to get anything ready (well, except for a beverage to talk about). - Terry S has been hard at work lining up speakers for the 2021 CoCoFEST! He has 8 confirmations and 1 maybe at this point. Obviously, it;s a bit early to give out too many details, as I realize folks’ schedules change, but we currently have some folks like Boise Pitre (The CoCo Collector: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfPHWedt4QRj8FuCLOx1-Xg) scheduled to be with us physically, but also some folks folks, like Nick Marentes (Gunstar, Rally-SG, and Pipes: https://nickmarentes.com/ProjectArchive/) planning to visit with us virtually from Australia. Terry continues to solicit ideas for speakers, and he has been reaching out to Tandy resources who might provide some historical perspective on the Color Computer development and manufacture. As you can expect, those requests take a long time to germinate, so stay tuned.
- For those worrying about CoCoFEST! 2021, I can say with pretty good confidence we will enjoy a physical event in 2021. I have worked with the venue to secure an alternate backup date later in the year if circumstances look doubtful for an April event. But, things seems to moving in the direction we want at this time, so I see no reason to prematurely move the date. Still, if we have to delay, we have another option to lean on, and the venue are to call me if some other date options materialize.
Enjoy your preparation for the Season and I hope everyone will join us on the 20th for a celebration of the platform in these interesting times.
-Jim