Update on project progress ..

[administrator]

Four projects are currently in progress here:

1.) As I realize the material here is fast becoming a historical resource in addition to purely an informational one, I am purchasing a new scanner that was highly rated by PCWorld. This scanner will take much higher resolution scans with more accurate colors than the two scanners I have been using. My current plan is to begin taking one high resolution scan, storing it in the database with a "High Resolution" flag set, and saving this image again to the database optimized for web display, with a "Optimized for Web" flag set. These high resolution versions will serve as the best historical record that I will have.

2.) Once I hear back from my webhost on whether they will support PHP and MySQL features, I will either be purchasing the forum software upgrade with a database backend, or moving this entire website onto my own webserver and then performing the forum software upgrade.

3.) The database project is ongoing. I have some help from someone in my lab (my real job!) with getting MySQL, PHP, and Apache issues squared away. Most of this work will apply whether I use my current webhost or use my own box.

4.) And just in case the news from my webhost is not good on the PHP and MySQL front, I have started building a machine dedicated for this website. It looks like my lab will donate a small footprint machine. Not a barn burner, a 533mhz Celeron with 15gig HD and 128meg ram. If I actually need to use this machine, I will slam all the memory possible into the box (512 or 1gig) and run the website from RAM. I would also throw in an IDE raid card and mirror the hard drive. Should be faster than we would ever need. The next concern would be finding somewhere with a fast enough pipe to the net willing to let the box sit on their network. Not sure if my boss is THAT generous!

Happy Holidays,

Mark