January 11, 2004: Apparently during the move to the new server a few weeks ago, I broke the site because I forgot to delete the temporary index page.  This was only just brought to my attention, and normally when I am looking at the site I go right to the Gallery.  This has been fixed and the site is working on the new server.  I will change the photo on the splash page sometime soon.

The musical site was also moved to the new server in the last few weeks and the photo collections weren't moved because I am switching to Gallery.  This has been fixed and the site is up on the new server.  Design changes should be up before February, but I don't have any other information on that right now.

January 15, 2004: The server was a little bit unstable tonight during some upgrades on my other sites.  I discovered that NetPBM was not able to handle the very high resolution images from one of my cameras, and I rebooted the server a few times and made some changes while I was trying to narrow down the problem.  I upgraded PHP tonight and changed the image processing software Gallery uses to ImageMagick instead of NetPBM.  Hopefully this will reduce some of the CPU load issues and improve site performance.  For those who are interested, I will have a full status and monitoring page on the backup site sometime soon.

January 17, 2004: I found another error with the Gallery, and apparently the top menu portion was missing.  I fixed that and also made a temporary correction to fix the problem with the Gallery pages not centering properly.

January 30, 2004: I've been concentrating my efforts on the musical site, so I haven't been doing much on this end of things.  I know I need to change the splash page and eventually I will get around to putting in a real photo from ACCs.  In fact, you can expect that to be in place next week.  New musical site premiers in about 48 hours, so check back Sunday night/Monday morning, and let me know what you think.

January 31, 2004: I will be performing maintenance on the server from about 11pm until 2am, some performance issues, lags, and downtime is possible.  Information is available on the backup site.  Also, things are up and running for public access to the stats server, and I will be checking the reports periodically and updating things as needed.

February 3, 2004: The maintenance was completed without any problems, and I have noticed an improvement in performance.  I haven't had time to review anything with regard to the streaming video, I will probably start on that in March after the musical is done with.  In more interesting news, I received an email from the STHS Alumni Association, and they have offered their assistance in spreading the word about the band site and musical site, as well as locating materials from past years.  I am grateful for their offer, and can't wait to see what sort of response I will get.  In the meantime, you are all encouraged to help me out.  It doesn't matter who you are, what year you graduated, or if you are still a student, faculty member, friend, etc.  I am looking for photos, programs and information.  Everything you have from any year.  I will pay for shipping costs, make copies of the materials, whatever I need to do.  You will be credited for your submissions, and all materials will be returned to you.  Please contact me if you are willing to help.

March 8, 2004: Since the musical is over and I've finished all my work on the site and the photos, I am finally able to do a little bit of work here.  I finally changed the image on the splash page, so it now represents a random pick from ACCs.  If I can remember to, I'll probably start changing the images on a monthly basis, so if you have any favorites, drop me a line and let me know.  Also, I mentioned adopting a Creative Commons license in the past, and this is now in place.  This won't affect how you view the site, it's simply a matter of copyrights for anyone curious about reproducing photos from the site.  Yes, they are still free for personal use, and please feel free to use the various photo services linked from Gallery.

April 11, 2004: I applied a small security update for Gallery, but have some additional server maintenance to take care of including an upgrade to the latest release of Gallery.  I managed to get everything up to date with the statistics software, but if it doesn't start running things automatically again, I'll end up having to change to a different program anyway.

June 25, 2004: Still lots to be done... I've been spending the last few months working on my own photo collections and some other projects.  But fortunately for everyone here, one of the projects has been video editing and encoding.  I went through another round of hardware upgrades and have been playing with different software and finally found some suitable programs.  Using a combination of Roxio Easy DVD copy, Pinnacle Studio 8 and DrDivX, I hope to have some new high resolution videos up soon, including a full DVD quality production of the 2003 Pocono Mountain East show.  More news when there is news, maybe I'll see you around some Wednesday night this summer...

June 28, 2004: The DivX DVD quality version of the 2003 video from Pocono East is now online.  I also updated the video FAQ section to answer some basic questions about DivX and how to view the new video stream.  If this popular, I'll see about converting the older videos into DivX format.

July 4, 2004: I added 20 new photos to the Jazz Band section of the photo gallery.  Check it out! I made some small text updates to the TOS to bring things in line with the Creative Commons licensing, and updated all of the menus to prepare for the 2004-2005 season.  I'll probably have new info before the end of the month, so keep checking back.

July 10, 2004: It seems that BVP Marching Videos has updated their site and now has an online store.  Judging from what I see there, ACCs videos prior to 1992 are not available or were not done by them.  That in mind, if anyone can point me in the direction of any video of the marching band from 1990 and 1991 it would be appreciated.  Also, since I have not had anyone step up and send me the videos or DVDs from recent years, I just spent the $60 and ordered DVDs of ACCs 2002 and 2003.  Based on their statement of 4-6 weeks shipping, I expect to have these in hand and on the site by late August.

August 3, 2004: The 2002 and 2003 DVDs came in the mail today, so I am working on them right now.  Fortunately the DivX software has an "audio boost" feature.  The DVD quality streams will be up tonight, and I will be working on other streams tomorrow.  Also, because I am happy with the quality of these DVDs, I will be ordering all of the past years on DVD.  Keep an eye on this page for more info.

August 8, 2004: The 2002 and 2003 videos are now online in 56k and 300k streams.  Windows Media Player 9 will be needed to view these.

August 19, 2004: I am uploading the first set of photos for the 2004-2005 season and will have them on the site tonight along with this year's schedule.  Most of the photos were shot in night vision and were converted to grayscale to improve quality.  If you visited the 2004-05 section of the site before tonight there was a link for photos that probably didn't work.  That's because I set everything up a month ago, but hid the 2004-2005 album in the photo gallery until tonight.  It works now, and the photos and schedule are there now.

September 12, 2004: Windows Media Player 10 was just released a short time ago, along with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and updated versions of the DivX software.  I have tested all three, and have updated the video FAQ page accordingly.  I do not see any problems with Media Player 10, but the new version of DivX (free upgrade) may be required if you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2.  Please be aware that there are some serious issues with Service Pack 2, and although I do not recommend updating to XP Service Pack 2 right now, you should not have problems with this site if the installation is successful.  If you encounter problems, please let me know, or check out the Microsoft Windows XP support website.

I'm trying out the new syndication features offered by Gallery, so now if you are using LiveJournal, you can add something to your friends page that will show you or your readers when the photo gallery has been updated.  The same feature has been added for the musical site as well.  Simply add sthsbandphotos or sthsmusicalpics to your friends list, and you should start seeing this information on your friends page within a few minutes.  See the "about us" page for more information.

September 18, 2004: The CV show was postponed until Tuesday night, and I'm not sure if I will be able to attend the show or not.  Also, there was something in the STHS Alumni Association newsletter about a band alumni reunion on Homecoming weekend.  Please contact Gail Markovitz (Boosters President) for more information.  The music boosters email should be working again just in case you don't have the real email address.  Unfortunately, I will not be around for Homecoming or the reunion, but if you have materials you would like added to the site, I will make arrangements to have them delivered to me!

I updated the "wanted" page and fixed some broken links on there from over a year ago.  I have also updated the photo tips page and the contribution info page.  Beyond that, I am looking into a way to replace the old watermarked photos with non marked versions without losing the click counts.  I believe this can be done with the Gallery software, and it might get done in a few weeks while I am in Houston.  Watch this space for details...

The hurricane info has been updated again, but to put it simply: there haven't been any problems and I am not expecting any hurricane related problems.  The history area of the site has been updated and fixed as far as formatting, links, text, misspelled names, and I've updated the intro on there.

September 7, 2004: I'm behind on my photo work, but will have the photos from the first football game online before Friday.  I also added a link to the Perkiomen Valley Music Boosters website.  Check out the site for information about their band, and TOB score analyses.

September 9, 2004: Photos are now online, sorry for the delay.

September 11, 2004: I updated the hurricane information with regards to Ivan, but do not foresee any issues.  I will also be testing Windows Media Player 10 and checking compatibility with the DivX streams and will update the video information if needed.

The latest round of football game photos are online, and I updated the schedule to include the location of Chapter Championships - (Carlisle HS according to the TOB website).  The photo count has also been updated accordingly.

September 25, 2004: I added the score from the Cumberland Valley Show.  If anyone has photos, please send them to me.

September 29, 2004: The Marching Band splash page has been updated with the 2004 Indoor Guard results.  Congrats to the 2004 Chapter 6 Indoor Guard Scholastic A Champions!

Another hurricane and no outages as expected.

October 10, 2004: Sometime last week, I found more band camp photos that I never downloaded from the camera, so those have been uploaded.  Pictures from yesterday's game and the Carlisle show are online as well.  The photo counts have been updated, and the schedule has been updated to reflect that we will be at Bensalem next weekend.

October 16, 2004: Photos from last night's football game at HersheyPark Stadium are ready to be uploaded, I expect to have them online sometime late tonight.  This was a great venue for high camera shots, so check them out and let me know what you think! I finally got my hands on a program today and have updated the show description for this year.

In true drum & bugle corps style, the band spent the day at Bensalem High School and braved wind, rain and thunderstorms and finished in 2nd place, while capturing the High Percussion and High Auxiliary awards.  I took mostly high camera shots and will have them up sometime tomorrow afternoon.

I am looking to hire an extra photographer for high camera shots at ACCs in November, as well as a photographer and videographer for the Pocono Mountain show in a few weeks.  If you are interested or know someone willing to help, please contact me.  You will get credit for your work, and I am offering limited compensation and possibly transportation if required.

October 17, 2004: Photos are up and the count has been updated.

October 24, 2004 (2:30am): I've got an extra person lined up for Pocono Mountain so there will be either a video, high camera shots or both from the top of the stadium.  I updated the scores page based on the recap sheets, which show a different score than the ranking sites.  This will be verified once the official scores are posted on the TOB website.

Photos from Senior Rec and the Middletown show will be posted later today, and I will be posting the trivia contest as well.  Since I am giving away a DVD, the questions aren't going to be as easy.  Having graduated in 1999, I know a few more bits of band trivia than most people, so brush up.  You can ask anyone you want for help (except for me since I am running the contest).

The links page has been updated to include Bensalem's web site.  This was actually added last week, I just forgot to mention it.

October 24, 2004 (7pm): Photos are up and the count has been updated.  I just checked scores and rankings, and we are still ahead.  Even if the official TOB score is different from the recap sheet, we will still be in first place.  The trivia has been posted and the contest starts tonight.  Since the prizes are worth more, I made the questions harder.  Good luck to everyone!

October 24, 2004 (11:30pm): I checked the score against TOB's website.  Without checking the math on the recap sheet, this information is assumed to be correct.  This places us in a tie for first which should make things interesting for the remaining few weeks of the season.

October 26, 2004: More prizes have been added to the contest so I have something to do with all of these online prizes I've been winning from the McDonalds Monopoly game.  So far, third prize will be either a 2 month VIP subscription to CBS Sports, or 25 free photos from Snapfish.com.  There will be at least 5 third prize winners, and additional prizes may be added at any time.

October 31, 2004 (1:30am): Hello, I hope everyone made it home safely through all the fog and nasty driving conditions.  There will be high camera shots available later today (as soon as I upload them) as well as a video.  I should have the video ready later today, but it's going to be posted with a password until the end of the season.  Access will be limited to band personnel and staff only until after ACCs, and you must email me or call me with your name and section in order to get the password.  This password is subject to change without prior notice, and the video will available to the general public (with no password) after ACCs.

Why am I doing this? I posted the video early last year which was probably a mistake, because it turned out to be very popular, but I have no idea who all was watching it.  If you email me and are not an AOL user, I will be checking the IP address to see where you are posting from (Harrisburg obviously).  If you call me, I will either Google search the phone number on my caller id, or otherwise verify that it is a Harrisburg/Central PA cell phone number.  This is not meant to unfairly single out anyone, just gotta preserve the magic a little longer.  If you can't email or call me for the password or don't want to be hassled, I can make you a DVD or VCD, but there is a fee involved.  Ok, enough disclaimer garbage.

Thanks to Nigel Casantini for taking the high camera shots and to the Boyce family (Harris c/o 99, Sean c/o 03) for loaning me the video equipment.  Oh, I'll probably be adding some additional links from the program, so check it out.  Parents: if you have photos or videos, send them to me or talk to me.  If it's a video or digital photos, I may be able to take care of making copies during practice.  If you have any requests for Chapters or ACCs, let me know.  There is no cost for this, and would be a great way to use the 25 free prints (hint hint contest prize!!).

October 31, 2004 (5:45pm): The high camera photos are online, and I am working on the video right now.

October 31, 2004 (8pm): Video streams are being added one at a time as I finish them tonight, so make sure you email me for the password.  56k is up, 300k is uploading, 1mbit is encoding now, and will be uploaded when it's done, DivX will be next.

October 31, 2004 (11:15pm): I've gotten a couple requests for the video, but still only 2 contest entries.  So unless there are any objections, if you emailed me about the video and remembered to include your section, you've got 1 correct answer.  In fact, if all you did was email me with your name, you have 1/2 of a correct answer.  This just might be enough for you to win the 25 free prints.  The prints can be used for anything you want, and don't have to be stuff from this site, but if you want the DVD or the ACCs stuff, check out the contest and try to answer some of the questions!

DivX video from the show is in the works, but won't be available until sometime tomorrow.

November 8, 2004: Ok, contest is over, winners have been drawn, notified, and posted, and the answers are up.  With that out of the way, I can now work on the chapters video, so please be patient, I'm working on it.  I posted our performance time according to the TOB website.  It's 10:16pm and we are on last.  Finally, anyone who has videos or photos from this season, especially chapters: please contact me about sharing them with everyone else.  You will get credit for you work.

November 8, 2004 (11:50pm): Chapters videos are up, and the same password will let you access them until they are made public on Sunday.  I have a bunch of photo sets to add, so check back soon.  The DivX video is uploading right now, I'll add that in the morning when it's done.  I also updated the FAQ and added info about getting the older shows on DVD.  Unfortunately, there are some copyright related issues holding this up, and I expect to hear back from BVP Marching Videos sometime after the first of the year.  I'm disappointed, but I guess it can't be helped. 

Remastering the old videos without the use of a TV or production studio is probably out the question, unless someone wants to donate a couple of professional video editing packages to me.  If there are any takers on either project, let me know.  ** nudge nudge ** WHIP TV/mass media students.. Anyone??

November 12, 2004: I don't have any takers to shoot some high camera photos or a video at ACCs, so if you are shooting a video or taking photos, let me know so I can get a copy of it.  As for the official/commercial video, I've already placed my order on BVP's web site (www.bandvideos.com) and I will post something as soon as I've got it.  I ordered the DVDs for the contest as well, photos will be taken care of at the show.

I added more photos to the site tonight and I am still working on things right now and probably will do more tomorrow morning before heading out.  I added photos I took at the last football game of the season, another set of photos from the Pocono East show, and I'm working on the Chapters photos.  Check back in the morning maybe.

November 13, 2004: Chapters photos are up as of 1am, and the photo count has been updated again.  ACCs photos will be added within 48 hours of the show, and this season's videos will be made public as soon as I get to an internet connection following the show.

November 14, 2004 (11:30pm): I'm uploading the ACCs photos now.  They are going to be split into 2 albums, so check them out in the morning.  All of the videos were made public this morning, so enjoy.  I ordered the ACCs DVD and the rest of the contest stuff.  I will put the video online as soon as the DVD is in my hands, and I expect to deliver the contest stuff at the winter concert.

Thanks to the Shikellamy HS Band for allowing us to borrow your pit tractor and driver at ACCs.  We really appreciate it!

New links have been added including Shikellamy HS.