About this site ...

October 2006.

A new owner bought the web site hosting company in 2005. The new owner installed new servers which required some changes to the pages. We've also had some unexpected problems this year. These seem to be over in October 2006.

There are some new features introduced.

• The website has several features.
  • Information about the organization and your former colleagues is available from the web pages.
  • The web site has provisions for communications using email. At this time most of the email is plain text, but testing on html-format email is underway.
  • Email is individually generated, and the copy you received does not go to any other member. There are no email addresses in the cc or the bcc fields. Custom email can be generated.
  • Your contact information, and dues payment status are also stored in the online database. This allows the Board members and staff to have access to a common copy of these records. While most of our communications uses email. We periodically mail news to members who do not have a functioning email address as part of our database.
• Sign in procedure now uses either your PIN or your password.
  • Your PIN is generated by the web site. Believe it or not, it is designed to make it easy to sign in. When you first use the PIN, the web site attempts to store a cookie on your computer. Future sign ins are faster because the PIN can be retrieved using information in the cookie, and will already appear on the form. At any time, you can request a copy of your PIN be emailed to your email address.
  • As an alternative, you can create and save a password. This becomes an alternative method for sign in. A link on the Sign In page will send a special web page address to your email address. This web page allows you to enter a new password at any time.
• Pictures from the April 2006 Social have been posted (a bit late). There's only one page this year, but two different ways to view them.
  • A page of thumbnail (small ones) are shown. Click one of these, and you can view a larger size in a new window. Forward and Back arrows allow you to see all the pictures. View these at: 2006 Pictures.
  • An alternative display called "hoverbox" by the author of the technique is also available. As the mouse hovers over the thumbnail, it enlarges. Click it to view the full size picture. View this at 2006 Pictures (hoverbox).
  • A slide show version of the full size display from hoverbox is being developed.
• Many of the information pages are available to any viewer.
• Some pages, of primary interest to former Comsat, require sign in before they can be viewed. Fill out the registration form to become a member.
• We do ask for a very modest dues payment to help pay for the costs of running the organization. This includes the cost of mailing, the post office box, this web site, and the deposit required when scheduling a social function. Some sections are now restricted to members who help with financial support.
• None of the officers of COMARA receive any pay for the many hours they spend.

Under Development

As the internet matures, so do the techniques used on pages. The current pages have been designed using layout tables. While this works very well, it violates the ideal of complete separation of content from presentation. So, the webmaster is working on new page layouts. The objective is to make the pages easier to maintain.

The other set of changes underway will allow you to post replies to articles on this site where other can see them, and can, in turn, respond to your comments. Another related feature will allow you to create and upload information and pictures to share with our members.

Send an email to webmaster@comara.org and one of us will try to send the information. In your registration, members were asked for permission to share this contact information with other members. If you left the checkbox unchecked, the only information that will be provided is whether you are a member.