cottage

Let me offer a bit of comment with regard to download speeds and also how to tell who is hosting a presentation. First download speeds. As others have said, the speed at which a particular presentation will download depends greatly upon the traffic already being handled by the various ISP's and servers involved with the relay of this information. More on this later... as for whether or not I (beechbrook.com) host a particular presentation, or merely provide a link to another location, can be seen just after you select any of the download links. Before you click SAVE to download the show to your PC, read the popup screen. On Internet Explorer you should see "File Name", "File Type" and "From". Look at the "From" field. It will show where the file is actually coming from. If it's Beechbrook.Com, I am hosting the show, otherwise it will show the server name or address that is hosting the show. Now a further comment with regard to download speeds... Some forum members host their own presentations on their own servers. These servers can be as simple as a spare PC hooked up to a standard DSL line. Other personal servers may offer more features and speeds. Obviously speeds will vary from these type servers and their big brother counterparts running at T3 speeds. Hope this helps. Regards, Bill

Some have expressed an interest in reviewing project submissions so I've added a link on the upload page which allows a quick review. Obviously the image size has been reduced but hopefully this addition will create further interest in the project. I welcome your comments/suggestions. Regards, Bill

E.B.,Yes. Your submission is on my server. If you received an "Upload Successful" page your files were transferred. Thanks for your input. Please feel free to redo or modify your submission as necessary until a cutoff date has been established. Bill

Dave, I'm always open to suggestions, but as for now I don't see a real reason to create alot of code to make each individual element available. When I have some time I can probably put some code together so that those involved could download a package which would contain all the material I've received. I would, of course, keep this link up-to-date. I welcome your thoughts and ideas. Bill

I believe that there are still some differences of opinion with regard to "image size". At this point the items I have received have been of various sizes and of various image quality. But as I said in the outset, I am only 'holding' the project pieces on beechbrook.com as further plans and discussions take place both on and off the forum. However, what I am most impressed with is the fact that folks are taking this project so seriously. That's encouraging! Bill

With many thanks to my testers, Ralph McDermott and Ken Cox, I am pleased to announce that the 2006 World Peace AV Project upload site is now online. Those that wish to submit items to this project may do so here: 2006 World Peace AV Project. The upload link requires that all submissions include the senders name, email address and a single zipped file which contains all images, music, voice-overs and text files. Beechbrook.Com will serve only as the repository for project submissions. No modifications will be made to items submitted to Beechbrook.Com. All submissions will be held until forum members develop further project guidelines and plans. Please use a single file name continually for all your submissions. If modifications of previous submissions are necessary, the upload script will not overwrite your previous submissions. All files received will be uniquely numerically identified so they are not overwritten if an exact file name already exists on the server. A suggested naming convention might be: "first initial, last name-country.zip" (example: rsmith-usa.zip for Roger Smith USA). However I will retain all submissions as they are received regardless of their file name. I look forward to working on this wonderful project with each of you ! Kind regards, Bill Hines

Thank you for staying on top of these type issues. It's sad that some people spend their time creating destructive code instead of creating something of value for others to enjoy - like PTE !! Regards, Bill

My pleasure Severn and Al. What a great idea this is. I've already received a "first submission" during my testing of the upload page, so we're off to a good start. It will be interesting to see and hear from so many forum members as we work together on this very worthwhile project. There are so many creative members here with great ideas and talents to share. It will be fun, it will be inspiring and more importantly, it will help to move the theme forward - World Peace! Bill

DaveG, I will be happy to set things up so that everyone involved with this project has the opportunity to have all resources available to them. I don't see this as a repository for items that are not related to this project, therefore I may impose some restrictions on access to certain areas. Nothing has been finalized and I welcome any suggestions as we move forward. Bill

I've created an upload utility for submissions to the 2006 World Peace AV Project. I appreciate Ken Cox working with me during some of the early testing. It will be available soon for those that wish to be part of this project. I welcome your comments. Bill

Ken and Al, I'll be happy to do whatever I can to either provide space for hosting or simply collect items for the overall project. Just keep me in the loop as we go. My server provider is down today, and has been down for some five hours now - hence Beechbrook.Com is totally offline. I'll get moving on ways to accomplish this project once we're back online! Ken, In answer to your question, no the upload utility is not online. There is a code difference that has not been resolved with some of the new servers. Emailing project items will have to do for now. I will create a special protected folder and web pages as necessary for those who will need access to the project, giving instructions as necessary. Looking forward to working together. BIll

As we move into the New Year, it has been suggested that I remind our longtime PTE forum members, and also mention to our newest PTE forum members, of the availability of the "PTE Presentation Notification" mailing list found on http://www.beechbrook.com/pte. The sign-up link is at the top left-hand side of all download pages. When new presentations are uploaded an automatic notification message is sent to all subscribers. You may unsubscribe from the list at any time. Also please be aware that some servers block these messages. I can only send to valid email addresses that reside on unblocked servers. Secondly I want to thank each of you again for your suggestions and comments of how to handle the ever-growing server space issue on Beechbrook. For several years it has been the guideline for presentation authors who have their own servers, or web space, to host their own shows and only provide me with a link to their show(s). I appreciate all of you who honor this guideline. This helps save space for those authors that do not have (or cannot afford) their own site. Late last year I implemented a shorter duration time for hosting your presentations (from 90 days to 30 days). At present this change has helped to alleviate the issue and adequate server space is currently available. I also want to thank each person who made a thoughtful donation towards my server costs this year. You have helped to keep Beechbrook.Com free for others to enjoy. In early 2006 Beechbrook.Com will be moved to new Microsoft 2003 server. When this move occurs some changes in my code will be required. I appreciate your patience as we experience these changes together. Although the PTE Upload Utility is still offline, I will continue to accept your presentations via email or one of the Internets 'drop zones' until it has been returned to service. Please visit http://www.beechbrook.com/upload for further information. Finally, as requested I have increased the "Author's Notes" section from 255 characters to 64,000 characters. Hopefully this will provide adequate space for presentation authors to include valuable and significant notes about their presentations. These notes will be available online for all visitors to review from the download pages. Happy New Year! With kind regards, Bill

and as always, I will be happy to provide hosting space and send out email notifications from my site if it would be useful to the group. Bill

I have added a new feature to the PTE Download Pages entitled Author's Notes. This link will allow you to review PTE presentation notes from the author's themselves. Currently notes are restricted to 255 characters and may be added through the PTE Upload Utility. Until the PTE Upload Utility becomes available again, if you wish to have notes added to your presentation(s), please email them to me. I hope you find this added feature useful. I invite your comments and suggestions. Regards, Bill

Hi Ning, Although you correctly stated my new "time limit policy", let me ease your mind with a bit of further explanation. During a typical month, if no new presentations are uploaded, I do not necessarily plan to remove older shows. Therefore a presentation that is over the 30 day limit may in fact stay online longer. I will probably only remove older presentations as new ones are uploaded. In other words, the presentation with the oldest time-stamp will be the first to be removed when a new show arrives. I hope this makes the policy clearer. All the best, Bill

Thank you to those that responded with ideas for helping to manage costs on Beechbrook.Com. From the 440 emails that were sent, as well as the entry on the PTE Forum, I had a total of 11 who sent me their ideas. Here’s the short list of what was suggested. 1. Limit the time period presentations will remain online 2. Charge for Uploading (cost dependent upon file size) 3. Charge for Downloading 4. Create a monthly or yearly subscription system 5. Solicited for Donations Based on the above suggestions I am now restricting presentations I host to a 30-day duration. Linked presentations are not subject to this restriction. At this time I will not implement a payment system. Most visitors want and expect a free system. I hope I can continue to honor that request. Continue to seek donations. This is always a hard sell. Out of the hundreds of email messages sent and one forum message posted, I received one donation. Thank you Bill G. You help to keep this system free for others to enjoy! Kind regards, Bill

Beechbrook.Com has now completed its move to the new server. The PTE download pages have been updated and all links should be functional. Due to server limitations, I am unable to transfer an additional 249.36 megs of presentations. The PTE Upload Utility will remain closed until more space becomes available. My wallet is empty at the moment, so additional space is not an options for me. Some options are: 1. Limiting the time a presentation will remain online. It's currently set for 90 days if I host it. 2. Begin a paid subscription service for either uploading, downloading or both. 3. Simply reduce the amount of presentations I host. 4. Donations 5. Other - your ideas! Sorry but I've put too much money into this site thus far and just simply can't continue. I look forward to your suggestions, comments and concerns. Kind regards, Bill

At this point the new server will only accept filesizes of 4.5 megs successfully, although it has been configured for much larger presentation sizes. This is the reason I have chosen to leave the PTE Upload Utility offline. Sorry for the inconvience. I have an open trouble ticket in on this issue, so stay tuned to this forum for updates. Bill

Hello all, Beechbrook.Com is now back online following the transfer to a new server. Although most visitors to the PTE Forum only use the PTE Upload/Download areas of Beechbrook.Com, I would appreciate any reports of bad links that you might encounter. I will reopen the PTE Upload Utility after a bit more testing. Kind regards, Bill

Thanks Ron. Here's an update for everyone... Update concerning Beechbrook.Com : Moving to a different server can take its own sweet time - between 24 and 72 hours. This is totally out of my control. I'm just waiting for the Name Servers to resolve across the entire network. Nothing has been lost. I have already moved all the PTE presentations, database files and mailing list, etc. Hopefully we'll be back online soon !! If you are a subscriber to my PTE Presentation Notification List you should have been notified earlier of this transition period. Again, thank you for your patience. Kind regards, Bill

Connie, Welcome. You can upload your presentation to my site if that would be of any help. Others will be able to downoload it from there. Please ensure that your presentation has been zipped. Just follow the "PTE Upload Guidelines" before beginning your upload session. The upload link is listed below. Regards, Bill

Fred, That would be me - cottage@beechbrook.com Regards, Bill

The ASP server was reset and PTE notifications are now being sent correctly. Enjoy, Bill

I want to publicly express my sincere appreciation to Ken Cox of Sarnia Ontario Canada for his initial assistance with web page changes, and to Patrick Bantzhaff of Strasbourg France for his tremendous help in translating into French the "PTE Upload Guidelines" and "PTE Upload Utility" on Beechbrook.Com. This has truly been an International effort and I thank you both. Kind regards, Bill

Greetings all, After three weeks of testing, checking code and reviewing presentations, I have reopened the PTE Download section of Beechbrook.Com. A special thank you to Ken Cox for doing a bit of 'recent testing' for me. If you find errors as you use this service please report them to me. I will reopen the PTE Upload section soon. I also wish to express my sincere thanks to so many of the PTE Forum members who have sent me letters of encouragement during this somewhat frustrating time. And everyone needs to know that with Igor’s demanding schedule, he and the staff at WnSoft have written me on several occasions offering their help. Thanks to everyone for your patience. Kind regards, Bill