Avalanche Center Update (CSAC)
Avalanche Center (CSAC)
Update March 24, 1997
Cyberspace Snow and Avalanche Center
http://www.csac.org
It's been about a month since our last update, and there is plenty to
report. Here is a summary of some of the changes on our web site.
"Other Cool Stuff" Section
--------------------------
We have done lots of work on this part of the site. The index to
avalanche pictures on the web has been reformatted and expanded. There is
now a second table indexing QuickTime videos on the web. We already have
some more links to add to this.
We have taken a lot of our text material and converted it to html, added
to it, and created new pages for avalanche statistics, accounts of
avalanche encounters, and stories and reports.
The links page is currently being overhauled. With so many links to
return we are categorizing them. Some moved sites have had the URL
updated as well. We'll never catch up with all links, so if you link to
our site and want to be included in this section send us a note!
Store
-----
We have added two items to the store.
The video "Beating the Odds" which was produced for the Canadian
Avalanche Association is now available. It has received great reviews at
a number of festivals, including Banff.
We have also added "The Snow Booklet" after Art Judson, one of the
authors, brought it to our attention. Lots of great information about
snow in general, not only avalanches.
We are working on other new items as well.
There is now an address dedicated to the store - st...@csac.org
(This has existed but did not work correctly until we got procmail set up
right.) Use this for store related correspondence.
"Current Conditions" Section
----------------------------
The Colorado bulletin is incorporated into our system now, including
archiving and mail list distribution (csac...@csac.org).
We have set up a better feed for the Mt Washington, NH avalanche bulletin
and it is now archived as well. We have a list set up for this as well and
it should be available within a few days. (csa...@csac.org) We are still
making sure some new PERL code works correctly.
We have written some new PERL routines to handle the Mt Wash bulletin and
we hope to convert all bulletins to this new software soon.
We have been improving some of our distribution mailing list
configurations and have updated the web page on mail lists to reflect
this. You can subscribe and/or unsubscribe to our various lists from a
web interface under Current Conditions. We now have over 1000 addresses
on our lists (combined).
On the web page we have changed the link for Idaho weather. Thanks to
whoever pointed out that the old one was broken. (It seems fine for all
other states though!)
We have removed the Archives section from the home page but it still
exists. You can get to it from the Current Conditions page now.
Incidents Section
-----------------
The good news is that this section seems to be kind of slow lately.
However, it looks like at least 11 new ones were added since our last
update in Feb. Remember the season isn't over yet - stay alert and don't
forget about the potential out there! (This is one section where we don't
mind having little to update :)
Education and Research Section
------------------------------
We have added a few links to articles, including one on Snowmobile Online.
Quite a few instructors and/or schools have been added to the course
listing section, mostly for Canada.
A link has been added to the Research section to the "Persistent Snow
Slabs" group at the University of Calgary.
Professional Resources
----------------------
Added links for three avalanche safety equipment companies to the 'links
of Professional interest' - Life-Link, SOS, Backcountry Access.
Added the AAAPs recognition of Peter Schaerer to the "People" page.
Updated snowcover maps page and added links to snow cover maps for
Switzerland from the SLF in Davos.
Organizational
--------------
We have brought this section up to date.
Last week we were a USA Today hotsite, which is our fourth award this
season. We now have an awards page. There is now a weblog available
online so you can see what has been done lately. There are a few other
things which are new or updated as well - site organization and
navigation tips, our links policy, and perhaps some more.
Our list of contributors should be up to date - thanks to 100 or so
people who have helped us pay our rent, computer account bills, and phone
bills.
Overall Design
--------------
We designed a new background a few weeks ago, and redesigned the
navigating bar at the bottom of the main section pages at about the same
time. Most pages should conform to our current design templates by now,
but there are probably still a few which do not. Content pages below the
main section level should all have two icons at the bottom - the left one
should go up one level and the right one shoule go home. A blue logo at
the top left of any page should be linked to home as well.
Additional
----------
The web site, as much effort as it is, is only one part of what we do. It
is the most visible, but we also:
- Distribute bulletins to over 1000 addresses via listserver
- Operate a retail store online (as a fundraising endeavor)
- Do a significant amount of PERL and shell scripting to keep things all
working (Bulletin updating, archiving and mailing and nightly and
monthly resource usage stat reports, especially)
- Answer numerous questions. We answer 95% or more of our mail, even if
we sometimes get behind. Many questions come from the media, from
students, from teachers, and from anyone else with questions or needing
advice. People often tell us that the only response they got was ours.
The project continues to grow. We hope you are finding it to be a
valuable resource and will continue to visit often!
Jim
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Cyberspace Snow and Avalanche Center (CSAC)
1034 NW 34th St, Corvallis OR 97330
(541)754-8353 (541)461-4279 Fax
http://www.csac.org sn...@csac.org
Jim Frankenfield; Director
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