Got security? Google Chrome Issues

We got a note his morning that Google Chrome browsers are sending dire warning messages when you try to access the site. Although this is a "false positive" we have deactivated the code (SigEp Sites - in the sidebar) that was causing the error.

The provider of the service we have used for the last several years - "blogrolling.com" - is apparently on its last legs and we will need to find another service. If anyone has a good suggestion feel free to leave a comment or do the "contact us" thing.

Thanks.

Blogroll is back

The list of "Sig Ep Sites" in the sidebar has not been updated in several months. That is because the folks who own the listing application were rewriting it and had disabled any changes. They have finally completed their work and the Blogrolling.com site is operational again - and it looks like it will be much easier to use.

So here is a request - take a look at the list of sites. If your chapter or alumni website is not listed send us a link (and be sure to tell us the chapter and school). If your chapter is listed then check to make sure we have the most up-to-date URL for it and let us know if we need to get current.

Thanks!

Blog Rolls - another damn housekeeping post.

We have received several requests lately to update or add chapter sites to the list we have in the sidebar. Normally we try to make the changes ASAP, but the host service has had some issues lately. The Blogrolling.com people have explained what is going on with them in their own blog. The short version is they got hacked and are having to re write the entire application. They have suspended editing of the rolls until they are done.

It is important to have a good list of SigEp chapter sites in an easy-access format, but we also need to be able to do the whole "add, change, delete" thing too. When (if) the blogrolling application comes back we'll have a backlog of updates. In the meanwhile we will be looking at other options to provide the list in a usable(i.e. editable) form.

Thanks for your patience.

Preparing a chapter house for extremely cold temperatures

We saw this timely post on the HQ news feed:

Freezing Weather Warning: High Notice
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE: January 18, 2008
TO: Fraternal Property Management Association Contacts
FROM: Bobbi Larsen Education Consultant
SUBJECT: Preparing a chapter house for extremely cold temperatures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With temperatures expected to be at or below freezing for much of the country this weekend, it is imperative you take the time to properly prepare your chapter house for the cold weather. It is especially important for those facilities just reopening for the new term.

During periods of extreme colder temperatures:

• Service your furnace or boiler system—boiler pipes pose a particular risk in this weather.
• Open the indoor faucets slightly to allow water to trickle as moving water does not freeze as easily.
• Leave the doors to cabinets that contain water lines open, this will allow heat to enter the area and help prevent freeze.
• Make sure that attic areas are well insulated to prevent the formation of ice dams.
• Respond to any leaks promptly to mitigate damage and prevent further harm.
• Make sure that appropriate chapter members know where the main water shut off is as well as any other water shut offs (e.g. around commodes), and that they are in good working condition.

Essential measures to minimize the risk of a freeze or water damage loss:

• Keep furnace on and thermostat set at or above 68 degrees.
• Inspect windows and repair all broken glass.
• Place additional insulation on exterior walls and windows.
• Insulate exterior doors appropriately, and assure all close and latch completely.
• Attach and secure downspouts with extension from foundation to prevent melting show from draining onto the driveway, sidewalks, or patios.

Additional safety measures during colder months

• Clear all necessary snow and ice from sidewalks, fire escapes, and walkways which may result in a slip and fall hazard
• Prohibit space heaters or ensure that your policies regarding space heaters are being followed.
  The National Fire Prevention Association reported that nearly 70% of home heating fires and deaths in 2002 were attributed to space heaters.
• Enforce a no-smoking policy or ensure that your designated smoking area is equipped with a fire-safe disposal system.

In January of 2004, a fraternity house sustained water damage from extremely frigid temperatures. Lack of heat caused the residents to vacate the building, but a space heater was left on in a fourth floor room. The resulting fire and damage from fighting the fire led to a claim of nearly $750,000. Help us ensure that this does not happen to your facility this winter.

What are the benefits of being prepared for extremely cold weather?

• Avoid the expense and the time associated with a claim and restoring the damaged area
• With a large loss, you may risk having an uninhabitable house
• Water damage, when left unaddressed can lead to mold growth

For further information or questions regarding risk prevention and educational resources or materials, please contact Bobbi Larsen, Education Consultant at 1-800-736-4327 extension 216 or blarsen@kirklin.com. If you do suffer damages, contact Steve Wilson, Manager of Claims and Loss Control at extension 209 or swilson@kirklin.com.

HRH/ Kirklin & Co., LLC
12231 Emmet Street, Suite 5
Omaha, Nebraska 68164
800-736-4327
800-328-0522

Fratastic - 21 days of home repair

The folks at Fratastic have gotten a bit behind on their home repair series. But then we hadn't checked in a few days either. Here are the latest links.

21 days of home improvment – Repairing Window Screens

21 days of home repair – Pressure Washer overview.

Fratastic - 21 days of home repair – Unclogging Drains

The latest installment of the ongoing series. How to unclog a stopped up drain.
21 days of home repair – Unclogging Drains

Fratastic - 21 Days of Home Repair - Shingles

Day four.
Does your house have asphalt shingles? Do you need to replace a few? Here's how.

Fratastic- 21 Days of Home repair - Toilets

Next installment in the Fratastic "21 days of Home Repair" series.
How to fix a toilet that won't stop running.

Fratastic - 21 days of home repair - Leaky Faucets

Day 2 of the 21 days of home repair is...
Leaky Faucets

Note: We will continue to make the links available on S&P. But because we are trying to be nice guys and not steal all their thunder we won't post the video here. You can visit them and see the videos at www.fratastic.com

Fratastic - 21 days of home repair - Drywall

Attenion House Managers! Our friends at Fratastic have started a new series called "21 Days of Home Repair." Each day they are taking one relatively simple job and giving a step-by-step how-to. The first post covers simple drywall repair.

One thing I like to do before repairing a hole in the wall is leave a little present for the next time a hole shows up. You can put a beer or another memento for the next person who repairs the wall. When I was the house manager, I found three or four pull tab beers, a sorority composite, and a full bottle of Glenlivet. The Glenlivet had a name attached and we invited the alumni who left it back to the house and those over 21 all shared it. It was a great time and we got to hear some great stories from back in the day.

Note: There is a YouTube link as well, but the thought police at my work don't let those subversive things through the firewall. I'll get the link up later tonight. Until then, go over to their pages and check out the video.

As Promised - Here is the video:

A Small Milestone

We have passed the 200,000 page views point. Page views, as opposed to visits, record the number of pages that have been clicked during a visit.


We are glad that you keep coming back. In August, coincidentally right around the time of Conclave, we will celebrate three years of bringing the good, the bad, and the ugly of SigEp to the web. We have no plans to stop, so let that be either glad tidings or a dire warning depending on what you think of us.

If you are a new visitor, check out the sidebar for ways to find earlier posts and links to other sources of good fraternity/college information.

We are always looking for new and better ways to communicate with those who come here to find the latest information about Sigma Phi Epsilon and the college and fraternity world. We welcome comments on any post and suggestions for new features and improvement (er, as long as you don't include the phrase "...and the horse you rode in on").

New Website - NY Gamma, NYU

Mark Lee wrote to let us know about the new site for NY Gamma - NYU. We have added it to our list of chapter sites (in the sidebar).


Keep the updates coming. We'll get them on the roll.
Oh, by the way...(shameless self-promotion alert!) it is considered good "netiquette" to link back to someone you want to get a link from (hint, hint).
Send your info to our "Give us a shout" address.

New Chapter Website - KS Delta, Washburn U.

Thanks to Marshall Mcginnis for letting us know about the update to the KS Delta chapter website - Washburn Unversity. We have added it to our list of chapter sites (in the sidebar).

If there are other new or updated chapter sites, or if we don't have your chapter site listed correctly, please let us know so we can get the entry on our list.
Send your info to our Give us a shout" address.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...

A quick peek "behind the kimono"...

You may have noticed that some of the posts looked a bit odd lately. The sweet "Peekaboo" feature has gone fubar. You will note that ALL of the posts have the "Read more..." tags. Further, they don't work even where they are supposed to.

The short story is the guy that wrote the code to do the "peekaboo" thing had kept a piece of it on his server, so every time a page loaded - in ANY blog using this hack - a call was made to the server. Well, he simply got so popular he ran out of bandwidth, so they quit working.

The fix is simple but it will take some time to set up. I need to download the "master" code and add it to the template. Not tough, but it will take a bit of testing. So if you see weird displays on the blog this weekend - it's just me tinkering.

Should you care, here is the link to the full explanation.

Update (10:25 pm Friday): Well, I THINK it is working again. got a few more tweaks and we'll see what it looks like.

testing here...
Update (11:07 pm Friday):All looks well now. I even added a "fader" for the expanded sections so they sort of "fade in" and "fade out".

Thanks to Ramani at Hackosphere for his quick solution. In gratitude and because it is the right thing to do I added a link in the "Resources" section. If you need Blogger hacks that is the place to start.

HQ Phones Down Fri-Sat

The latest from HQ:

A new phone system will be installed on Friday June 1 at SigEp Headquarters. Please expect the primary telephone numbers to be unavailable Friday possibly into Saturday. Email will still be available if you need to reach someone during this time. The staff email directory can be found at http://www.sigep.org/about/staff.asp We apologize for the inconvenience.

And when completed they will be able to screen your calls with even greater efficiency.

Lost feature works again

When we switched to the "new" Blogger platform earlier this year one of the features that was lost was the ability to tell which post a given comment in the sidebar refers to.

Well, it's back.

To see which post got a comment, rest the cursor without clicking on the comment in the sidebar. The post title will show up as a 'tooltip' hovering near the cursor.

Thanks, Haloscan!

How to write a blog post - publicity version

We get publicity information from many SigEp chapters here at S&P Central, and we try to post as much as is possible and reasonable. However, we don't have a staff that can create a timely and interesting post from a skeletal email such as "The SigEps at Farmer State really kicked ass in the hay bailing contest last month! Can you put it on the blog, Bro.?"

The S&P folks are not journalism majors (most of them, anyway) and do not claim to know all the tricks of good writing, but these are our unprofessional suggestions. If you want to get posted, here are a few guidelines to help you and us get your story on the blog.

• How Generally interesting is it? Consider if you were reading the blog and saw the story. Would you care? Campus-wide honors for a chapter or a brother Chapter of the year, of the student body) are good info for other chapters. It lets them compare their achievements and may inspire them to step up. Good GPA numbers are interesting if there is other context, but not so much by themselves.
• What are the details? One or two lines about winning "Skit-Night" is not enough. What was the skit about? Who else was competing? Did someone fall off the stage and carry on regardless?
• Is there a link? A story in the campus paper, town paper, or TV websites gives us a way to piggyback onto someone who actually CAN write. They often have pictures we can steal use too (we do try to credit all sources). Multiple links are even better. Pictures and Video are great.
• Local angles. A big story - like VA Tech - is going to have lots of coverage. If there is a SigEp side to it that has not been heard we will want to get it out. In the case of VA Tech, the SigEp chapter was trying to make sure all were accounted for. They were, but it took several hours to be sure. We sent updates as we had them.
• Timing - If an event is coming up, let us know in advance. Friday night is not the time to send a release for the bake sale on Saturday. Give it at least a week - longer if it is a big deal or there are celebrities involved. If you send after the fact, the sooner the better.

A good way to make chapter information available is to have a good press release. This one from Dartmouth details the election of a Sig Ep brother as Student Body President and is very well done. We would have used it but we already covered that story. It was so well done, however, we want to keep it as an example - thus it inspired this post.

Thanks everyone. Keep those cards and letters coming!

New Blog Features - "Peekaboo posts" and MyBlogLog

We are adding a couple of new features to the blog this week.

In the sidebar there is a widget called "Recent Readers".
It connects to "MyBlogLog.com", a place where bloggers can check out each other's blogs. If you have a blog I reccomend it. If You don't, check it out anyway, you will probably find something interesting.

The most useful feature, however, is the expand/contact post feature called "peekaboo"
Click on "Read More..." to see how it works.

Clever, eh?
I wish I could take credit for figuring it out, but I merely stole borrowed the code from someone who must have way more time on his hands than I.

The intent here is to make the long posts take up less room on a screen so you can scroll and see more posts rather than a long text entry on a topic you don't care about. (I know - they are ALL fascinating. But some more than others.) Anyway just click on the "Summary Only..." to fold everything back up. Ta-Daaah.

Let us know what you think.

Did You Miss Us?

S & P Felled by Robot Blogger Blocker
We're back! Sorry if you checked in the last couple of days, but our service provider (?) blocked us until we could prove we were not just spam out there. It was a robot thingy! Not sure how you communicate with a robot.

Do not adjust your set...

(UPDATE:
OK folks, I believe we have almost all of the bits and pieces sorted out. We now resume normal operations. Do be careful in the corners, though. There may still be a few wet spots.
Thank you for your patience. - WordJunky)

Over the next few days the crack staff at "Team S&P" will be updating the template for the S&P blog to align with the "New Blogger" standards. "What is a template?" - I hear you ask... Well, Grasshopper, the template is the underlying framework on which all the blog posts are built. It is where the colors and styles and all the little extras are stored so that the pages all look, feel, and work the same way.

The new model for Blogger has incorporated a template model which is supposed to be very easy to maintain and update. The folks at Blogger have done much of the work already, but they warn that the one sure thing is that ALL modifications to their standard templates will have to be redone.

Since the beginning we have been messing with the template - practically every thing in the sidebar is begged, borrowed, or stolen from someone who really knows what they are doing - so there is a bit of work ahead to update all of that.

You may see some ,er , interesting variations show up over the weekend as we fumble around apply the needed changes and rework. Rest assured we will get everything back eventually. If the folks at Blogger can be believed the template will be much easier to maintain and have even more capabilities down the road.