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IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:58 am
by QuadraCrack
All the mods on the IFSJA site keep saying that its going to eventually implode and that its a miracle it's still running. Is there going to be an effort to move the tech library (and maybe more) over to this site? I'm assuming this site is built on a newer, more reliable platform?

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:31 pm
by 86gwrhino
i think that would be a great idea, as long as the authors are ok with it im assuming.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:35 pm
by Stuka
I have thought about the same thing.

As far as the tech library on the main IFSJA site, that would be easy to transpose. But it would require direct permission from the content owners.

As far as the whole tech library that is in the IFSJA forum itself, that is a much more difficult question to answer. As it is, it is not directly compatible with the forum software that I run here. It is possible to convert the data over, although it could be a good deal of work doing so. But this is almost besides the point. The chance of getting a hold of that data in its raw form is extremely small.

Its would be a monumental loss if that data was to go away. But I do not feel I am in a position to acquire it. This mostly being due to the current owners not wanting to part with it.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:07 am
by QuadraCrack
Do you really need permission, since it is all posted on a public forum? I don't think you need a login to access it. It sure would be a shame to lose it all if that site crashes.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:25 am
by lindel
It gets into a whole "intellectual property" thing. Most of the people that have submitted articles/write ups won't have an issue, but there is always that possiblility.

Brandon, if you'd like, I'll take it up with Tad and get his opinion. If he has no issues with it, then we can go from there. We also have the possibility of converting articles to pdf files and making them available that way. Tom Collins might be up for it, I don't know. I could also make inquiries there as well.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 11:36 am
by QuadraCrack
I'd be willing to help however I can. I have the full version of Adobe and can create .pdf's

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:03 pm
by Stuka
lindel wrote:It gets into a whole "intellectual property" thing. Most of the people that have submitted articles/write ups won't have an issue, but there is always that possiblility.

Brandon, if you'd like, I'll take it up with Tad and get his opinion. If he has no issues with it, then we can go from there. We also have the possibility of converting articles to pdf files and making them available that way. Tom Collins might be up for it, I don't know. I could also make inquiries there as well.
Its certainly worth a shot. Even if IFSJA never goes away, it never hurts to have things backed up.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:02 am
by Tad
What can I do to help?

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:43 am
by lindel
Mainly what I was thinking of would be to copy and paste the articles to word documents, or converting them to pdfs. I should be able to do it all from home, and then post them up to my mediafire account (along with placing them in a few other strategic places) so that others have access and we don't lose that info into the ether.

I was mainly concerned about any legal ramifications and wanted to bounce it off of you before doing anything. I don't think anything has been posted to the tech archives for a while now, and I'd really hate to lose any/all of that info!

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 11:59 am
by Tad
Lindel,
I know that nothing has been done to any of the main .org pages since at least 2009. Some of those articles are still viewable, others have disappeared either partially or completely.
Stuff from the forum can be saved directly to .pdf although multi-page threads get a bit tedious and bulky. I started saving some items a few years back but those were mainly things I was interested in and not any real attempt at archiving.

My personal opinion is that since we are attempting to preserve many of the tech items that are relevant, that there would be very limited legal liability as long as credit to the author(s) was cited. They could be removed if there were objections.

That's just an opinion on my part though. I have no real legal experience in this area.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:57 pm
by lindel
I think that most of the articles in the tech library (accessable from the home page) have the author's name and I'm including that. I don't plan to take any credit for anything aside from what I've written on my own.

I'll go ahead and start the process, and I'm sure you've seen the note I posted in the mod lounge. If anyone objects or doesn't want their "property" copied/saved, then I'll delete it with no question.















Except Incommando's stuff, I'm still looking for some "intelligence" that he posted... ;)

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:18 pm
by Tad
Works for me.
I have 2 weeks of starting Tuesday (besides an engine swap).
I need to find a new hosting service but have some good suggestions from Stuka and some other good folks that care.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:11 pm
by Stuka
The main site here is configured to easily add documents. If you go to it and hit tech library. And its fairly easy to reconfigure if need be.

So if we want to put things up there, its easy. I can even set it up so others (whom are trusted) can add stuff.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:30 am
by lindel
Thanks Brandon. I think I'll take you up on it. Info will still be available and easy to get to in this case.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 7:38 am
by fulsizjeep
Not a bad idea fellas. The tech stuff may be handy to have archived when the end comes. IFSJA and QuadraTrac chains by Morse may be taking the same path. I used to care but change is inevitable and I am just dust in the wind.

Let my contribution be QuadraTrac tech. I get 5-6 emails a month from the site, mostly CJ owners. Many of them don't realize there are spare parts still laying around out there in FSJs. Those days are numbered also...

http://jubileejeeps.org/quadratrac

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:30 am
by srobertsfsj
Hey Guys, I know that hardware and hosting is probably not the issue, sounds like its more permissions/migration problems. Anyway I do work for a large Hosting company and I can stand up a permanent server pretty quickly if needed. Either Linux or Windows with whatever support apps you need.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:46 am
by Tad
srobertsfsj wrote:Hey Guys, I know that hardware and hosting is probably not the issue, sounds like its more permissions/migration problems. Anyway I do work for a large Hosting company and I can stand up a permanent server pretty quickly if needed. Either Linux or Windows with whatever support apps you need.
Welcome Scott, glad you came on over.

Note:
I have everything from the IFSJA main page that is not linked to another (working) site saved into .pdf .html and .webarchive formats. Along with any images or graphics that were readable.
Not sure what my plan for it is yet but it's not going to get lost at least.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:04 pm
by srobertsfsj
No worries, whatever I can do to help!

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:31 pm
by Stuka
Tad wrote:
srobertsfsj wrote:Hey Guys, I know that hardware and hosting is probably not the issue, sounds like its more permissions/migration problems. Anyway I do work for a large Hosting company and I can stand up a permanent server pretty quickly if needed. Either Linux or Windows with whatever support apps you need.
Welcome Scott, glad you came on over.

Note:
I have everything from the IFSJA main page that is not linked to another (working) site saved into .pdf .html and .webarchive formats. Along with any images or graphics that were readable.
Not sure what my plan for it is yet but it's not going to get lost at least.
Would you be aposed to be placing them on the main page in the tech archives? Its pretty simple to do using the CMS.

Re: IFSJA Tech Library

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:48 am
by Tad
Stuka wrote:Would you be aposed to be placing them on the main page in the tech archives? Its pretty simple to do using the CMS.
I'm not opposed to that idea at all, but...
I want to be perfectly clear that my main goal in saving what was left was preservation. With no maintenance being done to the main page, myself and others felt it was important that we not stand by and watch the loss continue. Something had to be done and saving them was within the scope of my ability.

With that being done I want to attempt to contact the original authors for permission to reuse them. Many of the authors are still around and active (Tom Collins, Ken Wetherall, Joe Schaefer, Micheal Shimniok, Ehtan Brady, Lindel, etc.) but a good portion of the authors I have not seen or heard from in years. I think Lindel is still active on the Yahoo list so he may have seen or read something from some of the others.

Let's let that play out and see what the response actually is. From there most of the documents will need some cleaning, formatting and possibly some updates. We may even be able to replace some of the images that were lost.
It's not that big of a collection since they were all saved in triplicate: 108 MB for 3, 924 files.

I should have done this back in 2008/2009.