NORDELPH COMMUNITY WEBSITE -- DECEMBER 2006
QUICK TOUR Repeated use of the buttons to the right will take you through either a representative selection of pages from this website, or just those that are new since our previous update. Contact us on:
info@nordelph.org
A suitably seasonal image to introduce our 'depths of midwinter' update. These are the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis -- in this case over Finnish Lapland, and seen from a plane. Our purpose in including them is not simply to add a sense of the exotic, but to alert you to the fact that this phenomenon can be seen much more often than you might expect from the latitude of Nordelph. On our Northern Lights page you can discover how to get the information you need to know when to watch the skies. In future, this is another article that you can access through our Features entry in the index.
Road Safety in Nordelph
In our November update, we mentioned that we had requested more detailed information about the Speed
Awareness Message (SAM) system that monitored traffic through the village on the Downham-Wisbech road earlier in the year. The data was promptly and courteously provided, and we have provided an analysis of the results for your information. You'll discover why the report of a vehicle passing through the village at a steady 76 mph is probably not to be trusted!
But there has also been another accident, involving a lorry.
This time, we happened to have a reporter on hand, and you can read a report of the incident that we've added tp our coverage of road safety in the village.
Contacting the police
NEW ITEMS also reported frustration in the village over the 'non-emergency' telephone number for reports to the police -- a service that seemed to mirror all that was worst in call-centre experiences, including being reminded that 'your call is important to us'.
The Parish Council wrote to the Police Authority on November 13th and received a reply 11 days later. The reply enclosed a 'crib-sheet' of facts about the call-centre procedure and performance.
This latter document raises almost as many concerns as the orginal issue -- as you will see, the Police monitor the performance of the call centre on how rapidly they answer the phone -- as the original complaints referred to what happens after that, this seems to be a major case of missing the point. However, make up your own mind!
As a delightful postscript to this whole sorry affair, our Parish Clerk subsequently received an invitation to go and see the call centre in operation. If he accepts this, be sure that we'll report back!
Please note that as the documents linked to above are all PDF files, which are treated in different ways by different browsers, they are not included in the 'New Items' chain -- to view these, you will need to click on the links above and close the new window that opens to return to the Nordelph website to view the next document.
Internet browsing
It sometimes seems as if the pressure on the website to respond to contemporary issues means that we're neglecting our commitment to develop the 'Nordelph Future' section of the site as a guide to the use of modern technology. We've tried to rectify that this month, with two new contributions that may help to enhance your knowledge of the technology you're using right now. Under the heading of The Internet you can read about the original design of the Net, the strengths and weaknesses it has, and what else can be done with it, besides e-mails and web browsing. Another page on Addresses on the Internet may help you decode the things you need to type to get where you're going!
Managing the Nordelph website
We've tried very hard to adhere to some principles in running this website. Two of these -- that we should update every month, and that we should make the pages as accessible as possible -- are currently under threat.
Our web counter provides statistics on the technical characteristics of visitors to the site, in particular their screen size. Because a significant number do still use lower resolution monitors, sometimes as low as 800x600 (pixels), we have always felt that we couldn't capitalise on those who have access to much better display technology. We're designing now for a screen size of 1024x768 -- far from being the best currently available, but common enough to disadvantage as few visitors as possible. Recently, we were able to see the site displayed on a widescreen monitor and were horrified -- the website is crammed into the left-hand half of a largely empty page!
We think we ought to do something! In future then, as a small contribution to making the website look as if it belongs to the 21st century, we'll be sticking more material such as the buttons and the comment about finding the correct page into what is presently the empty margin. It's not much of a change, we admit, but it's something.
And before our more technically-literate correspondents rush to print to point out that web pages can be designed so that the text flows to the limits of whatever screen is in use, yes we do know that. However, we try to add an element of design to our pages, and in doing that we use techniques that prevent this 'simple' approach - not least because letting your viewer's browser decide how the page is laid out is giving up any attempt at adding your own design.
The other issue is the pressure of a monthly update. The site is over two years old now, and the initial pressure to add readable features every month to get visitors coming back has lessened somewhat. Of course we shall still update the regular information features -- church services, parish meetings, news about the community -- and will continue to advertise anything that you wish us to that is of concern to the village. And we still intend to add varied and interesting content as often as we can.
We do recognise that this isn't a one-man operation: we probably don't acknowledge often enough how much this website depends on those of you who contribute articles, photographs, news -- and complaints! Thanks to you all, and please keep them coming! But this is all a preamble to the announcement that we're taking January off! The fortunate coincidence that the church services are in place for two months has tempted us to postpone the next update until February 2007.
In this way, we hope that we can enjoy what we wish for all of you -- a very happy Christmas and a New Year that is as you would wish it to be!