Some good news this week: the main XPS engine is finally done! All that remains to be done is beta testing and working all the bugs out. Which means I will probably be floating about IRC asking for people to help me try to break anything they possibly can! :P For those of you who still don't know what XPS is: XPS, or eXtensible Polling System is a brand new way of collecting data in the EH. Not only does it support simple, one-question polls, but you can also build more complex polls including multi-question polls, questions with non-multiple choice answers (i.e. text or numeric answers), and you can even structure polls so that they progress the way you like by building "question sequences" - which basically allow you to redirect a person to different questions based on their particular answer. The XPS Help Manual will be available on the site, and I *HIGHLY* recommend you read it first before doing anything more than a simple Standard Poll - there are many fine details about the system you need to be aware of when creating polls and questions in the Help Manual. Plus, it's pretty short and to-the-point! Another feature of XPS will be the ability to create custom stylesheets which allow you to pick the colors, fonts and sizes used in your poll. There are plenty more features available in XPS, as well as some suggested usages in the XPS Help Manual, which will be available when the site is released. XPS will be released sometime this week, assuming all goes well with beta testing.

And even more good news: The new MBs are running nicely, and though we've had some recent spam epidemics, they seem to be under control now. MAJ Slagar has expanded the avatar gallery to unprecedented breadth, with an enormous array of options to choose from. AD Turtle has been hard at work in cementing the integration of the MBs with the EHNet Login System. You might notice certain MB users do not have their ELS name displayed, but something else (i.e. "Turtle Jerrar" or "Ari") - that is because the new ELS "Display Name" feature is nearly complete. Soon, you'll be able to log on to http://els.minos.net and indicate how you want your name displayed on the message boards (and eventually, other ELS-enabled sites). Watch ehnet.org for details! Also, the old MB data will be up very soon, though most likely it will be a locked archive due to difficulties in converting between the user databases. Turtle adds that everybody who uses the message boards should read his posts regarding board creation (http://www.ehnet.org/mb/viewtopic.php?t=3), and SPAM (http://www.ehnet.org/mb/viewtopic.php?t=393).

AD Turtle will be launching a new server featuring dual processors, RAID, and redundant power supplies as we head into the new year to replace the current MinosNIC server. Shortly thereafter, he will launch MinosNIC Enhanced service. Watch the EH MBs for more information about this subject in the coming days.

Congrats to VA Alex Foley on his IS-SR for SOTW this week! Remember folks: ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT FOR SOTW BONANZA! So make sure to nominate your site (or your friend's) at http://www.ehnet.org/sotw.php?a=suggest