Making the Deadline

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by

So said Douglas Adams. He was right of course, and in the case of New England Online, it has proved to be correct as well. The target of getting 3.2 up by Easter was a long shot, and in the end, I am nowhere near having it complete, and the deadline is two months gone.

So, as it stands, I am aiming to have it up by June 2009. Yes, this time, I’m going to get it right and not fluff around with half-arsed pages and poorly written text. What you’ll see in June ’09 is a complete site, with no rubbish and no half written pages. I owe to anyone you reads the site, as well as myself to finally get it right.

A Radical Realignment

About two weeks ago, I decided to completely overhaul the story of New England Online. I believe that they mark the most significant changes to the site since it was first published in 2004. Therefore, I have decided to wipe the slate and freeze version 3.1 of the site. Things will now start at new version, 3.2.

• Increase the population from 2.4 million to 3.3 million. New England will now have about the same area and population as Lithuania.
• A redistribution of the population, with Port Macquarie and CoffsHarbour becoming the largest cities, and Greater Armidale, including Uralla and Guyra, reduced to about 350,000 people
• Introduction of an upper house of parliament, the Senate. This new chamber will have 40 members.
• The House of Assembly is reduced to 76 members.
• The Witan is now moved to a more suitable location as a constitutional convention only.
• Changes to the electoral system, with IRV used for the House, and STV for the Senate. This is essentially the same system used in Australia at the moment.
• Introduction of a new local authority, the City of Port Macquarie.

I believe these changes are pretty significant, and they have to be done now before the site becomes more popular and therefore will need to settle on a consistent storyline. In a perfect world, I want this penchant for radical change finished in time for the production of version 4.0, although even I admit that version is still a fair way off.

That is not the case with version 3.2. I’m now embarking on a mission to have it done by Easter (23rd March). As for version 3.1, it will be frozen, copied and archived. If version 3.2 fails to work out, or if there is some use for it in the future, it will be here just like version 3.0.6 is when I replaced it last year.