CAP ITO Forum

[bitflipper]

As I recall, when I joined CAP in March, 2009, there was an online forum for ITOs. The URL I had for it (http://cap-it.us/) seems to be down whenever I try to access it. Google's has a cache of it from 27 June and there's a post from 1 June with the subject "Forums are now back up".

Does anyone know what is happening with it?

Are there any equivalent formal CAP IT, ITO, or web forums dedicated to CAP ITO and web issues?

[Eclipse]

Nothing else equivalent, and there was very little going on there.

[SarDragon]

It was poorly maintained, and got so hacked and spamulated that it was taken off-line. There's a discussion on here or CadetStuff about its demise.

Well, I just checked the link, and it worked fine, so the site must be up again. I didn't go very far at looking at new posts.

[bitflipper]

Eclipse - Ok. Thank you. I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something even with an arsenal of search engines and CAP pamphlets at my disposal.

Hopefully little was occurring there because everyone was too busy writing applications to coordinate CAP data, organize squadron information, enhance mission capabilities, and promote CAP to the public. Ack! I swallowed another manual.

I appreciate the reply. I'll get back to work on a Coldfusion assignment for the local squadron.

SarDragon - I'm sorry for whoever got the headache of cleaning up the mess and patching the walls. Thank you for trying the link.

I have no doubt that, if a forum is ever needed, the ITOs will assemble one in very short order.

[meganite]

Sorry to resurrect an old topic, but I'm trying to work on my ITO training and CAPP-227 mentions the apparently non-functional IT forum. Looking for that forum is actually how I found CAPTalk so... at least I found something I'm assuming for now that CAPTalk is a working replacement for the old IT forum.

The only other post about this topic that I found was this one: http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=10195.msg186002#msg186002 (it actually has more information but is not really in the correct location on this forum. A bit Ironic that the IT forum was the one to fail?)

I'm also trying to find as much as I can online about how to be a good ITO since my squadron doesn't have one currently. If anyone has any extra information about ITO duties and responsibilities or just good ideas and practices, I'd appreciate it! I am guessing I'm mostly just going to build my squadron's website, since I know HTML/CSS. Is there any other technology beyond that that I should know about, or is it just squadron-specific stuff? (Well I'll start on my Technician rating and see where I get from there.)

[arajca]

The CAP ITO forum was being maintained by a couple of members, not National. I don't know what happened to them, but they may have gotten burned out by a lack of support for National and let the forum go.

[Pylon]

Given the activity level on the old CAP-IT forum, most CAP IT people would probably get more active topics, more ideas, and contact with more colleagues in the IT specialty track by posting here on CAPTalk. 


Maybe we can get NHQ to substitute CAPTalk for the old defunct forums in the next revision of their specialty track guide.   

[Spaceman3750]

Maybe we can get NHQ to substitute CAPTalk for the old defunct forums in the next revision of their specialty track guide.   

Based on how often they revise other specialty tracks (take the ES Officer track for example), I claim that CapTalk will have tumbleweed and mothballs by the time they get around to including CapTalk in the track guide (and even with the tumbleweed and mothballs they would require it anyways).

[JC004]

It took me forever to get an account because it took forever for wing Personnel to put my IT position into e-services.  There were a number of us missing our wing assignments in e-services like the wing DOK who had been in that position for many years and had simply never been entered there.  I don't think any of us really cared unless we needed it for restricted applications in e-services.  By the time it did get entered (with the wrong title since e-services didn't offer the correct one) and I was able to get an account on the forum, it was basically dead. 

It was, as Pylon mentions kind of a two-man shop.  They didn't even have the ability to view members' duty positions in order to verify that you were an ITO and give you account.  You had to send them a screenshot.

[meganite]

What exactly was the purpose of the IT forum? I'm guessing they had to verify you were an ITO because of some INFOSEC reasons? I mean, if it were just about discussing methods/technologies, here's as good a place as any, right?

[JC004]

Its purpose was to have a forum dedicated to CAP IT.  There was also a whole site around it which died before the forum.  The need to verify ITO status was questionable.  The content was publicly accessible.  I'm sure that there were many members who weren't currently assigned to ITO positions who would have been able to contribute a lot.  I know a few people who had trouble getting accounts for lack of ITO status or lack of it being in E-Services.  In a couple cases I contacted commanders who didn't really use E-Services and asked them if I could enter such-and-such a member's ITO position so that they could get accounts.  This requirement probably contributed to its death.  The other factors would be its specific focus and the difficulty CAP forums/sites have had surviving anyway.

[Eclipse]

The total audience nation-wide with their guidelines would have been less than 1400 people, and less than a hundred at the wing level.

[JC004]

It had forum death potential written all over it.  It's a shame.  I had a bunch of ideas that I wanted to put on there and a bunch of stuff that I wanted to share/develop, but by the time I got in, it was dead dead dead.  I thought that it would have been good because I had a hard time finding people who had the right skill sets to work on some of the GIS, ops, unit web site, and other projects that I was interested in but couldn't possibly have done by myself.  I tried finding people in the wing but most everyone I found didn't have the right skill sets for what I was trying to do.    

I found a bunch of people who were network folks but couldn't find like...anyone for programming, GIS, web, etc.  That and wing had an issue with working with other wings on joint projects.  One reason was because apparently it made us look inept and unable to do our own stuff.     Recently, I've been putting various old materials that I was working on into Google Docs to start making them into something useful and put them out on CAPTalk.  I've also been recruiting some people to help update the stuff and get it into some form that makes sense.  Hopefully once I get them all compiled, something useful will come of what I originally wanted to do.  Fingers crossed.  I'm starting with ES but IT is number 2 on the list and there is some cross-over anyway.

[Pylon]

And as Colgan aptly mentions, why artificially limit yourself to those currently assigned to CAP ITO positions?  Surely there might be others capable of contributing positively to CAP IT-related discussions, including those who have previously served in those billets or people who have significant IT industry experience but choose to contribute to CAP in other ways.


In any case, my vote is ITOs post their threads and participate here, and if your approving commander asks for proof of participating in the forums show them a screenshot of your CAPTalk IT threads.   

[meganite]

In any case, my vote is ITOs post their threads and participate here, and if your approving commander asks for proof of participating in the forums show them a screenshot of your CAPTalk IT threads.   

MUWHAHA exactly what I was thinking 

Also, lolwut:

One reason was because apparently it made us look inept and unable to do our own stuff.   

... um... collaboration = ineptitude? in IT? ... 

Go ahead and post your cool ideas, I'll see how I can contribute
I'm not officially an ITO yet... but... working on it!

[JC004]

...
Also, lolwut:

One reason was because apparently it made us look inept and unable to do our own stuff.   

... um... collaboration = ineptitude? in IT? ... 

Go ahead and post your cool ideas, I'll see how I can contribute
I'm not officially an ITO yet... but... working on it!

Apparently, yes.  Also, innovation is prohibited.  IT contains too much efficiency and innovation so it is the enemy.

I've got stuff all over - several external HDDs, flash drives, and paper stuff that has to be re-typed thanks to a data loss.  I failed to make a copy of what I was transferring from an old computer to a new one due to lack of a device with enough space.  Much of the data became corrupt.  Now I have to deal with paper.  I've developed a better backup and transfer methodology since.  I've got some of my ES stuff up and ready to be worked on but I've been having Google Docs conversion issues so once I figure that out, I'll get the rest in, get the paper stuff electronic again and start publishing things.  Some IT will be part of that.  The rest of the IT stuff is in Phase 2.  I haven't even started sorting and compiling that set of documents yet.  Phase 3 will probably be Public Affairs but that could take a couple months because the stuff that I developed over the years amounted to hundreds of pages, much of it now in binders (and only in binders).  They have corrections in red ink all over them and that stuff has to be put into the materials.  I have a 52-page Public Affairs course outline in my hand that has red ALL over it with "add this," "move that." Some of the drafts were done by someone who is now dead so I have to try to pick up where he left off.  The Public Affairs stuff is being put back into its original mission which was to be part of these non-profit management courses that I teach.  Later they'll probably be adapted back for CAP.  Phase 4 will probably be Cadet Programs.  It will probably take me a good bit of time to get through most of this.

[JeffDG]

You know, it's still there and running.  All it needs is some activity to make it functional.

[meganite]

Is it now? I get a "Server not found" error. Maybe I'm trying the wrong url? www.cap-it.us

[JeffDG]

Is it now? I get a "Server not found" error. Maybe I'm trying the wrong url? www.cap-it.us

That's what I just used to get there...I was redirected to http://civil-air-patrol.us/capit/smf/

[meganite]

I get a "server not found" error for that one too