Happy almost-Spring readers,
Hopefully this year has treated most of you better than last year. It has been difficult for many, but I am optimistic that things will improve as the days pass. But my post today is to update you on things around the site, the digital media footprint, and plans going forward. Needless to say, I hope this one proves to be more accurate since the last plan definitely didn't survive first contact.
Off-Site Footprint
I have discontinued the Facebook page effective 1 March. It was becoming more of a chore to keep it up, and it wasn’t fair constantly having to have someone else run it who wasn’t fully adept at the subject matter (that’s no fault of hers). Thus, I have effectively stalled/shut down the Facebook page. I’m kicking around ideas of things to replace it, such as a “this month in military history” section of the site, or something similar. Those decisions will come later down the road.
Elsewhere on Twitch, I suspended streams earlier this year due to changes in workload and taking on some extra responsibilities. Then towards the end of February I suspended all streams thru March. That suspension will be allowed to lapse, and we will return to a full stream schedule the first week of April. I am, however, reconsidering how to build the stream schedule going forward. The days that we stream will remain Monday, Friday, and Saturday. Content is what I’m most looking at in modifying – but time will tell on that.
Discord will continue to be a thing, but I am going to be changing how its structured sometime relatively soon. It’s kind of haphazardly thrown together right now, and I feel it could be fleshed out a little bit more, so it is more functional. No other details on that right now.
On-Site Footprint
We are currently in the process of absorbing two websites worth of data, so they don’t permanently go offline. The first belongs to a site built for the 364th Infantry Regiment and it has been offline for some time. We are building it from the ground up with information pulled off of the Wayback Machine. We also have additional information to bring to the table with this project. The second belongs to Sam Berliner III and encompasses Atomic Annie and other ordnance programs. Mr. Berliner sadly passed away in 2020, and my research focus has compelled me to scramble to recover and preserve his research and in-depth analysis of these weapons programs.
Archangel will take a priority this year, with information being dumped from these sub-sites being integral pieces of that puzzle. Archangel will serve as the main repository of that information that is being added and supplied. I have already begun serving primary-sub-site menus on various pages of the site, such as the library and alter pages. We have a lot of data, the problem is taking the time to upload it all and making sure we have the appropriate space for it.
An increase in publications will likely come sometime around mid-year, as well as a resuming of more regular postings. I had started making regular posts late last year, but the break I took forced that into a pause as well. I’ve been aggressively trying to update the galleries in the meantime to compensate for this, as well as a few other pages and tidbits here and there. One of the things I want to focus on too this year is posting text-based versions of the On-Air subject matter. I started doing that earlier this year with my piece on historians and misconceptions. Expect more articles like this.
Lastly, yes, we updated our logo. It makes a bit more sense, don’t you think? I wasn’t a fan of the last one – ever. Ever. That’s the update on this.
It's a Short and Sweet Update
With all that said everyone, COVID restrictions are lifting, the weather is getting warmer, and it is about that time to get back to life. It doesn’t mean that we stop being careful, but it does mean that we can stop hunkering in shelters and living in total and complete isolation. I hope many of you take the opportunity to do this and look at life through a bit of a different lens. It will be interesting to see how history remembers the last two years. I’m optimistic for it.
Until the next update in June, be safe and stay awesome.
The Kid