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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke – B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Jim Rowe – B.A., B.Sc. Bao Smith – B.Sc. Tim Blythman – B.E., B.Sc. Nicolas Hannekum – Dip.Elec.Tech. Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Allan Linton-Smith Dave Thompson David Maddison – B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Dr Hugo Holden – B.H.B, MB.ChB., FRANZCO Ian Batty – M.Ed. Phil Prosser – B.Sc., B.E.(Elec.) Cartoonist Louis Decrevel loueee.com Former Cartoonist Brendan Akhurst Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson – B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (Australia only) 6 issues (6 months): $65 12 issues (1 year): $120 24 issues (2 years): $230 Online subscription (Worldwide) 6 issues (6 months): $50 12 issues (1 year): $95 For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au Recommended & maximum price only. Editorial office: Unit 1 (up ramp), 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone: (02) 9939 3295. ISSN: 1030-2662 Printing and Distribution: Editorial Viewpoint Shutting down our old website From around 2000 to 2012, our website was run by a third party and not under our direct control. When I started working at Silicon Chip, it was apparent that we needed to build our own website for various reasons. For example, our subscription system was completely separate from the website, so there was no good way for people to renew their subscriptions online (or change their address etc). There were a lot of other reasons to take control, such as being able to sell items like PCBs from the website, which is now a critical service that we provide, along with other parts. It would also give us better control over how our articles were presented online. It just made so much more sense to handle it ourselves. When we set up the new website, we had to decide what to do about people who had paid for access to articles or magazine issues through the old one. We realised that we had to provide continuity, so everyone who had access to a magazine through the old method was given perpetual access to the same issue on the new website. We also kept the old website going as-is to provide the best transition possible for our readers, allowing them to decide when they wanted to switch over. But as time goes on, there seems to be less point in keeping that old website (http://archive.siliconchip.com.au) going. By early 2020, we finished adding all the back issues on our current website, back to the very first issue (November 1987). That’s all the content that was on our old website, and much more. Our main website – www.siliconchip.com.au (or www.siliconchip.au if you prefer a slightly shorter URL), does everything the old site did and so much more. So I think the time is approaching to shut the archive server down. With PDFs now being available for the latest issues to subscribers, and even older issues for those who’ve purchased the PDFs on USB collection (or paid for separate back issues), there is even less reason to keep the archive site up. The presentation of articles in our PDFs is so much better than on the archive website, where the articles were converted to HTML format and diagrams were rasterised, often making them blurry or pixelated. So I am writing this to give anyone who objects to that an opportunity to contact us and explain why they think we should keep the archive server up. As the saying goes, “speak now or forever hold your peace”. If you’re wondering why I want to shut it down, part of the reason is that we didn’t develop any of the code, and it is now on a very old platform that sees few updates. I’m concerned about the security implications of keeping such old software running. It is isolated from the rest of our infrastructure, but a breach could still reveal some customer information such as names and e-mail addresses. There are also costs associated with keeping it going, including some of our time and hosting expenses that I would rather spend on our current website and producing new content. I hope that, by now, all our readers have switched over to using the new website. If not, please give it a go as we believe it is a significant improvement over the old one. Unless we are given good reasons to keep it going, we plan to shut the archive site down by the end of July 2022. by Nicholas Vinen 24-26 Lilian Fowler Pl, Marrickville 2204 2 Silicon Chip Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au