Per recent discussion, the news section has finally had some subtle but important changes!

All members of the cabinet can now post news items, which they can categorize into the appropriate section (by department). All news items will get listed in the "Latest news" block on the left side of the screen.

Then, the Internet Department can take selected news items of special importance and promote those to the front page, giving them extra prominence.

You can also subscribe via RSS to the front page feed or to the news channel for each section. Cool!

Tim Martin and Ed Brough have withdrawn from the election, leaving only one ticket standing. Andrew Robinson and Brian Olinski have therefore been declared the victors in the election, and will take over the Executive Washroom as 30th elected President and Vice President on 2 August 2008.

See the Election Ship for the full story.

With the latest upgrade, there is an important change to the way Ship membership works. You must now actively "subscribe" to a ship before you can post on it. To do so, click the "Subscribe" link right above the Roster on any ship. You must then confirm your subscription.

To remove yourself from a ship, click "Manage subscription" (in the same place) and select unsubscribe. You can also optionally ask the system to send you an email every time a new Post is made on the ship if you wish.

There are a couple of new features this change enables, but COs have a little work to do first. :-)

The Academy is planning on building up a database of people who are interested in various positions should they become vacant in the future. At this stage of the game, we are not concerned if you do not meet the requirements to hold the position; you may meet those requirements when the position(s) open up. What we would like is for you to email us (at academy@star-fleet.com) if you would like your names put down on the database for future reference, letting us know which positions you would be interested in.

The Awards Ceremony has been held. Phillip Stonness and Gene Gibbs tied for best STFer. Congratulations to Phill and Gene and all the other winners at the awards. Thanks also to the presenters and entertainers, and everyone who attended, nominated and voted. Please visit http://www.star-fleet.com/webb/node/55262 for the raw list of Award winners