Home Page changes

[Sandy]

What a lovely seasonal page. (I love the pic with the hood) Was it our Gerald again? It must be one of the best refreshed fan sites on the web.
We are so lucky to have such a dedicated bunch of folks keeping the site fresh and entertaining.

[rbl.ca]

Well done, Gerald.
I also love the photo of Ruby in red, and have saved it to my folder of Ruby things.

It's nice to see something new on the site after two weeks of inactivity.

Merry Christmas.

[Gerald Lawrence]

Thank you for the nice words, Sandy and Ralph. I have been planning this change for a couple of months, and implementing it for the last three weeks. All was ready a week ago, but I wanted to wait until a bit nearer Christmas before making the changes. That involved me sending something like 20 new files to Timmer's server in America! Nerve racking, to say the least.

Just in case you get any warning messages about these files, I can confirm that every one has been scanned for viruses with the very latest virus checker, so I can reassure you that although the Home Page is quite dynamic, it will not harm your computer.

[Bernie Burgess]

Hello Friends,

I knew that Gerald had been planning and working very hard to produce a brand new home page, but never dreamt that it would be so completely different and so suitably festive. It certainly brought tears to my eyes as I explored every part of this brilliant piece of work. Once again, congratulations Gerald on a magnificent job.

So many of you fans/friends have remarked that Ruby's recording of'The Very First Christmas of All' should have had much more exposure and I feel sure that if it had it would have been in the charts. I will certainly pester the local radios stations here on the Costa Blanca to give the record airtime through December but that is insignificent as compared to the major radio stations back in England. I would like to think that requests will be sent in numbers in an attempt to get some of the major stations to play what is a wonderful Christmas record.

I do hope that members will heap praise on to Gerald, he deserves to get your appreciation for his unceasing efforts on the website.

Adios Amigos. Bernie.

[spudmurph]

Congratulations to Gerald on the new homepage. It is very fitting especially coming up to the 10th anniversary of Ruby's passing.
Kathleen

[Graham Bunn]

Gerald once again you have provided us all with something wonderful.

How nice to see the home page looking so festive.......The picture of Ruby in red is a new one to me and she looks really lovely.

Thanks for your hard work Gerald and it really is worth it,I think it is the best Christmas Card a lot of us will get this year.

Take Care
Graham

[MARTIN FOSTER]

Hi guys and gals,

What a stunning surprise to see the new changes to the home page. Well done to Gerald on some great graphics. I especially like the Christmas cottage scene and the falling snowflakes behind Ruby, a very nice seasonal touch. Good job she has that hood on or her lovely hair would be ruined by now!!! However, my favourite part has to be the picture of Ruby dressed in red. I don't think I have ever seen that one before so another treat. Thanks again Gerald!!!

I have also just noted on the biography page that Gerald has included a short piece explaining that Madonna has never exceeded Ruby's record of having 5 hit records in the top 20 charts at the same time. I am not sure if that is a new entry or not but it is great that it is there so that all visitors to our website can marvel at Ruby's remarkable achievement.

Martin.

[Gerald Lawrence]

I am pleased everyone seems to like my new Christmas Home Page. The photograph of Ruby in the red sweater has generated some comment, so I have placed a copy of the original picture in the Library, under Miscellaneous Images.

You will see that it is taken from the front cover of a Magazine, which appeared in December 1963. It is just possible to make out that Ruby was advertising a knitting pattern. A copy of the cover, just as you see it in the Library, was very kindly sent to me by another great fan of Ruby's, called Elma Hourston, who lives in the Orkney Islands. She tells me that every copy of that magazine contained a free gift of the chain and cross which Ruby is holding in the picture - and Elma still has that chain.

I showed Bernie the picture on the last occasion he was visiting with me, and he also did not remember it. So I suggested he leave it with me to clean up and put it on the website. That was when my first plans for the Christmas Home Page started to take shape, as this seemed very appropriate for a winter picture. I used some photo editing software to air-brush out the background, which makes it much more suitable for putting on the front page.

I also think Ruby looks really attractive in this picture, and I am so pleased that Elma decided to share it with me, and so now everyone else can see it.

I had some fun getting the snow flakes to fall on the words and build up into drifts, but I felt it also needed a suitable picture of Ruby. What better than the one with the hood! Maybe we will all get a white Christmas this year.

I haven't forgotten that we are also approaching a rather sad time of the year, and that is why I felt it was appropriate to surround the top of the picture with black. As Kathleen has reminded us, it will be exactly 10 years ago that we lost someone who means a great deal to all of us.

[Sandy]

I found the presents on the homepage did you?

[spudmurph]

I am very sorry if I flattened the tone of the messages with the reminder of Ruby's anniversary. Ruby was (and always will be) a very special part of our family and we all miss her terribly, especially my mother. So apologies - it was an error. I think the seasonal front page is absolutely wonderful.

[Bernie Burgess]

Hello 'Spudmurph' - (Kathleen to me)

You have no need to say that you are sorry, we all mention the sad day frequently.

It is always good to see that you are still taking a part in posting messages on the website, your messages are always welcome so carry on doing so Kathleen. Give my love to Marie.

Adios Senora. Bernie.

[spudmurph]

Thanks for those words, Bernie. Mam says hi back.
Kathleen

[Gerald Lawrence]

I found the presents on the homepage did you?

Is anybody not getting the Christmas presents that I left on the tree? Do let me know, and I will look into it.

I have heard that some people (one of them unfortunately is Bernie! ) can't see the picture with the snow which is above the blue box. The reason is that this is what is known as a Java Applet, and your computer must (a) have Java installed, and (b) be enabled for it. If you are one of the unlucky ones, the following instructions will help:

Click on Start/Control Panel/Add Remove Software and see if there is an entry something like J2SE Runtime Environment (the latest version is 5.0 Update 9). If there isn't, then Java software is not installed. In that case, go onto the internet, go to http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp and download and install the free software. Follow all the on-screen instructions, restart your computer and it should then be OK.

If you do have Java installed, then it may be that it is not properly enabled. To check this, go to http://www.javatester.org/enabled.html and read what it says there. If you can see in the top box the word indeed then all should be OK. If not, you need to enable Java, so do the following:

Open Internet Explorer, click on Tools/ Internet Options and select Advanced. Scroll down to Java (Sun), and put a tick in the box which says "Use xxxxx for <applet> (requires restart)". Click OK. Then select the Security tab, highlight "Internet" in the zone window, click on Custom Level and scroll a long way down until you see the words "Scripting of Java applets". Select "Enable" and click on OK. You should also set your Security level for the internet to Medium or Medium High (mine is on the latter and it works OK for me).

Then close everything down, Restart your computer and it should all now work.

[Gerald Lawrence]

I am very sorry if I flattened the tone of the messages with the reminder of Ruby's anniversary. Ruby was (and always will be) a very special part of our family and we all miss her terribly, especially my mother. So apologies - it was an error. I think the seasonal front page is absolutely wonderful.

Hi Kathleen, may I add my support to the comments from Bernie. In no way was it taken as flattening by me, I am just so pleased everybody seems to like my work. I remembered that when the Home Page had its first change (made by Timmer) one or two people back then thought it was a bit dark, but I specifically wanted to use black as a background for the snow, and so chose this colour for all the surround - and now this can be taken as a mark of respect for the 17th.

I am so pleased you continue to look in here and post your comments.

[Don Wearmouth]

I would just like to add my congratulations, Gerald, on the festive website - superb - I cannot imagine how many hours work has gone into that. Only problem - my computer is filling up with snow!

Regards to all,

Don.