iVocalize Version 5

Version 5 of iVocalize is now available.

This version improves:

-Windows Vista support
-Mac OS X support
-PowerPoint and Internet Explorer 7 compatibility
-Connection reliability
-Overall operation and stability

I encourage you to confirm that your systems satisfy the minimum requirements of version 5 by visiting: http://www.ivocalize.com/version5/test/ .

You can log into the room using version 5 by visiting: ttp://banjolounge.ivocalize.net/login5.asp

Version 4 is still available at the normal login page: http://banjolounge.ivocalize.net/

On June 11, support for version 4 will end, and the login page will use version 5 by default. Please verify your system requirements (http://www.ivocalize.com/version5/test/) and login to your room using version 5 well in advance of this date.

Experience the many benefits of version 5 by logging in today!

First Annual Banjo Lounge Fund Drive

We've been here almost a year, and we've done it with your support. I'd like to thank everyone that contributed their time and money to making the Banjo Lounge the most exciting place on the internet for banjo players!

We still need your help, so it's time to drag out the KFC Buckets and take up a "Love Offering" for the Banjo Lounge. :)

I've set a goal of $1800 for this drive. That may sound like a lot to some of you, and to others it might just be a drop in the bucket, but for the Banjo Lounge that means we keep the doors open for a year!

Our overhead is roughly $150 a month. We're growing! I seen new people almost everyday, and I'm excited about what we can do in another year's time! I hope you are too.

I know that we have a lot of generous members that want to see the Banjo Lounge grow and prosper, but the Lounge needs your support. Support, yes, that's money - cash - greenbacks. I know I can count on you to help.

So, don't wait. Click the "Make a Donation" button right now.

You can also mail in your donation if you prefer. Just send it to:

Banjo Lounge
c/o Jim Pankey
501 South 5th Avenue
Chatsworth, Georgia 30705

Thanks in advance for your support!

-=Jim

Puddin' n' Tain...

...ask me again, I'll tell you the same.

For over a year now we've held to the policy of using real names here instead of handles or nicknames, and it seems to have served us pretty well. There's certainly less trouble than a lot of places where anonymity is the standard. I'm also not so foolish as to think that someone could just sign up and say his name was John Smith. I'm also not totally ignorant to the security of being anonymous. I do, however, have to maintain some level of sanity for the chat, and the real name policy has served us pretty well. Heck, most of us were calling each other by our real names anyway...

Here's where the dilemma begins. On the login page it clearly states: Please use a real name instead of a handle. We feel like it adds to the experience if we're not dealing with anonymous chatters. However, since turning on the registration feature there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I've not had to email a new user asking them to use their real name, or catch them in the chat and have them re-register using their name. It's a daily thing folks.

I've tried to be fairly lenient regarding nick names, and cute spellings, or abbreviations of names as long as I feel like the person isn't here just to cause trouble. So what?

Well, if you are a user that has complied willingly with the policy, and you use your real name, or at least something so doggone close we all still know who you are, how do you feel when others just don't want to do the same?

I know some of you don't care, but I know some of you would feel hurt - especially if you were asked to change from your clever handle to your real name and had done that. I'm just trying to figure out the right thing to do.

Let's face it, we don't have any other written down, hard fast rules... I never wanted any. The name policy/rule came about when we were using space that was donated to us from another party and that was his rule. When we declared independence we just kept that rule; it seemed like a good idea.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments? Concerns? Find me in the chat, we'll talk!

-=Jim