This site is built using the free open source Drupal and CiviCRM software. These are under constant development, and occasionally we need to install a significant upgrade to keep pace with the latest versions. This is a requirement for maintaining security of the site, and typically also adds many new features and improvements. Today we have committed a (some might say brave!) double upgrade: from Drupal 4.7 to Drupal 5.1, and from CiviCRM 1.5 to CiviCRM 1.7.

**Disney Channel is looking for kids for a new TV show!**

_We received this request, which we are happy to pass along to our community!_

Disney’s new show, “The Really Short Report” will be kids reporting all the latest news and goings-on in “Disney” around the world. We need kids who were born other countries, and now live in the United States. We are looking for kids from, but not limited to, Italy, Australia and Great Britain. Interested kids will be asked to read a script on camera and send in videotapes or video files. When picked, they will be put on a well-compensated contract with Disney Channel and flown in to Los Angeles every time we record a show. The show will air in the United States and around the world on Disney Channel. We are looking for interested kids between ages 8 and 14 that have full legal /visa status to work in the U.S.

Over the last week, biginamerica.net has gone through a significant upgrade of the underlying technical system. From a user perspective, the most obvious change is the visual design of the site, which is now much cleaner and easier on the eye. The anti-spam e-mail protection has changed: e-mail addresses posted on the site are now visible and clickable, yet are also encoded to prevent them from being harvested by automated 'spam bots'. For the time being, the "wysiwyg" text editor has been disabled as it was slow and did not provide reliable formatting. The default text editor now uses the "Textile" mark-up system, which means most text, web-links and e-mail addresses are simply typed as plain text.

What expats miss about home... - There are thousands of Britons in Florida. But what do they miss? [BBC News]

A highly scientific poll in Florida's British Depot conducted by the BBC  reveals what your "average" British expat misses about the old country.  Perhaps there is just a little selection bias, given that the BBC chose to conduct their poll in a retail store.  Sadly, this is what folks back home seem to think of us intrepid pioneers!