Col. Flagg

Try the solution here. You need to resize your image to 100x100 and then save as a .png file. Should be able to us the Paint app in Windows to get that done.

In my areas Scouts crossover anywhere between January and March. They still go back for B&G. Since the new requirements for AOL we've seen many Webelos not crossing over until Feb-March, some in April. It just seems to be taking them longer than in the past to complete requirements and cross over.

Yeah I noticed that too. I found a few other things that are for sale in the Scout Shop that don't meet their compliance guidelines. I've always said, they (BSA) needs someone to handle continuity across their product lines. It's an easy thing to do and makes you look more professional. I wonder if they used a licensed vendor to create that patch.

Is this a new program for BSA? I have heard of the Alumni Ambassadors but not this program. Is is the same? I could not ascertain what the program will do other than possibly recruiting new and alumni Scouts. Anyone know anything about this program?

Here's another BSA logo compliance issue to be aware of.

If they are an officially licensed BSA vendor then they can use the BSA fleur-de-lis or the purple world scout emblem. Any other original artwork using the fleur-de-lis would be okay too since the emblem is not itself trademarked.

Filing a police report comes to mind. That can certainly be done.

There's another issue: Who's making the patches? BSA only allows authorized vendors to reproduce BSA-owned logos, such as Class B (among others). So you'd have to use one of those vendors or risk, well, someone getting ticked off and sicing BSA legal on you.

I am drawing a distinction between trained TC members and trained ASMs, since the latter will be needed to cover the "trained female" requirement that will no doubt be required (as with Venturing today). I would say my district (25+ troops) is the opposite of yours. None have a female SM. Few have more than one female ASM. Many have no female ASMs what so ever. Maybe we just live in too much of a "good old boy" area.

I wonder how many units have 2 or more trained female ASMs. We have a medium-sized troop (large for other areas) in a major metro area...and we have three. Most units in this area do NOT have a female ASM. Some only have 1 if any. I cannot imagine what other units in smaller markets have.

Donna Noble. She saved the universe.

In several of the exchanges people have stated what would have to change: Publications: All BSA publications would need to get rid of male-oriented pronouns at a minimum. Training: Scouters would need to go through a few more training courses. At a minimum YPT would be changed to go through something more aking to what Venturing leaders have to take. Facilities: I think we've beat this one to death, but suffice to say councils will need to address this with money they may not have. Program: As we have discussed above, some requirements may have to be reviewed for "gender equality". Summer Camp: Currently these programs are designed for all male participants with a small number of female staff and adult leadership. Camps might have to rework schedules for facilities or redesign camps for girl-only, mixed or boy-only troops. I don't think you can separate "program" from "administration" because the latter can affect the former in many ways.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2011/6/14/why-we-name-our-guns/

Your first clue was "chap from California". Those folks are not like the rest of Americans and run a bit differently. In Texas we don't name our guns, we number them according to where we carry them on our person. #1 is an S&W M&P 45. #2 is a Glock G19. #3 is a Winchester 94. #4 is my Kel-Tec KSG.

Royalty check. Thank you. And what do you mean "old" TV show?

This is how it should be now EXCEPT for special needs Scouts.

Did BSA endorse the use of stinging nettles or hogweed? Or did I miss the exit?

UPDATE: Appears the ability to access YPT and training reports is back up. The training report to pdf is functioning again. The report on YPT presents as a long screen spreadsheet which can be sorted or downloaded to CSV.

LOL...I was just about to point that out. @@Stosh, your avatar is copyrighted Norman Rockwell painting. Unless you have his permission, or that of BSA, it's an infringement, ne pas?

Our unit had a similar experience with them on a data issue. TM is VERY responsive.

As part of our Digital Technology MB class we challenge the guys to come up with ways to apply technology to Scouting. Last fall we had a team come up with a great way to take the MB pdf files (only the copies we owned) and they created something pretty cool. I cannot say what it is because they are looking in to marketing the idea with other content. Suffice to say it was easy, portable, cheap, re-used docs already compiled digitally, was searchable, printable and cost near to nothing to get on to the platform (which if you had a smartphone or computer you could access). Best yet: It is designed by SCOUTS for Scouts. Right now we just use it internally within the unit.

Barry, I know personally people who work in their IT department. This is not a question of in-house development. It's a matter of vision and business sense. It is also a matter of picking the right direction, which has already been an issue with the interactive MB books since they are no longer available. They whole concept is being reworked. I received this note a few months ago: The MB books go through a process of creation, editing and publishing. The finished product (usually a Word, Quark or In-Design file) is there just ready to be imported in to ANY new electronic medium. BSA need note create their own, custom-built platform for publication delivery. Heck, PDFs and Epub has been around for YEARS...and they are quite easy to port to. It would be quite easy -- and little extra expense, if any -- to create and distribute a portable version of the MB books. This is not a new issues organizations are struggling with. Heck, even cash-strapped non-profits I worked with in the 1990s figured out how to digitize their hard copy publications and distribute them to members. This is a 20 year old problem with MANY solutions. It does not take Steven Hawking to figure it out, but it does take someone who can manage a project with some business sense. I would hope BSA had a few of those people.

Aren't BSA forms the property of BSA and not the CO? I don't know the answer, so I am curious. Our unit lucky enough to have a data security expert on staff. We've put in place a process for storing and shredding all personal information we collect, as well as deleting it out of troop software so SSN and health info is not archived. I agree that if the CO keeps the docs they should be required to return them if that's what the law says.

I *think* what he means is that all of us have broken copyright laws knowing that re-using anyone's original material is likely wrong. Is that it BP? Our unit has been guilty of that. The guys create videos and presentations all the time without getting written copyright permission. It is likely because they do it for school where it's (I believe) not a violation because it is being used for educational purposes. I suspect even then that's not 100% correct. As for the use of the MB pamphlets online, maybe we are wrong for pointing Scouts to these assets. But the way it's justified is this: We own copies of all of these and the Scouts merely want an electronic copy, so we are not really depriving BSA of revenue from the sale of an additional MB pamphlet. I realize that's splitting hairs, but it is in essence the truth. BSA has no incentive create for troops the concept of an electronic MB book library; it would simply eat in to their sales. This is why when they (BSA) released the interactive books they made them 1) so hard to access and share, 2) prohibited the sharing of those books electronically, and 3) prohibited troops from buying them and sharing the login/pw among their members.

"Easy to solve" and BSA don't go together in the same paragraph. BSA never plans well and anything that will go wrong, does.