We've made a couple of updates and changes on the site this week, so you should be seeing improved functionality. Our web developers upgraded us to the latest version of MySource Matrix, the Open Source content management system that powers the site. That should mean you'll find the site running very smoothly. It also allowed us to iron out some bugs in our error-reporting system, which allows you to inform us of any problems you come across as you browse the archive. As I'll be discussing in detail later, building this site out of the raw hard-copy of our print publication has been a painstaking and inventive process. If you come across any articles where it hasn't worked as well as it should, we would love to know. Our editorial team in Cambridge can then start trouble-shooting.

The content from the November 2006 print edition is now live online too - and you can read three new Breaking History articles covering developments in France, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Another change you'll see on the front page is the addition of a graphical button for this blog - featuring a genuine photograph of the machine on which this blog is written. Almost...