GREX Press Release

Apr 9 12:33 UTC 1998

At the last Board Meeting we agreed to prepare a press release for the 
local papers about Grex coming up to speed on our new 670.  I need user 
comments for colourful expository to finish the release.

Tell us here 
1) how you see Grex
2) what effect the 670 has had for you
3) anything about grex you'd like to see in the newspaper.

Thanks all.

response 2 of 49:

Apr 10 00:20 UTC 1998

i do not remember grex ever being this fast since the internet connection was
first established.

response 4 of 49:

Apr 10 13:20 UTC 1998

Geez, a whole lot of what Jan said could be lifted without
changing a single word it was stated so well.

I'd also mention that through interactions with a 
diverse community you tend to get the chance to 
share and challenge some strongly held points of
views.  Grex is a learning experience.  It is a 
tolerance builder.

Grex fits into you schedule.

Grex is fun.

response 8 of 49:

Apr 11 22:44 UTC 1998

(That was Jan's purpose - Jan doesn't actually talk like that under normal
circumstances)

response 10 of 49:

Apr 22 22:35 UTC 1998

OK, here's the first draft of the press release: comment away.

For Immediate Release

Local Conferencing System Picks Up Speed

Ann Arbor, Michigan --- April 22, 1998

On Sunday, March 22, after a year-long project to upgrade to a faster 
computer, Grex is now up on a Sun 4/670 MP computer.  The result, 
according to Steve Weiss, a Grex staffer involved with the switchover, 
is that each of Grex's processors should now run at several times the 
speed of the previous computer.  Because of limitations in the operating 
system, the second processor may not be able to be used at 100%, but it 
will still help to speed things up.  In addition, the new architecture 
should be much faster at switching "contexts," which is something done a 
lot under Grex's load. 

"We were very seriously limited by our processor speed before this 
change.  For all we know, we may still be limited by it, but only time, 
and a heavy load, will allow us to know for certain."
According to Jan Wolter, the president of the Board for Cyberspace 
communications, 

"The new computer and the new Internet connection mean that for the 
first time in a long time our system isn't straining to support all the 
people using it.  It just works better than it ever has before, so we 
can now welcome new people users to a system that can readily handle 
more users, instead of to a system on the verge of collapse from massive 
overload.  Not only have we changed over to a new computer, we have 
upgraded a lot of software.

During the switchover, Grex's IP address was also renumbered.  This only 
affects people who connect to Grex by typing "telnet 204.212.46.130".  
If you can reach Grex by typing "telnet cyberspace.org" or by dialing in 
on a modem, this change won't effect you.

Mike McNally, another Grex staffer involved in the switchover, says
For those who don't have a great deal of experience judging such events, 
the accomplishment of successfully switching over so many things at once 
and having everything work smoothly afterwards should not be 
underestimated Take it from me, who has done this for a living for a 
number of years, making major changes to an established service, 
particularly making a number of simultaneous changes, takes careful 
planning and a good deal of meticulous coordination.  Once again, Grex's 
staff, our core group of volunteers, has accomplished wonders.  Good 
job!

Grex is an Ann Arbor-based computer conferencing community supporting 
over 17,000 users world-wide with online conversations, real time chats, 
e-mail, and UNIX shell accounts.  Services are free to all callers, but 
the system is supported completely by user donations and volunteer 
labour.  

" For me Grex is a just a great sampler of different people of all ages, 
from all walks of life, from Ann Arbor and around the world."  Says Jan 
Wolter.  " In most normal social situations I seem always to be talking 
to people who are about the same age as me, have about the same job as 
me, and do about the same things as me.  Grex gives me a chance to talk 
to a much broader range of people on a much broader range of subjects.  
Some of them have gotten to be extremely good friends, some of them will 
never be, but all have helped enrich my life.  At the same time, I see 
Grex as a kind of noble cause.  We let anyone use our computer, no 
questions asked.  We give away basic access to the net.  We help people 
learn how to use all this new technology.  We run the whole show 
democratically and cooperatively.  All the work is done by volunteers.  
It's all funded from the grass roots, not from any corporate or 
government sponsorship.  It's refreshing to be a part of something so 
fundamentally generous in nature.  It took a lot of effort to get here - 
many of our users chipped in money to buy the new equipment, and it took 
over a year for our volunteer staff people to get the system put 
together and ready to use, but we made it, and we should be all set to 
continue doing what we do for years to come.  So we are in great shape 
now - at least until another 10,000 users or so show up and we have to 
invent some new ways to handle them all without actually spending any 
money to speak of.

According to Mary Remmers
"Through interactions with a diverse community you tend to get the 
chance to share and challenge some strongly held points of views.  Grex 
is a learning experience.  It is a tolerance builder."
"Grex fits into you schedule."
"Grex is fun."

Steve Weiss adds
"A lot of people raised a lot of money to buy the hardware.  They 
deserve the most thanks.  It was not cheap, but the power of this new 
configuration is exhilarating.  Pedal to the metal.
What effect the 670 has had?  It saves me maybe 15 minutes a day reading 
and sending e-mail.  I have stopped using Arbornet to use Altavista, and 
do not plan to renew my membership there, but donate extra to Grex 
instead. 

I joined Grex even though I was using Arbornet for e-mail and Internet, 
and before I knew about the conferences, because the staff and other 
helpers are incredibly helpful!  They answered all the questions about 
problems I was having getting things to work on Arbornet.  Now I am 
hooked on the conferences, and am learning a whole lot about how other 
people function, and about things in general."
Eric Bassey comments,

"I do not remember Grex ever being this fast since the Internet 
connection was first established."
You can reach Grex at http://www.cyberspace.org and creating anew 
account or by setting your modems communication parameters to 8E1 and 
dialing (734) 761-3000 and logging in as newuser.

response 12 of 49:

Apr 22 23:25 UTC 1998

Misti, you don't need Steve's permission, that was me you quoted from - the
first paragraph was indeed Steve Weiss, but the next two were me. You
certainly have my permission.  I was just asked to renew membership on
Arbornet and politely declined and they politely told me I would still have
a guest account.

THere are a few minor typos regarding punctuation, do you want them corrected?
(Mostly regarding placement of quotation marks, some are missing.)

response 14 of 49:

Apr 23 10:56 UTC 1998

Last paragraph has "8E1", should be "8N1".

response 16 of 49:

Apr 23 14:53 UTC 1998

Just as a reminder to those of you who may not be familiar with how newspapers
edit press releases:

A press release is "cut" to fit the available space by lopping of paragraphs
from the bottom up.  Misti _should_ have put technical stuff in the first
paragraph if that's what we want the paper to include.  

Generally the first paragraph should stand alone as a complete tidbit for
the general readership of that publication, and each succeeding paragraph
should include information that appeals to a more and more specialized
audience.  

Our quotes, therefore, should be arranged from the most "public" like user
to the most technical, but move some techies higher if they have public
name recognition.

Remember that no newspaper has to run any press release.  If, however, we
can provide a release about a topic that the editors figure will help
their business (ie get more readers, or appeal more strongly to the
current readership than the competion), they are very likely to run it.
And if that release is already written in newspaper article style, they
are likely to run it without much editing (protests of 'independence' to
the contrary--editors are busy people, and the more of their job we can
do, the more likely they are to use our material).  

response 18 of 49:

Apr 23 22:24 UTC 1998

Thanks for doing all this, Misti.  I really like the splash
screens on community access television too.  Great job.

response 20 of 49:

Apr 24 13:45 UTC 1998

Hey, cool!  Thanks Eric!!

response 22 of 49:

Apr 24 20:01 UTC 1998

It is not a non-profit organization.  It gives the wrong impression...

response 24 of 49:

Apr 25 00:46 UTC 1998

I'd prefer to say "Grex is a small non-profit organization operated
entirely by volunteer labor and supported solely by donations from
users and the general public."  Nobody should care what our corporate
name is, after all.