response 26 of 49:

Apr 25 05:26 UTC 1998

CCI is incorporated as a non-profit corporation under Michigan law.

response 30 of 49:

Apr 25 16:46 UTC 1998

You may, but the correct term is "nonprofit" (no hyphen). Act 162 of 1982
is titled the "Nonprofit Corporation Act", and in the act the term used is
always just "nonprofit". 

Re #27: it was a nit, but other referred to a non-profit *organization*,
as did bru, and I wanted to emphasize that it is not only nonprofit by
action, but by law.

response 32 of 49:

Apr 27 12:30 UTC 1998

I like Eric's opening paragraph.  I also agree that it wouldn't hurt to
de-emphasize the "cyberspace communications" name, not because it isn't
good, but because it makes the article less confusing.

I might revise Eric's paragraph by merging in parts of Misti's fifth
paragraph, like this:

>One of the oldest public access sites on the internet just got a lot
>faster.  Grex, an Ann Arbor based conferencing system and virtual
>community, just completed a year-long project to upgrade to a faster
>computer.  Grex is a small non-profit organization, operated entirely by
>volunteer labor and supported solely by donations from the general public.

>All Grex services are free of charge and available to everyone.  Grex offers
>users a wide range of tools to communicate with each other, including online
>conversations in over 100 topical conferences areas as well as real-time chat
>areas.  Grex also offers basic internet services for free.  Users can send
>and receive E-mail, access the web through a non-graphical browser and
>put text-only pages up on the web.  Grex currently supports over 18,000
>users from all over the world.

My quote can be used to get back on the subject of the new computer:

>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."

Cut the last sentance about software upgrades and the downbeat stuff about
the old system.  Also cut McNally's praise of the staff (it's not that
interesting to the outsider).  Steve's quote is upbeat and fits in here.
I added the exclamation point:

>Grex volunteer Steve Weiss says "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!"

Enough about the new computer already, back to the hype.  I've shortened
my quote because the end is redundant with things other people have said.

>"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."
>
>Long time Grex user Mary Remmers says 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."

I'd cut Sindi's comments about AOL and Arbornet.  We are three different
systems, not really in competition with each other.

I'd expand the contact information, since this is important.

>You can connect your computer to Grex in any of three ways.  If you are in
>the Ann Arbor area, you can use a modem communications program to dial
>(734) 761-3000.  Login a "newuser" to open a free account.  If you have
>internet access and a telnet program, then you can telnet to
>"cyberspace.org".  Again, login a "newuser" to open a free account.
>If you have a web browser, point it at "http://www.cyberspace.org".

I tried to talk about the different ways to connect separately.  I also
omitted the 8N1 setting - that is the default on most programs and about
the only thing anyone ever uses these days.  8E1 required mention.  8N1
just confuses people.

response 34 of 49:

Apr 27 17:21 UTC 1998

If there is no objection to the accumulated recommended change, can we see
the revised release posted in toto?

response 36 of 49:

Apr 28 22:04 UTC 1998

Here we go -- please note that we need an approximate date for our 
previous upgrade in para:3



For Immediate Release

Local Conferencing System Picks Up Speed

Ann Arbor, Michigan --- April 22, 1998

One of the oldest public access sites on the Internet just got a lot 
faster.  Grex, an Ann Arbor based conferencing system and virtual 
community, has completed a year-long project to upgrade to a faster 
computer.  Grex is a small non-profit organization, operated entirely by 
volunteer labor and supported solely by donations from the general 
public.

All Grex services are free of charge and available to anyone.  Grex 
offers users a wide range of tools to communicate with each other, 
including online conversations in over 100 topical conferences areas and 
several real-time chat areas.  Grex also offers basic Internet services 
for free.  Users can send and receive E-mail, access the web through a 
non-graphical browser and put text-only pages on the web.  Grex 
currently supports over 18,000 users from all over the world.
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 since our last upgrade in (date) 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."

Grex volunteer Steve Weiss says, "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!"

"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."

Long time Grex user Mary Remmers says 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."

You can connect your computer to Grex in any of three ways. 
7 If you are in the Ann Arbor area, you can use a modem communications  
 program to dial (734) 761-3000.  Login a "newuser" to open a free   
account.  
7 If you have Internet access and a telnet program, then you can telnet 
  to "cyberspace.org".  Again, login as "newuser" to open a free   
account. 
7 If you have a web browser, point it at "http://www.cyberspace.org".

response 38 of 49:

Apr 29 13:20 UTC 1998

Oops -- those were supposed to be bullets.  Guess Grex read 'em 
differently than my PC did.

response 40 of 49:

Apr 30 19:14 UTC 1998

Glad you caught that.  

response 42 of 49:

May 7 22:45 UTC 1998

Shouldn't we put the contact methods near the begining since someone
said they prune violently from the bottom up?

response 44 of 49:

May 26 22:23 UTC 1998

I hope this isn't too late, but in graf 2, janc is called the Pres of Bd of
Cyb. Comm, but, again, what relation that is to Grex is left out.  There, or
before, the fact that CCI owns the computers on which Grex exists should be
mentioned, methinks.

response 46 of 49:

May 28 21:15 UTC 1998

No, Grex is not an organization at all.  Grex is a community, and the means
by which the members of CCI meet, organize, and conduct much of their
business.  *shrug*  In any case, at the place mentioned, CCI is an undefined
quantity in the "story".

response 48 of 49:

Jun 15 15:26 UTC 1998

Yup.  Nothing happened.  Drat.