This item is for system announcements (new computer equipment on Grex, 
system upgrades, Grex meetings, etc.).  Personal announcements should go 
back in item 2; Grex system *problems* belong in the next item (#4). 

80 responses total.

I'd like to announce that Grex received a very large check today, from an
anonymous donor.  It's for $1024, and it's earmarked "to be used towards
improving Grex's hardware and software infrastructure."  We've never
received a check this big before.

cool!

That's, like, $ 10000000000 !

  Nah, it's only $0400..

Dude... that's really cool! Neat amount...

Thank you, anonymous donor.  That amount is intriguing.

Blessings to you, anonymous donor, whoever you are.

Thanks for the $1k

I suppose the next step is to determine the best way to apply that money 
to the purpose for which it was earmarked.

I would vote for software, but the problem is that that kind of 
improvement requires not so much cash money as staff time resources.  The 
most obvious answer would be to contract a staff person for a specific 
amount to accomplish a specific improvement within a specific time 
period.  

There's some potential for conflict here, but since the amount available 
is far less than the required services would be worth on the open market, 
even that is limited.

Thoughts?

All the software we're likely to use would be free and open-source.

How about spending on connectivity, perhaps going ahead on a backup net link?

Scott, there isn't much in the way of core level (OS) software that we 
could use "off the shelf" without significant modification and 
customization required.  Just read Jan's entries on trying to compile new 
Java support and an updated gcc for GREX...

I hope the system announcements item won't be hosting the debate on how to
improve Grex.

Congrats on the gift, though, Grex!

There is an item on how to improve Grex in the garage conference.

Swanky on the improved cash flow! <cheers>

re:13  is it appropriate to link that conversation to Co-op, or should we
start a new, nontechnical discussion there?

Re#13: item <garage.120> in particular, i believe.

Sara and I have decided to close up the auction for this year, so this is
your last chance to bid on the remaining open items.  They are:

Num Sub Open   Item
--- --- ----   ----
 24   1 010419 Shallow white rattan basket
 27   1 010421 Book: Don't Let Your HMO Kill You
 29   1 010424 Book: Dr. Dave's Cyberhood
 31   1 010424 Book: Beep! Beep! (A business book)
 33   1 010430 Book: Tapped Out (A political book by former Sen. Paul Simon)
 34   1 010430 Book: The Cat Who Smelled A Rat (a mystery)
 35   1 010430 Book: How to Prepare for the AP computer science exam
 50   1 010525 Two gallon glass jars
 54   1 010528 Backsliders and Mavericks CDs
 55   1 010528 Nixons and Joe Henry CDs
 67   1 010613 Leonard Bernstein's Mass on LP
 69 1-5 010621 Various walkmen
 70 2-4 010621 Various answering machines
 71 1-5 010621 Various tape recorders
 75   1 010731 Book: Andy Kaufman Revealed! (by his manager)
 79   1 010808 Book: Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator (speech excerpts)

All minimum bids are $5, unless it says otherwise in the item.  join the
auction conference to make bids.

There are also, I believe, three pairs of handmade stained glass earrings
available.

Oh, right.  Thnks for remembering that.

Last login: Mon Oct 15 01:48:16 on ttyq2 from 24.131.70.21
No mail.
reading .cshrc

  1:57am  up 16 days,  5:09,  56 users,  load average: 22.55, 13.45, 9.06

that's a funny name for a reagan book, seeing as he wrote very few of his own
speechs and those that he did sucked for the most part!

And wouldn't you like to know more?  Just agree to send Grex $5, and the
book can be yours!

Nominations are now open for the Grex Board of Directors.  See
Item 49 in the Coop conference (item:coop,49) for details.

Addendum to the above:  Nominations close on November 15.

regarding the class.cf (for those w/ or w/o class) grex's own
wanted/forsale/etc conference:
  
>**alertt**   i am about to kill all items dated BEFORE 2001.
>
>if you have anything posted before 1/1/2001, it will be gone
>by thanksgiviing .... you can alwasy reneter it _now_ if you wish.
>
>spread the word.
  
   OK:   j   class   for a visit

A reminder that the special potluck to discuss the future of Grex's hardware
and software is TOMORROW NIGHT, Saturday, November 3rd, 6:00 PM, 607 Ross
Street, Ann Arbor.  See item:coop,46 for more details.

All are welcome.  We will try to keep the first part of the meeting at a
(resonably) non-technical level, so that everyone may participate.  Then
we'll let the alphageeks go at it afterward.

So bring your ideas about what you'd like Grex to be able to do in the
future.

Only Grex (at least in Ann Arbor) would schedule a meeting that starts 
during the 2nd half of the Michigan-Michigan State football game.  (-:

Didn't realize it was an evening game.  Well, if people come after the game
is over, I'm sure the meeting will still be going on.

(It does tell you something about staff demographics, though...)

I didn't even know the game was being played this weekend.  Nor do I 
care.  I do have another event I plan on attending that evening, which is 
a birthday celebration for at least two friends.

In the good old (i.e., Bo) days, Michigan would not play at 3:30, so it
wouldn't have been a problem.  Now, we play at the convenience of the
networks, and we are lucky to know a week in advance at what time any
particular game will be played.

Scheduling around football games is a royal pain.

I will be late to the festivities tomorrow evening.

what game?

11 days in advance, actually.  Further, it's usually pretty easy to predict
the starting times of home games, since only one or two are big enough to be
moved to the ABC 3:30 time slot before the end of Daylight time, and never
plays any home games later than 1pm after the end of Daylight time.  I'm not
complaining about the meeting being scheduled on the day of the game,
though--I was well aware when the date was first suggested, and participant
parties already would have known if they were interested.  

Even I, certifiable though I am, have missed late UM-MSU games before.  I had
a theater obligation that caused me to miss watching the '95 game on
television, for instance, though I was well in touch with the events.  There
are larger things in life. :)

I'm happy to report that dang found a Livingston Portmaster and a matching
bank of 28.8 modems at Property Disposition for a measly $40.  Hope this makes
all you fast-modem agitators happy...   :)

Wow, many thanks!  When do we expect these wonderul new acquisitions to be
in service?  (I am curious to see whether the inability to download normally
with kermit is really to be blamed on the old modems, or something else).
What is a Livingston Portmaster?  Does anyone have any regular 28.8 modems
that they don't want which we can share with three other grexers who we signed
up and taught to use email?  One of them is also using Netscape at 14.4K.
Jim asks $40 each or total and he hopes they work without too much staff
tweaking and when can he use them to upload a small image for his website.
(Some people are never satisfied).

Cool!  I suppose if all else fails it should be possible to get an ATX chassis
at property disposition.

Heh.  A new ATX case w/ power supply would probably be cheaper than a used
one at Dispo.

  Maybe, maybe not -- depends on what they were smoking the day the dispo
  items were priced..  Beware of buying a case & PS combo that's too old,
  however, as the motherboard power connectors changed when they adopted
  new motherboard standards a few years ago..

Livingston makes network access servers, which connect dialup modems to
networks.  The Portmaster was their first (I think) just device.  The modems
are cards, looking a lot like the internal modem cards for PCs.  They were
created to provide PPP connections.  They also support "dumb terminal"
connections (VersaTerm, Procomm, for example).

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss