response 51 of 113:

May 26 02:34 UTC 1996

   We've been talking about that, at staff meetings and elsewhere
for a while now.

   Yes, a mail machine would help with the *load* on the current
system, but wouldn't help with the network bandwith problem at all.
The mail would still come in over our link.  We need to do two
things:

   1) Get a faster net connection.  Even just a 56K ISDN connection
would help out *a lot*.  Latency would drop, since the characters
could flow in and out of Grex faster.  Our link modem, since it
does compression, waits just a tiny amount before sending data
out the modem, since its trying to build up data to compress.  But
that introduces latency.  A 56K link would get rid of a lot of that
which we'd all see.

   2) Get a mail machine.  This isn't a simple project.  There are a
couple of ways to do this. Each has some advantages over the other
(though I think the second way is much better, myself):

   2a) Get NFS (the Network File System) from Sun up and running here.
This would let us have two (or more) machines "share" disks across the
network.  We could then have the mail machine give Grex its mail spool
disk, and we could run all our current mail software with ease.  *THIS
INTRODUCES POSSIBLE SECURITY PROBLEMS*.  NFS is about as stable as a
pile of farmer's cheese, which means that we'd have to amour plate yet
another part of the system, since we attract vandals like flies hover
over cow dung.  The fact that we allow people to compile things here
makes it even more "interesting".  I *think* we could do this, but I
know that poor Marcus is going to birstle in his chair when he reads
this.  He knows, as I do, that there have been classes on NFS insecurity
that routinely came up with new and fascenating NFS horror stories.
I personally do not favor this.

   2b) Get a client/server mail system (probably something called
IMAP) working here.  Thats much more secure, but has the interesting
property of needing completely new mail client programs for a) elm,
b) PINE, c) mail, d) Mail, d) mh.  Programs like mh and Pine have
IMAP understanding, or we can get them I should say.  But good old
venerable stupid mail and Mail don't know about this, so I think we
might have to write it.  Now, perhaps someone else has crashed into
the same exact problem that we would with this, and was decent enough
to have written it, and put it out in the public domain somhow.  Same
for Elm.  Elm scares me.  I looked at its insides once--and quietly
folded it back up and put it away before it woke up.  Elm wasn't quite
written by a normal programmer, I think.  I have heard rumors that
the internals have been cleaned up some, but I've not yet had the
fortitude to stare inside it lately.

   Part 2A is easier to get things running for a mail machine, but
we'd have to really scrutinize stuff for security considerations.

   Part 2B is much cleaner, in that we'd be using a client/server
system that makes more sense (and is probably more readily scalable
if we want to think of Growing Grex by another factor of 100), but
has the problem of not yet having all the client side user mail
programs IMAP aware yet.

   *I might be wrong about things like Elm/mail*.  I hope I am.
Becuase of there are such things out there, then the mail machine
becomes MUCH easier to do, and is inhereiently more secure IMHO.

response 53 of 113:

May 26 05:23 UTC 1996

Yep, that's definitely what Scott was suggesting.  For bucks per bandwidth,
another 28.8 be cheaper (per kbps) than ISDN, if only because there are more
ISPs who might be willing to cut a good deal for Grex.

response 55 of 113:

May 27 14:48 UTC 1996

I don't think M-Net ever had two Internet modems.  At present, they have a 
16.8k and 56k, but only the 16.8 is working.

response 57 of 113:

May 28 00:47 UTC 1996

I don't think I have ever heard of a 16.8kbps modem.  

What I do remember hearing, though, is that M-Net had a 9.6kpbs connection
and a 14.4kpbs connection.  If one telnetted to m-net148.arbornet.org they
would get one of those connections, and if one telnetted to
m-net.arbornet.org, they would get the other.  

response 59 of 113:

May 28 05:54 UTC 1996

M-Net used to have a 9600 bps connection from Merit, going from somewhere in
University Towers.  I think they dropped that a little more than a year ago.
It used to be possible to get to M-Net from Merit's Which Host? prompt through
that, and later it became possible (or maybe it was possible all along) to
telnet to M-Net at 35.something through that connection.  It wasn't the sort
of thing where M-Net could be reached through two different connections at
the same IP address.

response 61 of 113:

May 28 16:59 UTC 1996

   Michael, 16.8Kbps was an invention from ZyXEL, back when 14.4K
was the standard and the 19.2Kbps psuedo standard, let along what
we now call V.34 existed.
   Sure, Grex could use multiple modem connections to the net--thats
the beauty of the Internet: that it can be used in redundant ways.

response 63 of 113:

May 28 21:17 UTC 1996

   If the modems currently use synchronous transmission, having a modem 
do each would not help.
   I would rather see a modem for telnet connections and a modem for 
other data.

response 65 of 113:

May 29 13:09 UTC 1996

does Grex have a willing donor? =^)

response 67 of 113:

May 31 06:15 UTC 1996

I have had the same experiances phenix has had as of late the problem has ben
mostly with the users of indian persusion. In the past it has been
Austrailians, one guy from Ireland and even Americans. These poeple are out
there there is nothing the staff can really do as far as I can see. I my self
would like if popcorn would e-mail me telling me how to make it so poeple
can't ntalk me(Regardless of who it is or what they want to talk about ntalk
is annoying). I have had several enjoyable conversations with a *few*
Indians,Russians(I miss rasputin and there was anouther one) and even the
Austrailians (zoc excluded).
        Grex to me is a Country unto itself I appriciate the services it
provides for me and one day soon I hope to in my small way help provide for
it, but I live with not be able to get on at the exact second I want
to.Disappointment is a fact of life.(watch Labyrinth for that lesson) 
        I think that if everyone will just cool down and wait this out the
*bad* Indians will go away and we can call the good ones our friends and we
cqan run to them and complain about the damn....Ukrinians that keep logging
on and looking for netsex and the such.
        I hope I haven't wased to much of your time with a ramble as I am proon
to do. Thank you for reading this and E-mail me if you agree or disagree I
don't get into the CF alot Maybe next time if rolls over I will join.
        Thank you and until next week the balcony is closed!

response 69 of 113:

May 31 23:13 UTC 1996

That likely explains why I've received more contacts as of late. I'm
not sure it's so much thinking someone who posts a lot is staff as much
as it is that someone who posts a lot must know what they're doing. ;)

response 71 of 113:

Jun 1 00:19 UTC 1996

re 66-69
When I was using my "shade" account, I only got three or four
a night, usually fromIndians who didna speak english so well.
I've blatanly been asked for cybersex; been hit on, incessantly
after telling them to go away or that I wasn't interested or
just ignoring them. Mostly they don't even use chats they use
those infuriating talk requests whcih are slow and consume
a screen at the speed of light! I wish I could turn my chats off
but i do need them for communicating with my friends.
(in the 20 or so minutes I've been logged on, two strangers
have sent me long strains of ntalk requestions. I'm not sure
where they're from, but I wish i could turn them off without
turning everyone I want to talk to off!

response 73 of 113:

Jun 1 14:26 UTC 1996

and then more people will start doing it the minute you turn them back on.
it's a real probblem