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On Mon, 15 Feb 1999, Susan Newhook wrote:
>
> C'maaaaaaan, read the whole thing and then write me back.
>
> I dare you all.... :)
>
> It's carved up into (relatively) manageable mini-rants, which you
> can take on all at once, or not.
>
> If you wdn't mind, just send it to me (you don't have to but...) I'll put
> together what I get and circulate it somehow , to keep from choking the
> pipes?
> =================
> Most of the people reading this will receive more than one copy because
> they're on more than one committee. Sorry. It's part of what I think is
> one of our blessings/biggest problems.
> e.g., *Everyone* who has shown up for Commnxns Committee meetings
> --admittedly rare of late--is on at least ONE other committee, which
> means, for one thing that they have no more than 1/2 as much time for each
> committee as they would if they were only on one.
> What can we ALL do about this?
>
> (write answers here)
As my own project... I've re-activated an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server
that Michael Smith tested a little last summer.
While most of the chat on IRC is (in my opinion...) mindless drivel at
best; the IRC vehicle has some excellent potential to facilite and 'drive'
a discussion forward in a way that email cannot (there's much less chance
for 'sober second thought' for example... ;-)
For those that have not used IRC... <mini tutorial...>
You connect to the server using an IRC client and 'join' a chat room.
Other peoples comments are passed to you... and your comments are passed
to them in 'real time' ...as soon as you press "Enter/Return" your
comments are transmitted to the other who have .
Most irc servers host dozens (hundreds) of chat 'rooms'. A user can
create a new 'room' simply by issuing the 'join' command for a room that
does not currently exist.
<end mini tutorial...>
-----
IRC offers an opportunity to hold 'virtual meetings'. People could come
together at a pre-arranged time to hold a discussion on committee
business, etc... The posibility exists that... with a PPP connection an
individual could participate is several 'virtual meetings' concurrently...
-----
IRC also offers the potential to provide immediate response to a user's
questions... a ccn-tech, userhelp, or ppp-help forum in real time. A forum
of this type might attract volunteer contributions from indidviduals who
for whatever reason are not interested comfortable speaking up in an email
discussion... (downside may be spreading mis-information...;-)
-----
IRC also brings the possibility that individuals will use this forum to
vent, harass, or otherwise disturb the peace... ;-(
-----
IRC provides the technical capability for individuals to 'moderate'
discussion by 'banning' a user from a forum for specified time periods
(forever?). We also have the ability to modify both client and server
software to restrict access in various ways... passwords, only allow
connections from specified sites, etc...
-----
As I have mentioned... an IRC server is now running as a pilot project on
the 'csuite' machine. You can point a PPP irc client at csuite.ns.ca
Port) 6667 to connect. I'm using the mIRC Win 95 (shareware - $20 US) IRC
Client with very good results... available for Win 3.1* and Win 95/98 from
this site:
http://win3x.tucows.com/circ.html#mirc
For the last week or so I've maintained a more or less continuous
session window on a room called #ccn-tech (type "/join #ccn-tech"
{without the quotes}). I'm not always avaiable to answer a 'hail' but you
never can tell...
----
If you are loged into CCN, you can add a bookmark (or link from a custom
welcome page) to:
test-irc
I've added some security code and other modifications to the CCN IRC
client that olny allows it to be used with the csuite IRC server (which we
can turn off).
At this moment you must be a member of the Society (or on my shell
programming course list) to use the CCN IRC client.
-----
I'm not sure where this will go... I think it has a lot of potential if we
can encourage it's use to advance 'worthwhile' disscusions ...;-)
Unfortunately, it's possible that the weird, angry and habitually
disruptive would take over a 'public' CCN IRC server to the extent that we
wouldn't be able to guarantee the peaceful enjoyment of these services by
all users...:-((((
Never the less, I'm hopeful that we can find the balance to justify a
public IRC forum for CCN users. And I'm more certain that regardless of
the practicality of a 'public' server we can offer the virtual meeting
capability to our committees and IP's.
-----
On the surface it does not appear that the use of IRC clients would
negatively impact our system (technical) resources. At this point, I can't
see any compelling technical reason for not providing IRC to our users.
-----
This effectively announces a pilot project relating to IRC. Members can
access if from a CCN account, at the moment anyone can access it from a
PPP account. I propose to start out with the restrictions noted above...
with the understanding that we'll shut the server down and/or impose
additional restrictions if it's used in a 'non-constructive' fashion.
I have no plans to announce the service in a more public forum at this
time... note distribution list above...
-----
I'll host an informal open-house this evening (Monday) from 7-9pm for
anyone who wants to drop by for a visit...
For the moment bear in mind that there is very little privacy on
most IRC servers. It is possible to moderate, and allow individulas to
join only on 'invitation', and I expect we can customize a server to
provide 'private' meeting rooms... but I think we'll deal with each of
these issues/needs as we get to them.
david potter
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