I think we're safe to assume that this forum will see some very, very heavy traffic on 31-Dec-1999.

I'd like to think that most of it will be on topic reports of failures (or hopefully otherwise) from around the world. But in the real world...

Is there a plan to deal with the denial of service attacks from the polly trolls, and the barrage of political/religious and just plain OT threads? I'd hate to see the important stuff drop off the bottom faster than it can be reposted, or even worse, the server choking on the spam.

Is there any chance we can go to a password protected forum for one day?

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

Well, if you consider the ramifications and the logistics of passwording the forum, and YOU getting the password you will find that it isn't workable. HOWEVER, there are some interesting developments in the works, as far as world wide reportage, time zone by time zone looks, etc. being discussed.

Watch for some interesting announcements as the time shortens, and some cooperative efforts involving other fora and other organizations.

And, yes, that IS a blatant self-serving, teaser. Just hope it works! LOL ;-)

chuck

BTW if someone is interested in finding a specific thread which has "fallen off the Top Level" they can simply go to the "New Answers" page and, if it is still being discussed, it'll be available there.

-- Chuck, a night driver, Sysop # 3 (rienzoo@en.com), December 20, 1999.

The pollys are going to want to keep this forum running just as much as we do. If nothing obvious happens on January 1 they are going to be giving us a load of crap, and if TSHTF they are going to be so panicked they will need to monitor what is happening!

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 20, 1999.

Sure, but we've seen sporadic attempts at Denial Of Service. I really think that every polly+dog is going to turn up and spam us. OK, the password thing isn't going to work, I was just looking for a reassurance from our hard working sysadmins that there will be savage pruning of any OT posts.

Best to consider and prepare for the worst, right? :)

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999.

You can always consider a private line. One person can set it up and anyone interested that is interested could email that person for the password.

Just a thought

mwallace (programmer - steel industry)

-- mwallace (mwallace@grede.com), December 20, 1999.

oops...typing errors above...sorry

me again

-- me again (me@me.com), December 20, 1999.

Being that this forum is run at MIT, are we sure it will be up and running? MIT is suppose to shut everything down the afternoon of the 31st I think.

-- the Virginian (1@1.com), December 20, 1999.

It seems institute officials "are urging that every one of MIT's estimated 20,000 computers and servers that can be shut down be turned off no later than Dec.30, a full day before computer clocks begin flipping over to 2000."

Thread on MIT's plans

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 20, 1999.

Virginian,

Phil Greenspun has no plans to turn of "his" servers and MIT generates it's own power. (Think he considers his stuff "mission critical" since he hosts over a 1,000 forums, and "other" business).

Here's hoping they're compliant!

As Chuck mentioned above, there are "additional options" in the works. (Blatant teaser #2).

And no, we will not password protect the forum for the day.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999.

There is still a question in my mind. Is it prudent to remain online so as to monitor what is happening out there? I,m asking, with the possibility of power problems and viruses set free to ravage our systems, should we even change roaming with the sun?

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), December 20, 1999.

Thats CHANCE, Not change.....

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), December 20, 1999.

ok folks....now, you will not get a virus from this board. It is HTML based.Also...unles you run an .exe or program You will not get a virus. Viruses are normally passed around thru Emails. [That's one of the reasons I put blocks on certain freinds who like to FWD every piece of crap they get.] Now, there HAS been one virus that you don't have to open to get. BUT...it uses specific programs to infect your system. I.E. Microsoft Outlook and Express.

There is also JAVA programming that can cause problems...this is not a virus. Worried about it? Turn off your JAVA and JAVAscript.

Also. Learn how your computer works, use an up-to-date Virus scanner and don't download something from an unknown source..or from a freind that is sending you those 'cute' games and such.

-- Satanta (EventHoriz@n.com), December 20, 1999.

Satanta....Thanks.

My E-mail program is MS Outlook Express V5. Could you further enlighten me, as I have read this before about MS's mail program. Every patch from MS has been implimented. I'm still learning how my system functions which doesn't amount to much. I don't know how to turn off Java.

I,m sure there are others who have the same concerns for Rollover. Any help here is very much appreciated.........

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), December 20, 1999.

There are several mailing lists that are moderated to some degree to keep them on topic. I suggest everyone subscribe before the end of the year in case there are problems with this forum. To subscribe send blank messages to: freerepy2k-subscribe@egroups.com roleigh_for_web-subscribe@egroups.com Y2K-Rollover-Watch-subscribe@onelist.com

-- Danny (dcox@ix.netcom.com), December 20, 1999.

Diane and Chuck, I am terribly curious about those blatant teasers.

(((sshhh)))

-- (karlacalif@aol.com), December 20, 1999.

Tommy....since I haven't used IE anything for several years I'm a bit rusty on it and whether you can disable JAVA...in Netscape you click on 'Edit', then 'Prefrences', then 'Advanced' and clear the JAVA and JAVAscript options. Keep in mind...some Emails won't work as well as some websites. I'll have to go find the info for you about outlook...I posted in on a different board a couple of months ago. Will post it on an 'OT' type thread tomorrow....you can also go to ZDNet and do a search on news stories about viruses and Outlook from last month...

-- Satanta (EventHoriz@n.com), December 21, 1999.