...what with Phil's plug for his book, penguin computing and Atlon's game machine, I wonder. Was this some kinda sick marketing ploy?

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), December 29, 1999

Answers

you're the only sick one, Vern

-- (4@5.6), December 29, 1999.

Vern,

If you're going to get paranoid, find something more useful to be paranoid about. Several sysops spent a good portion of the night trying to get things up and running again -- and Phil G. has better things to do than watching his server get swamped by robots.

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), December 29, 1999.

...Ed, I'm neither paranoid nor in need of a sedative as you mentioned in your e-mail to me last night. You must take great pleasure in flamimg me. If "what happened" was unfortunate, then at the least, Phil was being an opputunist in plugging his book, penguin computer and the Athlon's game machine. It amazes me to see folks of such high regard stup so low...oh well, it is the Bill Clinton era...:(

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), December 29, 1999.

So do we think TB2000 was hacked or was the crash due to more or less conventional technical difficulties?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), December 29, 1999.

Vern -- I'll restrain the impulse to flame, because I'm thinking of all the times I've heard complaints about someone "plugging his book" about whatever.

VERN -- NO ONE, except a few high-profile celebrity authors, gets rich writing and selling their books. It's sunk time, a year's work, and you may clear a few thousand bucks if very, very lucky.

Vern, I want YOU to sashay into work tomorrow and tell your deserving boss that, out of gratitude for all the years of letting you earn your bread and butter (you are employed, aren't you, Vern? Vern? Vern?) there and just plain keeping you around in spite of your receding brainpower, you've decided to work for FREE the entire Year 2000.

Yeah, I think that's what you oughta do, Vern. And then they'd probably say that it's just a sick marketing ploy to make them keep you around for 2001, eh?

-- jor-el (jor-el@krypton.uni), December 29, 1999.

Hey, Vern, please remain calm. Do not let false assumptions overload your rational consciousness, causing an uncontrollable gusher of publicly posted angst.

First off, I'll admit my current prep mode is GREEN LIGHT, and I haven't had the time to check back on the Timebomb forum, but last night I logged on and met with a strange message. Tonight I read on Gary North's page that the most active fora were shut down. Vern, I am NOT amused. Now at this time in history to have Ed Yourdon's original Timebomb forum and the Preparation forum closed down is a major bummer!

Take Phil and Ed at their words. They are honest, extremely hardworking people sheperding numerous responsibilities, and they don't need any unkind words. Please be patient. Somehow this will be worked out.

If you could understand the sorry plight of the educational system, you would be extremely annoyed at funds being misdirected into worthless agendas. Indeed, it IS sad that MIT has weaker computers compared to yuppie kids' gaming systems.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), December 29, 1999.

From what I've been able to tell, just reading the posting on TB2000, is that there is a group of individuals who are deliberately trying to disrupt the forum...using similar (identical?) software. Being appropriately paranoid, I could believe that this is a coordinated attack...

It is unfortunate that there are some who would try to deny the rest of us freedom of speech...and the ability to gather electronically.

And, Phil? Thanks for being so kind as to host our sometimes raucus, always active forum. The service has been great. (Let me know if you find out who the culprits are...I have a couple of big (#400+) friends who'd be happy to sit on them...)

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 29, 1999.