If you're in a hurry, skip to the request at the end.
Good news! The travesty that was my first attempt at a new web site for
ClassicCmp.org has only a few days' worth of life still left in it. We've
been long overdue a web site that doesn't (completely) suck, and I intend to
provide one as soon as possible. I am finished with college and have become
comfortable with my new job, so I now have adequate time to make ClassicCmp
a better tool for its members and for the world's classic computer
enthusiasts in general.
The first stage will be a small set of static documents which will provide a
*consistent* view of the site's current content: mailing list info, mail
archives, and the FAQ. There will be no mention of anything under
construction. Documents will be simple, nearly text-only, XHTML-compliant,
and lynx-compliant. Expect this to be up soon.
I have written the first half of the spam-defense mechanism we discussed
several weeks ago. This half isn't the CGI program I talked about, but
instead the processor that replaces email addresses in an HTML document with
links to that CGI program. Due to popular demand, the email address info
encoded in the links is encrypted by two iterations of DES. I am currently
investigating human-verification methods to be used in the CGI program.
Expect the archives to be spam-proofed soon.
Thanks to Tothwolf the packrat, the missing months of the old list archives
have been recovered. Expect them to be up soon, as soon as I decide whether
to keep Pipermail or switch to Hypermail (what we used to use) for message
archiving. I'm leaning toward Hypermail.
Once these things are done and a decent web site is in place, I will look at
developing a much more complex, second-stage site, with a file archive, link
database, and some degree of dynamicity via PHP or similar. If you have a
suggestion, please let me know via private email.
By the way, we now have exactly 720 subscribers.
I would also like to hear (private email please) from subscribers with
comments for or against the current two-list system. Defense of the system
is welcome, as are ideas for better ways of doing it. Is it necessary?
Should we go back to one list? Should we have more than two lists? Something
else? I want _your_ opinion!
--
Jeffrey Sharp
ClassicCmp List Admin (during Jay's extended break)
Received on Fri Jan 03 2003 - 23:23:00 GMT