Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Erica Winston (MTS-RAL)" <Erica.Winston AT dcicorp.com>]

Title: RE: internetworkers digest: December 20, 1999

I vote for Thursdays, especially if 1st and 3rd. There are several related groups that do 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, and 1 & 3rd Mondays -- Thursday let's a breath between.

Erica Winston

-----Original Message-----
From: InterNetWorkers digest
[mailto:internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 1999 12:01 AM
To: internetworkers digest recipients
Subject: internetworkers digest: December 20, 1999

InterNetWorkers Digest for Monday, December 20, 1999.

1. Re: meeting nights
2. Re: Gathering Jan  2000?

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Subject: Re: meeting nights
From: Michael Thomas <mdthomas AT mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 01:07:04 -0500
X-Message-Number: 1

I also prefer Thursdays -- us traveling types are a little more likely to
be around towards the end of the week.

BTW, if there are any avid chess players out there, there is a chess lecture followed
by several hours of speed chess at Skylight Exchange in Chapel Hill Wednesday nights -- my
other reason for preferring Thursday nights.

B Holroyd wrote:

> I like first Thursdays.
>
> "Thomas A. Beckett" wrote:
> >
> >         I've brought this up before, but if we *were* to meet on the same day
> > each month, what would be the best night to do it?  My thought processes
> > as follows:
> >
> > Monday, Friday -- Forget it.
> > Tuesday -- still too early in the week.
> > Wednesday & Thursday -- Acceptable, I personally prefer Thursdays.
> >
> > As for which week of the month, I consulted Steve Burnett's user group
> > calendar page:
> > http://webslingerz.com/sburnett/triangle/groups.html#calendar
> >
> > The least conflicts seem to be on the First & Third Wednesdays &
> > Thursdays.
> >
> > Any other rationale to be injected into this process?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > P.S.  I also see the Pattern Language Users Group on the fourth
> > Thursday, which is intriguing.  Evidently applying Christopher
> > Alexander's "A Pattern Language" to computers.  Can anyone fill me in
> > further on the group?
> >
> > ---
>
> --
> "B" at home
> .........................................
> Think for yourselves and let others
> enjoy the privilege to do so, too.
>  --- Voltaire
> .........................................
>
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: Gathering Jan  2000?
From: Michael Thomas <mdthomas AT mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 02:18:21 -0500
X-Message-Number: 2

Rachel Cox wrote:

> uzoma nwosu wrote:
> >
> > What do we want to do about the location?  I think that the sooner we get a
> > regular spot the sooner we can focus on festivities.  You guys like to have
> > fun, don't you?
>
> The only problem with a regular spot is that it'll always be an
> inconvenient one for the same set of people.

I agree with this -- also see the advantages that Uzoma speaks of
in having a consistent location. However, if we rotate meetings to, say,
3 locations, we will reap the benefits of consistency to a lesser
degree  and it will take 3 times longer to start seeing those benefits.

This being said, it's also kinda fun to go in and take over a new place
for an evening... as long as our group has the energy to keep booking
the new places.

BTW, in my experience with setting up the meetings at Tyler's I found
that after having the first gathering, setting up the rest of the
gatherings at Tyler's simply required letting the proprietor know when
we wanted to do it.

> I vote for rotating, so that we can all
> have at least an occasional meeting that isn't completely out
> of our way.

I suggest that we try to minimize driving time, not necessarily
distance. Gotta remember the Cary-RTP-Cary commuters that jam I-40 every
day... Keeps us Chapel Hill-Raleigh-Chapel Hill commuters sailing along
at 80+ m.p.h. while scoffing at the herds in the other lanes.

I think it would also be cool to do what we can to encourage car
pooling... good for the environment, and I know it would force me to
clean out my car at least once in a while..

<GEEK Ignorable=yes>

Or even better, we could create a computer model of where every
potential participant works and lives -- or more precisely, we'll
determine the most probable pre-gathering location for each participant
and the most probable post-gathering location. Can't forget that some of
the potential participants work strange hours, work and live in the same
place, etc.

Then, we'll attempt to find, say, the 3 geographical spots in the area
that minimize "total driving time," where total driving time is defined
as the sum of the driving time from all pre-gathering locations to "the
spot" added to the sum of driving time from "the spot" to the
post-gathering locations, for all potential participants.

Now we have to make our model realistic by adding:
1) predictions of the traffic changes in the triangle over the next few
years.
2) predictions of the pre- and post- gathering locations of future
potential participants

After we find our 3 geographical spots, we simply build our own super
cool, super geeky hang outs there. Since by definition they will be
conveniently located, they'll pay for themselves.  Our meeting problem
is solved!

Then, every few years we run our model again, close our old hangouts and
build new ones.

<GEEKY>

> Cheers!
> -Rachel
>
> --
> Rachel Cox                        |           rachel.cox AT interpath.net
> Web Developer                     |                       919.253.5965
> Interpath Communications          |           http://www.interpath.net
> Careful the wish you make... wishes come true, not free.  -S. Sondheim
>
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END OF DIGEST

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