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

["David R. Matusiak" <matusiak AT hotmail.com>]

*< Below is attached an auto-reply from the script which scans all    >*
*< postings for the character string "David Matusiak" and then sends  >*
*< a non-inflammatory, politically-correct reply.                     >*

Word, G! Big up to all the InterNetWorkers in the house!!

Your cunning moderator without moderation was out of town for the weekend, 
but look what goodies the list hath brought me!! Fodder for my wry, sardonic 
musings!!!

anyway, enough with the exclamation points...

i have very little that i wish to interject (at least at this early stage); 
mostly questions related to this list and less to do with the issues "at 
large."

A: i would *gladly* serve as interpreter/ice breaker/jester for a diverse 
group of people who may experience difficulty in "getting the ball rolling."

B: before we head off the regional triangle we-are-the-world love-in, we 
should decide exactly _who_ we want to focus on helping. this point is not 
supposed to be funny - what i mean is, nothing more will contribute to the 
failure of any given project than confusion and dispersion of interest.

    ~are we about saving/teaching the youth of the area?
    ~are we supposed to be networking with minorities and bringing
     them into the INW fold?
    ~how organized and far-reaching is the (planned) scope of these
     projects?

basically, there hasn't been consensus as to the purpose of internetworkers. 
and that in itself is a consensus. it is a consensus of mind that the group 
seems to be choosing "no mission statement" and "let's drink beer," but 
there in the recesses of other folks' minds we have these do-good, feel-good 
notions which tend to drive things towards organization and task-appointing 
and leave me a voicemail.

this is not a rebel song. there is no rabble-rousing going on here. all i am 
trying to do is point out that before we shatter and fragment into 
individual pods with individual visions/goals/etc, we should try to reign in 
the positive energy and focus on one (perhaps two) actual issues we want to 
impact.

there are already groups out there on all these fronts (as evidenced by the 
URLs sent by Roger - and i'm sure there are plenty more), but to attempt to 
move into this altruistic space without much actual discussion and planning 
would be a mistake.

it risks having our peacock-like egos tied to a whole host of failed social 
projects, not to mention the ultimate disintigration of a group that used to 
have fun drinking. it also risks the most horrific of social stigma (in my 
eyes), which is the [after-the-fact] remarking by locals; "Oh, how sweet -- 
the educated, (mostly young and white), wealthy techies wanted to help out. 
isn't that just darling?? too bad they didn't have the 
roster/organization/determination/etc to make it work as well as the junior 
league has done for years..."

so - like i said - take 'er easy, dude.
and get on the horn and let me know when you need some practical analysis.
dave ;)

> From: "uzoma nwosu" <uzoma AT metalab.unc.edu>
> Reply-To: "InterNetWorkers" <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> To: "InterNetWorkers" <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Subject: [internetworkers] RE: Geeks + Diversity
> Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 10:48:46 -0400

> > Question #2 - if there *are* ethnic geek-types around, what cultural
> > references would help me to communicate with such a geek? What movies,
> > music, etc... In other words, how could *I* conform to help get the ball
> > rolling?
>
> Ask David Matusiak.  ;)

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