-- Start log: Wednesday, March 6, 2002 9:02:21 pm ASI Meeting Server time-- 

dcarson arrives.
A crack of thunder announces the arrival of Severy Scottyg has arrived.
irs arrives.
dcarson says, "helo"
Scottyg says, "Quick couple of questions for Randall or Dana...." irs says,
"Hi-ho."
Scottyg says, "1. Is MySQL serving a network socket or a local mechanism?"
DaveW arrives.
Scottyg says, "2. The upgraded server is referred to as pb7 but still seems
to respond to qs33. Which is correct?" Severy says, "pb7 is correct, qs33
has been set up as an alias to help with the transition" Severy says,
"MySQL is serving a network socket, one of these days I need to investigate
using it through a domain socket" Scottyg says, "Is it firewalled?"
Severy says, "Not directly, but the database permissions are set up to only
allow access from pb7 itself for virtually all of the databases" Scottyg
says, "Yeah, I assumed that. I got a pretty good lesson is setting up MySQL
the last couple of days. Got a local server running now." Greg arrives
amidst thundering applause. Greg says, "Home again!"
Greg says, "I'll be back in about 3 minutes. Gotta tidy up some stuff."
Scottyg says, "Ok, well, I don't think its an option I would want to use
anyway, but I'll remember that WAN db service is available." Scottyg says,
"Oh, Dana, Jennifer Day asked me to remind you...She's out of posters."
dcarson says, "they should be there soon" saavik ends the reading of one
chapter and looks up...Has the meeting started? The recorder is on dcarson
says, "actually according to UPS they were delivered today" saavik says,
"well, beep at me when you need me... I need to keep working" Scottyg says,
"Dana, now that the server upgrade is done, when can you try again to
install the credit-card access package?" dcarson says, "I'll try this
weekend I think" dcarson says, "gotta make a better todo list" Scottyg
says, "I need to hide the todo list so no one (not even me) can add to it."
Severy chuckles.
Greg says, "Back."
Greg says, "What is on our todo list these days?" Greg says, "I'm kind of
myopically focused on wanting to get SimsHost working." saavik says, "oh,
is it time for the secretary to wake up?" saavik says, "hold on.. I have
the list from last time" dcarson will be right back.
saavik says, "items on table:"
saavik says, "* 501c3 application status " saavik says, "* Newsfeed on the
Moon Society web site (Dana?)" saavik says, "* $10K project ideas
(Everyone!)" saavik says, "there may be others but those are the notes from
last time" Scottyg says, "501c3 status is still waiting for IRS response."
saavik says, "ok, so it stays on the table (indefinitely, it seems)"
Scottyg says, "As a result, I will have to file Form 1120 for 2001 for the
Moon Society. (Corporate Income Tax)" Greg says, "Aw, rats."
Scottyg says, "(Due March 15, so Time is getting short.)" saavik says,
"darn... and it is their fault!" Scottyg says, "Thats one of the "todo's"
that have been sneaking up on me." Greg says, "It seems like we've been
waiting a long time for a response on this round. Is there a way to find
out if they got the stuff without shooting our toes off?" saavik says, "I
got some good responses to my 10K email but I have been so busy with thesis
work (defense in 3.5 weeks!) that I haven't compiled them into a list for
us to discuss yet" Scottyg says, "Greg, I could call the person who handled
it the first time. I do have confirmation of delivery." Greg says, "I guess
confirmation of delivery is enough to go on, at least until after the Ides
of March." Greg says, "Sheesh... how could it be March 2002 already? I
haven't even finished with 1996 yet!" Scottyg says, "I had sort of set 90
days as my trigger point for a follow up. That would be about March 20."
Greg says, "Yeah. I think I'll be happy that we haven't received another
rejection letter. Maybe it's taking them a lot of time to get our 501c3
certificate engraved in bronze." Scottyg says, "By fortunate coincidence,
that is past the looming March 15 deadline." dcarson says, "you're farther
behind then I am Greg " Greg says, "We gotta get the muffler bearings on
these time machines fixed, Dana." Scottyg says, "BTW, I did win a little
scrimmage with them." Greg says, "Eh?"
Scottyg says, "They tried to stick us with a late-filing fee for the 2000
return. I won that round." Scottyg says, "Only amounted to $123.00, but it
was the principle...." Greg says, "What was our excuse?"
Scottyg says, "Our non-profit application was pending." Scottyg says, "We
weren't obligated to file a for-profit return until the rejection on Nov
22." Greg says, "Sounds good to me!"
Greg says, "The newsfeed from moreover.com seems to be continuing, despite
their warnings that it would vaporize in January." Scottyg says, "'scuse
me, the rejection was on Sept 22. We had 60 days after that to file the
return." Greg says, "It sounds like they were reasonable about it after
hearing the facts." Greg says, "Dana, are we ready with the alternative
newsfeed, if moreover.com ever makes good on their threat?" dcarson says,
"yes"
Greg says, "So, like the 501c3, we're just waiting for someone else to drop
the bomb." Scottyg says, "Yep. But if they had their act together, they
would have read the explanation sent with the return the first time
around." Greg says, "Yeah, good point."
Greg says, "I take it that we don't have any excuses this time around." irs
has disconnected.
saavik says, "oops... I whispered at him to say thanks and he logged off"
Greg says, "There's goes New York!"
Greg says, "Is there anything we can do with the $10K ideas tonight?"
saavik says, "if you want me to compile a list, we can discuss them.
problem is I am spending about 110% of my brain's processing on reading a
complete draft of my thesis right now." saavik says, "committee wants it
this weekend and advisor wants it tomorrow" saavik says, "so I'm a bit nuts
right now" dcarson says, "so you fit right in"
saavik laughs.
dcarson says, "but worry about the thesis first" saavik says, "I seriously
hope life gets less crazed once I graduate" saavik says, "but job stress is
also high right now... we'll see... but yes, the immediate deadline of the
thesis will be done soon :-)" saavik says, "then I have several weeks to
make and prepare and practice my talk" The housekeeper arrives to cart irs
off to bed. saavik says, "then I sleep :-)"
Greg says, "Yeah, the $10K ideas can wait a while longer." Greg says, "I
haven't even had time to read the stuff on artemis-list." saavik says, "thx
:-) I did warn you when i took this job that this spring would be tough for
me :-)" Greg says, "Yup."
saavik says, "but it should get better post April (the final school
deadline is april 30th). that means defense, signatures, and final thesis
all by then" Scottyg says, "We all have lives that interfere with our
volunteer activities Amy. Welcome to the club!" Greg says, "Neat! Then we
get to call you Dr. Amy!" saavik smiles.
saavik says, "and cool!"
Greg says, "Dramy, for short. :)"
saavik says, "want to know the funny part?" saavik says, "Dr McGovern is my
mom!"
saavik says, "Yet I will soon be one too :-)" Scottyg says, "Dr
McGovern..... Has a nice ring to it!" Greg says, "And between the two of
you we will have a paradox!" Scottyg says, "Medical doc or acedemic?"
saavik says, "agreed... and our initials rhyme. it's been a long standing
statement of mine that I wanted to be Dr E A since she was Dr E Gaye :-)"
Scottyg says, "academic too."
saavik says, "academic also"
saavik says, "oh my... I just got the paradox joke" saavik groans.
Greg says, "Painful, wasn't it? :)"
saavik says, "between andy and I too... he is already a Dr (academic) also"
Greg says, "Scotty, any progress on that software spec for SimsHost?"
Scottyg says, "I'm still trying to get the financial model put together."
dcarson says, "friends of mine are Dr. Linda and Lewis Wasserman (both MD)"
Scottyg says, "I think the financial model drives the software spec to some
degree." saavik says, "Drs L & L? that is funny :-)" Greg says, "Yeah, it
seems like the most complicated part is chasing the money around." irs
arrives.
Scottyg says, "DLL? (Shudder)"
Greg says, "What about the part where we modify the web server to be
persnickety about what domains it allows to call it?" saavik says, "sorry
Ian, if I had known that talking to you would disconnect you, I wouldn't
have done it :-)" (But she just did it again to test the theory.) saavik
says, "no, that was to all... previously I whispered" Scottyg says,
"Greg...One nice thing about cgi scripts is they have behind-the-scenes
ways of doing things." Greg says, "I think the key elephants for SimsHost
are:" Greg says, "1. The money engine"
Greg says, "2. User logins and profiles" Greg says, "3. Server mods to
control what domains can call it" Greg says, "4. Tracking bandwidth usage
by user" Greg says, "Are we confident that we can do all that stuff?" irs
says, "I had no idea it was your fault. Sorry about that crash." Scottyg
says, "Greg, yep."
Greg says, "Hooray!"
Scottyg says, "Except will #1 work."
Greg says, "I'm kinda nervous because I've been marketing the heck out of
this thing, and folks are getting excited." Greg says, "You mean will the
money engine work?" Scottyg says, "Yep. Can we control the fixed costs to
be sure we stay ahead is the main issue." saavik says, "laugh, Ian, I was
just kidding. but I did say thanks for the magazine... it finally came so I
guess my subscription is still valid aftter all :-)" Greg says, "Oh, right.
I don't know how to estimate the development costs." Severy says, "Yup,
same here. I'm not worried about the others, but #1 terrifies me." Scottyg
says, "I'll have a breakdown to send around soon. It may still be missing
some numbers for things I can't make a good guess on." Greg says, "By "the
money engine" I meant the software system that accepts new subscriptions,
tracks user accounts, and all that stuff." Severy says, "And the
development costs are the least of the money issues" Scottyg says, "Oh,
that #1 is not a biggie, just mechanics." Greg says, "What money issues are
you thinking of, Randall?" Severy says, "Yup, the software isn't that big a
deal" irs says, "Yeah; turns out the USPS really doesn't like small
businesses. Subscription copies in Brooklyn were delivered within three
days of mailing; the rest of the country took three weeks, with
Massachusetts taking an extra couple of weeks. And don't get me started on
international airmail rates...." Scottyg says, "The biggie is will the
financial model work." Severy says, "The whole financial model thing Scotty
was referring to" Greg says, "What's the long pole in the tent? Labor costs
to support the system?" saavik says, "laugh, ok... well, I am just happy
that it came, even in my state is a pain :-)" Severy says, "When you strip
off the technology and the philosophy, what this all boils down to is a
fairly generic web hosting company, and that's a really tough business to
be in" Severy says, "Yup, support costs would be one of my biggest
concerns, it's where most hosting companies fail" Greg says, "The major
difference between SimsHost and a typical web hosting company is that
instead of charging the webmasters, we are charging the folks who visit the
web sites." Severy says, "Actually, that only makes it a lot more
complicated, and lot riskier, Greg" Greg says, "I'm thinking our experience
with the Moon Sims sites is that once they were set up, they've been pretty
low maintenance." Greg says, "Randall, yup. Lots more people to deal with."
Greg says, "Lots more accounts to track." Greg says, "And lots more people
for the Artemis Project to wiggle its tush at." Severy says, "I would not
rely on the Moon Sims sites as a predictor for a larger scale operation"
Severy says, "Tracking accounts isn't a big deal" Greg says, "It sounds
like I'm missing something very important here." Severy says, "99% of the
support costs and infrastructure in a web hosting company involves
supporting the webmasters, that's not going to be any different for
SimsHost, no matter where the revenue is coming from" Severy says,
"Supporting the revenue engine for SimsHost only adds another layer of
complexity that most web hosting companies don't have to deal with" saavik
says, "whew.... 6 of 8 chapters edited tonight" saavik says, "time for a
short break"
Greg says, "What support do the webmasters need?" Severy says, "And adds a
lot more variables in the financial model, since the revenue factors no
longer have much correlation with the cost factors" saavik says, "quick
question as secretary: is the SimsHost stuff Moon Society related?" saavik
says, "(trying to make sure it gets in the notes correctly)" Greg says,
"Amy, nope."
Greg says, "It's a TLRC project."
saavik says, "(if I don't do the notes now, I never will)" saavik says,
"oh, ok... laugh, well... " Greg says, "Though of course we'll use every
opportunity to parade the Moon Society around. :)" Scottyg says, "Greg, let
me illustrate with a pointed question......" Greg says, "Amy, yeah, I think
we've done what we can for Moon Society tonight." Greg says, "Thought I
think next time we need to look at the bylaws and check on when we're
suppose to kick off the next election cycle." Severy says, "Even after
supporting 20+ domains on qs33/pb7 for several years, and workingn closely
with a lot of web hosting companies for the past five years, I still don't
consider myself fully qualified enough to answer that question, Greg"
saavik says, "ok, then I'm heading out to keep working... need to go fix
graphs and then head to the next chapter"

-- End log: Wednesday, March 6, 2002 10:06:14 pm ASI Meeting Server time --