ptw here. I am chief bottle washer and head cook for the Spring, host of this conference and VP of NetRabbit, a builder of electronic commerce websites. I've known William through the years and he has a fascinating story and besides, he's pretty eloquent at times. Hopefully some aspects of his experiences will unfold via this conference and you'll get to know him (and each other) better. That is, if this conference somehow attains critical mass. William has set the table by creating this conference a d putting together a gorgeous (and expanding) website. Now, to find the guests . . .

I would only add that our mutual friend Marc Greene, Manhattan webmeister & multimedia magician, should be joining us soon to add some depth to a potentially enlightening�conversation about virtuous as well as virtual reality. Wm

Boy Howdy, Thought I'd leave a post and see if this thing is working. Let's see what we can get started here. Marcury

Perhaps we could start by having a three-way conversation among those of us who have shown up so far as to how to make this conference corner work better, or at least generate a livelier conversation. I'd like to know how many people, potentially, are participating in Spring conferences; what their interests might be expected to be; and what we could all possibly do, among us, to stir up some juice. This has been too much like dead air so far.

I'd also like to know why, in spite of the three separate topics we having going here, and a number of responses within all three, none of them is registering in the main directory, where we're recorded as having 0 topics and 0 responses. Something's not being done completely right, but what? Where are you, Paul?�Given up already, and on to the next thing? Wm

That's because, William, you haven't figured out how your conference list works. These stats refer to 'new' stuff, stuff you haven't seen yet. This will become more meaningful as this conference goes and you're dealing with a lot more new responses. I have hardly given up. I'm planning new conferences on politics, movies, tv, genx, health, community and more. The most active conferences now are yapp, sports, and apps (which has a huge traffic draw from http://www.stroud.com). One way to 'pump up' this conference would be to seek out other high volume, high traffic web sites that are related to the subject matter of this conference and invite them to add a link to here for their participants. You can find these sites by doing an internet search. Want to know about the coolest search engine going? Check out http://www.webtaxi.com Sure, let's get a three way going till we get more traffic.

Suggest we confine this topic to personal intros and the nuts & bolts of conferencing, html'ing and web-surfing. My friend Melody, who teaches Introductory HTML and Advanced HTML, should be joining us shortly. What's the story with the latest QuarkXTension for HTML? Is that the HTML editor of choice? Or is any of them preferable to the bare-bones version?

Take a look at the html editors topics in our apps conference. HotDog is my html editor of choice. Really, any word processor or text editor will suffice.

Hey, new guy here. My html editor of choice is notepad. Easy, quick, and, oh, so much fun! This appeared to be the most interesting topic off the main menu, so I really just stopped by to see what's going on.Ciao, me.

There are several people crowded around the gate, waiting to be given entrance and introduced. How can we make it easier for them to get in? William E. Roland, I don't know why your handle is KitchenManager or much you're up to, so maybe you could introduce yourself at greater length. So far, it's nerds by default.

Hello, again, sorry for the delay but I don't actually own a computer. I depend upon the availability of my inlaws. Nerd is a good place to start, but my handle refers to my job in the real world (no debating,please) where I work in a great Italian restaurant in Austin. Other than that, I'm thirty and have varied and eclectic interests including world domination. Ran out of space, see ya soon. Ciao, me.

So do you have any opinions about world cultures, the state of the planet, saving the world, or the role of physical-fitness centers in generating a high level of consciousness? Does anybody? Ciao, Wm

Hello, again, everyone. Wm, most of my opinions about world culture are limited to modern tribalism/neo-paganism but overall I would consider myself a preservationist. The state of the planet is deteriorating, including the loss of cultures, but as far as the outdoors go I tend to be a conservationist. Physical-fitness centers? Couldn't one consider restaraunts to be physical fitness centers? Anyplace that can generate extreme levels of pleasure, pain, or sensory deprivation can be used to heighten consciousness. Well, I.m off to read the other topics in the category, so that I can be a more informed member of this particular society. WER

See my response in saving the world for thoughts on cultures. I would consider restaurants physical-challenge centers -- a physical-fitness center, in my mind, is where you would have to put out some effort (not just money) to gain something back. A university or any kind of genuine school would be a mental-fitness center. Any monastery worthy of the name should qualify as a spiritual-fitness center. Pushing against something, not just feeling something, seems important to staying fit.

Howdy, everybody. It is the Finnish eccentric, born in the family of witches (no kidding) here again. William talked about being fit. I agree - we should make sure that the world keeps fit. That way we'll keep fit, too. Oops, gotta go - lecture's starting!

Welcome back Mixu!

Checking in again. Actually, Wm, any place considered to be a fitness center of any kind would also be a mental-fitness center, because of the determination and self-control needed to generate any type of true rewards. As to my other thoughts, I was focusing on the higher consciousness aspect of your message and not on the physical-fitness aspect. Mi culpa. That's it for now. WER

Dear Kitchenmanager Write to Morningside Press, 200 West 86th Street, 6L, New York, NY 10024 for a catalog of earth-saving hemp fashions and products. As for higher consciousness, hemp was an introduction to that for me. The higher grades, of course. Wm

My name is Matthew McClure. I used to be an activist when I was at the hippie monastery William and PTW lived on, the Farm in Tennessee. When I left the Farm, I found the exigencies of earning a living made it harder to allot enough time to make much of a difference. Maybe that's changing now. Two things have happened in the past couple of weeks - my younger daughter took part in a save-the-redwoods demonstration at Headwaters forest, and I heard Helen Caldicott on the radio pushing her autobiography. Helen reminded me that our fragile ecosystem is in imminent danger. It would be a matter of regret if I didn't do what I could to help keep life on the planet.

Count me as another ex-resident of the Farm and acquaintance of William. I left there in 1983 and have worked in the computer networking field since 1985. I'm now researching an idea that will make use of the Internet to help turn the tide against the increasing degradation of our habitat here on earth. Focusing on spirituality and the relationships we individuals share with each other and with all living things was what the Farm and Stephen Gaskin's early teachings were all about. Pollution and defor station are now teaching the rest of humanity the same lessons. Now we have to get practical and really make a difference, so I'm glad to rediscover William and his work. Hi, William!

Hey, William, are you a preservationist or a conservationist? And why do so many people get them confused? I put a link to this conference up on GeoCities, so maybe some more people will come our way. Well, my time's up again. WER

I'm back, thank God...it's a jungle out there. I'm inundated in so much stuff I have to be careful in setting my priorities every day. Anyway, Matthew, Cliff, William, et al., thank you for showing up. I will be more of an attendant host to this conference... I'm both a preservationist and a conservationist. I believe in preserving as much of our original natural habitat as possible and conserving as much energy as possible. I'm immediately suspect of conservation in the name of "using resources wisely," "harvesting oldgrowth," etc.�I think the Headwaters deal�as proposed by Feinstein is a typical Clinton compromise, just this side of a sell-out. Basically I think it's a moral travesty to allow "venture capitalists" to purchase something as priceless and irrep aceable as a virgin redwood grove in the first place. Buying as much as possible back from them at a high price stinks to high heaven. So does an electoral system that bars candidates with serious constituencies from entering a debate. I thank God (the heavens / Buddha) for providing us with enough people with enough bodhisattvic courage and determination and grit to get out and put their bodies on the line between the natural world and the despoilers. I'm sick of seeing the world wasted by the ignorant u derbelly of humanity. When are the people of wisdom of compassion -- of which there are so many -- finally going to take a united stand? The planet can't wait much longer.

Interesting point you raise about the Headwaters. I mean, granting that we live in a society that permits private ownership of land, where do we go from here in order to protect what's left? I don't really think it stinks for the government to decide it's worth a bunch of money to save the environment, and to pay these companies for their land. It seems like a reasonable use of capital to me. I also think it would be good to make some laws about how people can use what kinds of land, so that we don't perpetuate the problem.

Thanks to Paul Terryu Walhus for inviting me to the Spring. Why did clicking my left mouse button delete my previous message, which was more detailed?

Thanks to Paul Terryu Walhus for inviting me to the Spring. Why did clicking my left mouse button delete my previous message, which was more detailed?

It depends on where your mouse was pointed when you left clicked. What you want to avoid is clicking your mouse twice or double clicking because that results in two identical responses.

Thanks for the invite. I am 43 and currently work in a hospital as a respiratory therapist. I am more into holistic health though. I am a Baha'i by faith, and also a Star Trek fan. I don't know if they go hand in hand, but it would be nice to see a bright future for mankind. I am new to this site, so maybe discussions about The brave new world our children are about to enter in the year 2000 might be of interest to me. Looking forward to having some thoughtful conversations.

Great suggestion, I'll start the topic now.

Hi. Dani in Alaska here...you know, the state with ANWR...the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (or something like that). For years, Alaska's federal representation has been pushing to get oil drilling allowed in that refuge and one administration after another has been reluctant to do so. In the years of Reagan and Bush the administration agreed that there should be oil drilling/exploration there but the democratic Congress said no. Presently, the Congress agrees but the Clinton administration doesn't. laska is such a strange state...it has a culture all its own. :) Of course, I have my own opinions on ANWR but I am not totally passionate about it like I am about so many other things that have to do with culture, society and the like. It's good to be here, btw...thanks for inviting me, Terry!

Glad you made it Dani. Feel feel to explore and feel welcome to invite others. We're pretty new and just starting to build traffic.

Hi, every body can you here me. And how are you ?

We hear you and we're just fine.

Just popped in from the Austen Conference. G'day and now I'm your token Aussie!

Welcoem Ian!

This is amazing! Everyone can actually spell! Hi ya'll Everytime I see an internet discussion about saving our earth, my heart leaps with hope. Finally, with the internet, there now exist an avenue for true grass roots sharing among people without government or media filtering. I believe that, if the earth is to be saved, it will have to come from the people of the world changing their hearts and most of all, changing their VALUES - the governments are never going to save the world, much less the international corporations. Until we replace the idea in men s minds that a person's worth comes from how much they can consume, with the idea that a person's worth comes from their spirit and their character, we will continue to degrage our environment. I wonder if the idea that it is shameful to consume too much will ever catch on? Or the idea that a true test of a man's personal freedom is how much he doesn't need in order to be happy and can be happy without? There are two sites that you may enjoy visiting: Planetkeepers http://galaxy.tradewave.com/editors/wayne-pendley/plankeep.htm Ishmael http://galaxy.tradewave.com/editors/wayne-pendley/pkishsum.htm#TOP (they are also reachable from each other. ============= At the beginning of this conversation, there were references to learning HTML. I have a site reserved in the Rainforest at GeoCities, but I don't yet know how to put anything on it. Is there a place to go to learn how to manage a site, or even just to start one with something on it? ============== I will mention, I almost gave up before I got here, because I couldn't figure out how to leave a response. Maybe some instructions up front would be helpful. Anna

Oh my lord! Did I mention spelling. I left out typo? exist = exists degrage = degrade sorry about that! Anna

Anna, you can practise your HTML in the Austentest Conference at http://www.spring.com/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/austentest/all/ Just subscribe to Austentest as another topic in the portfolio of those topics you are interested in here at Spring.

Hello there,,

what is up ,,,any topic you'd like to argue about

What's your favorite subject?

Hi, I'm Kristi. I'm 24 and I'm just starting out using a computer. I guess your never too old to start, huh? Well I just wanted to say "Hi" and I'm glad you're out there. kkw

Hi I'm Jean, but everyone calls me Amariah. Anne, you mentioned everyone was spelling right, well I am here now, that will change! I just thought I would check out this spot and say Hi! Amariah

Hi I'm Jean, but everyone calls me Amariah. Anne, you mentioned everyone was spelling right, well I am here now, that will change! I just thought I would check out this spot and say Hi! Amariah

Welcome Amariah. What's going on in your part of the world?

I am a new member of spring.com. I am working as the VP-Finance of an Internet Applications Development Company (Mercury Productions, Inc. www.mpinc.com) in Gainesville,FL. Here is a quote I read yesterday and I have been thinking about quite a bit these days. Here it goes: " (the universe is change. life is understanding.)" Marcus Aurelius

Welcome frogpajammas!

Howdy from Dallas! I've been cruising about the Spring, clogging up various topics with my endless rambling, avoided "culture" because I don't have any, but now I see you're just folks like me. Do any of you belong to Utne-style salons? Just for intros (I think I posted this somewhere else as well, deja vu): I'm a delighfully effervescent, mildly eccentric molecular biologist; I escaped the rat race by quitting my residency 4 months out of med school and am having a fabulous time, 8 years into my Prime Ministership of the Shiftless Workshy Slackers Club (join us, please). Totally new to the net (started in Feb) and don't own a computer so I do all this on the government's time (state employee of sorts), heh heh heh. Good thing my boss is a charter member of the SWSC!

Mildly eccentric molecular biologist? I thought all molecular biologists (in the stereotypers Lexicon) were VERY Eccentric! Howdy, I'm Nancy -- clogging up as many topics as I can at Terry's invite. My fingers are wearing down...

I'll be offline in half and hour. I hope some reinforcements show up to keep you company. I'll be on my way to the sports club to work out other parts of my body besides these also worn out fingers.

Speaking of working out, I've been part of a little experiment with editor Jack Olmsted who is evangelizing working out in front of the computer. You can check out our online exercise diaries (gasp) at http://www.futuremedia.org/Media/imedia/new/year%2097/may97/diary5.html The above URL is week 5, we are in week 7 so you can go either way with buttons Jack has put on the site.

What a great idea!

well, I'm a student at swiss federal institute of technology and yesterday evenig, for exemple, I just talk late in the night with friends about the reject of difference that seems to be a part of the occidental culture. That's why I come first in this conference

Tell us about your conversation, I'm curious.

Hi, I'm Paul Kenyon & I just realised that I started a fresh topic (CareMail: Reaching out from Cyberspace to reach the unconnected) without introducing myself - Apologies. I teach Psychology at a university in the UK and I was approached by Klaus Treuherz from Brazil who explained the CareMail concept to me and asked if I would help him set it up. I'm also interested in the opportunities offered by the Internet to support students, see http://salmon.psy.plym.ac.uk/year1/bbb.htm An increasing number of students are working part-time to support themselves and their families and are simply not able to attend lectures at a set place and time. I was attracted to the idea of exploring the Net to break what I call 'the tyranny of the lecture theatre' which is a phrase I use to describe a number of failings with conventional lectures including the 'blink and you have missed a vital bit of information', phenomenon. I seem to spend a lot of time now doing what I call 'Internet gardening': planning new features for my websites, selecting plants, sewing seeds, keeping down weeds on the site etc. I look forward to hearing your comments on the CareMail concept.

What conference did you set up the Caremail topic in?

Hey all you culture enthusiasts out there... Who's into world domination! Screw mutliculturalism!

*Now* you tell us you're into total world domination and absolute control over mankind.

Just role-playing...

Whew, had us sweating there for a bit.

One hand up for world domination in this corner! WER

I think I could've guessed that! :)

.......Keep sweet talking me like that, and I might let you stay on my continent! WER

*eskimo kisses* on the soft parts. (!)

..........Yeah, like I've got any of those when you're on a roll! Speaking of you on a roll... WER

*giggle*

*purr*

There you go, in the middle of a sandwich again. WER

My name is Sally. I don't what to say at this point. I'm overwhelmed at all the information and wonder if I will be able to do this. I want to have a concrete thing to start with.

Welcome, Sally. Don't be discouraged by the amount of information. There are lots of nice folks here, so don't be afraid to ask questions. WER

She's overwhelmed by technology. Practice empathy.

Where's the empathy key? Is that a function? Is there an empathy macro? Just teasing Sally. Oh, we do like to tease here, but were really a fun bunch of folks! Where are you physically located?

I am the master of...like it's important. WER

Ooops, thought you said apathy... WER

I'm with Sally--it is kind of overwhelming! My name is Autumn, a definite "newbie" at all this computer stuff, and I live in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland (midway between Baltimore & Philadelphia). Terry, I'm still awaiting a French topic in this conference...ca va marcher?

Is that what you want to call it ca va marcher?

Maybe something a little more descriptive of its purpose, such as "parlez-vous francais?" or "Parlons francais!" or something like that. What do you think? I'm eager to get your input.

OK! parlons francais

Je suis tad bit bewildered by the lot of you but my flat mate has convinced me this is a good idea so: hello!! I am didi and well .... hello, really. P.S. Je parle francais un petit peu.

imagine the lot of us are a tad bit bewildering... agree with you re: "Lady of Shallott", by the way...it is quite beautiful, worthy of inclusion (book or no)...

Bonjour, Didi! Hope to see you in the French topic soon--we need some fresh karma there. Nick & I are running out of poems to recite.

Hello to all! I jumped right into the culture, eh? No French - sorry! How about...Namaste! Just wanted to say, "hello"!

well, hello to you, too! Seems we meet again... (more or less...)

hi annette. no French here either but that doesn't mean we aren't cultured now, does it?

I was sitting at a table with mostly French people at the CFP98 banquet, listening to the keynote speech. Our table was up near the front, directly to the side of the podium. I was about to doze off, when I heard a bunch of gasps in the room and shrieks, the lady from Vancouver shouted at me to "watch out!" I looked up and their was about a 12' potted tree falling and heading directly for the guy sitting next to me. I jumped up and lunged for the tree and caught it just inches from his head. It got me back in the here and now!

Trees are good for that...

Think of it this way, Terry; you saved a human and a tree, all at one time! Way to go!~~~*

Hopefully one will be worth the pain-in-the-butt rescue effort . . .

Hi, folks. I'm here mainly to participate in the Viridian discussion (topic 18).

hi dave. hope to see you around in other conferences, too!

Welcome, David! Discuss away!

Adam Lipscomb here. I'm employed at a local telecommunication company - IXC Communications. I'm mainly here for the Viridian conference, but I'm prone to wander around and post on things that catch my eye, also. I've brought up this on the Books conference, but I'll mention it here, also - have any of you read _The Transparent Society_ by David Brin? It's a pretty fascinating study on current attitudes toward privacy and openness. I'm normally a strong privacy advocate, but Brin raises some very strong points regarding the ways in which the concept of Transparency could enable all of us to hold our government accountable.

the more I think about that, the more I want to go get that book...

I just blew my weeks book budget on a $60 technical analysis book, but I'll put this on my amazon list. A lot of good it will do me though, as net stocks defy any analysis! I'll check this out sometime, Adam. Tell us more about it!

Brin's basic proposition is that, as technology has progressed, it has become easier and easier to monitor the activities of others. Brin proposes that we set up clearly defined zones of privacy/secrecy, but in other areas, allow for what he calls "reciprocal transparency," which is basically that everyone not only has access to that information, but their accessing it is also monitored. For instance, if there are cameras mounted to monitor a section of a city, any citizen should have access not only to the output from the cameras, but also to the central office where the police monitor the cameras. This information would not only allow police surveillance (which has been proven to reduce street crime) but would also allow ordinary citizens to both monitor the police and the streets near where they live. I'm not as articulate as I like right now, but that is the gist of his argument. I'll try to dig some better figures and information this weekend.

I would like regulars of this conference invite to visit the International Conflicts conference here on the Spring: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/InternationalConflicts/all This conference is dedicated to the disputes between groups all over the world, be that social, cultural, political or ethnical differences.

Hello. I just registered on the Spring, at Terry's invitation. I'm a cognitive scientist doing research in educational technology and learning theory.

Where are you doing this research, geographically? And is it independent or part of a larger organization?

Welcome, Barry!

Thank you. I live in suburban Boston. For the past 10 years I've been affiliated with the Educational Technology Research Group at BBN. However, GTE recently bought up BBN to acquire their Internet Services (BBN Planet), and dissolved most of the rest of BBN. So the Educational Technology Research Group is no more. I am also affiliated with projects at the MIT Media Lab (Affective Computing) and until recently with the Community Outreach Lab at UMass Lowell. I continue to volunteer at the Boston Museum of Science, in the Children's Discovery Center. Most of my research has been independent, although my latest project is a collaboration with Rob Reilly of UMass and Roz Picard of the MIT Media Lab. The MuseNet K12 Project is my oldest and longest running project. It's entirely unfunded and has never sought funding. The Joy Project and the Orenda Project are newer, and require no funding. See http://www.musenet.org/orenda