How exiting! A movie with Jane Austen in the title which really has nothing to do with her!

It's really a novel idea when you think about it! The possibilities for future films are endless!

Jane Austin, pet detective.

Riette is now set up with host powers in 'art'. Which means she can customize it to her heart's desire. More specifically: The Role of the Conference Host Each conference has at least one host. The duties of the host vary from maintenance-only hosting which might involved clearing out old and unused topics to high-involvement hosting where the host takes an active role in encouraging and participating in the discussions. Hosts can help topics stay on the subject, answer questions, and bring up new subjects. They help new users and lost users. They generally keep things rolling along in the conference. Hostly Powers Hosts can perform the following acts that regular users cannot. Open the first topic in the conference. Retire any topic in the conference. Kill any topic in the conference. Change the conference header. Change the bulletin which is a message displayed (if new) once for everyone. Change the welcome message which is displayed when someone joins for the first time. Change the conference configuration commands. Change the ulist which is the list of participants' logins. Change the login message which is displayed when entering the conference. Change the Logout

OOOH, all that power . . . am I allow to tie people up too?

allowed, that is.

only if you include me

"Jane Austen, Pet Detective"--ROTFLMAO!!! Good one, Riette!!

ha-ha! Mike, you mean, you've not even noticed that you're already tied to me? Broken arm to broken finger! Which finger? Because if it's your right, then we can make music together! My right hand, your left. You do the cords, I strum. How does that sound?

woo woo! then BOTH of you are still handcuffed to the couch!

So we're tied to one another AND the couch? This is getting complicated. Now all we need is for you and Wer to join us, and we'll be a Spring Quartet!

lol :) nice pun, riette :)

I changed the Spring's base href tag to "http://www.spring.net/ by adding the trailing / Check out the website and see if it's working in your browser, if you care to. Is the picture refreshing automatically every 60 seconds like it is supposed to do? We're building a new server soon. I just ordered a CD-R to use for backing up our present system. Should be here tomorrow or the next day. Spring party here the 18th, hope all the local springeurs can make it by, even ok for wer to drop in late after work. We should still be jammin' Everyone, please invite someone you know or don't know to join our conversation! Let's start growing incrementally! Back to the All Start game.

Start sb Star.

Holland is out of the World Cup!!!!!! YAAAAAA-HOOOOOOOOO!!!

you're happy? i was gutted. they were the only non-cheating team left in. now Brazil, and their team of professional divers, will win.

("professional divers"??? what does this mean?)

All I gotta say is, GO CROATIA!

Me too. Mike!!! I'm shocked! You shouted for Holland?! They played like big bullies! But I don't really care who wins, and it wouldn't have bothered me much if they HAD won . . . as long as it isn't France (or Germany, I was going to say, but they're out already, thank heavens!)!!

professional divers refers to the Brazilian penchant for jumping to the floor at the mere hint of an opposition player coming close to them. a technique prevalent on the continent, it is scorned here in England, and rightly so.

"jumping to the floor" ??? Should we take this to the soccer topic in sports?

No, NO NO!! They play with their feet, Holland plays with those big, chunky muscles! And all the teams do that opera thing anyway to try and get the other team a yellow card. Was it in that one game between Paraguay and WHO? where the one guy from Paraguay did that magnificent roll practically from one end of the field to the other after tripping over someone's foot? I was in stitches. But I adore the Paraguayan goalkeeper. He's SO charismatic, and a great player too. I also liked that young English player, Mike Owen who kicked that wonderful goal against Argentinia. WOW! Sorry, Terry, I won't say more - I really can't go to sports; I know Nothing about Nothing there. I just enjoy watching the WC, because then I can cuddle the little guinea-piggies at the same time.

So, is Croatia still alive?

the team? no, they went out to France. France vs. Brazil in the final. I reckon 1-0 to Brazil.

The Babes conference header has had a bit of an update. A new logo, and a couple of "additions". Head on over. You might also fancy dropping into the Alicia Silverstone topic, to check out this wonderful wonderful (wonnnnnnderrfulll....i should stop now) actress.

Who do you think will score the goal?

Warning: a comment slipped in ahead of yours at 225!

i've no idea - i didn't watch any of the Brazil matches. and maybe we should this chatter to Sports - it's a bit irrelevant here :) are the slippage warnings supposed to be posted?

No, not usually, it's just so rare!

Topic 13 in Spirit: 13 1 Steven Seagal, sacred vessel of Tibetan Buddhism and reincarnated lama

I'll have a look, Terry, but that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean those monks look very holy to me - I respect them.

Of course it's a good thing. This was brought up in response to your comments on the vacuity of Jean Claude Van Damme.

I'm not changing my mind about van Damme though! If he were to become a Tibetan monk, I would advise all the others (including Seagal) ALWAYS to stand with their backs against the wall. He's such a horny old thing, one never knows what he might get up without women to adore him . . .

Did you find the Seagal topic?

Oh, here it is! Found it. Ehm, Terry, this response is now in one of the other topics, the reasons are there too, but I can't remember which topic! Anyway, I just more or less said that is was cool about Seagal being a tulku now. Don't you find?

hey folks, i am trying to build traffic to one of my conferences on the spring, science. come on by and post away!

But, Ray, I know absolutely nothing about science. Does that matter?

Tell us some of the things you want to talk about there in science!

right now i am posting news clippings from cnn.com related to science. these news clippings range from very cool and noncontroversial (stars and galaxies) to very controversial (mammal cloning). these are topics that everyone has at least one comment on. riette (and most folks here for that matter) may not know a lot about science, but is very smart and bound to add something positive. anyway, at least come on by and read then news snippets so when i do a "parti" command it shows more than 3 people who have been to the conf!!!!!!!!!!

believe it or not, ratthing, but I lettered in science three years in high school...

well, then, come on by!

Will do, Ratthingy.

Wired for mayhem By Mark Ward Economic booms and busts will become more frequent and more severe if programs called software agents control electronic commerce. Agents tend to exaggerate the worst market swings and create disastrous price wars, say two research groups in the US. As more goods and services are bought on the Internet, observers predict . . .

that people will find ways to overcome problems that may occur, if they occur.

This points to a new topic in the internet conference, where you can read the rest. Or just take Riette's word for it!

�smiling sheepishly�

Did anyone perchance read it?

Where was tv banned? What country? Find out in news topic 10.

In the windows conference a new topic, security. And a new product guranateed to scare the daylights out of you, Back Orifice.

new topics in art, justice, and genx, as well...

And porch 30 has a visual thesaurus (long) discussion to go along with our banter about synonyms.

vc conference topic 12, an excerpt: Amsterdam Public Digital Culture On the Contradictions Among the Users by Geert Lovink & Patrice Riemens By the late nineties, the (in)famous Amsterdam squatters movement, which had dominated the socio-cultural (and law-and-order) agenda in the previous decade, had petered out in the city's streets, but its autonomous yet pragmatic mode of operation had infiltrated in the working of the more progressive cultural institutions. It was the time that the cultural centres 'Paradiso' and 'De Balie', which were at the vanguard of local cultural politics, embraced the 'technological culture' theme in their programming. In the beginning, this took the shape of a critical, if somewhat passive, observation of the technologies surrounding us, and of their attendant risks, but it quickly evolved in a Do-It-Yourself, from below approach. Technology was no longer seen as the preserve of science, big business, or the government. It could also become . . .

In travel, a new topic on Paris and France.

feel free to talk about their overabundance of wers...

Yesterday, the Senate moved one step closer to passing legislation which jeopardizes free speech and access to information on the Internet. Two measures, which were attached to a spending bill for the Commerce, State, and Justice departments after a voice vote, are based on two previously introduced bills: The Communications Decency Act (CDA) II (introduced by Senator Coats) and the Internet School Filtering Act (introduced by Senator McCain). for the rest see http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/internet/12

Gambling on the net is also about to be outlawed.

One can GAMBLE here? That can't be fun.

It could get expensive, with all they shysters out there.

Yeah, well, if one is stupid enough to take the risk, one must take the consequences when they present themselves. I must confess that Chris and I adore playing the slot machines in England or Namibia when we're there. It's great fun, and we laugh ourselves to bits over each other's efforts to coax money out of the machine.

The internet conference has a new topic inspired by some of Bruce Sterling's literary freeware: Topic 25 of 25: 'hackers (Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling)' Response 1 of 1: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (10:52) 743 lines Bruce Sterling bruces@well.sf.ca.us Literary Freeware -- Not for Commercial Use Speech to High Technology Crime Investigation Association Lake Tahoe, Nov 1994 Good morning, my name's Bruce Sterling, and I'm a sometime computer crime journalist and longtime science fiction writer from Austin Texas. I'm the guy who wrote HACKER CRACKDOWN, which is the book you're getting on one of those floppy disks that are being distributed at this gig like party favors. People in law enforcement often ask me, Mr Sterling, if you're a science fiction writer like you say you are, then why should you care about American computer police and private security? And also, how come my kids can never find any copies of your sci-fi novels? . . . ya gotta go there to get the rest.

But please go there and comment as a special facor to me if nothing else, I want to show Bruce we care.

facor sb favor

In travel: Item 23 entered Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (11:16) by Paul Terry Walhus (terry) bargain airfares Bargain airfares. Where to get 'em mostly on the web. 1 new of 1 response total. Topic 23 of 23: 'bargain airfares' Response 1 of 1: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (11:17) 6 lines A good place to start: www.cheaptickets.com I heard of someone who got a $600 round trip ticket to Paris instead of the $3,000 the airlines wanted.

Who's beginning to look like a tomato? I won't tell, but you can find out in the food conference.

�turning red�

Sssh, you'll give it away.

Give what away? I didn't tell anyone about your hay fetish!

Whew! Good.

It would be hard to convey how wonderful are the descriptions of Paris provided by Riette, you'll just have to journey to travel to find out for yourself.

And oh, if you'd like to find out about Terry's fetishes, you can go look in Music or even, hey, ask him yourself!

If the Internet is such a wonderful and diverse environment then how come we're all going to the same places. Yahoo, Netscape, AOL, Microsoft, Alta Vista, Excite, Geocities, Amazon and a few others command over fifty percent of Internet traffic. for more ifs, and/or to supply some answers, go to http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/internet/26

Because fools never differ?

Been there already, a good read.

New topic in the tv conference: Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure Hosted by Perri Peltz, "Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure" offers a fascinating look at the real-life adventures of French dare-devil Nicolas Hulot and his Ushuaia team. The one-hour adventure series, which takes its name from a small town in Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of South America, features incredible expeditions, extreme sports and fierce competitions . . .

Do you want to see what the Spring looked like in 1995? check out http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/ or for a real pastblast: http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/confs.html

Ooops, wrong url, it's http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/confs/confs.html

Will go have a look as soon as I wake up.

Tired from your long trip?

I sure was, Terry. We were supposed to get back Tuesday evening, but the flight got cancelled after we boarded the aircraft. Then they tried to put us on another flight to London, and from there to Basle, and then they wanted us to take a TAXI from there to Z�rich. At which point I decided it was a good time for a tantrum - because this was like 22:00 at night, my kids were shattered, and we would not have arrived home before about four in the morning. So they gave us free hotel accommodation, two fre meals, and all that stuff. Which was fun, but we had to be up early again to catch the flight to Z�rich, which, in the end, didn't go until 12:20 - so we did get in at 4:00 - in the afternoon, that is. I always swore I wouldn't fly Swissair again after the first time I did. Chris thought I was merely being prejudiced, and so the past two days pretty much proved my point! Mad as a bull, he was! They are the most unprofessional airline since the Kipkana express!

How far is it from Basle to Zurich?

I'm not sure in miles or kilometres, but per car it's between one and a half and two hours. How far is it from Austin to Boston?

About 1800 miles at least.

Damn. Was hoping to be able to combine my Spring excursion next year with a little visit to my sister. Well, if she can get holiday I shall just have to bring her along.

Great, bring her along!

Thanks - I'll consider that an invitation! Think I'd be less nervous about coming with her by my side.

I think the two of you would love Austin. And just think all the hours and hours of real live face to face conversation we could all have.

Real live face to face, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, hand to hand, body to body.... �BIG BIG SMILE� Have I seduced you?

not yet, but you can keep trying if you'd like...

Damn! My mum always says she hasn't a clue how I was able to produce two children - she says I'm too stupid to be sexy. Guess she's right. Luckily one doesn't have to be sexy in order to have sex! Are you still on holiday, or are you back now?

I'm back...

Good. People had better start coming alive in the Spring, or I shall respond to every single topic in every single conference, and cause a spring scandal.

Scandal, controversy. Awesome! Go for it Riette! And on the Spring's main page today, a piece put together by my friend Mangala, an English lady who is very passionate about saving Texas from the nukes: The video you are watching is about the proposed nuclear dump in Sierra Blanca, Texas. It was filmed in early July of this year. The 53rd anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in Japan has just passed and, in an attempt to heighten the Public's awareness of the dangerous nuclear situation in West Texas, many brave souls, at least 200, are currently marching from El Paso to Sierra Blanca. Unless the People speak out NOW, a license will be granted by the T.N.R.C.C. for a nuclear waste facility to be built in this beautiful pristine area of Texas which is 16 miles from the Mexican border where the Rio Grande runs and over an earthquake fault line. This facility will serve as a dump for other states including Maine and Vermont. Trucks will bring the waste right across the U.S. If you have the possibility to join the marchers then please do so. They have been on Highway 20 past Fort Hancock and now are joining I10 to march the rest of the way to Sierra Blanca. They are supposed to arrive in Sierra Blanca around 1.30pm tomorrow, August 9th. Topic about this in environment.

Does anyone want to put up a gallery page of pix of springeurs that I can point to from the main page?

I'll put it on the list...

Hi, Wer!!

we *really* need to start a weird-like conf here on the spring. there are sooooo many topics there just begging for riette!

new topics in poetry too! (and yeah, this place has been dead, what's up?)

wer now has conference creation capabilities. Go William!

I wondered when you were going to let that out of the bag... actually I was holding off on starting any new confs until you had the new server up and running...

Oh, magnificent!!! What's your conference going to be called? And, Wer, we're all with you! Ray, you think me weird??? You flatterer!!