Pragma: no-cache
From: Jasper
Date: 27 Jun 2000
Time: 20:13:08
Kari,
I have learned the hard way that no matter what you do with this "hi-tech" stuff you are as likely as not to get a bad result.
The idea of having Iago typeset straight from the electronic files for faster speed and better resolution of the pictures cost me a year longer to produce than it would have if I'd done it the conventional way with a big question about the quality of the pictures. I blamed Charles and they guy who was sending him threatening e-mails (so far I've only gotten one personal death threat-probably from a supporter who wants me to look courageous). Turns out, the problem was with the data translator. There was no telling what I was going to spit out.
Going to a bigger, "better" server was supposed to keep the site from crashing because of all the accumulated stuff, to save the archives and to allow the message boards to run faster. The new server CAUSED the site to crash. Keith did ALL of the work to get it going again. And the technicians who were supposed to be helping him with the archive problem may have solved it by trashing everything that was in there that we couldn't bring to the new site. All of the trouble I've had with the boards came from the deletion of one junk file I created just to test how the archive set-up would work. Turns out the program would not allow ANY program to be deleted. I had a problem with the site disappearing once when I changed the name of home page from Index to Smartfellows Press. The system will let you do that (as opposed to making it impossible of warning you that terrible things will happen if you do). Then it will lock you up.
Our most recent problems have had to do with an electronic document called a "form handler." That's like an envelope with the groups name and address on it that our messages get stuffed into. When we hit "post" it's like putting it in the mailbox and waiting for the mailman to deliver it to the group. If the mail doesn't get delivered all we (Keith) can do is call the Post Office (the server) and try to find out what happened from them. It appears that we caught them in a transition period were a few things are falling through the cracks - but they don't want to admit it.
Still, I'll take all of those headaches and heartaches rather than risk not having the kind of exchanges we get here. I think you put it perfectly when you said that you hated those big disagreements we sometimes hove but you like the fact that we can do it with no loss of respect. Some of my biggest breakthroughs have come from people who disagreed with me. In some cases it forced my to see where I had made a big mistake. Other times it forced me to do more research, which strengthened even more or helped to define it better. Honest disagreement is good. It's the honest part that counts. That's the part that eventually leads to the truth.
More about "the truth" later. --Jasper