Catching up: random replies

[Alan Flippen <flippen@nytimes.com>]

Hi everyone,

Wow, look at all that mail! Shoulda known what a bunch of computer types
could do ...

Anyway, in the interest of mailbox efficiency, here are my consolidated
comments on some of the 20-odd e-mails that arrived in my box last
night/this morning:

At 04:24 PM 4/30/98 -0700, Ed Tecot wrote:

>You know, it would be interesting to build a Delta timeline showing account
>sponsors and account numbers.  For example, if my memory serves that Alan
>(1,38) sponsored Eric (20,38) and then when Alan left for Princeton (in
>1980?), Eric got (1,38) and he sponsored me (20,38).

It would be interesting but a bit complicated. I had at least three
different privileged accounts during my DELTA career, and five or six
non-privileged ones, as account-numbering standards changed over the years.
Also, the sponsoring system came along very late in DELTA's history.

>From Rich Thomson:
>Lots of people have mentioned Teresa Green in one way or another, but
>I'm sorry to say that she draws a complete blank in my mind.  I guess
>she was out of the picture by the time things moved to Willard Hall, or
>I was just too unimportant to be of any concern to her?

Teresa was the administrator when I started using DELTA from high school in
1976, but she was gone by the summer of '77, when I first went down to
DuPont Hall, so she certainly was gone by the time you came along.

>From Ed Tecot and Rich Thomson:
>> Speaking of which, can we put this "unofficial history" up on the Web site?
>
>It was in MS Word format, which I saved out as HTML and sent back to
>Alan.  There were a couple of things he couldn't remember (like what
>^V was), that I think he would like to fix in light of recent
>conversations. 

Yes, but I may not get to it for a few days. Bob, if you're going to put the
Web site up this weekend, go ahead and post what you've got, and I'll send
you the new version when I get a chance.

>From Kendall Redburn:
>My son is 12, and I wonder, what can I do for him so that he will have
>this kind of experience in his life? 

Let him find it himself. I'd bet that most of us found DELTA through school
classes or friends, not through our parents. I think kids that age tend to
value things more if their parents are not involved.

>From Rich Thomson:
> we don't even know where
>some of the main characters are -- who knows Ed Jones' whereabouts,
>for instance?

I've had a couple of e-mail exchanges with Ed in the last few days. He's
working for Oracle in New Hampshire, in a marketing job that involves going
to trade shows. And I believe he's reading this list ... Meanwhile, I agree
with another point Rich made, which is that we should do it soon while we
all have this energy/excitement. The summer would be as good a time as any
for me.

>From Eric Thayer:
>Anyone remember ^F?  If you did that, you got a listing of your open files
>and a bunch of other file stats that slip my mind.  I think Alan F. found it
>somewhere (DECUS?).

Yes, now that you mention it, I believe you're correct.

Cheers,
Alan