October 6, 1995
Dear Everyone:
Things are getting
busy at work. We’re getting
ready to move the
Versatile
Server and its little friends, the CAP Server and Ivan, the Indexing PC,
from San Francisco to “Livermore”.
Why isn’t really important. What’s
important is trying not to trip over electricians as they install
additional outlets for the new Servers and PC.
And, as long as we’re moving things, why not move the “Livermore”
Server to a better position while we’re at it?
And the printer could be more conveniently placed, couldn’t it?
Each improvement or
alteration leads to another, which is one reason I was at work until
well after 6:00 last night.
So this will be a short letter.
Tomorrow, I have to be at work “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” in
the morning to meet with a group of Technical Support people without
whom none of this would be happening.
We’ll go into the City, gather up the Servers, PC, a dozen
modems, more power strips than you want to think about, boxes of
software and other amenities, take them all to “Livermore” and set
everything up.
I have to be there
to make sure we pull the right machines, plug the right things into the
right places and, most important, pick up the tab when we break for
lunch. What’s more, it being
a Saturday, I’ve already told them that I’ll be there; but my eyes won’t
be bright and don’t even expect
my tail to be bushy.
In the end, response
time and productivity should go up in “Livermore”, while communications
costs will drop because they won’t be using modems to dial into
Versatile anymore. It
will (hopefully) make part of my job easier.
And the Bay Area people will still be able to access
Versatile over the MPI.
MPI stands for
Multiple
Protocol Internet, a way for different Servers to connect with each
other. Most people call this
a Wide Area
Network (WAN), but Company always has to be different.
Plus, Company has so many Servers that it really is more like the
Internet. In fact, the
preferred method of getting around on the MPI these days is to use
Netscape®,
a software that let’s you “browse” through the Internet using things
called “home pages”.
For instance, when I
go into Netscape, I automatically start at the IMS Home Page, which
lists the parts of IMS (Information Management Services) and identifies
who does what. So, if I want
to know more about the Library, I can click on that part and a new page
appears, listing Library services and people.
Browsers who want to know what services “Livermore” offers can
easily find out by “surfing the Net”.
Speaking of which,
Netscape also lets us get out onto the real Internet.
I’ve already found the
X-Files and
Dilbert Home Pages.
And, of course, when word of the verdict in the Simpson trial came out
on the radio, everyone wanted to know “how do I get to
CNN in Netscape?”
Of course, we
wouldn’t dream of wasting company time tracking down cartoons and other
non-essentials, would we?
(Answer: The Netscape
address for CNN is http://www.cnn.com)
Love, as always,
Pete
PS.
The attached is “Jeannie’s” contribution for this week.
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