Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
You're right, Rheingoldian One. The WELL would complete the circle
that began with BBSs. It would be run on a PC in someone's basement.

I was in such trouble with so many people by the time Gail describes
that it all becomes a blur thinking about it. Hell, even David Hawkins
walked out and, to my utter astonishment, refused to return to his job.
Holy Fucking Shit! We were not only sysopless, I'd been rebuked by one
of the precious elders of the community.

And having my wife-to-be working for me during that time did not lead
to the warm fuzzies on the homefront. The social chaos of that time,
combined with the technical confusion and ownership juggling just
proved how truly indestructible the WELL had become. 

Maybe the Loma Prieta earthquake was the high point of my years there.
It sure opened the collective heart and made us appreciate our being
connected. It was followed immediately by the Mandel Meltdown so
meticulously examined in Katie's article and book. And then things
started tumblin'.

So, what's our next momentous caper, gang? Shall we lead the world
into the post peak oil years?
  

    

We're restoring Jerry Garcia in the basement right now.
  

    
As long as he doesn't dance and sing, "Puttin' on the Ritz".
  

    

And he's going to pitch for the Hoboken Zephyrs.
  

    

We're down the the home stretch of this conversation, which is slated to run
through noon Friday.

For anyone who's interested, the invitation to join or return to The WELL is
good through the month, and is referenced at http://www.well.com/twenty/
The place to continue talking on the inside is the <welltales.> conference.

To find out where Howard and Cliff are and what they're up to elsewell, just
look at the first few posts in this topic.  Start at zero:  <0>

I like to add features and do some development.  We've been static or stable
for a long time, and personally I'm delighted by social photo sites like
fotolog and flickr.  I'd love to work out the business logic and the 
resources to wonderful visual tools and toys for interaction within 
our ongoing community.  Just for example. 

That's the main thing I'd love to see the staff and the community get
better at in the future.
  

    
Heh!  I've gotten caught up (and technically over my head) in how the
Well's software (user experience) could be improved more than once,
most notably having started a largish set of topics in <meta.>, mostly
during July, 2000, the majority of which have since been killed.

These mostly related to the organizational structure of topics and
conferences, not something that could easily be changed, nor that could be
changed obviously and abruptly without ripples of resistance among users.

Poor timing on my part, no doubt.  Our parent company, Salon, was 
struggling for its survival, and any schemes that meant new investment 
were all but out of the question.

I haven't exactly changed my mind about those ideas, but I've lost most of
my attachment to them, and don't now have time to spare to get involved
with implementing them, even if I did have the chops, which is doubtful.

PicoSpan is as it is in no small part because of what was practical, given
available hardware, twenty years ago, and if it were being designed from
scratch today it would be very different.  But, you know, it really *does*
work very well, and it's really not so hard to use once you get used to a
few basic commands and they start to roll off your fingertips without
really having to think about it.

I can't speak to Engaged, since I've hardly used it (not at all recently),
except for the limited version through which this conference and
<pre.vue.> are world-readable, but based on what others have said there's
a gradual drift towards preferring it.  Certainly it's easier for new
users to learn. (See note below.)

There's a lot that *could* be done to fill out the possibilities of user 
interaction, but, as <gail> was at some pains to point out to me a few 
years ago, there's a core user experience here that shouldn't be messed 
with, and changes should therefore be approached with due caution.  It's 
amusing to think that we might have undergone a role reversal on this 
issue over the intervening time.  ;-)

Note: I use the links that Engaged automates in my posts as a matter of
principle, even though I'm not logged in via Engaged myself.  Not only do
they provide added utility to those using Engaged, but they provide a
standard format for certian references that, by now, most PicoSpan users
recognize and readily interpret, and in some cases their content can be 
pasted into the PicoSpan command line with no editing.
  

    

Our next interview has taken center stage, and this is the moment when the
Inkwell team thanks all our participants for their time and energy.

So: thank you all for being here.

I also want to say that the conversation does not have to end -- and I hope
it doesn't.  All of you are invited and encouraged to continue.
  

    
It's been going on for 20 years now.  Why stop now?
  

    
<smiling>
  

    
<pre.vue.>'s Question of the Week, now running for a second week, is

        What would you miss the most if the Well wasn't here?

<pre.vue.57.1856-> will take you directly to where it starts.
  

    
Nearly two years after this topic, and many of you stimulated a flood
of memories which i have ever treasured, even during my times,
sometimes long, away from here.

I joined in '85 or perhaps '86 (trying to find a bit of R&R from
building that first windplant), off and on through the 90's, and about
two months ago, from Germany where i've reincarnated.

thanks all for the memories.  i swear i still believe i coined the
word dWELLer, but that could be hubris or addling.  i loved how this
community shaped my consciousness.

login was, and luckily still is, rmt... though in those days i often
used Alpha 10 as a pseud.  I remember being asked for permission to
allow posts to go into some book about the WELL, and i do remember
reading faster than Pico could scroll.  Be WELL, all.
  

    

Keep on with that wind energy, Randy.  You do good work.
  

    
Vielen Dank, Gail.  Can't believe how much progress we've made, and
how much farther we still have to go.

And how about some kudos to you... just getting my feet wet here,
again, but nice to be back.  You can't believe the memories just by
reading some of the logins.

And if you're interested, i wrote on the blog today about the release
of an amazing Iraqi Peace Plan, published by Independent UK, written by
the former Defense Minister.  Plan is here:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2125419.ece

I'll try to find a place to discuss it as i wander around.
  

    

Randy!  Nice to see from you!
  

    
Randy -- greetings from a fellow renewable partisan at National
Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado.