It's clear the activity here is building up.

More and more newcomers are finding this forum. They will ask questions which may have been answered in an archived post, but they won't be able to find that, so they'll start a new thread.

My impression is that most of the people who have been here a while are already convinced they have to do something. They aren't looking for validation, but for information on readiness.

I'm sure many here have put together their own set of links to the web sites they feel might help to show others what's coming down. I know I have. But I'm backing off on Y2K evangelism, most people don't want to hear it or won't take the time to look over the facts. And I have other things to do in the next several months besides pushing rocks uphill.

So-- I propose that the webmaster consider establishing a pemanent "Link Repository," where anyone can post the links they consider valuable. A brief summary of the subject covered should accompany each link submitted. This repository should be a permanent thread, a main heading, accessible from a button just like the existing [ Ask a Question | Unanswered Questions | New Answers | About ]

Many Y2K websites, and some articles, cover many different topics. I gave up trying to categorize them in detail, and just use these very broad headings:

Governmental Sources Non-governmental Organizations Commentary-- Professional and Otherwise

Combined, because there are no experts on Y2K -- only on particular aspects of the system.

BBS/Forum Postings

Certain posts are thoughtful stand-alone essays in themselves.

Public Discussions

Forums, Bulletin Boards, Newsgroups -- not the messages contained.

Preparation, Survival, Recovery: Community and Personal One Of A Kind

I'd put Cory Hamasaki's Weather Reports here. There probably are others. General

for whatever doesn't fit in the listed categories

It seems to me this would simplify things for everyone -- not just the newcomers.

Comments welcome -- I'm just lining this out, I'm not married to it, let's see what people think.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), November 18, 1998

Answers

Great idea, creating simplicity and order out of the overwhelming complexity.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 19, 1998.

---

It tends to be lots of work for the web manager to set up new functions. It's more work to classify and edit the submissions. Using a thread for this is the easy way. See:

What are some of your Y2K and preparedness bookmarks?
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000ExW

This is the grouping I've used on my link page (it's just a start)
http://www.milesresearch.com/y2k/y2k-links.htm

Overview of Y2K
Research Links
News/Updates
Planning
PC/BIOS Testing
Power Grid
Medical Devices/Systems
Embedded Systems
Survival and Preparedness
Community Preparation
Economy and Banking Issues
Miscellaneous Articles
Discussion Forums

-- Jon (jonmiles@pacbell.net), November 19, 1998.

Jon, how about this link? You can find just about every preparedness topic here.

http://www.artrans.com/rmsg/toc.htm

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 19, 1998.

The Rocky Mountain Survival Group. Great reference, Gayla! This page has everything, it seems. All that's needed is several hours for browsing and researching.

-- Jon (jonmiles@pacbell.net), November 19, 1998.

Jon -- I understand that setting this up would be a chore. If this proposed classification is adopted (it looks fine to me) it could be organized as a cgi script to provide a category menu for anyone posting. Let the contributor pick the category -- no editing would be needed. Summaries could be restricted to (say) 300 chars. Anyone wishing to place a submitted link in another category could easily do so, simply by submitting it again. Redundance in this case is not a serious fault, just the opposite from a pro bono point of view.

If a thread is used -- also a practical idea -- would it be possible to establish sub-threads in it, one for each category? And require webmaster's concurrence for any new category proposed after start-up, to limit the jumble.

If posts for all categories are merged in a single thread, finding all links submitted on a given category would eventually be a real chore. Ref. the link above (q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000ExW) How would the poster flag the category of choice here? The link title is often an imprecise guide to its contents, no help in a search..

A separate web page with a categorized list of links would work well (ref. the other link above (milesresearch.com/y2k/y2k-links.htm)

Gayla-- newcomers may be looking for validation material as well as preparedness. I know I spent a lot of time (here and elsewhere) digging up pieces to show to others, my children included. There's a learning curve here.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), November 19, 1998.

Tom, I just wanted to share that link with Jon for his site. With the success of this forum, (hundreds of thousands of hits per month) I kinda doubt you're going to get anyone to change it. Maybe I misunderstood what you were trying to establish, but it seems like you are trying to "reinvent the wheel." Several sites such as you describe already exist: Sharefin, GN, even Ed Yourdon's new site. I think what sets this forum apart and keeps bringing people back is the fellowship with other like-minded individuals (not to mention stress relieving humor!) Sure, you can get lots of news and info. here. But it's more of a place to discuss that info. and even let off steam. IMHO, one of the most valuable resources that this forum possesses, is posters who have been around awhile. They have heard most all of the questions before, but are patient enough to keep on answering them and to give directions to appropriate websites. Newbies are encouraged to read older threads, and sometimes they do, but it often seems quicker and easier to just ask the question again. And that's OK. Even your question/idea has been brought up before. Jon posted some great info. on that thread. I'll provide the URL if you would like to take a look at it.

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 19, 1998.

Tom,...my suggestion. Consider going to:

www.InsideTheWeb.com

and setting up a link repository site...it's free..and aside from a hard drive crash they just had...very reliable and accessible site...easy to set up...you could advertise it here....

I have a few links to Y2K sites on my own personal web page..and they are links to links...how it goes on the Net, Yes?

I think Ed Yourdon has some preparation inofrmation on this site...check over on the left side of frames divided screen.

I agree that this site is not necessarily a place for how-to info....nor should we maybe wish it so...

Great idea though.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), November 19, 1998.

I stand corrected.

I do think this would have been a little different. If I set up a site with the links I like, my notions about what's happening color my selections. The site I suggested would represent as many different viewpoints as there are people posting. A broader perspective. Owel.

Keep 'em coming...

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), November 19, 1998.

As a newbie, here's my two cents: After months of lurking I decided to post here because I liked the folks that are on the forum and the ideas that they have. It's always good to be thinking about improving it, especially if more and more of us newbies flood the site, but it may not be necessary. A search engine would be a help for all of us and address at least part of Tom's concern..... But the point I'd really like to make is that when information is good, people will want to get to it even if it's a pain in the ....... which is not the case for this forum IMVHO

-- Robert Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), November 19, 1998.

The setup of a classified link tree is not complex, it's just that this Y2k discussion board (as a set of extendable threads) is one of a collection of databases which share a common interface. Since the thread number (the base-62 code identifying the thread, this one is msg_id=000Fsb), is sequentially assigned across all discussion boards, most likely the system needs to have a uniform interface for all boards. However there are many ways to structure the link including the method described above.

There are many structured directory/index/search engine systems out there (for example on Yahoo at http://www.yahoo.com/computers_and_internet/year_2000_problem/ ) which can provide an organized set of reference links into y2k topics, but a custom y2k link directory would be nice to set up from contributors here, and can be done. A hierarchy structure can be set up on this system in a bottom-up way. For example these are the current categories:

Admin/sysop items
Alternative energy
Awareness/general
Banking/finance
Economy/jobs
Embedded Systems
Fallback planning
Food
Government
Health/Medicine
IT/Computer Industry
Legal issues
Military
Misc
PC/Home computers
Stock market, etc
Survivalist issues
Techno-geek questions
Technology
Telecommunications
Transportation
Utilities
Y2K Media Coverage

A link thread can be started for each one of these categories. After they are all started, a Master link page can be set up that references each one.

-- Jon (jonmiles@pacbell.net), November 20, 1998.