Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:58:45 -0400
From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: WSFA:  Alive and Well
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Even if I look at the page with Lynx, the current events are
there...they are *seriously* ugly, pretty much unusably ugly, but the
data is there.

If you look with Firefox, and allow Javascript, it's very pretty, with
info popping up as you cursor over the days, etc.

To find out about WSFA from the club web site you have to allow
Javascript, not be blind and using voice output, not be using a
smartphone with a tiny screen, etc.  You need a real computer, with a
monitor (preferably color), a GUI browser, and at least some of your
security disabled.

It would be nice if there was a version of the site that was friendly to
those with text browsers or voice readers, but given that the webmaster
is a volunteer, who has more profitable uses for the time it would take
to do that, I'm not expecting to see it soon unless someone points out
some technology that can turn a fancy javascript-driven site into a text
site automatically.  I'm not aware of any, but it may exist.

Keith, you might want to consider setting up a system for using the
internet that has nothing important on it to be swiped or lost, and that
boots from a CD-ROM in a CD-ROM drive that doesn't have write capability
(Knoppix might be a decent choice for OS for this, since it comes on CD
(or DVD) and boots from there just fine with no fussing around on your
part).  With such a system you could use a GUI, allow Javascript, or
even Flash, and when you power down the machine, anything that happened
to it during the session would be cleared (if you use a ramdisk for temp
storage and don't install a HD.  You'll need to use a floppy to save
network settings, or re-enter every time, though.)  That way you can
have modern conveniences, with little or no risk.  Just something to
consider.

-- Mike B.

lees103 at verizon.net wrote:
> Keith,
>         Regarding the WSFA Journal and Website, the answer is the same as
> the last time that you posed this question:  No, neither one of them has
> been abandoned.  The latest minutes published on the website are May of
> 2008, not "June -- of *last year*.)"  In addition, a hard copy of the July
> 2008 Journal was handed out at the recent First Friday meeting.  If you
> like, I can send you a hard copy.  I can also send you soft copies of my
> book and movie reviews.  Likewise the "calendar of upcoming events" button
> takes you to a web calendar that shows events for August, September,
> October, etc. 2008.  I have no idea where you got the idea that "the
> calendar of upcoming events hasn't been updated since December" since I know
> for a fact that some of the events listed on the web calendar were not
> scheduled as of last December.
>
>                 Lee Strong
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>

>> (Speaking of WSFA Journals, have they been discontinued, or the WSFA
>> website abandoned?  There's no June, July, or August issue, the
>> calendar of upcoming events hasn't been updated since December, and
>> the minutes of the latest meeting are from June -- of *last year*.)