Hi. I'm running the Cookie Clearinghouse. I'd like to do a good job with it. From prior experience with Do Not Track, I notice two things: (1) it's impossible to actually get anything *done* with too many people in the room, yet (2) users are basically not part of the discussions, yet alone decisions. How, if at all, would you like to be involved? What's a good way to get more smart voices into the discussion without it being a DDOS on my time?

old CMU crusty hacker sort named Tim Showalter

Tim is many things, including charming, but does not qualify as either "crusty" or "old." It's likely Tim was in elementary school in 1982.

One hint: the original-style andrew passwords were in the form first initial-last initial-number-alphanum. It's not uncommon for folks from that era to squint at each other and say "I'm not sure I remember your name... what was your user id? Oh! Sure, of course I know you."

That said, 1982 pre-dates the Andrew system. I 'm older than Tim, but not by that much. The earliest system I remember was the TOPS-20. "spice vax," as mentioned in the initial post, rings vague fuzzy bells, but wasn't part of my world.

One of the cooler parts of the Andrew project was that IBM wired the entire campus for token ring -- including the gym and the women's bathrooms. And damned if we didn't find a use for it all. These days campus is wireless, but back in my day, it was uphill, in the snow, both ways...

Aleecia

am40