Re: [Membership] A Model for Community & Global

[Greg Skinner <gds@best.com>]

Antoun Nabhan <anabhan@law.harvard.edu> wrote:

> At 04:19 PM 3/11/99 -0800, gds@best.com wrote:

>> I think if you set up a web site for your community resource, and have
>> a Java applet launched whenever someone from your community visits it,
>> it can provide the automatic type of community information you
>> want.

> I was thinking of something more PointCast-like: push technology,
> with the "Community Sphere" application running in the background and
> then connecting to the appropriate server every time you connect to
> the Net. I don't *think* there's a way to make a Java applet persist
> after you exit your browser/JVM.

I don't know much about PointCast.  I run applets (within
appletviewer) independently of browsers.

At any rate, I think there are a variety of approaches that
Communisphere can use to get information to its members, ranging from
simple email messages to comprehensive messaging/reporting systems.
All of this can be done using off-the-shelf technology.  There is
ample documentation on and offline that explains how to use it.

I have some general questions about Communisphere, having been born
and raised in NYC, and lived in some poor communities.  I'd like to
know how people there would like to use the Internet.  Are they really
confused by all the different ISPs?  Do they know how to access online
reference materials?  Do they know how to obtain freeware or
shareware?  Have they tried to network with other freenets or Internet
community centers?

--gregbo