Sometimes I sits and thinks... and sometimes I just sits...

DeVore

I was sitting there last night thinking about stuff. Browsing boards on muppet patrol and reading the IOFFL forum when it really hit me. IOFFL has been a total success. Ok I mean we havent finished the job, FRIACO, ADSL etc, theres lots to do but,
well, see, I can honestly claim to have been present at the birth and I didnt really think that it was going to work. I mean, no offence but pressure groups come and go and I'll support any community in general but I admit to thinking it would be a bunch of techies taking shop and Eircom-hatered. (Not that theres anything wrong with a bit of that. )

Anyway, there I was last night eating my curry and it dawned on me that IOFFL which kinda sprung from a bunch of people (some of whom were Boardsters) has really made a difference. I mean, I see the RIPE ips and ODTR ips passing over the site (yes I know who you are but you're secrets safe unless you lie about it )
Now we have UTV here, openly in discussion with users and meetings with Ministers etc. I dont really think people understand how *difficult* getting a meeting with a minister is.

Its been weird to watch it grow and mutate and succeed in a very real way from the sidelines and I think we should take a moment and see where we've come from as a community and as a industry since its inception (is it even a year old now?)

Well done guys, IOFFL is something to be proud of. </muse>

DeV.

Disclaimer: I've nothing particularly to do with IOFFL. I mean I like them and all and we support them with a board (whoopie) but I claim no credit for any of this in case you think I am.

timod

Originally posted by DeVore

Anyway, there I was last night eating my curry and it dawned on me that IOFFL which kinda sprung from a bunch of Boardsters and others has really made a difference.

hmm... from where I was at the time, it started on nntp://ie.comp
Jeez, anybody else remember the debate on the name?

But, yes, I agree, it has been a big success so far.

The Cigarette Smoking Man

Originally posted by timod
hmm... from where I was at the time, it started on nntp://ie.comp
Jeez, anybody else remember the debate on the name?

I think that was the longest debate ever on ie.comp They nearly didn't call it Ireland Offline in the end because the initials were IOL.

I'm sure everyone had accounts on Boards at that time anyway and I don't think it would have been as big a success if it had stayed on ie.comp. You could just imagine the execs in eircom trying to read it.. "What the f--k is a newsgroup?"

DeVore

Oh yeah, it was by no means a Boards initiative (hence I wrote "Boardsters and others" and I frequent ie.comp too you know (I'm a lurker)

The best thing about the Irish internet is that its reasonably small so everyone kinda knows everyone.

Between the OPEN list, ie.comp, Boards etc you would find traces of 90% of the grassroots activists out there....

DeV.

Gordon

Ye, I don't know much about IOFFL's success etc but I'm amazed at the traffic it gets. That UTV thread has almost 15,000 views! :eek: and right now there are 17 people in the forum. A hefty amount of work for the moderators -caps off to you-.

Keep up the good work.

crawler

Yep a good job being done all around.....

You didnt have the respect of the Telcos originally - you certainly do now!

Venom

Dev was the curry nice?

DeVore

The curry was mighty!

Chicken and Pork Madras with stir fry and Jasmin rice which I cooked myself (with the assistance of my flatmate). Garlic bread too. Yum!

Anyway, back on topic

Gordon, weird isnt it, mind you Boards is now running at 50,000 page views a day but still that thread will have impacted on our daily impressions significantly!


DeV.

gandalf

Man Dev you are such a bloody hippy

Gandalf.

BoneCollector

with the assistance of my flatmate

Stir Fryed Flatmate!? Yumm!!
Is there much of him left in the freezer?

DeVore

Nah, I made sambos of him to bring to work with mayo on them.

Gandalf, its amazing, various mates of mine have had arguments about whether I'm a hippy or a fascist... indeed many people here have called me a fascist (usually after being banned) and others think I'm a hippy... I dunno... I really dont...

Anyway, BACK ON TOPIC, this is the first time I've really seen something like this actually WORK, I mean usual they fizzle out or people ignore them but IOFFL managed to convince the powers that be (through use of POLITE and KNOWLEDGABLE campaigning) that they knew what they were talking about and should be listened to.
Well played to everyone who's been involved as I know they took on a LOT of personal work to make it happen. The fights not over but the gloves are off now
There are a lot of people pinning hopes on you guys (and gals!) Obi Dangger Kenobi, you are our only hope! (apart from UTV )

DeV.

Dangger

Special thanks to you guys for being so moany that we had no choice but to continue!:p

Seriously though its actually been an interesting experience. Now if only I could get over my first question of the interview radio stutter, which I have developed! I thinks its that thing Dahamsta calls Mull Time but it seems to kick in live on air which isn't much good!

Well hopefully I'll have my chance on this Sunday's buisness show with Newstalk 106FM. I'll have furthter details tomorow.

We'll have to get the other radio edits onto the web site soon too.

Xian

Originally posted by timod
Jeez, anybody else remember the debate on the name?

the finalists
IRELANDOFFLINE
Points for: catchy, domain name available
Points against: negative, does not really say what we stand for, could be
seen as parody on IOL which will not help our discussions with them next
week (see separate posting on "ESAT Meeting")

---

---

CUBIC (Campaign forUnmetered and Broadband Internet Connectivity)
CUBIT (Campaign forUnmetered and Broadband Internet Telecommunications)
(As these are similar, I'm summarising them together)

Points for: catchy, single word, full name states our objective.
Against: although single word, the words themselves do not really reflect
what we are about; domain names not available (although irishcubic.com and
irishcubit.com are available)

---

CUBA (Campaign for Unmetered and Broadband Access)
For: simple
Against: ?

---

CRISP (Campaign for Real Internet Service Provision)
For: simple
Against: ?

---

---

MAIA : Movement for Affordable Internet Access

Points for: catchy, single word, full name states our objective.
Against: although single word, the words themselves do not really reflect
what we are about; how do you pronounce it?

---

---

MAFIA : Movement for Affordable (Free?) Internet Access

Points for: catchy, single word, full name except for 'free' states our
objective.
Against: mafia already is well known body :-)

---

NUI : Net Users Ireland
For: simple
Against: doesn't state our aims, confusion with national University of
Ireland

---

AIM : Affordable Internet Movement
For: simple, states our aims (pun intended)
Against: already exists in couple of connotations

---

CRAIC (Campaign for Reliable Affordable Internet Connection )
For: simple, states our aims
Against: suggests another sort of 'crack', also CRAIC is well known movement
for traditional music (at least around Donegal/Tyrone)

---

CIH (Campaign Internet Highway)
For: simple
Against: better known as a nasty computer virus

---

ROCHTAIN (Irish for 'Access')
For: nice use of Irish Language
Against: what does it mean to people who don't speak Irish

---

NIA (National Internet Access)
For: simple
Against: ?

---

IIUA -(Irish Internet Users Association)
For: simple
Against: doesn't state our aims

---

CAIN (Campaign for unmetered internet access)
For: simple
Against: Acronym doesn't really match full name

---

NAG (Net Access group)
For: Suggests we are going to nag Eircom, ODTR, everyone until we get what
we want
Against: who likes a nag :-)

---

INTERCAM (Internet Campaign) or NETCAM
For: Simple, catchy
Against: ?

---

MANIA (Movement for Affordable National Internet Access)
For: punchy acronym, name suggests what we are after
Against: ?

---

---

CHOPSTIC (Campaign to Have ODTR Power Supplemented To Transform Internet
Communications)
For: ?
Against: unwieldy, also focused solely on ODTR

---

MADFRISBEE (Movement to Allow Development of Flat Rate Internet Supporting
Broadband Economically for Everyone)
For: ?
Against: unwieldy

---

---

NAILBOMB (National Action for Internet Local-Loop Based On Modern Broadband)
For: ?
Against: unwieldy

Dustaz

omg pld xian. I knew about some of the front runners, but not being a subscriber to ie.comp and getting all the early info thru nets/comms (or was it tech at that stage) and Bard, i missed some of the funnier ones.

rofl @ Mania. I think some posters weve had were inspired by that one

The Cigarette Smoking Man

You missed the best one of all there Xian:

C.U.N.T. - Campaign for Unmetered Net (access) and Technology

Still funny

On Mon, 14 May 2001 22:49:57 +0100, David <davdela@hatmail.com> wrote:

>C.U.N.T. is to the point and relevant. Campaign for Unmetered Net
>(access) and Technology or variations thereof. 'Rochtain' may be
>pretty and give you a multitude of orgasms and probably get you a
>grant, but impact it does not have.

I expect I'll get agreement here when I say ... WE ARE NOT CALLING THE
ORGANISATION "C.U.N.T." !


--
Niall O'Keeffe
--

Edit:
You forgot this one too! Another classic

GITSFORBERTIE : Get Ireland To Some Form Of Real Broadband, Enabling
Realistic True Internet Economics
(Fergus McDonald - who was taking the piss)

DonegalMan

Originally posted by DeVore
Its been weird to watch it grow and mutate and succeed in a very real way from the sidelines and I think we should take a moment and see where we've come from as a community and as a industry since its inception

Since the early days of IOFFL, I have felt that there is a great 'human interest' story in how the organisation has developed and the impact that it has made, if some journalist was clever enough to spot it. The nearest any journalist came to it was the "Rebel With No Limits To His Cause" feature by the Irish Examiner but that focused on me as Chairman at that time.

I don't mean the technical aspects, I mean things like the fact that it was formed loosely by a bunch of people who didn't know each other, none of them had a previous high profile or political clout but within weeks of its inception it was meeting government ministers (well, one anyway ) and industry leaders. Also, it was countrywide with a Chairman based in Donegal and a PRO based in Cork, and there was very little face-to-face committee activity, well over 90% of it taking place by email, IRC and discussion on Boards - a great example of how the Internet can be used constructively.

(is it even a year old now?)

The formative meeting was 13th May 2001 so we're actually 16 months old - doesn't time fly when you're having fun

Martin Harran

yellum

Originally posted by DeVore

Anyway, there I was last night eating my curry and it dawned on me that IOFFL which kinda sprung from a bunch of Boardsters and others has really made a difference.

And it wasn't actually Al Gore that started the Internet but some Boardsters too.

Tims right, it started on the ie newsgroups and when it was up and running it came to boards probably beacuse of Bard.

Using the same argument it could also be claimed that IrelandOffline was sprung up from a bunch of ESB users.

DeVore

Yup, sorry Yellum, that was a poorly chosen phrase (should have said "bunch of people, some of whom were boardsters"). Though you are being a little harsh considering my disclaimer. Jeez.

I know there were ie.comp people and afaik redbrick people all talking about the same thing (along with users in the Tech forum here) and someone lit a spark and the whole thing blew up.

My post was strictly from the pov of an interested spectator/cheerleader who has watched it all come to fruition but who has been uninvolved enough to be disspationate about its history.

I just think people should stop a moment and take a look at whats been achieved and whats actually happened. Its pretty staggering when you do (ala Martins post...).


Martin, as an aside: get this... myself and CloudWarrior have met in person exactly 5/6 times in 5 years of running Boards, 2 of them were just waving at each other accross a large computer gathering
We talk most days on IRC and email and on Admin but every time we meet its dead weird! I always forget how tall he is for example

DeV.

DeVore

Originally posted by timod


hmm... from where I was at the time, it started on nntp://ie.comp

Yeah thats part of my point, people kinda collasced from lots of sources, I remember it being talked about on Tech and also mentioned on OPEN. I was getting mails from people like Bard and Dahamsta (I think) and reading stuff on ie.comp it just all seemed to gain substance on ie.comp out of thin air in a moment in time... right place, right people etc...
I only saw the bits that intersected my circles as I wasnt involved with its formation.

DeV.

sceptre

Originally posted by Xian

---

MANIA (Movement for Affordable National Internet Access)
For: punchy acronym, name suggests what we are after
Against: ?

What I voted for as far as I remember.

With 20/20 hindsight, the better name got chosen (I don't think there were more than about 30 votes total)