Conference 7.286::digital

    re: .0
    
    'Notes is an insidious time-consumer:  many times I've sat down at my
    terminal at home, promising myself that I'll only spend twenty minutes
    looking up some things.  When I look up, it's two hours later ...
    
    Seriously, there are people who spend many hours a day (both on and off
    company time) accessing Notes, but they are in the minority.  Lots of
    people are like me, who follow a few conferences closely, do weekly
    batch extracts on a few others, and occasionally reference yet others.
    My notebook has maybe 200 conferences in it, but I only read two or
    three interactively (this is one of them).
    
    Attempting to read some of the product conferences on a real-time basis
    is a real snooze, unless that product is near and dear to your heart. 
    Likewise, most of the conferences I access are far removed from me via
    the network, so it is much easier to use the batch tools.  A few of the
    more volatile NWR (none-work-related) conferences like Soapbox get lots
    of interactive work because the topics discussed often elicit immediate
    (and sometimes heated) responses.
    
    Finally, there is the human factor.  Just as some people are more vocal
    than others, there are a small group of 'noters who are more willing to
    participate by action than by observation.  There are a large number of
    people who read lots, but write little, and I don't see any reversal of
    that trend, given the conflicting messages from management about what
    they will and will not tolerate on the network.  I've talked to some
    who are not at all sure their managers look favorably on 'noting ...
    
    So, the current crop of avid noters may be a fleeting phenomenon ...
    
    Geoff Unland
    

       RE: .0
       
       	You've probably seen my name in alot of conferences. At least
       anyone new in DEC *I* meet always says "Oh, so YOU'RE mike foley!
       I've seen your notes everywhere". Well, they are right, I've
       been just about everywhere.. I've been noting for a LONG time
       now (since K-notes) and have to admit, I'm quite addicted. I keep
       up with over 100 conferences, all interactively. I tried batch but
       it just never did it for me.. Most of the conferences I read are
       DEC related ie: CLUSTERS, VMSNOTES, MARKETING, DIGITAL, etc.. or
       products I'm interested like DECWINDOWS and a whole host of other
       "techie" conferences.  I keep up with a couple of "fun/employee
       interest" conferences (Mainly FLIGHT :-)) also.
       
       	How do I keep up with them?  Lots of nights at the terminal
       at home. I read very fast and don't read everything, only those
       topics I find interesting so I can skim right thru.  When I'm too
       far behind, I use the SET SEEN command cuz I know I probably
       haven't missed anything. Someone always asks the same question.
       :-)
       
       	Notes is a part of my life.. I've made a tremendous amount of
       friends and contacts all over the world. It's nice to get mail
       from someone 12,000 miles away asking me if I want to get together
       for a beer cuz they'll be around in a couple of days. It's nice
       to throw a party for over 80 people and see everyone connect the
       faces with the names (see "So YOU'RE mike foley" above)..  And
       the best, for me, is the professional contacts I've made thruout
       DEC. Notes is my most valuable tool to do my work and to work
       better for DEC. If it wasn't for Notes and the people I've met
       thru Notes, I wouldn't have met the people I work for now and
       contacts for friends in DEC to get up in the world wouldn't have
       been made. Not to mention the knowledge Notes has given be about
       a whole bunch of stuff.. Notes IS addictive. Some do need to learn 
       how to temper their usage tho.
       
       						mike

    As Mike F said, the biggest benefit is the personal network you
    can build. The contacts Ive made through noting have enhanced my
    career. One such was responsible for passing my resume to my current
    manager's manager, which got me interviewed for the Engineering
    position I now hold. Other contacts have become close friends and
    important business contacts when certain issues arise. My manager
    has even praised the large informal network of contacts Ive accumulated
    over the past few years as being a key ingredient to advancement
    and success. In a matrix organization like this friends and contacts
    can really help get things done. Of course, my manager is the
    exception,not the rule, as far as I can see. MANY other people I
    know have told me their management STRONGLY disapproved of such
    use of DIGITAL's HW/SW/NETWORK resources, EVEN when it is done
    outside of scheduled work hours. (It CAN be interpreted that such
    use, even after hours, is misuse of corporate assets, a fairly serious
    offense. If a manager chooses such a course it can SEVERELY damage
    your career at DIGITAL.)
    
    As for time consumption: I spend maybe 10 minutes a day hopping
    around a few topics of interest. Im aware that certain IS managers
    at certain sites track usage of NOTES by user, time of day, and
    elapsed time (via accounting), and Im also quite aware of a campaign 
    by a VP within DIS to eliminate all non-work related conferences from 
    the EASYnet.
    
    IMO....
    Notes CAN be addictive, especially at first. I strongly suggest
    that (due to the current business climate and the "aggressive
    downsizing" mood of this company at this time) you be wary of
    doing non-work related noting during your scheduled work hours.
    

    Not to mention the various batch Notes extraction tools.  I can
    grab all unseen notes while I'm working and read them during my
    breaks or after hours.  There is also batch reply tools.
    
    This helps me greatly!
    
    Mike

    Hi Mike!
    
    I use Eric Osman's MAIL_VAXNOTES.COM plus a little .COM file I wrote to
    run MAIL_VAXNOTES.COM once a week.  I'm interested in batch reply
    tools.  Can you vaxmail me them or point me to them?
    
    As far as my usage of Notes goes, when I first starting programming 3+
    years ago I began using Notes interactively, spending about 10 hours a
    week (Notes can be s-o-o-o slow interactively!).   After searching for
    and trying a variety of batch Notes extractors, I came across
    MAIL_VAXNOTES.COM.  Then I wrote a little command procedure to control
    which days MAIL_VAXNOTES.COM ran.  First Mondays, Wednesdays, and
    Fridays, then Tuesdays and Thursdays, and eventually just Mondays.  Now
    I spend between 1/2 and an hour a week following several conferences.
    
    Regards,
    
    John

	One of the really powerful tools is ENOTES which is designed for
	use in batch jobs. I use it to do batch extractions. It will do
	writes/replies via batch as well.

	You can use Notes itself to write in batch. That is how I update
	topic 2.* in TURRIS::EASYNET_CONFERENCES every week. There is no
	way I would update that many replies of that size interactivelly.

			Alfred

There is, of course, an ENOTES conference. It is as DECWET::ENOTES.

I also consider Notes to be an *extremely* valuable tool; I've lost count of the
number of times that I've run into a problem that I quickly solved by looking in
this or that conference and doing a Dir/Title or Show Key. I group notes in my
notebook by things like projects that I'm working on, troubleshooting, system
manglement (not a typo :^), stuff like that. I generally take about 30-45
minutes to check them out, and pop in again during the day if I have a problem
or I have a few spare minutes. I also live close enough to work that it's not
a toll call, so I do a bit of noting when I'm at home :^)

I also find Notes is helpful in building educated users; I've refered a lot of
hallway requests for help to a Notes conference with mostly favorable results.

Oh yeah, I'm one of the *lucky* ones who's boss agrees 100% with my Noting, but
then again I don't spend all day in the Soapbox conference, either (actually I
deleted it from my notebook shortly after I added it :^).

/Harley

    
> Note 902.0 by MISERY::BLUM_JO
    
    
    	> How do you avid noters manage to find the time to participate so much
	> in so many conferences? 
    
    		DECwindows.
    
        > What kind of work do you do? 
    
    		Software Engineering.
    
     	> Do you spend much of your free time (before/after/during work) 
        > on the terminal noting away? 
    
    		Not alot, about half.
    
     	> Are you addicted to Notes? 
    
    		No.
    
        > Do you do other leisure activities beside Notes?
    
    		Of course, doesn't everyone?
    
    		/prc

    I agree with Alfred that ENOTES is a very useful tool. I do almost all
    of my noting in batch, and have been able to cut way down the amount of
    time that it takes to keep up on and participate in the conferences
    that I am concerned with. 
    
    I use a tool called GET_NOTES (based on ENOTES) to search a conference
    for notes on desired topics in batch, which has saved many hours of
    perusing through notes files for answers, and waiting for directories.
    I also use GET_NOTES to extract the unseen notes from the conferences
    that I follow, and then I read them and can reply to them using
    NOTES_EXTRACT (comes with ENOTES), which is a TPU based note reader
    that emulates the VAXnotes keypad. 
                                                                       
    In addition, GET_NOTES uses a tool called MAKE_DIRECTORY to build a
    directory of the notes extract, so you can see in a glance if there is
    anything in it that you care about. I also use SKIP_NOTES, which makes
    it easy to skip to a desired note in an extract, while reading it with
    NOTES_EXTRACT. All of the above tools are discussed in the
    DECWET::ENOTES conference. 
    
    There is also another tool called AVN, discussed in the ODIXIE::AVN
    conference, that provides a menu driven interface to notes, as well as
    tools that do things for you in batch, which I sometimes use. 
                                                        
    Notes can be both extremely valuable and potentially time wasting.
    These tools have helped me to optimize my use of VAXnotes, and make
    better use of my time. 

    With about 75 entries in my notebook and the fact I access notes daily
    I guess I qualify as an avid noter. I usaully read notes at the end og
    the day when the rest of the company starts going home and the response
    over the net speeds up. Of course this is after I've taken care of the
    important things like work. Notes is a tool for me, sometimes I can
    almost get quicker and more informative responses on certain things
    through notes than I can by calling a support center. I usually keep
    up with about a dozen conferences daily, the rest are for reference
    or move slowly an a update every few days is enough. Notes keeps me
    more informed about the things that affect my job and work in Field
    Service than what my manager can pass along the chain. Also, when using
    notes to solve a problem I usually feel as though I'm accessing a
    larger, more technical audience then what I get at a support center.
    A support guy usually has to look things up. Notes gets you the guy
    who designed the thing in the first place. What better resource could
    you ask for? Oh, about 30 min. a day is what it takes me to stay
    current.
    					Ted
    

    Re: .9
    
    For those of us not fortunate enough to have a VAXstation on their
    desk, how does DECwindows facilitate tracking of Notes conferences?
    
    Mike

    
    .12
    
    I'm not sure I understand your question but consider this:
    
    I have currently 5 windows open.
    
    I am currently running Notes on Window #1.
    
    I am coding a DCL command procedure on Window #2.
    
    I am updating a diagnostic for DEC STD 178-6 on Window #3.
    
    I am sending mail to a colleague on Window #4.
    
    I doing my status report on Window #5.
    
    See what I mean?
    
    /prc

    > For those of us not fortunate enough to have a VAXstation on their
    > desk, how does DECwindows facilitate tracking of Notes conferences?
    
    I don't have a VAXstation either, but have spent many happy hours at
    our local ACT recently, generating a large proposal using DECwrite.  I
    am AMAZED at the increase in productivity that DECwindows allows!  I
    too almost always kept a window running Notes open, and when I needed a
    micro-break or had to wait on something, I could just jump over and
    read a note or two.  By the same token, I also usually had a window
    running ALL-IN-1, and another at the DCL prompt so I could use VAXmail
    or whatever.   I could jump back and forth among all these things in
    seconds -- the time it takes to move the cursor and click the mouse.  A
    DECwindows environment allows you to multiplex as easily as if you had
    multiple terminals sitting on your desk -- actually easier, 'cause you
    don't have to roll your chair around.
    
    							Pat

    re: .12
    
    In the case of .13, think of as having 5 VT3xx terminals on your desk
    at once.  So, you could have one terminal running notes all the time.
    Whenever you are forced to wait for something, you can look at your
    notes terminal/window without losing track of what is going on in the
    other terminal/windows.  At the same time, the DECwindows version of
    notes allows you to have multiple conferences open at the same time.
    You could be reading one conference in one terminal/window while you
    do a directory of another conference in another terminal/window.
    
    HTH,
    
    Bob

>    				At the same time, the DECwindows version of
>    notes allows you to have multiple conferences open at the same time.
>    You could be reading one conference in one terminal/window while you
>    do a directory of another conference in another terminal/window.

VAXnotes has always allowed multiple accesses to your NOTES$NOTEBOOK.NOTE, 
for instance with several terminals, or several sessions through a DECserver.
This is not unique to DECwindows.

Stephen

    Re: DECwindows
    
    I get your drift now.  I've used a VAXstation before running UIS
    to do the same type of multitasking.  I thought DECwindows might
    have offered something more.
    
    Thanks,
    Mike

    Job function: Marketing
    
    Some claim that I'm a avid noter. Yes, and no. I generally only
    read/write to three notesfiles. But being a little antagonistic
    I must be a little more visible.
    
    It's part of my job to moderate and contribute to the CURIE::CASE
    notesfile. Being a marketeer and interested in marketing issues I read
    the MARKETING notesfile. I like to see discussions that probe at major
    issues from different perspectives. I've seen a lot companys go down
    the drain or lose market share because of in-bred, parochial views that
    blinded them to market reality.
    
    Most of us get mentally constipated living in our little domains. A
    good argument that questions some of our assumptions and opinions
    is a mental laxative. Some of those senior people too busy to read
    notes are so stopped up...
    
    Once in while I get a strange urge to look at more human issues,
    particularly in our work environment. Hence, I read the DIGITAL
    notesfile once in a while -- generally at lunch or after 5pm or
    when I need a short break from a long task.
    
    -George

I only have twenty entries in my notebook.

Of those:	4 are directly related to my job (run by my group)
		6 are technical work-related (but not to my current job)
		2 are job-related non-technical (DIGITAL and DECUServe)
		8 are personal (travel, leisure, political discussion)

I moderate nine of them.

In addition, there is one other conference I follow when time permits, but it's
not in my notebook (ASKENET), and I occasionally poke around in a few other
conferences (ON_THE_ROAD, PBX), but only once every few weeks.  I often receive
mail pointing me to a particular discussion in a conference, which I may
follow for a few days to see replies to any reply I may have written.

/john

    I have many entries in my note book, most of which are for reference so
    I don't need to do lookups in Easynotes to find a particular class of
    conference.
    
    I do tend to use DECwindows from my work station with notes running on
    the main cluster here, If IS was measuring time in notes for me (Do we
    have IS on this cluster }8-)} ) my notes processes live from 1/2 to 7
    24 hour days a week, but that is only one of about 8-15 or so
    windows/sessions/tools available at any one time.
    
    Notes, as Mike and all point out, can be addicting, but it can also be
    in the background.  When you stall for a Compile/Writers Block/5
    Minutes to meeting type thing, you can skim part of or all of a
    conference that you are keeping up with (Next unseen can be nice).  At
    times I even get into, pop notes window, hit the enter key to get to the
    next whatever, go do something else (possibly deflating the window) and
    eventually get back to read the note/reply etc.
    
    As others have said, off shore time (site }8-)} ) can be invauable for
    those which lean more to "hobby" orientation. (e.g. Compiler oriented
    notes files for an OS engineer }8-)} ).
    
    						Bill
    

    In over 25 years in the business, I have NEVER seen as valuable
    a tool for information interchange. Period.
    
                                                                      
    I have used VAX Notes to bail me out of many situations requiring
    technical assistance.  Many are monitored on what seems to be a
    continual basis - no wait longer than 15 minutes!
    
    I use DIR/UNSEEN a lot when I have neglected a conference for a
    while.
    
    I organize using many classes, thereby making location of a particular
    type of subject immediately available.

    I move all infrequently used conferences to /CLA=ATTIC so I have
    them available should I need them.
    
    I always have one DECterm open to VAX Notes (can't seem to adjust
    to the DECwindows interface - maybe after another release or two).
                                             
    I spend a lot of time at home on a VT terminal.  You can do a lot
    of catching up while waiting for a pot of tea to steep.
    
    Gary

    My love affair with notes started when I was trying to find a games
    conference so my daughter could play something one day when I was
    on standby and looking for a part in the office. Well she never
    got a chance to play anything I was looking at the various conferences
    for 4 hours. (I did get the part I needed) I'd heard of the E-NET
    when I was in school in Bedford but I had thought It was something
    only support used well I found out how wrong I was. 
    
    The best example of how helpful notes is in cutting through the
    mental constipation that happens in field service...I started
    servicing Microvaxes at the site I work at and came up with a call
    on VR290. Well I asked what do we do with it and someone said "oh
    VR290's well you swap them because they are too dangerous to work
    on." Later I personally caused some ships to sink shipping bad VR290's
    back to Italy logistics came up with an adjustment kit for the tube
    I had no idea what the heck to do with the kit and the argurement
    started as to why I didn't fix them. I put a note on the Microvax
    conference asking for anyones opinion and sure enough the answers
    came with course numbers and everything. It turned out there was
    a 4 hour IVIS course which I still havn't got but thats another
    story.
    
    I do most of my noting at home after hours. Also even though I take
    every oportunity to show the value of noting to my co-workers in
    the branch most of them still don't have a clue what or why I do
    it. I'm stunned they can ignore such a valuable tool. Oh well someday
    I show them because then I'll be the offical Know it all.
    
    Fred Mudgett
    

WEll, I don't know if I qualify as an avid noter, but I have been noting 
for over 5 years, so maybe I do :-)... I too use NOTES for the knowledge 
that it gives, and the networking it has opened for me.

To answer your questions:

.0> How do you avid noters manage to find the time to participate so much
.0> in so many conferences?  

WEll, I MAINLY note at home after I have settled down for the evening.  I 
also make use of DECwindows at work, with a window opened for NOTES for 
during the time that I can pop into NOTES while I'm waiting for something else 
to be created.


.0> What kind of work do you do?  

I am a Knowledge Engineer in the AI space, prior to that I was in the 
Systems Analyst space.

.0> Do you spend much of your free time (before/after/during work) on the 
.0> terminal noting away?  

During summer I usually spend my lunches reading NOTES. Some free time in 
the late evenings are also devoted to NOTEing. While I'm drying my hair in 
the morning, I usually read my nightly extracts.

> Are you addicted to Notes?  

I'd rather not live without them

> Do you do other leisure activities beside Notes?

Lets see, If you count working on a Masters Degree, learning how to play 
the piano, iceskating, and working on a pilots license other leisure 
activities then yup, I have them...
    
Gale

    I don't know what those other yahoos out there are talking  about...

    _PERSONALLY_  I don't touch notes...  Don't believe in notes...
    and would never be caught dead noting...

    	(Though there was the time back in ought 9 when I was approaching
    a comatose state whilst found hitting the "next unseen" key...)

    	Seriously, my personal technique for following conferences?

    	o  Enotes inside a command file to nab extracts.

    	o  a "browser" to let me go through those to find neat titles I
    	   like.

    	o  An appender to through all of that junk together (whatever
    	   is left, I delete the rest).

    	o  The Enotes TPU section file to actually get down and dirty and
    	   read and reply.

    All told, and figuring I hit non-important conferences on an every other
    day basis, with some that are kinda farflung only being hit on the weekend,
    I probably approach somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 conferences I 
    follow.

    And I generally rack up only about an hour or so a night doing that, and
    that's at night after the little one has gone by by...

    It's a sick affliction, run while you can...

    		Lou "Note free or die...  *uh* strike that last" Northern

    I quit reading notes the day RAINBO::CHIMENTO left for the Alcan
    Highway ...
    
    -- B

    And then there are those of us who REALLY DON'T have anything better
    to do with our time.  A year ago, the Corporation in its infinite
    wisdom decided to come up with this neat little money-spending project
    called T.M.P.  There are a certain percentage of us who find ourselves
    with time on our hands, in between groveling to recruiters for
    non-existant jobs.  
    
    I don't put in too many replies, myself.  My personal beliefs are
    not very popular -- in fact, some of my commentary in previous years
    is considered a felony offense in several progressive, democratic
    nations.  Sometimes Noting can be hazardous to your physical health,
    as well.  Ahhh, the joys of free speech.  
    
    Enjoy it while you got it.
    
    -- Don Black

re .26 Since he mentioned it himself, the incident Don is referring to occurred
when he made some unpopular statements in a Usenet newsgroup, causing netflames
accusing him of violating Canada's laws against "hate literature."

/john

    Certain avid noters spend too much time noting and too little time
    working. This is not a problem *caused* by notes. However it can be
    *detected* by your use of notes. Sort of like a vice-president waiting
    at the door to see when people come to work. Take the hint. Get to
    work. I'm not accusing anyone directly. You know who you are.

    In 6 years at Digital I have noted with varying degrees of popularity
    for this activity, but have generally completed my tasks proficiently.
    In the last 3 years I have been promoted from Engineer through
    Principal Engineer.
    
    I spend a lot of my own time working. I spend a lot of my own time
    noting. In my last JP&R work-related Noting is identified as a valuable
    resource for the use of the company: as CSSE engineer for various
    "interesting" products, in Networking and TP, it is my job to support
    those using and supporting the products.
    
    In both work-related and non-work-related noting I endeavour to help
    those of my colleagues that I can help, learn from those who can teach
    me; ignoring those with closed eyes and minds.
    
    BTW, .28, take the hint, open your eyes and stop making silly,
    groundless threats to those paranoid enough to get worried by such a
    reply as yours.
    
    - ���

    re: .28
    
    	Here's an ominous thought! What if Mgt. decided that the rumored
    25% Headcount reduction might best be achieved from the ranks of
    the Top 25% active Noters.
    
    							Bob
    

	I suspect that some engineering groups would lose some of their
	most productive consulting engineers. Hardly seems likely when put
	that way doesn't it?

				Alfred

	There are over 8,600 Notes conferences on the network. Somewhere
	around 4,700 of them are members only. I doubt that more than a
	very few of those restricted conferences are other than directly
	work related. Also I believe that about 95% of the total conferences
	on the EASYNET are directly work related. Employee Interest Noting
	is not as big a part of the picture as some would have you believe.

	For the record, I did not make up these numbers. I can supply
	lists for people with a business reason to see them. I believe
	that most unannounced conferences are unannounced for a reason
	and so would not distribute these lists.

			Alfred

    Alfred, did you personally get 4,700 "you are not a member" messages?
    
    grins,
    Marge

    Nah, he's a member of all of them - Alfred is an avid noter! :-)
    
    - ���

    Actually, none of the above descriptions are true --
    
    We're all TECO Macros, created by the greatest of all TECO Macros:
    
    			HARE::STAN
    
    					andrew

       RE: .35
       
       	Oh no, now THAT'S a blast from the past!! Now I think I'll go
       	update my Notary..
       
       						mike

    As for myself, I follow about a dozen conferences. Some of them go
    unread until about 20 or so UNREADs accumulate. There are a few of them
    that I read religiously ... ACTS, DIGITAL, MARKETING, etc.
    
    I rarely read or write notes during the day ... too busy. The
    overwhelming majority of my "noting" takes place (like it is now ...)
    on my own time (10:52 pm EST). When I do take time to note on company
    time, it is almost without exception because I need an answer to a
    business or technical question. I will look up the appropriate
    conference, add it to the notebook, ask my question, and follow the
    conference until I get an appropriate answer or channel to follow up
    with. Then I delete the conference entry.
    
    I also find myself occasionally browsing the list of available files,
    adding a conference to my notebook and following it for a while.
    I sometimes find myself addicted to the conference and begin
    participating. Most of the time I end up deleting it within 1-2 months. 
    
    Overall, I find noting to be invaluable for:
    
    	Getting access to thousands of employees, whose combined brain
    	power exceeds any one person's knowledge by 1,000,000 %
    
    	Discussing issues and aspects of being "an employee" with 
    	fellow employees. It never ceases to amaze me the value that 
    	'one person's opinion' can have. I will read one note and think,
    	"Yeah ... you're right! What a bunch of jerks we were to do that."
    	Then, after reading the following note, I find myself thinking,
    	"Well, now that I know THAT, we weren't so stupid after all."
    
    	I guess it's sort of like "valuing differences."
    
    I wouldn't die without notes, but I find it adds a dimension to my life
    as an employee, and would definitely miss it if I could no longer
    "note".
    
    /se
    

    re: .30
    
    that would insulate most of the upper echelon 8^)
    Mark
    

    I'm an avid noter.  It helps to preserve my sanity, altho there are
    those who could debate that.  Today was a fairly typical day on the
    front lines, with customers hanging us out to dry and us hanging
    customers out to dry... my first cup of coffee was not till 10:30 :^(
    but I managed to tuck a note into this or that conference between
    outage calls and scraping (begging) for engineering support
    for the holiday weekend.
    
    Here I sit on a long weekend, checking my mail and reading some notes. 
    Am I normal? No.  Normal wouldn't survive this ratrace.
    
    grins,
    Marge
    
    

Even on captive systems, notes files are used.

I work for DEC/Boeing/SMARTS project in Seattle. There, the
cluster is owned by Boeing, DEC supplied the hardware,
software, software development as well as the operations of that
site. As the development takes place, notes are used to update
the folks as to latest tools on line, how to get started and how
to get going without plowing through a ton of documentation since
we number less than 200 but doing the work of XXX.

It is rather nice that I get back to DEC and easy net now and
then. As we are migrating to the "total solution" way of doing
business, we will be seeing more of the DEC/Boeing experience.

Notes does have it's place.

cal; hoe

    Noting can provide you theoritically with a power of 125000 people
    at one time. far greater than Unisys(power of 2!). Also, as usual
    anything in excess is indigestible....With all new tools comes new
    problems and issues. Isn't technology wonderful
    	Not_an_avid_noter_(Un)fortunately??

    I call in from home - using my own Rainbow & modem - at night and
    on week-ends.  
    
    In my last life, I accessed bulletin boards and things like the
    Source.  I guess there's something of an addiction to this.
    
    
    Don
    

    At first, I noted during the slow times.
    Then I got busier and there were no slow times.  So I noted while
    waiting for compiles.
    Then I got busier and had to do other work while waiting for compiles. 
    So I stayed late to note.
    Then I got busier and started having to work late.  So I noted during
    lunch.
    Then I got busier and had to work through lunch.  So I noted from home
    in the evenings.
    Then I got busier and had to take my work home in the evenings.
    I don't note much any more.  I miss it.
    
    	HRB

    
    	   I'm an avid night noter, these days.  I spend so much time
    	out of the office (at customer sites) that prime-time noting
    	is impossible for me.  Thus, the number and size of the notes
    	I generate have absolutely nothing to do with my productivity
    	on the job.  Surprisingly enough, I find quite a few people
    	noting at night in the conferences I frequent, so carrying on 
    	real-time discussions is still possible.
    
    	   Of course, some people don't have the luxury of a PC/modem
    	at home.  My heart goes out to you.  I hope Santa corrects
    	that oversight this year for you. ;^)
    
    	- Greg