I received a question about how will it work.
Essentially it will be a moderated mailing list. Approximately every 4-12
hours a summary status will be sent out, along with a very simple template
asking the participants about their current status. We'll then take the
responses and prepare the next summary report at the next interval. The
interval will be shorter on Dec 31-Jan 1, and longer on the days before
and days after (Dec 28-Jan 3). So everyone will know precisely when to
expect a message, I will be sending the schedule to the participants.
This is what I'm calling positive reporting. The assumption is the majority
of the participants will report everything is Ok. The "two-way handshake"
will show at least e-mail is working.
If we don't receive any report from a participant we will list them as unknown,
and try to contact them via out-of-band means (e.g. telephone).
Participants make trouble reports at any time, and we'll be including a summary
of any wide-spread trouble in the reports sent out. Individual participants
won't be identified from their reports, however the summary may include reports
from other sources, e.g. newswires, which do identify companies. I also hope
to include some aggregate internet performance figures from Keynote, RSNG, MAE
and other exchange point traffic pages.
The summary report will also be sent to the US Information Cordination Center
and the International Y2K Coordination Center to be combined with reports
sent through other reporting channels. Because the media contact will be
handled through the ICC, I'm using a limited subscriber mailing list. Since
Time-Warner has RoadRunner and other media conglomerates own several services
on the Internet, I think they will know something is up (or rather down).
I say "we" because I hope to have 6 volunteers who agree to monitor the
list and prepare the summary for a shift or two. I am trying to do it
all virtually, so no one will get stuck in the "bunker" in Washington DC.
Laptop roadwarriors with their own batteries and cell phones. If I or one
of the other volunteers is incommunicado, a designated backup volunteer would
handle the shift.
