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There's a new short term contest at distributed.net, and team UFie is ranked #11 overall. There's a problem though. In order to compete in the new contest we all need to switch over to the new software. It looks like a big chunk of us have done it but most haven't.

Here's a link directly to the upgrade page.

I personally know a lot of UFies out there who have suffered losses due to the accident on the Texas A&M University Bonfire site. I know this isn't a geek news-related event, but I hope that you can find some space on the site tomorrow to honor those who died in the tragic accident that unfolded early this morning. My best wishes go out to those who were injured and those who lost friends or family in this tragic accident.

More details can be found at http://www.tamu.edu/aggiedaily/flash.html

Jonathan wasn't the only one to write in regarding this sad event. Members of our community seem to exist in just about every corner of the globe, and the bonfire happened to be one of those places. My deepest sympathies to those who suffered a loss in that awful tragedy.

Details from UF's network god, tomtom:

The 100 millionth page fetch log item:

212.103.147.193 - - [02/Nov/1999:05:24:32 -0800] "GET /cartoons/archives/98jan/19980124.html HTTP/1.1" 200 4015

That IP address appears to be a customer of Softnet.si, which is a Slovenian ISP. Must've been Pitr's fan club. :)

Quite possibly. ;)

Congratulations go to gordonf, Ardaniel, Grech and blindhal for scoring the highest in the channel Trivia we ran. Prizes are on their way! My thanks to Iambe for running the Trivia game, and to Silvrstr, WebBastard, Kethryvis, RoundTop and others I've surely forgotten for assisting.

Our WebDiva has informed me that quite a number of European UFies have asked that we throw a second IRC party on an upcoming weekend since they were unable to attend this one due to the time differences. I think this is do-able, so give us a few days to plan it and put it together and we'll give it another go -- any excuse for a party, right? :)

My thanks also to the many, many people who wrote in with congratulations and well wishes for the 2nd year of User Friendly. I suspect the 3rd anniversary is going to be a doozy. ;)

Point your IRC client at an Undernet server and join the #userfriendly channel. The party officially starts at 7:00PM Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, November 17, and will run until 9:00PM (I've been soundly corrected by many people that we're actually at GMT -8). I'll be there along with Iambe and Arcterex to run some informal trivia games and give out prizes. On top of the trivia we'll be throwing out some 'creative tests of skill' so bring your brain. ;)

If you're not a regular IRC user, head on over and download mIRC if you use Windows, IRCle if you use a Mac, Baxter if you run BeOS, and BitchX if you run Linux or BSD.

So come on by, even if it's just for a few minutes -- we'd love to meet you! Please note that if you have difficulty connecting with an Undernet server, you can always try connecting with a different one. For example, I usually connect to the Vancouver server, but on occasion I use Dallas or Montreal.

See you all there, and thank you for supporting User Friendly so that we have come to this point!

News from the exhibitor's floor at Comdex and Linux Business Expo!

http://www.geekcircus.com/1999/comdex/news.html http://www.geekcircus.com/1999/linuxbizexpo/news.html

Change the "news" to "see" and you've got pictures. As of now, only the LinuxBizExpo pics are up. Comdex will be posted tomorrow. The site's brand new and rapidly evolving, so kind feedback is welcome.

Is this what it means when someone says they're 'going postal'?

tennisperson101 wrote in with the following:

As you guys have been promoting the hunger site lately, I would like to call to your attention a site that is quite similiar.

http://www.freedonation.com

At FreeDonation.com, you can donate Food and Medicine for free to save sick and hungry children everywhere with the cost paid by corporate sponsors. There is no charge to you for this donation (which takes about 2 seconds). And you can donate once every day.

The World Health Organization (A big UN agency) is distributing the donations.

I had considered throwing a bash in Vancouver or Seattle for people to attend, but that would mean excluding the vast majority of the community around the rest of the globe. So this year I figured we'd get virtual, since we are an online community, and throw an IRC party.

If you're not a regular IRC user, head on over and download mIRC if you use Windows, IRCle if you use a Mac, Baxter if you run BeOS, and BitchX if you run Linux or BSD.

The IRC network you'll need to connect to is Undernet, which has servers all over the globe. Once you've connected, join channel #userfriendly. You're in!

The IRC party will start at 1900 hours (7:00PM) Pacific Standard Time. That's GMT +8 [CORRECTION: GMT -8] if I recall correctly. The party will likely last for at least a couple of hours, and will continue as long as people want to stick around.

Many of our Most Excellent channel regulars will be there, and two of our community stalwarts Iambe and Arcterex will be making an appearance. And they don't even know it yet. ;)

There WILL be prizes galore at the party. We're talking t-shirts, hats, mugs, even a few books! We'll be running some very informal trivia games, so brush up on things geeky and bring your brain. A couple of shots of tequila beforehand may even help.

I urge everyone to show up and invite you all to join us. I think it'll be a fun time!