city of the sun community internet
    original proposal - cos inet news - network manual - antenna reflector


cos community internet news

  2006 jul 6   cos community internet meeting - july 15 sat 10am

  2006 nov 22 [cos inet] unsched maintenance & cos network manual draft

  2006 dec 3  [cos] dec 3 board meeting - audio transcript & notes

  2006 dec 26 [cos inet] dec 28 special meeting - absentee ballot

  2007 jan 18 [cos inet] happiness for everyone

  2007 sep 16 [cos] the "community" who "killed the internet"

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Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:27:48 -0600 (MDT)
From: chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Subject: cos community internet meeting - july 15 sat 10am

dear cos members,

    internet access for all cos community members has been available in the
community building since june 20th, and available to all homes via wireless
network (wifi) since july 1st.   and all up to design specs & within budget
of the original proposal of may 21st (ref #1, & see below).

so far, there are only three rules for use of the cos network:

  1  the cos network is available only for cos members and guests (ie, it
is not a free public access network).   the password is posted inside the
community building, and should be protected as you would your key to the
door of the community building.   please also make sure that your computer
is protected against viruses etc.

  2  this is a pretty high-speed connection, but still has finite bandwidth,
so please be considerate of others who may be using it at the same time.
low-bandwidth use like email, browsing, or shopping will be fine any time
of day or night.   high-bandwidth use like internet phone, music/videos,
or massive downloads should be done only during off-peak hours, or via
your own private internet account.

  3  please respect vtc's acceptable use policies, posted at www.vtc.net

on july 15 saturday 10am, there will be a community-wide meeting for two
main purposes:

  1  to answer general questions about the internet & how to connect with
the cos wifi network

  2  bring your ideas, requests, & discussion about our official city of
the sun website - which will be our public image for the entire world to see.
it can be our newsletter, a magazine, a history book, communities directory
listing, advertising for our workshops, art shows, cottage industries, etc,
etc... whatever we want it to be.  (btw, motion passed at june 18th member-
ship meeting - content of cos website must be approved by cos membership)

followed by potluck lunch at noon.   be there or be square! :)

if you can't make it in person, please email your questions, requests,
ideas, etc, and i will read them for you at the meeting.

electronically yours,
chris vansprouts

p.s.  please note our new official cos email addresses:
  City of the Sun <cityofthesun at vtc dot net> - public address for info
requests etc
  COS Office <cos at vtc dot net> - unlisted address for cos business, voting, etc

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Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:18:05 -0700 (MST)
From: chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
To: bcc to cos network users <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Cc: cos office <cos at vtc dot net>
Subject: [cos inet] unsched maintenance & cos network manual draft

dear fellow cos community internet users,

yay!  we now have 22 cos members (not counting guests) using
the cos community network, with about 24 computers, including
11 wifi laptops.  we also have 7 homes with wifi-ethernet bridges
installed, and many of us are on-line and off-the-grid!

my apologies to all.  some of you have asked about downtime
and slow connections during the past two weeks.  it's partly
because of unauthorized modifications to cos network equipment
(on the membership agenda this month, and explained below),
and also because permanent installation of equipment at the
community building is still unfinished.

since we first put up the cos network in late june, i've been
measuring and improving performance, and taking care of the
occasional glitch or emergency.  overall, since july 1st, we've
had better than 99% uptime (average downtime less than 7 hours
per month), and this despite all the monsoons, flooding, and
merciless windstorms, not to mention cars parked right in front
of our main antenna inside the community center window.

finishing installation of the outside antenna above the
community center roof, and locking up the cos network boxes,
will increase performance and reliability to near 100%.

(please note:  john comeau's experimental wifi stations,
 "three", "tinorwfptl" & others, are -not- part of the cos
 community network, and have not been 99% reliable.  we have
 allowed john's wifi stations to gain access to the global
 internet through the cos community network, even though he
 voted against creating our community network, and continues
 actively in various ways to discourage people from using it.
 john is -not- in any way responsible for maintenance or
 assistance relative to the cos community network.)

---

two weeks ago, at the cos board meeting on nov 5 sunday morning,
joyce announced that she would begin remodeling the office the
next morning, and that maybe we should move the wifi equipment
out of the way of construction work.

monday morning, nov 6 at 7am, i walked down to the community
building with all the tools & parts necessary to do the final
installation of the outside antenna for our main wifi station,
and move the dsl modem and cos2i wifi box to their permanent
location inside the office (on a shelf near the ceiling right
where the antenna cable comes through the wall, for minimal
signal loss).  all of this was part of the original design,
and necessary for reliable operation of the cos network.

until recently, we've needed to make occasional changes and
adjustments to the network equipment.  the window sill outside
the office, though non-optimal in performance, and exposed to
various dangers, was temporarily useful for this purpose.  it
seemed like a good idea at this time to finish the permanent
installation, since the network would be down for a short time
anyway due to the remodeling.  the outside antenna had already
been installed once during testing, so i expected to be done
with the permanent installation in 20 to 30 minutes.

i arrived at the community building, finding that paul had
already started construction, and had pushed the wifi boxes
out of his way.  the little wifi antennas were skewed and
non-functional... no problemo, i figured the network had been
down only a few minutes (paul wouldn't say how long), and i
got right to work on moving the equipment and getting the
network back up and online as fast as possible.

after a few minutes, paul said he couldn't work with me in
there.  i said i would need only 15 or 20 more minutes to
finish, and could he take a short break or something?  well,
to my surprise he started moving furniture around (like the
file cabinet that i was working on top of) and calling me names
and threatening violence.  i climbed down, and tried again to
reason with him, but he would not listen, repeating loudly and
monotonously "get out, get out" as a wall of sound to block
my voice.  and then he started physically pushing me towards
the front door, still chanting...

it gets worse, but the important thing is, i'm looking at that
heap of non-working network boxes, and feeling very responsible
to get it back online asap.  why is this psycho pushing me,
acting like a playground bully, when i have a short simple job
to do?  i stayed and argued with paul, then paul and joyce both,
for what seemed like an hour overall.  joyce's mantra was "you
have no authorization", paul's mantra & dance remained the same.
finally a friend gently dragged me away, as the immediate
situation seemed hopeless.

eventually i was able to go back into the community building
to re-patch the network boxes and fix our little antenna,
pretty much as mickey-mouse as before, with some additional
wear & tear.

wish you all had been there!  perhaps with a little protection,
i can finish this job on another day soon... :)

---

i put this on the agenda for sunday's membership meeting,
but after 3 hours, with many items to go, the meeting was
adjourned until next month.  so i'm sending this email, and
including a draft version of the cos network manual, for your
comments, suggestions, and any other feedback or help.

i'm amused that joyce doesn't seem to know her etymology when
she proclaims that i have "no authorization", since i am indeed
the founding author of this cos community internet - and very
happy to be creating it and sharing it with everyone here.
thank you all for also creating it and sharing it with me.

electronically yours,
chris vansprouts

________________________________________________________________
"The truth is a little hobby of mine.  It's hard for those who've
never been given the truth to believe that there is such a thing."
  - S Smithson Wildman (Primitive Religions, 1894)
http://homepage.mac.com/vansprouts/meta/quotes.html

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Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:03:01 -0700 (MST)
From: chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Subject: [cos] dec 3 board meeting - audio transcript & notes

dear all,

sunday morning dec 17, for the membership meeting, we
didn't have a quorum of 10 members (at least not in the
room), so here's something to read over the holidays :)

blessings for a new year with peace and truth,
may all beings everywhere be well and happy...

chris v

---

the following transcript is from the december 3 board meeting,
first agenda item, "Vicious politics at COS are destructive..."

it's about an important concept of political science which we
seem to be missing here at city of the sun.

---

december 3 board meeting - audio transcript [cv]
[from audio part2 (9mb), 00:05:15 - 00:22:23, about 17 minutes total]

Vicious politics at COS are destructive & non-sustainable.
  What is important & constructive for the whole community?

[00:05:15 - 00:07:57, about 3 minutes, presentation]

chris:  the reason i'm bringing this up is partly because of
my personal experience trying to do the internet project here.
we got a clear majority of 60% for, 40% against, of the 25 people
who voted. the amount that i've been plagued by [a few of] the
minority on that issue has never stopped from the time of that
meeting until now, and continues onwards.

it occurs to me that in a sustainable political culture which
uses a majority-rule system, that when there is a decision made
by the majority, the minority -concedes- to the majority, and
that resolves the issue.  the minority agrees that they will
go along with the majority.

i have not seen that happening in this community very often
since i've been here for two and a half years.  there always
seems to be a few people in the minority holding out, sour
grapes or whatever, sabotaging or plotting against whatever
the majority has decided, if they don't like it.

that is what i'm saying is not sustainable.  if you have a
community that's always in a civil war, that community is
wasting a lot of energy fighting inside itself.  that energy
is way much better spent in other ways.

i would suggest that if there is a minority who doesn't agree
with a majority decision, that instead of attacking the majority
faction, that they go off on their own somewhere and do their
own thing, and -not- interfere with the majority.  that they
do their own project separately.  then they can do what they're
trying to do, and there isn't a civil war.  there isn't this
waste of energy going on inside the community.

[00:07:57 - 00:13:18, about 5 minutes, discussion]

mary:  [dissent in usa, revolution in other countries, quaker
consensus process...]

chris:  the united states government for the last 200 or so
years -has- been using this political system, where the minority
concedes to the majority.  [disagreement]  it's in the political
culture. if you go to school for this, this is what they teach.

mary:  [difference between ideals and what actually happens]

chris:  [concession] happens a lot though, and if it didn't
happen at all, we would be be like [those other countries],
we would have violent revolutions all the time, and people
getting killed every time the elections happen.  and we don't
have that [so much!] in the united states, and i'm saying
that's why - because the minority concedes to the majority,
for 4 years or whatever...

hazel:  i'm not going to concede about anything!  [general uproar]

chris:  i didn't say "agree" - this is a concept, i guess people
[here] are weak on this concept.  "concede" means you're willing
to go along with it.  you don't have to like it, but you agree to
go along with it to keep the war level down, so we're not in a
civil war...

kara:  [consensus is a good idea, but cos bylaws are what we
have to work with...  this community has a long history of
doing exactly what chris is talking about... at a big meeting,
usually in the winter when most people are here, something is
voted on by a vast majority of members, then when everything
thins out in the summer, or when the majority is absent,
an emergency meeting is called, the minority votes, you come
back and everything's gone...  wish that members would put
the community, the majority of the community first, at
possibly the expense of their own desires and freedoms...]

[00:13:18 - 00:22:23, about 9 minutes, more discussion]

[discussion slides into personalities & personal criticism,
lots of "you" language]

chris:  i guess i'd just like to respond to a few things alima
said about me personally, and remind people that she said it was
her impressions of me, and i don't agree with probably just about
everything [she] said about me personally.  and i think that's
part of the issue here.

we are such a diverse community, it takes time to get to know
each other.   [more personal stuff skipped...]    i feel like i've
made a lot of progress, one person at a time over the past two
and a half years, of just making connections with people, like
a real connection where we know each other, and where we're
not bigoted, and we're not making assumptions about the other
person based on nothing, based on fiction, or old relationships
that we've had.

it's important for each person in an intentional community,
which this is, to make an effort to see [and hear] clearly,
to see the other people in the community clearly, instead of
just making assumptions and then acting as if those assumptions
are totally fact.

[more discussion / personal stuff, done]

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Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:02:25 -0700 (MST)
From: chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Reply-to: cos foundation <cityofthesunfoundation at gmail dot com>,
  cos office <cos at vtc dot net>, chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Subject: [cos inet] dec 28 special meeting - absentee ballot

dear all,

may the "cos political crunch" pass you by, all year round.

at the moment i have a few vicious ankle-biters firmly
attached, so i'm just trying to shake off the little
terrorists, hoping they'll go revolve around something
else.  so i can get back to some kind of creative reality :)

thanks to many cos community internet users for help
in various ways, to improve the network for everyone.
i couldn't do it without you.  comments, suggestions,
and requests are always welcome, by email or in person.

we've been patient for many months, and now at last,
equipment for the cos network is permanently installed
in the cos office according to the original proposal as
approved by the membership on may 21, 2006.  our network
is now functioning with reliability near 100%, and every
home in the community is within range of a cos wifi station.

total cost to-date for the entire project:
 $285 for network equipment (including $85 donated by members)
  $27 per month for global internet access (beginning june 20)

since july 1, i have not needed to touch the equipment,
except to adjust the single wifi antenna in the west window
whenever it got bumped.  the antenna is now outside and
above the roof, permanently bolted to the community building.
the network boxes now locked in the office are built to run
continuously 24 hours 365 days a year without maintenance,
and they've been just fine.  they recover automatically
in case of power failure, and never need to be reset,
rebooted, power-cycled, or anything else.

i've donated many hundreds of dollars worth of labor and
expertise into setting up this system for the use of every
member of the community without exception, and i'll continue
contributing whatever is necessary.

however i cannot approve of unnecessary expense for the
community to accommodate the selfish personal preferences
of one or a few members.  this particular situation is not
about technical issues, or even politics.  it's a personal
and social problem, and the solution is likewise.

if there -are- political or technical issues, they should be
addressed in open discussion at regular membership and/or board
meetings.  for example, the COS Network Manual is a "draft"
version at this point, which means it is an invitation for
comments and changes.  if you have a problem with my design,
please speak to me!  i will listen.  this is creative process.

we have two regular community meetings scheduled each month,
plus a few committees.  if we don't need any more special
meetings this month, let's just ignore all this excitement!

these single-pointed meetings have been fragmenting, scatter-
ing, and distracting our attention away from the essential
big picture.  i don't like being led down the chute, do you?

if you agree with what i'm saying here, please don't show up
for the dec 28 special meeting, and please -do- email an
absentee ballot and vote against this item, in case the meeting
gets a quorum (absentee votes are not part of the quorum).

to make sure your vote gets counted, please send it to -all- of
the above email addresses (reply all), and any/everyone else.

sincerely yours,
chris vansprouts


--- Sample Absentee Ballot --- (or make up your own :)

Let's have another special meeting this month!

  - Yes -  it's much more fun than the same old boring schedule!

  - No -   thanks, let's defer this agenda item until Jan 21.

  - Abstain -  i'll read about it later.

Let's make the COS Community Network as expensive as possible!

  - Yes -  build another box for $300-500
                          and make chris move everything again.

  - No -   let it be... it's good, don't fix it.

  - Abstain -  is it groundhog day yet? i'm going back in my cave.

________________________________________________________
"O People!" shouted Nasrudin, running through the streets
 of his village, "Know that I have lost my donkey. Anyone
 who brings it back will be given the donkey as a reward!"
   - traditional (via Idries Shah, 1968)

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Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 12:40:54 -0700 (MST)
From: chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
To: bcc to cos members <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Subject: [cos inet] happiness for everyone

dear all,

here is an idea about how everyone could be happy with our
community computer resources.  this is not a joke.  i am
perfectly serious, and suggesting this in the interest of
peace and harmony among all cos members.  depending on your
response, i may propose the following at our next membership
meeting, this sunday january 21st:

Motion:

That City of the Sun sponsor a second, alternative, community
computer network, completely independent of the current COS
Community Internet.

This alternative "Hi-Pro SuperHacker Anarchist Network" will
have its own highest-speed DSL and Wifi towers to specially
meet the demands of high-performance users (for internet-phone,
movies, etc), and will be available for unlimited tinkering
and experimentation by our superhacker members.

With all respect, the builder and administrator of this network
should of course be "jc" John Comeau, if he wishes, who will be
responsible for all decisions and operations of this service.

All members of the COS community will be welcome to use either
or both networks.  However since this new network will be a
special service, not of interest to most COS members, the cost
should probably be shared by those who actually use it.

Subject to further discussion, perhaps COS could provide
assistance with partial/startup funding for some period of time
until the project is stable and self-supporting.  The fastest
(1.5 Mbps) Global Internet access will cost about $80 per month
including a new phone line, or $55 per month with an existing
phone line, in a two-year contract with VTC.

(end of motion)

background & notes

there are 3 maybe 4 hackers (that i know of) at city of the sun.
each of us in our own way has been testing the cos network
to its limits.  at this point we know what those limits are,
and further testing is unnecessary.  last week i locked down
the cos network to prevent further hacking, monitoring, and
other games.  this is what john is complaining about.

when i first started up the cos network in june, i said to
john, "you can do anything you want on this network with your
wifi boxes, as long as it works."  i'm trying to remain open
and inclusive, but not at the sacrifice of normal internet
service to normal users of the cos network, and i'm one of
them.  i retired from superhacking a long long time ago, and
i just want to be on-line to do everyday stuff.  there are
people on the cos network trying to do serious work, school,
business, family, etc.  this doesn't mix with hacker stuff.

$50 to $80 per month for an alternative computer network is
not so precious, and would be a small price to pay for peace
within this community.  we've recently spent more for less.
it has been suggested that i receive the $50 per month stipend
for lagoon maintenance, but i would rather see that money spent
on the dsl account for this proposed alternative network.

towards acceptance of diversity, -and- peace and harmony
among all cos members...

sincerely yours,
chris vansprouts

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Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:51:53 -0700 (MST)
From: chris vansprouts <vansprouts at mac dot com>
Subject: [cos] the "community" who "killed the internet"

once again, the most important issue going on here is not
openly addressed.  is it intentionally hidden, or is it
simply beyond people's understanding and thereby invisible?

   this community needs to learn

   to honor and fulfill
   the agreements which it makes,

   especially with its own members.

as many of you know, this community internet project is not
the only agreement that's ever been broken here.  but it -is-
My Project, so i'm using the incident to make this point.

please forgive me for any appearance of selfishness.  the
project itself is not nearly so important as the ethic.

neither seem particularly urgent to me, but the subject has
been stirred again by those masterful brewers of confusion,
so here's a ginger ale and vanilla ice cream float... :)

--

in may 2006, the cos membership made an agreement with me
that i would donate my labor to set up the cos community
network, providing internet access in the community
building and to all homes in the community.

cost to the community was estimated at $0.70 (70 cents) per
month per member, including $185 for equipment (not including
later personal donations of equipment to the community from
dale $15, john $50, mark & kara $35).

[2006 may 21 motion for chris to set up & maintain the
 community internet, passed: 15 for, 10 against, 0 abstain]

however,

1)  since 9 members of the community "rescinded" that
agreement at the unreported and illegally conducted
membership meeting of 2007 jan 21, and

[2007 jan 21 "motion" to "kill the internet",
 "passed": 9 for, 6 against, 2 abstain]

2)  let's say that my time, knowledge, and skill are
worth $7 an hour (that's down from $49.99 :)

...this puts the "community" in "arrears" more than $500
for my contribution to the cos community internet project.

assuming $500, the "community" owes me about sixty (60)
more -years- of internet access via the cos network
(calculated at 70 cents per month).

if i am prevented from resuming that project as agreed
in may 2006, then payment of $500 cash will be satisfactory.
if that's a large burden all at once, i'd be willing for
the cos board to make payment arrangements with me. :)

but here is the really important (& ironic) part...

the "community" who "killed the internet" also owes each cos
member the difference between 70 cents per month and the cost
of their service to replace loss of the cos community network.

conservatively, that would be $0 to $25 per month per member,
total loss for the community of approx $300 per month since
january, or $3600 per year, or $200,000 for 60 years.

(no kidding!  who even cares about ethics?
 this is "economy of scale"!  let's all profit!!!)

shall we put it back on the agenda, then?  pay chris $500,
-or- let chris put the community back online for the next
60 years.  either way is ok with me.

and how about let's wait until october or november when we
can get a quorum representing -all- of the members here?
that will also give us time to announce the agenda earlier
than 2 days before the meeting.  and verify absentee ballots.

--

cos community internet project, references:
 http://homepage.mac.com/vansprouts/cos/internet.html

_____________________________________________________
"Fool me once, shame on you...
 Fool me any number of times, shame on you."
  - S Smithson Wildman (Less Primitive Religions, 1947)
http://homepage.mac.com/vansprouts/meta/quotes.html



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