JohnW turns the PPS-recorder on.
JohnW sighs with relief
JohnW says, "Ok, we're cooking at last."
Jim Pitts says, "Great!"
JohnW [to Ish]: I hope everything is ok?
HenryB [guest] finds its way in.
JohnW welcomes HenryB
ClareS says, "Good afternoon, Henry!"
HenryB [guest] says, "Hello all"
JohnW [to HenryB]: I see you have now got a taste for this BioMOO thing!
JohnW smiles
JohnW says, "Ok, lets begin."
JohnW says, "Hopefully you will have received Jacky's agenda on the pps96-consultants list"
ClareS nods
HenryB [guest] says, "yes"
Marjorie [guest] says, "yes"
JohnW says, "The first point is, 'The Pace of the Course'. This ties in with what some of you were saying just now about not being able to do as much as you would like due to time restrictions. Well, I would not worry because this also applies to a lot of the students, it would seem."
JohnW . o O ( temporary hang-up )
Ish says, ""The student pace seems a little slow to us perhaps, but as a previous student, I can attest that it may not be slow enough, especially with other classes, the same being true for consultants! They seem to be making much more use of the MOO than we were able."
JohnW says, "The results of the feedback form we posted about a month ago suggest that hardly any students think we are going too slow, while almost as many think we are too fast as think it is 'about right'."
Jim Pitts says, "A bit slow?"
Jim Pitts says, "Line speed that is"
WillP [guest] perhaps the technology part of the course was particulary differcult for some for whom the science part
WillP [guest] may be quite easy.
JohnW says, "I think a lot of people got bogged down with technical issues earlier on, which is to be expected. My feeling is that once people have got Rasmol, Mage, etc running ok, things might go more smoothly for them."
JohnW nods to Will
ClareS agrees with Will
Marjorie [guest] says, "Yes if a student has to struggle getting Rasmol etc to go it can take a lot of time"
Marjorie [guest] says, "and not leave much for other parts."
Ish says, ""It still may be that some students actually never get the technology because of hardware limitations...is it possible to delve into that? I often worry that some of our information is almost inaccessible."
HenryB [guest] says, "I would have thought that advice would available on how to configure rasmol"
ClareS says, "and some of the students may be struggling with hardware that is less than ideal, and/or are having to pay for connect time"
JohnW says, "Of course, one of the benefits of this kind of course is the flexibilty which enables students to pace themselves depending on their own ability and their Real Life situation."
Marjorie [guest] says, "i have so far failed to get rasmol working, I think because my hardware/op system is too old"
ClareS says, "... but if ppl drop significantly behind they may not actually get through to the end of the course in the time? was this a problem last year?"
WillP [guest] Do we have details of what hardware and software each of the students has available?
Ish says, ""I never looked into the actual number of projects that were completed, were there a substantial number relative to registrants?"
HenryB [guest] says, "do we need a help desk to make configuration of systems easier?"
JohnW says, "On the subject of hardware, we asked for detauils from each student when they registered. There were very few people who we were anxious might not have sufficient hardware, and in these query cases we discussed it with them before accepting them and they decided they were happy to go ahead."
ClareS says, "one thing I intended to do was stay connected to the MOO for hours at a time so ppl could page me with problems, but somehoe that never happened"
HenryB [guest] [to sihish]: info ClareS
JohnW [to HenryB]: That is a good idea, but I suppose that there is quite a lot of material available dealing with installation and configuration of the various software packages. Even so, there will inevitably be glitches still arising.
SophiaK finds her way in.
Ish says, ""BTW, there have been no additions to the FAQ list since we started it (Hi Sophia), do we have any new info to add?"
SophiaK waves hello
Jim Pitts waves
JohnW [to ClareS]: Yes, I had intended to do that as well, and do try and stay connected sometimes while I am doing other work. But I have 'bumped into' fewer students than I expected.
JohnW says, "Hi Sophia"
ClareS [to JohnW]: yes, and you waste quite a lot of time checking to see if anyone has been looking for you (at least, I did)
Ish says, ""I can add specific technology pointers there and that may be helpful. If we have the locations I can make some changes..."
HenryB [guest] says, "As a very new newcomer to this place I should ask if this trategystrategy of waiting until you bump into people works"
ClareS [to HenryB]: not very well, IMHO
WillP [guest] I attended at talk by Rob Harper from EBI yesterday and he presented slides for different web sites which measured how useful they were as information providers. The slides were graphs of how long it took at access the pages over a period of time, as well as the frequency of packet loss over time. He put forward the theory that for a site to be useful to had to give good access times and it had to be stable. It would be good if we could enable our students to calculate such statistics for the PPS pages.
JohnW [to HenryB]: The idea is that you have a window running telnet or a MOO client, which you then can minimize on your workstation. When someone pages you in MOO, your terminal will bleep. For example, Georg Fuellen stays logged in most of the time as far as I can tell. I have been paged in this way quite a few times, but not very often by actual students. Of course, if I do recognize a student's MOO ID, I descend on them vulture-like to ask them how they are finding the course etc...
JohnW smiles
Marjorie [guest] says, "with regard to pace - two ways to judge 1) are you getting good interactions, eg over quizzes, in tutor groups ? the earlier general discussions were very good. 2) when work is to be submitted early next term, have most students caught up ?"
ClareS says, "One problem I have found is that I can't often tell from someone's MOO ID whether they are a PPS student or not. Is this info listed anywhere?"
Ish says, ""The only place I know of that has student/consultant moo names is the PPS people list, but it is not mandatory, so it isn't very full...not as full as the last class."
JohnW [to marjorie]: Certainly things have quietened down a bit lately, which is to be expected to some degree, once the initial period of excitement died down...but I also think that a reason is that students feel they are lagging behind, and spend all their PPS-time on keeping up with the material.
JohnW says, "MOO IDs: probably the best place to look for these is on the Group Home pages, as quite a lot of people only got their BioMOO ID's after they had sent their details to Gail's PPS ppl page."
JohnW says, "Well, we seem to have made the transition smoothly to item 2 on the agenda: 'BioMOO meetings and tutorials'"
Jzt finds its way in.
Jim Pitts waves
Jzt waves to all
HenryB [guest] waves back
JohnW says, "Hi Jacky. We are on item 2 of agenda."
Jzt says, "OK"
SophiaK [to Jacky]: hello !
Jzt says, "Pam Thomas is actually here at Birkbeck today! giving a talk about doing computational chemistry at Glaxo, so she's not coming to the meeting"
JohnW says, "The BioMOO seems to have been a very big hit with the students. Initially there was a lot of curiosity over just what it was all about, and people continue to enjoy the informal 'tutorials' that the groups hold. "
HenryB [guest] [to JohnW]: attended my first meeting on Friday very chatty but a little chaotic. Are they always like thuis??
Ish says, ""I see the Guanine group holds regular MOO meetings (about every other week, sometimes more often...but at a bad day for me, but the review of the recordings shows that they seem to be very happy with the use of the MOO. I find conversation a little strange at times...hmmm...maybe it's me!!??"
Ish says, ""Is this really slow or is it me?"
Jzt says, "Personally, I have not found my Cytosine group BioMOO meetings very useful, sometimes because of slow connection, sometimes because few students or consultants log on. What does Sophia think?"
Jim Pitts [to Ish]: it is slow here as well
SophiaK I completely agree.
ClareS says, "Our first meetings were better attended than some of the later ones - probably because we didn't have as much to talk about. We are now holding meetings every 2 weeks instead of every week"
Jzt [to SophiaK]: My impression is that 'special topic' BioMOO meetings are a better way to go. But do you think we could improve the group meetings in any obvious way?
Jim Pitts . o O ( that is right Clare )
SophiaK [to Jtz]: what about if we were to decide on a paper and ask students to read it beforehand and then discuus it
Jzt says, "Especially special topics with a knowledgeable guest, like Henry."
JohnW [to HenryB]: well, this is something which needs addressing. Bearing in mind the limitations of the medium, it is perhaps best not to 'aim too high' in terms of the ground covered in meetings/tutorials/lectures, or how smoothly they operate, as Peter M-R has pointed out. This means that we go into a meeting aiming for a 'chat', and the result is inevitably a bit more disjointed than if we had some sort of 'protocol' arranged before hand.
HenryB [guest] says, "I will give you the H. imfluenzae sequence and you can disuccus it!!"
Jzt says, "That's a idea. I have some doubts they would read it - also people with a non-academic job may have difficulty locating a paper, since we may be their only university link."
SophiaK [to Jtz]: so they have something to prepare instead of turning up just for chating
JohnW nods
HenryB [guest] [to SophiaK]: K This will limit the disuciussion byt this may be a good idea
Jzt says, "Maybe we should aim for something between a chat and a seminar, preferably with the topic or issues partially defined beforehand."
JohnW says, "What should really happen is, we announce a meeting (perhaps based on a specific section of material, or some other resource, then the students mail us their questions before hand, and they are dealt with in the appropriate order in the meeting."
Jim Pitts [to jzt]: that could be helpful for special topics
ClareS says, "it might be a good idea, with the assignment coming up, to meet to discuss the info in a PDB file - looking at a particular structure"
ClareS says, "agrees with John"
Jzt agrees with John too
SophiaK fijnds John's idea good as well
Jim Pitts smiles at John
Jzt says, "But no-one has mailed in a question about the upcoming Assignment BioMOO meeting as yet. I live in hopes..."
ClareS says, "It's certainly best to agree something to talk about, otherwise mtgs do tend to deteriorate into aimless chat (not that that's not fun as well ;-)"
Jim Pitts says, "to a great extent the e-mail system for problems helps out a lot"
Jzt says, "So we should try John's approach next. What should be the topic, i.e. for next week?"
JohnW says, "On Friday, we decided to extend what was to be the C-group meeting into a cross-group meeting on a particular topic (Transcription) , but as we did not give much notice for this, and also as it was Henry's first time in the MOO, a 'chat' was more appropriate. However I think we could arrange a more formal meeting on the subject of 'protein synthesis' as a number of students have asked about this."
Jzt says, "OK, next week Protein Synthesis? Who's the star guest?"
ClareS says, "The transcription meeting was fun, and I learned quite a lot as well - thanks for organising it!"
Ish says, ""Have the groups been using agendas? The G group has and seems to be doing well with that approach...although we are fairly spread out (UK, USA, Australia) we seem to manage even the extreme slowness..."
HenryB [guest] [4~
JohnW says, "Its true that so far students have not been deluging us with specific questions in preparation for a meeting (perhaps because they have not had time to read the corresponding material ??) so we will have to nudge them a bit more."
JohnW smiles
Jzt [to HenryB]: What were you going to say??
JohnW [to Ish]: Certainly I think the G-group has the most lively discussions, but this is partly because it is the biggest group by some margin (for geographical reasons!) so has an advantage in terms of 'critical mass' for discussions. For this reason, I think cross-group meetings could generate more interest.
HenryB [guest] says, "I was trying to set up my keyboard to delete misspelled words"
Jzt laughs
Ish says, "I seem to be about three thoughts behind...keep getting several pages of conversation washing over my screen...timing is everything!"
JohnW says, "On the subject of the protein assignment questions- I had a talk with 2 of the students on Thursday to address this. They thought it was very helpful, as it dealt with their individual queries, and this would not be possible in the larger meeting on this subject (to be held on Thur at 17:00 GMT). So for some issues, the holding of 'surgeries' will be a good idea (but obviously time consuming, and we would not expect you all to be doing this, of course!)"
Jzt says, "I think the time element is crucial - I'm afraid. There is not the time to tutor students on a one-to-one basis in BioMOO - it's possible by email, thoght"
Jzt says, "But I think John's idea of tutors or consultants volunteering to be in BioMOO at a particular time to answer questions is a good one. We would have to post these times well in advance so students could take advantage of the offer."
JohnW [to jzt]: "Well, we cant tutor all the students like that, but where people are having particularly difficult problems, it could help.
Jzt says, "Maybe we should mail the pps96-consultants list suggesting this?"
Ish says, ""Maybe some consultants would volunteer a specific topic area that they would accept email questions or hold moo sessions for?"
JohnW says, "Ok, to end this item of the agenda, does anyone else have suggestions for topics we could hold discussion meetings on?"
Jzt thinks Ish has a good suggestion!
ClareS says, "sequence analysis?"
JohnW nods to Ish
SophiaK functional site recognition , patterns, profiles, fingerprints....
Jzt says, "The other ones on Beatrice's list are : protein structure HTML, targeting and transport of proteins and sequence analysis"
Jzt says, "I will add Sophia's suggestions"
SophiaK [to Jtz]: give some time to prepare myself though
Ish says, ""NMR Structure analysis, definitely relations between sites recognized and protein structures, eg helix-turn-helix in DNA site specific proteins..."
ClareS says, "or specific protein families"
Jzt [to Ish]: Would those be related to next term's course work rather than what they have done so far?
JohnW [to ClareS]: That could be a good idea, as we could get some of the BCD people involved. On that note, they will be running their sequence analysis course again fairly shortly, and may be able to offer 2-5 places to PPS students. But this is not definite, so please do not mention this just yet!
ClareS [to JohnW]: OK
Jzt [to Ish]: Noted, thanks.
ClareS . o O ( I can't imagine anyone finding the time to do 2 virtual courses at once )
JohnW says, "Ok, the next topic on the agenda is 'deadlines for submitted assignments'"
Ish [to ClareS]: S "There is virtually no time!!
Jzt says, "OK, we have quite a good list of possible topics and I think we should"
Jzt says, "make up a timetable from them. ... on the Deadlines.."
Jzt [to Ish]: Very true..
Ish [to jzt]: "Is that you Jacky? I'm getting the hang of this...but I have no comment on the deadlines...
Jzt says, "Can I say what the deadline issue is then? This is an academically acredited course and we have to have submitted course work. Also the students want it. However, the question is, how hard do we make the deadlines for the two pieces of submitted work? The Term 1 assignment is supposed to be submitted by the beginning of next term but maybe some will not be able to cope with that."
Jim Pitts [to Ish]: type info jzt and you get information (does no wok if guest
Ish says, "Actually, I can say this about deadlines, it is very useful to have a target date, but it should be mildly clear that they are not totally cast in stone...and a little slippage is tolerated...is that the case?"
Jim Pitts says, "info jzt"
JohnW says, "Given the points about how the students are finding the pace of the course, hwe have to make the deadline a bit more flexible than had originally been intended..."
Jzt says, "Does anyone think that it is a VERY BAD idea to let the deadline for submission of the Term 1 assignment become fairly flexible?"
ClareS says, "I think that it's a *good* idea"
Jim Pitts [to jzt]: whaat was the original deadline?
WillP [guest] not too flexible otherwise students will keep putting off doing the work
Marjorie [guest] says, "I suggest say nothing to the students now; two weeks before the deadline say another two weeks will be allowed, and be only slightly flexible about that - i.e. + - a day or two; it is probably better for them to hand in somehting incomplete, rather than going on indefinitely."
ClareS says, "maybe ppl should actually *apply* for an extension, but with the (almost) certainty of getting one"
Jzt says, "I was wondering if the following would be OK, given that some students are doing the course very part-time: we say that the 2 submitted deadlines have to be submitted before the middle of September (the putative exam date) and the project/dissertation before the end of October. Marjorie will not agree.."
Jim Pitts [to jzt]: could we not inially just slip by a couple of weeks related to the adjustment we have already had
Marjorie [guest] says, "'applying' for an extension is quite a good idea. "
Jzt says, "Well, you seem to think the flexibility should be a couple of weeks rather than a couple of months."
Jim Pitts . o O ( Marjorie 2 week slip sounds good )
ClareS [to jzt]: unless there are extenuating circumstances
WillP [guest] I agree that application is good, and I also think that Marjorie's idea of not saying anything yet is a good
Marjorie [guest] says, "for most people deadlines are a help, and an incentive to get things done !"
ClareS agrees with Marjorie
Jzt thinks Marjorie's suggestion is good
Jzt says, "We have to remember these are part-time students who may have demanding other work to do."
JohnW says, "By the way, the first submitted assignment will be based on Peter's 'protein composition' assignment. We have already set the students on to this informal assignment so that they get to grips with just what PDB files are all about, where necessary (some students are completely new to them)"
ClareS [to JohnW]: am I right that the students will all be working on the same protein structure for this assignment?
JohnW says, "Besides 'composition', it deals with sequence (and its significance), the properties of the different types of the amino acids, and the aspects of 'geometry' already covered, but not the higher-level-structural issues we have yet to deal with of course. Yes, they will have the same structure."
Jzt says, "OK the consensus seems to be that we keep the deadline for beginning of next term for the Term 1 assignment and we tell them before the deadline that they can apply to us for a ~ 2 week extension. Is that a fair summary?"
Marjorie [guest] says, "What is the purpose of the assignment? - do they get it returned with constructive criticism ? (whixh I think is important) or is it just for assessment ?"
Ish [to jzt]: "Sounds like a good idea!
Marjorie [guest] says, "to Jzt yes that is fair"
Jzt [to marjorie]: It's for assessment - but obviously we'll give feedback too.
JohnW says, "Is everyone happy to continue with the agenda now, or should we adjourn and carry on at some other date?"
Jim Pitts [to jzt]: if anyone has a problem with this you can use your discretion!
Ish says, ""I agree with Marjorie, it was frustating not to have feedback..."
Jim Pitts says, "Go On"
Ish [to JohnW]: "I could use the break now...I need to go somewhere shortly...
Jzt says, "I suggest we could wind up and continue another time?"
JohnW says, "Ok, does anybody else have to leave soon?"
Jim Pitts says, "OK##"
Jim Pitts says, "OK"
SophiaK me as well
JohnW says, "Well, the outstanding items on the agenda are 'group activity' and 'role of consultants'"
ClareS says, "It would be good if Peter & Alan could attend the next meeting"
JohnW says, "Group activity: what do people feel about the level of interactions within groups, and how useful it is? How might it be restructured? Any comments...? "
Ish says, ""I don't see much interaction between groups...but maybe the topic discussions will promote more of that."
SophiaK no much as far as Cytosine group is concerned
ClareS says, "the Transcription mtg had participants from several different groups"
Jzt says, "I have been thinking that, as far as I know, there is most interaction in the G group? Is that so Ish. And that this may well be due to larger size. I wonder if next year we should have 20-person groups and in fact downplay the role of groups as opposed to inter-group meetings?"
JohnW says, "My own view is that perhaps groups should be made a bit larger in future (completely the opposite of what I thought at the beginning). The largest group (Guanine) seems to benefit from the fact that at any meeting, there is always quite a high attendance, even if not everyone can attend every meeting. "
JohnW . o O ( you beat me to it, Jacky )
Jzt [to Ish]: I meant interaction within each group. There seems to be some for G.
Ish says, ""Jacky may be right...each group usu. has several really active members, but if we cross-pollinate more, I think they will benefit even more. Groups are useful to form contacts however and feel more comfortable with chatting..."
HenryB [guest] says, ":agrees"
HenryB [guest] says, "henry agrees"
Jzt says, "I don't believe any chatting goes on between C group members.. I tried to encourage it, but failed."
JohnW is in favour of cross-pollination!
JohnW [to JimP]: Any comments on group T, Jim, or Clare?
Jim Pitts [to JohnW]: we have had some good meetings but the attendance has dropped a bit lately
ClareS says, "Not everyone will like the MOO. We have a few really active members, some we've seen occasionally and some we haven't seen at all. I don't know whether MOO activity (or lack of) correlates at all with how well students are doing with the material, or even with how much they're enjoying the course"
JohnW says, "The U-group also seems fairly quiet, in contrast to some of the others. I suppose it just depends on the individual group members."
JohnW says, "Of course, some participants may wish to follow the course in a more anonymous fashion than others."
Jzt says, "Clare's is a very good point! Until we get in the submitted assignments it's hard to know who is really doing what.."
Jim Pitts says, "You certainly need a few keen members to make it work"
Jzt agrees with John too
Ish says, "I find moo interaction very slow and time consuming...my personal opinion, but we have made good use of it in G group...I found the mail lists very helpful last time, but this time they seem so quiet."
Jzt [to Ish]: I wonder if some of the discussions that would have happened among keen people on the lists is now happening in the MOOs?
Jim Pitts [to jzt]: that is quite possible
Ish says, ""The technology problems may be the reason for low moo meeting attendance"
ClareS agrees with Ish
JohnW says, "Yes, not everyone will like the MOO of course, and likewise not everyone will want to post a lot of messages on the lists. There was a big burst of activity on the lists at first, which has now died down. Again, I think that some students may have too much to cope with at the moment."
Jzt says, "Come back Iddo, all is forgiven..."
JohnW says, "One point is, that we still get a number of e-mails to 'PPS-HQ' here at Birkbeck which we deal with individually. This is fine, but perhaps use of the e-mail lists could be more appropriate in some cases. I think there was really quite a lot of useful information in the early list-exchanges, which certainly taught me some new things."
Jzt says, "I feel we have not really solved the issue of how to run the groups this time very well - but I think there do need to be groups of some sort in order to reduce anonymity and increase informal contact. "
Ish [to jzt]: "I agree!
ClareS says, "this is still very new, we'll learn most about what works best by trying new things!"
JohnW says, "Ok, shall we move on to the last point, then, about the role of consultants."
Jzt says, "Maybe some people would rather that pps-hq dealt with their problems privately rather than them tell the world how they don't know how to do something fairly basic - I might feel that way myself, and also go to someone who's got an answer."
Ish says, ""Would it be useful to have a student list by country (maybe we already have this), re-encourage people to join the PPS people list, and let people check list for others in the same country, even if not the same group?"
Jzt says, "I think Ish's suggestion about asking consultants to volunteer to run small meetings or 'surgeries' should be acted on."
JohnW [to jzt]: Thats very true. It is understandable, but we have tried to encourage people from the beginning to use the lists and not be 'shy'. Admittedly this approach wont be to everyones taste. Its also clear that some people have very different views about just how an e-mail list should operate.
ClareS says, "I should think that answers to simple questions like how to download Rasmol could be in the FAQ as well (maybe they are, I haven't checked it recently)"
Jzt [to Ish]: Yes I think we should remind them about the people list.
Jim Pitts [to jzt]: aaaAnd also encorage them to register on the BioMoo and deposite there ID with JohnW to put on list
JohnW [to Ish]: We have a list of students-by-group-by-country at /PPS2/people/group.html
Jzt [to Jim Pitts]: OK
ClareS says, "might it be sensible to record BioMOO IDs at least for consultants on that URL so if a student is hanging around in BioMOO s/he can know who (might) have an answer to a PPS related question / problem?"
JohnW says, "On the subject FAQ's, I initially thought that the approach to our WWW pages would be sufficient, i.e. we tried making it clear to everyone that, for example, if someone had a technical difficulty, their first stop should be the PPS technology page, which in turn points to lots of resources on RasMol, Mage, chemical MIME, how to upload/download files, etc etc. But still too many people do not seem to realise that these resources are there."
JohnW says, "-so, I agree that a simpler FAQ approach could be in order."
Ish says, ""Many people have a sort of pavlovian response to a FAQ and go there first, so maybe I will make sure that all technology links are available there as well."
ClareS [to Ish]: that'll be very useful - thanks
JohnW thanks Ish
SophiaK I have to go Goodbye to all of you
SophiaK waves bye
JohnW waves
ClareS waves
Jim Pitts waves
JohnW says, "Thanks for coming""
Ish waes to Sophia
Jzt says, "Can we go on to the last item - role of consultants? Or if Clare has to go, maybe we don't have a lot more that needs to be discussed?"
Ish says, ""That waas sort of a Scottish wave!"
SophiaK has disconnected.
Jzt says, "I think we should act on Ish's suggestion for consultants to offer surgeries on specific points.."
JohnW . o O ( or Mexican Wave? )
JohnW asks, "any further offers?"
JohnW smiles
Jzt says, "Well, John and I will mail consultants about that and about a list of specific biomoo meetings - Clare and Ish already volunteered."
Jzt says, "...and Sophia, I forgot."
Marjorie [guest] says, "would you like to send round a list of topics for which you would like consultants to offer ?"
Jzt [to marjorie]: Yes, that's a good idea.
ClareS says, "one thing I ought to point out is that I will be out of the country between Easter and mid-May; I will still have net access & hope to be able to participate (particularly in moo mtgs) but might have even less time than I do now"
Ish says, "What did I volunteer for now!!"
The counter-ion comes back home.
The counter-ion hovers beside you.
Jzt [to Ish]: Well 'your interests' in NMR, DNA site specific proteins, I promise I won't do anything without consulting you further by email!!!
Jzt [to Ish]: No obligation whatever is assumed!!!
Jzt says, "Well, on that note, should we start to wind up this meeting? Are there areany more points we should discuss?"
The counter-ion hovers beside you.
JohnW says, "Well, when we have compiled the list of topics, we will circulate it, and also contact those consultants who are involved in that field. E.g. for NMR, Ion B. springs to mind."
Jzt wonders whether the counter-ion has evil intentions
Jzt [to JohnW]: He certainly does..
ClareS [to JohnW]: good idea...
The housekeeper arrives to cart SophiaK off to bed.
JohnW says, "Oops, the talking counter ion has returned! I banished it to the PPS office for 3 hours, but that didnt seem to be enough!"
JohnW says, "excuse me..."
JohnW picks up the counter-ion.
JohnW goes up.
JohnW has arrived.
Ish says, ""Please pardon me, but I must say ciao!! for now...broken X terminals are calling me..."
Jzt waves to Ish
Jim Pitts waves
Ish waves to all
ClareS [to Ish]: goodbye
JohnW says, "Spooky, as soon as I mentioned "Ion B." (a consultant) the 'counter ion' returned."
Ish has disconnected.
HenryB [guest] [to Ish]: bye
JohnW [to Ish]: Bye (too late..)
ClareS grins
JohnW hums the Twilight Zone theme.
JohnW says, "Ok, does this just about wrap up the meeting? Any further comments from consultants, e.g. are you enjoying it and feeling that you are getting something useful out of the experience?"
JohnW says, "Or how we at HQ could improve things?"
HenryB [guest] says, "yes .... some experience"
ClareS says, "firstly I'd like to thank John for chairing this meeting so well, I thought it was very constructive"
WillP [guest] A couple of consultants I have spoken to are keen but are waiting for their special topics to come up.
HenryB [guest] taps table in agreement
Jim Pitts says, "Hits table harder!"
Jim Pitts drops the broken table.
Jzt says, "And we will act on the consensus of the meeting."
JohnW smiles and nurses the overworked keyboard.
JohnW says, "Ok, then I call this meeting to a close""
JohnW brings down his virtual gavel firmly on the keyboard.
HenryB [guest] says, "and I will walk out of the virual door into the vitrtual arin"
HenryB [guest] says, "Bye everybody"
WillP [guest] bye everyone
WillP [guest] has disconnected.
ClareS wonders what a virtual arin is
The housekeeper arrives to remove WillP [guest].
Marjorie [guest] says, "thankyou all, interesting contacts, goodbye for now"
Jim Pitts says, "Stop recorder?"
JohnW says, "For those who think I am going mad, the 'talking counter ion' is an object which directs people up to the PPS '96 office (where there is a 'helpdesk' of sorts). The ion is magnetically drawn to PPS Base, after a specified amount of time, which is usually 30 seconds, but I changed it to 3 hours."
HenryB [guest] has disconnected.
The housekeeper arrives to remove HenryB [guest].
JohnW [to Jim Pitts]: Yes... this tape will self-destruct in 5 seconds.
Jzt waves to all and thanks them for coming along
Jzt says, "Bye Henry, see you again soon"
JohnW hums the Mission Impossible theme.
JohnW turns the PPS-recorder off.