Information Systems Intranet Services
Issue 14:
February 4, 1999
WCC Site
Add yourself to the ISIS Newsletter alias
New Editor Seizes Control
Well, the headline is actually more exciting than the real story, but if it drags you into reading this, then we've done our job. Here's the scoop: After starting up O Mighty ISIS in September 1998, and doing a magnificent job of squeezing information from a group of people who swim in the stuff all day but won't divulge any (even to promote themselves), Lisa Garvey became a Netscape employee and took on a whole new batch of responsibilities. Her first official act? She promptly threw the bouquet of editorship--and it landed in the hands of Tom Mulhern. Oddly enough, Tom had been an editor in a previous incarnation (from 1977 through 1990), so after the initial shock of deja vu wore off, he set about his job by doing what every editor does naturally: He pushed the deadlines back. But, all good procrastination must come to an end, so here you see the first O Mighty ISIS since mid-December 1998. Tell your friends. And let's all give Lisa a round of applause for doing such a great job! Hip! Hip!
Project Ticker
The whiteboards are straining under the weight of all the tasks written on them in smelly pseudo-ink. Here are some current highlights...
- New IS site
- W3 updates and general maintenance
- My W3, live and kicking
- Redesigning the pager request form
- Maintenance and redesign of the Finance website
- Updating Insight (and updating it again)
- Hardware Standard Configurations site redesign
- Creating Vertical Solutions Marketing site
- Creating Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Sales Intranet
- Rootca redesign
Web Sightings
Chris & Kori
In issue 3 of O Mighty ISIS, it was revealed that Jonathan Cheyer was featured on the TV program "That's Incredible" in 1981 for his incredible prowess with the Rubik's Cube. (To get on the show, he took first place at the state competition, with a record time of 48.31 seconds.) It turns out that there's a copy of the That's Incredible Rubik's Cube contest on the web. You have to download it and play it with a RealVideo player in order to see it. The full piece is about 11-1/2 minutes long,but if you're impatient, zoom to 4:53 and 8:45 in the tape to see this young whiz-kid in action.
Red Bus PA
Very weird, very engaging. Think of it as a kaleidoscope with a mind of its own. Click anywhere. That's right: Anywhere. You'll be exploring all sorts of wacky visual and textual things from the ripe mind of someone with a lot of DHTML skills and way too much time to use them. Erik Gibb found this, and so let's all thank him. Hip! Hip!
Miscellaneous Stuff
In its own trademarked way, ISIS is ever-changing. Lisa Garvey is now a full-time, bona fide, green-badge-carrying Netscape employee, taking on new challenges and enjoying her new role as "Occupant" (check her business card if you don't believe it). Jonathan is heading into part-timeness, and Kim Fullerton has been scooped up by the Netscape Learning folks, where she will eventually be doing sys admin and curriculum-planning stuff, beginning sometime soon. We'll miss her, and vow to get even with Learning, even if it means sending a tepid, vaguely worded email.
Nicole Pham will be living it up in Europe during late February and early March, leaving the cold glare of the cathode-ray tube to bask in Italy's and France's glow. "I will miss you all very much," she claims, "but I'm still very excited to be taking my trip to Europe." Nicole will be traveling with a friend who will be sitting for the Bar the day before they jet to the land of Michelangelo (the artist, not the turtle). Though their plans aren't firm yet, they plan to visit Venice, Florence, Rome, and Milan. Our intrepid programmer/explorer will then head to Paris to spend a week on her own. Her parting words? "I'll be thinking of you all!" Let's see if she can remember any of us after such a great vacation!
Someone's Got a SecretIt's been several weeks since the last issue of O Mighty ISIS, but for those who don't remember the question, here it is: Which team member has made numerous public appearances as "Qamara," the belly dancer? It was none other than our own programmin' demon(ess?), Nicole. She explains, "I've been practicing bellydancing for a year now and have made appearances at local art-and-wine festivals and performances at Zorba the Greek's. In the tradition of belly dancers, my instructor observed my dancing style and came up with a performing name for me. 'Qamara' means 'Moon.'" Hip! Hip! Now, for this week's secret: A few years back, this person sat backstage after a concert by British blues legend Long John Baldry and shared beers with the band. (For those who don't know, the pianist in 6'7" Baldry's early-'60s band, Reg Dwight, later renamed himself Elton John, in honor of Baldry and sax man Elton Dean.) Who was this web-roving, HTML-parsing music aficionado? |
Amazon Kickback (oops! we mean Referral Bonus) Counter: $62.10What's the matter? Everyone give up books for January? Remember to buy through the Webmaster Bookshelf. It's not too late to cast your vote for how we spend this money, and when. No, we can't go to Paris. And we've only got about 320 days till the Millenium, when we will all be blown to smithereens by the Y2K bug. So, think of ways we can spend the money and live large before civilization ends. Hip! Hip! |
Coming Attractions
- 2/14:Valentine's Day (if you didn't get something for that special someone, you're doomed!)
- 2/16:Chinese New Year/Mardi Gras (how much fun can you have on one day?)
- 2/17:ISIS staff meeting
- 2/19-21:Tom goes to Washington, AC
- 2/25:Nicole heads to the land where pizza began
- 3/3:ISIS staff meeting
Edited by Tom Mulhern. Bribes will not be accepted by the editor, but story submissions and ideas will!