Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wol Den "Hot Site" On Net

The PCFA.ORG computer was one of the "hottest" sites on the internet between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. Monday, April 1. Things were really "smoking." The phone lines were "sizzling."

Maybe a little humor helps ease the transition to recovery, because, unfortunately, those things were really true. The PCFA.ORG computer was located in the fire-resistant vault only 14 inches from the furnace where it is believed the fire started at the Prescott High School building.

All the internal components of the PCFA.ORG computer were covered with soot mixed with water. The mixture carries acids that will eat away the circuits within three to 24 months, according to PCFA.ORG system administrator Danny Stewart. Even though the PCFA.ORG computer survived the fire, the computer is "terminal."

The Prescott Community Freenet Association, the non-profit organization that operates PCFA.ORG, has chosen to replace the computer and other equipment rather than place a computer into operation that will give trouble time and time again over the next few months.

"It's going to take a little longer to get back into operation," Stewart said, "but we can't tolerate problems on a computer that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People from the area depend on PCFA.ORG for the electronic mail (e-mail) and free access to the internet. People from all over the world depend on PCFA.ORG for information about the Prescott and Nevada County area."

With overwhelming support from the contributors contacted so far, about half of the approximately $10,000 required to replace the PCFA.ORG computer has been raised.

Contributions may be sent to PCFA at 615 Oak Street in Prescott. Anonymous donations may be deposited at the Bank of Prescott. "If the donations continue to come in at this pace, we can be back up in another week," Stewart said.

Here are some technical notes for PCFA.ORG users when the system comes back on line: PCFA.ORG's IP number (the Trumpet "gateway") will change to 170.211.23.145 and 255.255.255.240 will be the new "netmask."

IP numbers assigned to SLIP/PPP users at login will also change, but computer software usually handles this automatically.

The main telephone number, 887-1842, will be the same.

PCFA.ORG should start back at exactly the same point it was when it properly shut itself down Monday night at 10:32 p.m., five minutes after the power failed, Stewart said. Anyone who attempted to send e-mail April 1 might want to check with the recipient to see if it got through. E-mail destined for PCFA.ORG since Monday evening most likely has been returned to the sender; it may be necessary to re-subscribe to mailing lists.