himareme
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TKE-NET - The Proposal - 2005/10/07 18:57
To facilitate discussion of the TKE-NET proposal, here are its elements, numbered for ease of reference.
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I propose that we of TKE form an computer Network as a primary benefit for all TKE:
1. That this network carry a domain name similar to TKE-NET.
2. That this network consist of those servers already in existence, tke.org, tkecentral, tke-haaai, others and added servers as available but under complete control of TKE Alumni with rules established by the GC.
3. That Regional or Area Alumni Associations be established in all major employment areas throughout the USA, Canada, or any other nation where TKE might become established.
4. That all existing Regional or Area Alumni Association provide a server, hosted or fully Teke Owned.
5. That all Teke servers provide a sub-domain for all the undergraduate Chapters and Chapter Alumni Associations in their Area or Region.
6. That all alumni be encouraged to hold dual membership in both the Regional or Area Association and their home Chapter Alumni Association.
7. That all regional or Area Alumni Associations publish an electronic newsletter on a quarterly basis.
8. That Regional or Area Alumni Associations provide personal e-mail accounts for all active Tekes in that Region or Area.
9. That Regional or Area Alumni Associations provide personal sub-domain for all active Tekes in that Region.
10. That Regional or Area Alumni Associations provide cost effective business accounts.
11. That Regional or Area Alumni Associations Provide cost effective business web sites.
12. That TKE provide Teke owned and operated Web Services which would include IRC servers, PHP forums, CGI scripts, Java Scripts, HTML editors and development services, and programming tools for the benefit of all TKE members everywhere, provided either as a benefit for active, dues paid alumni in Chapter Alumni Associations and/or Regional/Area Alumni Associations, or that selected services be provided at of cost of materials and labor, or that selected services be provided as a means of fund raising for Chapter and/or Alumni Associations, and that selected services be offered to other IFC/Hellenic organizations that support the TKE ideals at a fair and reasonable price.
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himareme
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TKE-NET - The Proposal - 2005/10/07 21:49
After carefully studying the TKE-NET proposal, I think there are real problems with it. First it starts off in item 2 as a basic Information Technology (IT) project, then seems to morph starting with item 3 into a project to develop area Alumni Associations (AA) that will be expected to offer services that it is highly unlikely they will be able to provide.
If this is indeed an IT project it requires, as does any IT project, a starting point, a clear series of steps to be executed, and an end point. I do not see that here.
Item 3 requires AA to be established in all major employment areas. Desirable? Maybe. But how practical? How many area AA do we have now with say 30 or more members? What are they doing for their members that makes them successful? (Note: tke.org currently lists only one active area AA (Wash DC) and eight chapter AA.)
Items 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 expect each area AA to provide servers, chapter sub-domains, personal e-mail accounts, personal sub-domains, business accounts, and business web sites. This is highly impractical and assumes a level of IT expertise and interest among the area AA members that may not exist.
Will our fraters care about TKE e-mail accounts (item 8)? Maybe a few, but most of us already have multiple e-mail accounts: free accounts, a work account, an account through our DSL or cable provider, and a school account. Personally, I don't need another e-mail account.
Personal sub-domains also seem to be a non-starter. There are already numerous sources of free or low cost personal domains with excellent site building tools which I doubt the area AAs would be able to trump. Additionally blogs are becoming more and more prevalent and are the personal web site of choice for many. (Note: one of the only up to date parts on tke.org is the blog on chapter hurricane relief efforts that Justin Kirk maintains.)
As for business accounts (item 10) and business web sites (item 11) this is a complex area involving e-commerce, payment gateways, etc. Many providers offer these services at a very reasonable cost. This is something I don't think an area AA would be able to effectively provide.
In summary, I reluctantly conclude that the current proposal for TKE-NET is not workable and would fail to receive a positive vote of the Grand Chapter.
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CHTANK
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Re: TKE-NET - The Proposal - 2005/12/12 09:22
After carefully studying the TKE-NET proposal, I think there are real problems with it. First it starts off in item 2 as a basic Information Technology (IT) project, then seems to morph starting with item 3 into a project to develop area Alumni Associations (AA) that will be expected to offer services that it is highly unlikely they will be able to provide.
It is of sorts an IT project, but note that most of our younger fraters are computer litterate and run some sort of server, in fact, anyone who posts a webpage is running a server, hosted or of their own, whether they know it or not.
If this is indeed an IT project it requires, as does any IT project, a starting point, a clear series of steps to be executed, and an end point. I do not see that here.
The starting point here is getting all of us who volunteer to thinking about how we can best provide Web Services to ourselves. This forum is a starting point; the TKE listserv(s) is a starting point; www.tke-haaai.org is a starting point; www.tke.org is a starting point. Each of these starting points is a tool for communication among Tekes but count the Tekes that use any or all of these starting point communication tools.
Item 3 requires AA to be established in all major employment areas. Desirable? Maybe. But how practical? How many area AA do we have now with say 30 or more members? What are they doing for their members that makes them successful? (Note: tke.org currently lists only one active area AA (Wash DC) and eight chapter AA.)
Yes, the DC alumni association is the only one listed, but still, the core of the others is still active, just not listed; right under the current by-laws, wrong if one wants to keep them active - thus, a by-law change is reqired. Perhaps the area or regianal AA should be operated with and through the Regional Directors, PA's, and APA's on hand and as an official part of the AA. This need more thought and input, this is the reason for the preliminaty proposal, for discussion.
Items 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 expect each area AA to provide servers, chapter sub-domains, personal e-mail accounts, personal sub-domains, business accounts, and business web sites. This is highly impractical and assumes a level of IT expertise and interest among the area AA members that may not exist.
This is exactly what tke-haaai.org is doing, I am using it now for hosting our website, http://www.tke-haaai.org/; my e-mail account, chtank@tke-haaai.org; my personal webpage, http://chtank.tke-haaai.org; and one test business site for a frater, http://www.tke-haaai.org/quixotelonghorns/index.html. Mind you, I am a dinosaur, not an IT, but with a little trying, have learned to do some HTML and thus can provice some Web Services. This forum is provided by some great guys in Louisianna, too, who have learned to provide some Web Services. I have posted the http://www.tkeresource.com/index.php, http://www.tkecentral.net/index2.htm, http://www.tkelists.com/http://www.tkelists.com/http://www.tkelists.com/, http://www.tke.org/, and the http://www.tke-haaai.org/newsletter/0905.htm on the www.tke-haaai.org web page. To me, these are all Web Services. We need to bring all Tekes to these web services. Let's use this discussion to feed it out and get it going.
Will our fraters care about TKE e-mail accounts (item 8)? Maybe a few, but most of us already have multiple e-mail accounts: free accounts, a work account, an account through our DSL or cable provider, and a school account. Personally, I don't need another e-mail account.
Most official staff Volunteers do get a TKE e-mail account, <nick>@tke.org. I have accounts available, too, but I will not use the available free Netscape, yahoo, AOL, MSN accounts - these accounts are also the accounts used or spoofed by the mal-ware distributers and spammers. Even though spam filters catch them, Antivirus kills them, and wirewalls block them they are still a real pain in the ass.
Personal sub-domains also seem to be a non-starter. There are already numerous sources of free or low cost personal domains with excellent site building tools which I doubt the area AAs would be able to trump. Additionally blogs are becoming more and more prevalent and are the personal web site of choice for many. (Note: one of the only up to date parts on tke.org is the blog on chapter hurricane relief efforts that Justin Kirk maintains.)
Saddly, all too true! But may I point out that even with site building tools, few sites are even close to meeting the W3C standards, many are corrupted html and are lost to many of our disabled users. Look to te bottom of this forum and you will find that it has passed the W3C muster, thanks to our Fraters who paid attention and use the proper tools. Those W3C (TIDY) checks should be on each and every one of the TKE websites. My http://www.centiumeve.net/deepspace/ website even passes the W3C Accessibility check, too.
As for business accounts (item 10) and business web sites (item 11) this is a complex area involving e-commerce, payment gateways, etc. Many providers offer these services at a very reasonable cost. This is something I don't think an area AA would be able to effectively provide.
At this time, I am assisting a frater with his e-business accounts. The primary problem began with the layout and design of the accounts. In order to suggest a better layout, I downloaded http://quixotelonghorns.com/http://quixotelonghorns.com/ into the tke-haaai.org server and re-organized it to this http://www.tke-haaai.org/quixotelonghorns/index.html and forwarded this link to Frater Les's secretary so she could upload it to replace the original. I did not change anything, simply re-worked the layout it and one link that was incorrect. This is what I mean by using the sub-dommain, Les did not have to give me an account on his server, all I had to do was dwonload and provide an upload. Yes, e-commerce is very available, and links to these accounts are very available, too, but we need to be able for Fraters to help Fraters. When one Frater has knowledge to help another, we need the NETWORK to help them find one another. When I needed an IT in Houston, I did ask for a TKE to help, but noe replied, communiction was lost, we need a NETWORK of TKE's TO help TKE's in need. In watching the listserv(s) and the questions asked, it becomes clear that our Fraters do not know about TKE HQ and the resources there or tehy simple forget to use it, or the resources need to be better distributed. Fraters, let us spread the word, let us make is easy to find TKE, to volunteer, to join chapter Alumni Associations, to be a part of TKE when away from home (thus Area/Region AA's), and simple find TKE after college. Ideas are welocme.
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