From: pedregal@eternity.cs.umass.edu (Message Meister)
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 09:50:01 -0500 (EST)


Greetings.  Some of the 3rd floor was without power Sat. and the machines
were down all day; there were no reports of internet withdrawal symptoms.
This was a dry run for the upcoming internet day on February 29th:

*** Attention ***

It's that time again!

As many of you know, each leap year the Internet must be shut down for 24
hours in order to allow us to clean it.  The cleaning process, which
eliminates dead email and inactive ftp, www and gopher sites, allows for a
better-working and faster Internet.

This year, the cleaning process will take place from 12:01 a.m. GMT on
Feb. 29 until 12:01 a.m. GMT on March 1.  During that 24-hour period, five
powerful Internet-crawling robots situated around the world will search the
Internet and delete any data that they find.

In order to protect your valuable data from deletion we ask that you do the
following:

1.  Disconnect all local area networks from their Internet connections.

2.  Shut down all Internet servers, or disconnect them from the Internet.

3.  Disconnect all disks and hardrives from any connections to the Internet.

4.  Refrain from connecting any computer to the Internet in any way.

We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some Internet users, and
we apologize.  However, we are certain that any inconveniences will be more
than made up for by the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet, once
it has been cleared of electronic flotsam and jetsam.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Kim Dereksen
Interconnected Network Maintenance staff
Main branch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sysops and others: Since the last Internet cleaning, the number of Internet
users has grown dramatically.  Please assist us in alerting the public of the
upcoming Internet cleaning by posting this message where your users will be
able to read it.  Please pass this message on to other sysops and Internet
users as well.  Thank you.



Subject: Coffee Message Errata (yes, there's two of them)
From: pedregal@eternity.cs.umass.edu (Message Meister)
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 16:33:11 -0500 (EST)

Greetings again ...  I have two corrections to today's earlier notice:

1. The Internet Cleaning day has been changed thus:
   ** Internet Cleaning Day is February 30, 1996, from 12:01 GMT on **

   Mark your (paper) calendars!


2. Due to some miscommunication, the coffee actually brewed today was:
   Mocha Java Decaf, Peaberry Golden Brown, and Colombian French Roast.

   This was caused by miscommunication between the Bean Burgher and the
   Coffee Czar. From now on, we will refrain from using dual-nationality
   coffees. 

Humbly yours,
                The Message Meister, wiping the egg off his face