It has been many years since we’ve held user meetings, largely for
lack of a location. The original place we held them at, Godfather’s in
Ballard went out of business. The replacement location burned to the
ground.

The only suggestion I’ve received for a new location is Spiro’s in
the Fred Meyer parking lot on Aurora Ave N just south of 185th:

https://www.eskimo.com/eskimo-north-user-meeting/

I’ve cleared this with the management of Spiro’s, including letting
them know what happened to our previous meeting location and they were
more than okay with it. Initially we’ll use some tables in the normal
dining area but if the turnout is sufficient, they will make the banquet
room available to us.

So we’ll be holding our next meeting on December 19th at 2pm. No end
time has been set, I’ll remain until people want to leave. They close at
9pm so won’t be later than that.

I have installed two alternatives to squirrelmail for webmail, which
may or may not work better on your mobile device.

Roundcube is available Web Apps -> Mail -> Roundcube
Rainloop is available Web Apps -> Mail -> Rainloop

Over the years I’ve operated Eskimo with an unusual business model.
Instead of trying to invent something and then trying to convince you that
you can’t live without it, I’ve tried to listen to what you tell me you
want and then figure out how to provide it.

The more feedback I can get from you, the better this process works.
Most of the feedback I’ve received has been via e-mail, but it would be
better to have it be via a more public forum because that way people can
comment and build on ideas.

I’ve finally got forum software in place that works properly with
encryption, so it works on our https://www.eskimo.com/ site, also software
that is responsive so it works on any device from a smartphone to a
desktop.

Sign up is instantaneous. Fill out the registration, it will send
you an e-mail, click on the link and you’re registered and can immediately
post.

So far only 11 people have signed up, that’s about 2% of our
customers. I really would like to have a functional community so I can
get your input on how to move forward.

To sign up go to: https://www.eskimo.com/forums

Or from our home page Web Apps -> Forums

Click on the registration link, fill out the information, sort the
captcha (it’s a cool alternative to poorly obfuscated text), and then
click on the link in the e-mail you receive. If you don’t get e-mail in
your INBOX right away, check your spam folder.

Thank you very much. In case I forget before Christmas, I want to
wish you all a Merry Christmas filled with family and joy.

     The GlobalPOP 56k access numbers are working again.  GlobalPOP found no problem.  Apparently it had fixed itself by the time they tested.  I re-tested and confirmed that they are working.

     There is a problem with the On-Net GlobalPOP 56k dial access numbers in the Seattle area at least.  They are returning Authentication Server Timeout, but the problem is not with our authentication servers, it is something on their end.

     The Off-Net numbers are working, so in Seattle you can use 206-402-0023, and the MegaPOP numbers are working, so Seattle 206-299-0155 is up.

     I have initiated a trouble ticket to get the others repaired.

     I’ve added yet another webmail client that may work better for mobile clients.  It works well on my emulator but not on my sons’ I-phone so your mileage may vary.  At any rate, it’s available for you to try:

         Web Apps → Mail → RainLoop

     Let me know how this works on your device (and what device you are using).

     An alternative to SquirrelMail is now available.  I was going to replace Squirrelmail with it but it did not perform as advertised, particularly with respect to mobile devices and it is generally ugly.

     If you would like to try it out, go to Web Apps → Mail → RoundCube.

     It will remain available but I am looking for something that works properly with Mobile devices still.

     I enjoyed this and want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Hope that you get to spend time with your family.  I am Thankful for still having some family to spend Thanksgiving with.

     I’ve posted a couple of videos on our forum that have to do with X2Go, a method of using a remote desktop on our shell servers from your Apple, PC, or Linux system, and Bluefish, a graphical editor that is similar to DreamWeaver but operates on our server rather than on your local PC.

     See: https://www.eskimo.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=13

     Some days just nothing goes right…

     Been trying to get RoundCube with MobileCube to work to replace SquirrelMail and provide a responsive design (works with all devices).

     Got it mostly working today, except for the calendar part, problem with SQL syntax there, but it did not work as advertised.  Basically did not format well below 768px wide screens.  Well, at least not on an emulator I have.  If I can snag my older son with his I-phone long enough perhaps I can test it on a real device.

     So I tried to get Horde installed, I’ve had requests for some sort of functional Group Ware anyway.  But I’m getting a database error I can’t figure out and I can’t find where to configure the mail server to use.  It seems to want to use the local host which is wrong.

     I’ve been trying to get a new XMPP server to work and having problems with the SSL configuration.  I can connect with Pidgin but not Coccinella.  With Coccinella, the client and server can’t agree on an encryption protocol.  I don’t know how to determine what protocols Coccinella supports.

     I’m still having digestive system problems after a course of Doxycycline which isn’t making things a lot of fun either.

     When things go like this I try to accept it in the context of Romans 8:28 and believe there is some way God will make good of it all, but there are times when that is difficult to imagine.

     Forums has been replaced with new software, phpBB 3.1.6.

     I’ve run phpBB in the past but went away from it because it lacked support for responsive themes and was generally slow.

     MyBB had responsive themes but they turned out to be ugly and really ONLY looked okay on mobile devices.  On a wide screen they’d jam everything over in the left corner.

     MyBBS broke badly when we went to an all encrypted site.  For some reason enabling SSL broke a bunch of things on MyBB.

     The current phpBB is responsive by default, so now Forums will display properly on your cell phone, laptop, tablet, or desktop.

     In addition, phpBB 3.1.6 works properly on an SSL encrypted https site.

     The captcha is both easier to use for people and harder to use for bots.  Accounts are registered instantly by e-mail.

     Our current web server platform runs phpBB fast so speed is no longer a problem.

     From our main website https://www.eskimo.com/, use Web Apps → Forums or you can use the direct URL https://www.eskimo.com/forums.

     I’m going to be out of the office for a while as I have to make a trip to the co-location facility to bring up the old eskimo.com server.  It is an old Sparc SS-10 with no means of rebooting remotely when it’s hung.  I am going to run a few errands as well when I am out and possible get dinner so will be two or three hours.