This is the first in a fairly {ir}regular series of follow-ups to an original posting I made in late March/early April. The first posting outlined tentative proposals for the establishment of a John Muir Centre in his birthplace of Dunbar, Scotland. My suggestion at that time was to incorporate an Internet presence in any development at this type so that John Muir's conservation message could be made available on a global basis. I encouraged everyone who saw that posting to send me an e-mail message of (at least) 'I saw the posting' nature to provide concrete evidence of the potential of this form of communication medium. I have, with the exception of a few bounced replies, responded with a message of thanks to more than 150 people who managed to get their e-mail to me [although I suspect that some e-mail to me was bounced in transit B-( - more on that at the end of this message]. I would encourage *anyone* who is seeing this concept of an Internet presence for a John Muir Centre for the first time to add to my e-mail collection ;-). Such evidence is a vital aspect of getting the JMC off the ground. I have been immensely pleased and impressed by the quality of the feedback I have received so far. Some have even followed up the e-mail with a postcard to the address I gave in the original posting. The e-mail and postcards will form part of an initial exhibition to show Dunbar residents, and the local council, the degree of support that John Muir attracts from the Internet community. If you'd like the address to send the postcard then just mention this in your e-mail to me. The purpose in submitting follow-up articles is to repay, in kind, the help and advice that has so generously been given so far. In the course of these articles I hope to document the highs and lows of attempting to setup an Internet presence for the JMC, in particular, and progress in general. I am pleased to report that the local steering group of about 30 Dunbar residents have elected a small task force of 7 people to work closely with 6 members of the John Muir Trust. The initial remit of the task force is to coordinate a feasibility study for such a Centre. It has also been agreed in principle to establish a charitable body to be known as 'Dunbar's John Muir Association', the constitution of which will be put before a public meeting in Dunbar in the near future. The purpose of the Association will be to raise funds and sponsorship for the proposed JMC and, ultimately, be responsible for the day to day running of it. Future postings will contain details of these developments. Needless to say, if anyone on the 'net has experience of, or advice for, such an enterprise, I would be delighted to hear from them. I am, of course, particularly interested in the incorporation of the Internet into the final proposal. You might like to know that the local paper - the East Lothian Courier - has picked up on my use of the Internet and has run a story today with the headline 'World-wide Support for John Muir Visitor Centre'. Apart from the usual journalistic license and the minor inaccuracies that crept in due to the lack of understanding of what exactly the Internet is, the overall picture is accurate. Plans for the {near} future include setting up an experimental Web service on (I hope) a local departmental machine, and establishing an FTP archive for past articles/postings and information on the John Muir Trust. Details of these will be given in subsequent postings. A note on mail delvery problems: here is the text of a message circulated locally in mid-April about problems with the Strathclyde University e-mail address... "Changes were made over the weekend to the JANET name/address database, the NRS, to the entries for Strathclyde University. These changes were made by NRS staff without the foreknowledge or approval of the local NRS administrator. These changes caused bogus NRS entries for Strathclyde to pollute the mail and address databases used on JANET. This has caused incoming JANET mail to be bounced." If you have tried to e-mail me in response to my last posting and had it bounced back then please try again. If it still happens then, if you have a local postmaster, he/she might be able to help. Many thanks for reading this far. -- Duncan Smeed E-mail: [log in to unmask] Department of Computer Science Tel: (+44) 41 552 4400 x3587 Strathclyde University Fax: (+44) 41 552 5330 26 Richmond Street Glasgow G1 1XH Scotland, UK "Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever", John Muir