I got this idea when I was standing in the closing ceremonies at last year's Ohio Linux Fest. About 1000 True Geeks were waiting as they raffled off books. They were all ages - from barely teenagers to octogenarians - and all shapes, sizes, hair styles, and what-have-you. I thought to myself, "I wonder, if we took the people in this room, and 1000 random computers, and we took 1000 Microsoft Types, and gave them 1000 random computers, which group would come up with a working network the fastest?"

Any guesses? ;)

So, as Your Humble Program Director, I decided to put it to the test. This coming meeting, bring a computer (or computers), and any networking "stuff" - cables, switches, NICs, hubs, routers, etc. - you may have, and let's just see how Our Tiny Corner of Geekdom will fare in putting up a working network. Those who're "Old Hands" at networking can teach us "Absolute Newbies" anything and everything, and I'm sure a lot - a lot! - of knowledge will be imparted and (hopefully!) absorbed.

For this run, we won't worry about the Microsoft Contingent, but if you have an MS-type computer (and you're willing to fess up to it!), bring it, and we'll "integrate" it into the network. (Did that sound sorta "Borg-like?") Come prepared to learn or teach, and we'll have a great time!

See ya there!