Hi,

The silence from the HES list the last two weeks has been due to severe 
computer problems.  The email below offers more detail.

Although I can send you this message, the list is not yet ready for use 
because the moderation interface is still not working.

I have been in communication with the HES Executive Committee and we 
have been exploring options for our list.

I know that starting a list is easy, but I am trying to guarantee that 
our valuable archive of messages (stretching back to Feb of 1995!)  
remains accessible and functioning.

I'm sorry you haven't been able to get your daily fix of HES messages 
and I hope we have a solution soon.

Your HES moderator,

Humberto Barreto



***********************************************************************

Dear Friends of EH.NET,

As you are probably aware, EH.NET has been suffering serious computer
problems over the past couple of weeks.

Wake Forest's Information System's representative describes the events
this way: "A drive malfunction occurred as a result of powering off and
moving the EH.NET server to another rack in the IS data center.
Attempts were made to recover and replace the drive, but were
unsuccessful.  The only option was to procure spare hardware and rebuild
the server."

The problem arose on Thursday, September 4th but wasn't effectively
diagnosed until Monday, September 8th.  After WFU's IS department
secured and configured the necessary hardware, Thomas Whaples (our
former system operator) began work at the end of last week rebuilding
the system.

EH.NET was back online late on Monday, September 15th but still faced a
couple of challenges.  The mail system needed additional configuration
and apparently a couple of our old nameservers continued to direct
people to the address of our old machine (affectionately called "the
beast") rather than our new machine (known as "Tokyo").  Over the past
few days some people have been able to access the website, while others
(often in the same city) haven't.  I am told that everyone should be
directed to the new machine within the next two and a half days.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.  IF YOU SENT ANYTHING
TO AN EH.NET ADDRESS DURING THIS PERIOD, IT PROBABLY DIDN'T GO THROUGH.

The Economic History Association trustees continue to value EH.NET and
have made a commitment to its continuation.

Thank you for your patience,

Robert

Robert Whaples
Acting EH.NET Director
Chair, Department of Economics
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC  27109
336-758-4916