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