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David Perry (deperry@nerosworld.com)
Sat, 1 Nov 1997 19:33:47 +0000 () 

Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 19:33:47 +0000 ()
From: David Perry <deperry@nerosworld.com>
Subject: Re: DATE cant be <1970
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.91.971101193130.3648A-100000@hermes.nerosworld.com>

Fabian,

Jan 1, 1970 is referred to as epoch. The start of time as we know it.
Unix systems store time references as the number of seconds since epoch
and display that integer as something meaningful. Why 1970? Arbitrary I'd
guess.

David Perry

On Sat, 1 Nov 1997, F Rodriguez wrote:

>
> Specifically, using the time() function does not let you use date <1970
> as stated in the documentation:
>
> time() returns the time since 00:00:00 GMT,
> Jan. 1, 1970, measured in seconds as an integer value
>
> This is documented in the Date/Time related routines section in the
> document at:
> http://www.Hughes.com.au/library/msql2/manual/mod_std.htm
>
>
> Why 1970?
>
>
> Fabian A. Rodriguez S. - Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
> Coop @ Merck Frosst Labs - Research Information Systems (514)695-7920x7027
> MagicFab@bigfoot.com - http://MagicFab.home.ml.org - ICQ#1485512
From cland@netbox.com Sun Nov 2 11:53:29 1997
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To: msql-list@services.bunyip.com
From: Cliff Landesman <cland@netbox.com>
Subject: Call for bids--perl mSQL CGI programming

We invite programmers to send in bids for the following project.

We intend to create a web site, called "ListHelper", which will help people
interact with email list servers. The most basic feature of ListHelper will
allow people to subscribe and unsubscribe from lists without having to know
the syntax appropriate to a particular list server. It will track the
history of commands sent to the list server, sparing users from having to
remember which lists they have subscribed to and which lists they have left.
ListHelper will attempt to go beyond this basic functionality by providing
users with assistance in managing their list options, probing the list for
information, and retrieving list archives and files. ListHelper will ease
the burden to list users by composing for them syntactically correct
commands, sending those commands to the list server, and remembering what
messages have been sent. In short, it will speak to the list server and
remember what it has said.

This project involves two parts: 1) preliminary research into list server
syntax and 2) designing/creating a database and writing CGI code which takes
advantage of that research. For the first release, the site will only
support the three most popular list servers: listserv, listproc, and
majordomo. A draft of the HTML front-end for the site has already been
written, subject to modification based on further list server research. For
a concrete rendition of the site, without any functionality, see:

http://www.listhelper.com

The programmer's job is to enable this web site (insofar as it is feasible).
The programming constraints are as follows:

OS: Unix
Language: Perl
Database: mini SQL

The site will be housed at www.listhelper.com. We will give programmers
access to a shell account there, where mSQL is running, and the programmers
may wish to work directly where the site will be housed. A first working
draft of the code, running on www.listhelper.com, should be ready two weeks
after the bid has been accepted. We will review the code, suggest
modifications, and expect a final draft after another two weeks. The code
should not only work well, it should be readable and well commented.

My partner and I will own the copyrights for the CGI and HTML code. I (Cliff
Landesman, http://www.nonprofits.org/parlor/acknow/landesman.html) work for
the Fund for the City of New York (www.fcny.org) as Internet Application
Director, and my partner (Ian Giddy, www.giddy.org) is a professor at New
York University (www.nyu.edu) where he teaches international finance.

Please include the URL of a home page or sample work with your bid. Bidding
will end noon, November 8, 1997. This is a "sealed bid" auction. We will not
reveal bids prior to awarding a contract and will not disclose a budget. The
bidder's responsibility is to make the best estimate the bidder can of the
work required and what payment the bidder is willing to accept for the
amount of work the bidder believes this project involves. We will award the
contract by considering both price and the judged abilities of the bidder.

We hope the site will become popular and we will include on the ListHelper
home page mention of the CGI developers, together with a link to the
developer's home page. This acknowledgement will remain active for the first
year of the site and longer if there are no major modifications to the code.

We will be happy to answer any questions not covered above.

Please send bids to:

cland@netbox.com

--Cliff

Internet NonProfit Center Information ABOUT nonprofits
http://www.nonprofits.org