Re: PGPfone contact server

[From a discussion on pgp-fone@rivertown.net]
>>> Is there any kind of server method people on this list use to meet up on
>>>PGP fone???
>>IMHO... Because PGPfone's main goal is to provide security and maybe
>>some anonymity, would it make [no?] sense to have a feature like this.

I can think of a few useful variants on this kind of service

1) Incoming-Call-Notifier daemon - faster than email, smaller than pgpfone.
(PGPfone may not have a problem with this, but Netscape CoolTalk has a
watchdog daemon that hangs out waiting for calls.  Don't know if it barks,
but it's got to be smaller than NS+CT.  Firewalls generally kill these,
though...

2) Chat-line with switch to voice - an IRC channel would do fine, and be
easy to set one up, for people who want to meet to play with the technology;
for people who want to cut out to PGPfone from other IRC groups, you don't
even need that, though distributing an IRC client with a "PGPfone" button
might be a good marketing technique.  Name the IRC channel "pgpfone"...

CU-SeeMe uses this approach - reflectors are often busy or way slow,
and the available public-access reflectors change pretty often,
and it's much easier to find people or find interesting reflectors
using the IRC channel than polling for busy-signals.  CU-SeeMe supports
conversations through reflectors as well as direct-connection,
and doing a PGPfone-like DC mode might be fun as well.

3) Finding specific people who don't have predictable IP addresses -
IRC can also do this, or email, but it wouldn't be hard to build a
web form widget that lets you plug in your name/handle and 
scarfs up your current IP address or lets you enter it.
A "specific person" could be an alias, of course.

4) A secure n-person conference bridge could be good also,
though it's much more difficult to make something like that work,
especially if you use a crypto mode that dislikes dropped packets.

#			Thanks;  Bill
# Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts@ix.netcom.com
# You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk
#     (If this is posted to cypherpunks, I'm currently lurking from fcpunx,
#     so please Cc: me on replies.  Thanks.)

On Mon, 16 Dec 1996 stewarts@ix.netcom.com wrote:

>[From a discussion on pgp-fone@rivertown.net]
>>>> Is there any kind of server method people on this list use to meet up on
>>>>PGP fone???

	For those you want to meet up, I have placed a discussion/message
board on a web page I call the "PGP-Fone Registry" which allows you to
leave a message with your name, area code and local exchange on the web
site so others who then visit the page can look you up and e-mail you to
set up a time and place to "hook up" and use PGP-Fone. Its entirely
voluntary and simply a means to facilitate people finding others interested
in using the application. 

	The complaint I heard about PGP-Fone is there is no way to find
others to use it with. This is intended to help fill that gap if people so
who desire to use it can "advertise," or make known, their availability.

	Please leave your area code and first three digits of your number
in the *subject* header of the message. This facilitates quick browsing. I
will add a small search engine if the registry ever gets very large. 

	The URL is : http://pgp.rivertown.net/pgp-fone.

	Enjoy and kindly report back to the pgp-fone list any good or
problem experience using the pgp-fone application so we can all benefit
from your trials.

	Fred

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