science

NIRVANAnet

NIRVANAnet is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand NIRVANAnet rather than just read about it. In short: NIRVANAnet was a dial-up BBS network, started in 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area, by Joe Russack (also known as Dr. Strangelove, the sysop of Just Say Yes, an early two node BBS), and Jeff Hunter (also known as Taipan Enigma, sysop of the & the Temple of the Screaming Electron), when they linked their existing systems using FidoNet protocol.

Key takeaways

NIRVANAnet belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect NIRVANAnet to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NIRVANAnet from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NIRVANAnet was a dial-up BBS network, started in 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area, by Joe Russack (also known as Dr. Strangelove, the sysop of Just Say Yes, an early two node BBS), and Jeff Hunter (also known as Taipan Enigma, sysop of the & the Temple of the Screaming Electron), when they linked their existing systems using FidoNet protocol. Later, they were joined by Ratsnatcher (sysop of the East Bay based Rat Head Systems). NIRVANAnet was unique among BBS networks at the time because member BBS systems agreed to allow anyone to connect, and access everything on the systems, instantly and anonymously. They also traded thousands of text files between the systems covering every subject imaginable. &TOTSE continued as a website until January 17, 2009, when it was closed by Jeff Hunter. It later expanded to include other eclectic BBSs that valued liberty and privacy, including realitycheckBBS (Poindexter Fortran), The New Dork Sublime (Count Zero Interrupt), My Dog Bit Jesus (Berkeley-Oakland, Dittany of Crete/Susan), Lies Unlimited (South San Francisco, later Salt Lake City, Mick Freen), Sea of Noise (Norwich, CT), El Observador, The Salted Slug (Santa Cruz, also Dr. Strangelove), The Lair (Boise, Idaho), Burn This Flag (San Jose, run by Zardoz), The Stage, Tomorrows Order of Magnitude (Mountain View/Palo Alto, finger_man), Tower of Destiny (Central New Hampshire), and others. The initial NIRVANAnet core consisted of Jeff/Taipan, Joe Russack/Dr. Strangelove, Poindexter Fortran, and Dittany of Crete. Just Say Yes was one of the first nodes to close, in 1992, when Dr. Strangelove returned to school. &TOTSE closed its node function around 1998; several online "attempts to recreate an online database" were claimed to be impostors by original founding members, who are named on the trademark application (now expired). &TOTSE was—if functioning—a members-only BBS by 2000. Both node and voice functions were discontinued or changed before 1999. realitycheckBBS is still operated by Poindexter Fortran.

References

Adler, Dick (September 10, 1993). "Don't Throw out the Computer With the Crime". Chicago Tribune. Example text file promo cited in The Anarchist Cookbook

External links realitycheckBBS

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NIRVANAnet

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NIRVANAnet claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to NIRVANAnet before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about NIRVANAnet ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of NIRVANAnet

In research: NIRVANAnet appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses NIRVANAnet in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: NIRVANAnet is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bulletin board systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NIRVANAnet outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study NIRVANAnet in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NIRVANAnet means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain NIRVANAnet out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NIRVANAnet in simple terms?

Why does NIRVANAnet matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study NIRVANAnet?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on NIRVANAnet.