After almost a year of extensive modifying and evaluating, the software that will allow for a verifiable and totally secure Electronic MIT Faculty Bulletin Board is ready for on-line testing.

Web Crossing, the software that will be utilized, offers a variety of potential applications. Among them are Web-based discussions that allow participants to post messages, as if on a bulletin board, and let others read and respond to them at any time. Participants check in periodically to read new messages.

Another possible use is the Chat Room feature that would enable participants to have conversations in "real time," by typing in text messages. The exact form the Faculty Bulletin Board will take has yet to be decided, and testing will take place over the summer, with a projected on-line date of early September.

If you'd be interested in participating in testing over the next couple of months, please contact us at <fnl@mit.edu>. To see other uses of Web Crossing at MIT, see <http://web.mit.edu/webcrossing/www/>.