GRAMERCY
PARK TRACK CLUB
HACKER ATTACK?
For a one week period beginning
Friday, August 1st, 1997, the banner on the home page of this
web site was changed to read Gramercy Park Track Club
(see above). Of the 150 or so visitors to the home page, only
three of them noticed and reacted to this (see e-messages
below).
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 14:24:29
-0400 (EDT)
Bonny Rozzo
to Jud Santos: By the way, since when did we become
the Gramercy Park Track Club (see homepage of our website)???
Date: Tuesday, August 05, 1997
4:22 PM
Jud Santos
to Bonny Rozzo: I'm sure Webmeister Roland will be
quite happy to hear that you noticed the new title of his
web site. It's been like that since Friday. I'm sure he's
been dying to know not how many people have noticed, but IF
any people have noticed. He happens to live in Gramercy Park
(E. 17 St.). I think there's a connection, but you never know
with Roland.
Date: Wednesday, August 06, 1997
3:59 PM
Ross Galitsky:
Did someone finally hacked CPTC cite? Or you hinting
something about Gramercy?
Postscript: According to Jud
Santos, at the Roosevelt Island 10K race, both Audrey
Kingsley and Sarah Gross asked him why the site
banner read Gramercy Park Track Club. However, neither
person elected to contact the site itself.
WHY?
The first reason is that we should
periodically be reminded of the transient nature of our lives.
Everything that we have --- our lives, our belongings, our
friends, our pets, our running ability, even our web sites,
can be taken away from us at any moment for no apparent reason.
As runners, we are keenly aware
of our frailty. We participate in this sport seriously, and
we have all been bothered by injuries, sometimes minor and
occasionally major. We all know the dreadful feeling of not
being able to go out and run. So this is a reminder that we
should savor the moment whenever we can run.
The second reason is that this
act serves as a reminder that this web site is not intended
to be a run-of-the-mill one. People have made the observation
that this web site is radically different from other running
sites, in tone and style. It is also important to point out
that the contents of the site are being continuously overhauled.
While every major addition is dated on the home page, other
things are being added all the time throughout the rest of
the site. You may go through what you think of as an old page
or an old section, and you may be pleasantly surprised. So
this Gramercy Park Track Club hacker attack is a reminder
for you to pay attention where you normally would not.
WHY GRAMERCY
PARK?
Gramercy Park is a small private
park located between E20th and E21st and Lexington Avenue.
This is a private park that can be accessed only by residents
in the immediate surrounding buildings who have special keys.
I live around the neighborhood, but I am not among the privileged
ones. I started running by doing one loop on the sidewalk
outside (not inside) the park before stopping in exhaustion.
The next day, I moved up to two loops.
The park is very small, and the
pavement is made up of uneven stone slabs. No half-serious
runner should consider running regularly around this park.
There is unlikely ever to be a real Gramercy Park Track Club.
However, given my humble beginnings, I probably thought that
someday there would be one, and I would belong to it. But
before that happened, I found the Central Park Track Club.
So the Gramercy Park Track Club will have to wait --- except
for its one week of virtual existence on the World Wide Web,
being noticed by a total of three (five?) persons.
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