SIPB
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MIT Student Information Processing Board

SIPB (pronounced ``Sip-bee'') is the Student Information Processing Board, the volunteer student group concerned with computing at MIT. We are available for telephone (253-7788), email (sipb@mit.edu) or in-person (W20-557) consulting at almost any time of day or night, have one-of-a-kind meetings Monday evenings at 7:30 pm, write documentation of all sorts, run a wide variety of servers, including a WWW server, hack, and generally have a good time. We also act as an advocate for student computer users and student computer access on campus.
The SIPB Whiteboard *
The Athena door combo has changed. Type "tellme combo" to find out the new combo.
If Mozilla is giving you a message about SSL being disabled or if you can't recall your Mozilla password:
Are you running Windows on a machine? Worms are running wild through the MIT network and so you need to go to http://web.mit.edu/net-security and make sure your patches are up to date.
* This Web-whiteboard contains the bulletins that are on SIPB's physical whiteboard outside the W20 cluster.

What can SIPB do for you?

SIPB is here to help you. Apart from answering questions (which we are always happy to do) we have a number of other services which can help you:
  • Locker software. A list of some of the lockers that SIPB maintains and the software they contain.
  • SIPB documents. A list of some of the Inessential (and not-so-inessential) documents we write and maintain, from how to use Discuss to how AFS works.
  • Ask SIPB. An advice column printed in The Tech, answering questions on a wide range of topics of interest to any Athena user.
  • Library. SIPB has a wide variety of reference books on computers and related topics, available in the office (W20-557), just outside the W20 Athena cluster. Books may be used in the office, but cannot be taken out.
  • MIT homepage listings. To get your own homepage added, read the instructions.
  • AFS space. The sipb.mit.edu AFS cell is used for many things which can't (for whatever reason) get space in the Athena cell. For more information, mail sipb-afsreq@mit.edu.
  • IAP Classes. SIPB teaches many different classes during IAP, the MIT January session. Check out a listing of the most recent (or upcoming) classes.
  • SIPB Tours. Get a first hand look at the various machine rooms around campus and check out all your favorite servers in the flesh. Tours run shortly after Orientation in the fall. To receive an announcement, email sipb@mit.edu.
  • Usenet service. Just point your favorite newsreader at news.mit.edu.
  • Discuss service. charon.mit.edu is SIPB's major discuss server. Discuss is a mail archiving (and discussion) system used primarily at MIT. For more information on what discuss is and what it does, check out Using Discuss, a SIPB document.
  • SIPB Linux Installer. Based on the RedHat Linux installer, the SIPB installer installs Linux Athena on a wide variety of PC hardware.
  • Various walk-in services in the office, including a CD burner and scanner. We also have a Mac and a Windows PC available for short term use. And of course there is the stapler (and hole-punch, tape, pencil sharpener and scissors).

Places to Learn More About SIPB

  • A Prospectives' Page. This page has information that might be useful to new prospectives.
  • The SIPB Office Manual. Interested in becoming a member? Just want to know more about us? This contains lots of up-to-date information on how to become a member of SIPB, such as questions and answers on how to get involved with SIPB projects, how the membering process works, and what exactly it means to be a member. There's even a brief history of SIPB. The Office Manual can be found in the office, on the tall black bookshelf.
  • Get a clue! Many members of SIPB are actively trying to help new members and prospective members learn their way around various SIPB projects.
  • Interested in doing something with SIPB to help MIT and don't know where to start? Just wondering what sort of things SIPB does? Check out our list of current and potential SIPB projects.
  • The list of SIPB Members and their homepages.

Where did the old SIPB homepage go?

From June 1993 to August 1999, SIPB maintained the top-level page of www.mit.edu as an unofficial directory of MIT web resources. In August 1999, we replaced this top-level page with a copy of the official MIT homepage to avoid confusing Internet users who were expecting the official MIT homepage. The old top-level page can be found here.
MIT SIPB | sipb@mit.edu
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