Quick Start with a browser

• After loading the Errancy CD-ROM into your computer, give your computer about 20 seconds to perform a logical mount of the CD
• Open your Netscape, Opera, or Internet Explorer browser as though you were going to access a Web site on the Internet
• Instead of entering a conventional URL (such as http://www.infidels.org), use:

• If d: doesn’t work, then substitute e: or f: or g: in its place
• Once "The Errant Years" page appears, bookmark the page as you would bookmark any other Web page. From that moment onward, use the new bookmark to access the Errancy CD-ROM

Quick Start with Windows

• After loading the Errancy CD-ROM into your computer, give your computer about 20 seconds to perform a logical mount of the CD
• Double-click on your desktop’s "My Computer" icon
• Double-click on your computer’s CD-ROM drive icon
• Double-click on the "Errancy" folder
• Double-click on the one and only file named "Errancy"

• Once "The Errant Years" page appears, bookmark the page as you would bookmark any other Web page. From that moment onward, use the new bookmark to access the Errancy CD-ROM

I can’t find anything in my Web browser called "bookmarks." Are "bookmarks" known by some other name?

All contemporary browsers have some method for storing the location names of your favorite Web sites. (Internet Explorer, for example, refers to its bookmark feature as "Favorites.") In any case, don’t miss the point: You can and should bookmark your Errancy archive as though it were a Web site out on the open Internet, even though the Errancy archive physically exists only in your home.
 
 

Are you able to answer some questions about the nature and history of the Errancy archive?

I can’t answer any question of that type. I, too, wonder why 1998 has two folders for September, but no folder for July. I’m also curious as to why June 1998 has over 6,000 messages. I suppose some things are unknown just because they are unknowable. I can tell you this: The Errancy CD-ROM is a faithful reproduction of the Errancy archive – errors, mysteries and all.
 
 

I’ve noticed "Messages sorted by: [ thread ][ author ] [ date ]" at the top of nearly every message collection, but the "[thread]" message sorting link hardly ever works. Do you know why?

This is yet another Errancy archive mystery. Fortunately, this problem doesn’t make any difference for the simple reason that all of the messages are self-threaded anyway. Specifically:

• Insure that a given month is sorted by Subject (the top of the page will say "Archives by Subject")
• Go down the list of message topics until you find a topic that interests you
• Click on the very first (topmost) listed message of the topic that interests you
• At the bottom of the first and all subsequent messages is a link called "Next message:" Click those "Next message:" links to follow the thread in the order the messages were created

Can the Errancy archive be used and/or stored anywhere?

Yes, the Errancy archive will work without critical regard for where it is stored. If the archive is stored on a file server, for example, everyone in your organization could access it through a mapped drive:

or through a fully-qualified UNC (Universal Naming Convention) call to a shared resource:

Are there any legal issues associated to either the Errancy archive or The Skeptical Review?

The safest thing you can do is use and distribute the archive as-is. In fact, my hope in sending you this free CD-ROM is that you will copy and freely distribute it even further, in whole or at least in part, thus ensuring its longevity and durability as a valuable contribution to the cause of biblical errancy. From my point of view, putting the entire archive on a college file server would be something of a Holy Grail!

The copyright on The Skeptical Review is held by Farrell Till. You may freely copy and distribute The Skeptical Review provided that credit is given to Till, and that all of Till’s copyright notices (wherever they may appear) remain intact.
 
 

I can’t "burn" my own CDs, so how can I distribute the Errancy archive?

On the Errancy CD-ROM, you will find a folder named "Errancy." If you double-click on that folder, you will see another folder named "Add-Ons." If you double-click on "Add-Ons," you will discover a file named "ZipDisk Shell.exe" (Note: It doesn’t matter if the ".exe" extension is visible to you. It also doesn’t matter if all you see is a file named "zipdis~1.exe." In either or both events, all of the following directions still apply.)

The "ZipDisk Shell.exe" file is specifically designed to fit on a 100 megabyte Iomega Zip disk. It contains the entire contents of the Errancy archive and The Skeptical Review, and the file has been compressed twice (a compressed file within a compressed file). Distributing the entire Errancy archive is as simple as dragging and dropping "ZipDisk Shell.exe" from the CD-ROM to a blank, formatted Iomega Zip disk.

Using "ZipDisk Shell.exe":

• Double-click on the "ZipDisk Shell.exe" file
• The file will offer to create a folder on your C: hard drive named DeleteMe. Accept this folder name unless you have a specific reason not to
• In the DeleteMe folder, you will soon find a single file named "Errancy.exe" Double-click on the Errancy.exe file
• The file will offer to create a folder on your C: drive named Errancy. Accept this folder name unless you have a specific reason not to

• Delete the entire DeleteMe folder from your C: drive
• In the Errancy folder of your C: drive, delete the "Errancy.exe" file
• Enter the following URL into your favorite Web browser:

• Once "The Errant Years" page appears, bookmark the page as you would bookmark any other Web page. From that moment onward, use the new bookmark to access the Errancy archive

How can I search the Errancy archive for a specific word, strings of words, etc.?

At this time, no Windows-based text search utility is included on the CD-ROM. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why this version of the Errancy archive CD-ROM is considered a "Release Candidate" rather than a final, ready-for-prime-time version. However, a number of Windows-based text search utilities are available for download from here:

Some of these search utilities are absolutely free. Some cost up to $50.00(!) All of them allow at least a trial period to determine if the software is suitable for your purposes. If you help me find the "best" text search utility, I’ll negotiate an open license agreement with the author so that you and everyone else can use it for free.
 
 

If you’re comfortable using DOS …

Included on your Errancy CD-ROM is a public domain version of Peter Norton’s Text Search utility. The executable is named "ts.com"

• At a DOS prompt, type the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, then immediately follow that CD-ROM drive letter with a colon. Thus, if "My Computer" told you that your CD-ROM drive letter is "(E:)," you would type: e:
• Hit your ENTER key
• At the DOS prompt, type: cd\errancy
• Hit your ENTER key

• cd 1999 (to search 1999 messages);
• cd 1998 (to search 1998 messages);
• cd 1997 (to search 1997 messages); or
• cd 1996 (to search 1996 messages)

• Hit your ENTER key

• Hit your ENTER key

When the text search utility locates an Errancy message that matches your search, the top of your screen will have something like this:

If you type d:\errancy\1999\mar99\000273~1.htm into your browser, the message with your exact search text will now display in your browser window.