Hello. Remember when I was asking for a way to make an ISP not time-out from 
inactivity? Well I found this for those who are interested.
Your student account at rigid.frigid.toxic-megahosers.edu times you out at 2 
minutes of inactivity?! Hosers. 

Try this. If you're running a PPP account set up a small shell script: 
        #!/bin/sh
        #program:       hose-em
        #purpose:       keeps a dial-up line from timing out while you're
        #               reading Web stuff or doing your laundry (OK... let's 
be
        #               responsible)
        #
        # We'll use the gateway server as your host.
        HOST=000.00.00.000      # the dotted-quad address of your gateway 
which
                                # you can get by typing "ifconfig"
        SLEEP=8m                # how long we'll wait between pings

        
###############################################################################
        #
        # Set up a while loop that pings the host as long as the PID file 
exists.
        # But first, make sure that the connection is still up.
        #
        if [ -e "/var/run/ppp0.pid" ]; then
                echo "
                * * *    PPP-UP is running   * * * 
             "
        else
                echo "
                * * *    PPP0 interface is not up!  * * * 
             "
                exit 1
        fi

        while [ -e "/var/run/ppp0.pid" ]        # Now, set up the while loop.
        do                                      # As long as the PID file 
exists
                ping -c 1 $HOST > /dev/null     # we'll ping the host once 
every 8 min.
                sleep $SLEEP
        done
        exit 0  
 you'll notice we use the ping -c 1 designation -- that keeps ping from 
endlessly pinging. Set the variable SLEEP= to whatever interval you need. And 
that's it! Don't forget to chmod 711 hose-em when you're done. 
-- 
:-)~Mike~(-: