
  -spec is_alive() -> boolean().

  Returns true if the local node is alive (that is, if the node
  can be part of a distributed system), otherwise false. A node is
  alive if it is started with:

   • "erl -name LONGNAME" or,

   • "erl -sname SHORTNAME".

  A node can also be alive if it has got a name from a call to 
  net_kernel:start/1 and has not been stopped by a call to 
  net_kernel:stop/0.
