From merope@Radix.Net Mon Apr 12 18:26:31 1999
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 18:26:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
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To: usgw_all@listbot.com
Subject: Daily Board Show
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Just another manic Monday...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Saturday 10 April 1999:
There is, surprisingly enough, no Board-L traffic on this date.
News Elsewhere: Joe Zsedeny has been appointed to be the new Archives
representative on the Board. Congrats!
Clarification Corner: Yesterday it was reported that the NC declared
Motion 99-8 failed for lack of a quorum. It has been pointed out to me
that this is not entirely correct. A Board member requested that the
motion be declared failed for lack of a quorum, but the NC actually
declared the motion failed for lack of Board support for the nominee.
This is very different from lack of a quorum, and I apologize for the
misstatement.
But While We're On That Topic Corner: Lets revisit those bylaws, shall
we? In her upbraiding message to the NC on Friday, Beth "I'm Out of Here"
Wills pointed out, "I also think that it is time for all of us to take a
good long look at the bylaws." [what a novel concept] Fair enough. The
USGW bylaws state (Article VIII, section 1 and 2) that nine voting members
of the Board constitute a quorum and issues shall be decided by a 2/3
majority of those voting. Four people voted on the motion, and five
others discussed it during the comment period. That would be, yep, nine
people, and thus a quorum. The four who voted all voted "aye", easily
meeting the 2/3 majority requirement. Thus, Motion 99-8 technically
passed, despite Beth "No, Wait, I'm Back Again" Wills' declaration
otherwise. Its unfortunate that the NC did not heed the call for a
roll call, as this would have definitively established a quorum. [but
then, the clever ones would have just not responded.] Oh well, water
under the bridge! Since the personnel issues seem to have been resolved,
I'm sure we can look forward to a similarly professionally handled
resolution of the census issue.
"People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then
repent."
--- Bob Dylan
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Linduist
merope@radix.net
---------------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Tue Apr 13 21:47:07 1999
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 21:47:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: usgw_all@listbot.com
Subject: Daily Board Show
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There is no spoon...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* editorial content, you know you want it. Read at your own risk!
Saturday 10 April 1999:
[Although it was reported here yesterday that there was no Board-L
traffic on Saturday, today messages from Saturday have made it to the
archives.]
An interesting discussion ensues over Motion 99-8, with one Board member
asking "Either it failed as a result of no quorum (which it did), or it
passed by the 2/3 majority vote. You can't have it both ways. If you say
and can prove that 4 aye votes constitute a quorum, then you can't just
say well it should be passed, but I'll say its defeated. This leaves things
way too open for misinterpretation." Another Board member points out that
the NC is right, "All board members are technically present at all times,
therefore a quorum has been established. However, Tim went one step
further by assuring that at least 9 members of the board were present as
they had been posting messages during the voting. Quorum has nothing to do
with the number who cast votes, therefore, the motion carried." She goes
on to bemoan the fact that their mistakes are "very public and open to
(mis)interpretation by the whole membership."
In response to Beth "Hide 'N Seek" Wills' first post-resignation
message to her colleagues, the NC posts a rather long chat log of a
conversation he had with a parliamentarian unassociated with the project.
It essentially supports his position [and that of the Board member quoted
above]; as he says "So based on this conversation about the Bylaws and
since the Board being in continual session would always have a quorum - I
said what I said. BUT because of my sense that it would be unpopular with
the Board I did declare the motion as defeated. [see, he WAS trying to
make nice with you guys after all!] He goes on to say: "For those who
wish to think that they are being compared to fools and/or idiots, please
do not demean those of greater and/or different intelligence than your
own. [ya, quit insulting two year olds <g>]
The NC posts a snippet from another Board member's previous post
recommending that Motion 99-7 [to appoint Joe Zsedeny as Archives rep] be
untalbed, and calles for a vote on both untabling Motion 99-7 and
appointing Joe.
A Board member makes a point of order: "There has been no Motion made to
untable this and no second provided. This call for votes is improper!"
[looks like someone bought herself a copy of RRoR.]
The motion is made and seconded; by the end of the day, 10 Board members
had voted "aye" to both untabling Motion 99-7 and appointing Joe Zsedeny
as Archives rep.
Sunday 11 April 1999:
Three more Board members vote "aye" on untabling Motion 99-7 and
appointing Joe.
The NC declares the motion passed, with 13 ayes and 1 member not voting.
He lets the group know he has informed Joe of his appointment and will sub
him to the lists.
[I suppose now they'll be moving on to the census crisis...]
"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service, when it is
violating all His laws."
--- John Adams
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
------------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Wed Apr 14 21:50:07 1999
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 21:50:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: USGW_ALL@LISTBOT.COM
Subject: Daily Board Show
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All work and no play...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* chock full o' editorial content. Read at your risk!
Monday 12 April 1999:
There is [apparently] no Board traffic on this date [I'll check again
tomorrow]
He'd Do Anything For Genealogy Corner: Rootsweb has a "new" sponsor,
genealogy.com, aka The Learning Company. Large banner ads, which take one
directly to the newly redesigned Genealogy.com home page, appeared this
evening. Genealogy.com is registered to Broderbund, which is the maker of
Family Treemaker, now owned by the Learning Company [which also owns
Palladium, RW's former sponsor. Most of the site consists of links to
places users will be familiar with if they use familytreemaker.com: the
internet family finder, GenForum (a direct "competitor" to GenConnect),
message boards and user home pages. [What the heck, I guess Family
Treemaker's money is as green as anyone else's. While it is a bit
surprising to see RW pimping so openly for a _very_ for profit company, I
imagine they made Brain an offer he couldn't refuse. I also imagine we
won't be treated to any more of Brain's dismissive comments about
'pay-per-view' websites--except, of course, for Familytreemaker's rival,
Ancestry.com.]
In the News Corner: As reported by the NC to some of the USGW mailing
lists, two major news outlets have published pieces on online genealogy
which mention USGW to varying degrees. The first, in Time magazine, is
available online at
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,22974,00.html, and
its Tim's cover story this week. Its pretty general and the only mention
of USGW is a link in an accompanying article. Rootsweb is prominently
metioned, as is Cyndi's List.
The other article, published April 13 in the LA Times, prominently
features the USGW's own Tombstone Project, highlighting in particular one
of its volunteers, Penny Dodd, and giving a good overview of the history
of the project. USGW is mentioned only in passing. Its an interesting
and informative article and its available at:
http://www.latimes.com/CNS_DAYS/990413/t000032990.html
"The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support
the rights of people you don't agree with."
---Eleanor Holmes Norton
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
---------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Thu Apr 15 21:17:13 1999
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:17:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: usgw_all@listbot.com
Subject: Daily Board Show
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.990415202308.17302A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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From the dark side of the moon...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Tuesday 13 April 1999
A Board member posts the url of the LA Times article about the Tombstone
project [posted here yesterday]. If you haven't had a chance to read it
yet, the url is :http://www.latimes.com/CNS_DAYS/990413/t000032990.html
Tomorrow's news today: Celia Snyder resigns as Webmaster for the USGenWeb
Project
The Way We Were Corner: From Brian Leverich, 13 Nov 1998: "If the admins
at RootsWeb wanted that, we'd be investing in Broderbund or Ancestry or
GeoCities or one of the other commercial outfits who are cheerfully
screwing the genealogical community for whatever the market will bear."
[but, he _will_ take their money, it seems]
"A cock has great influence on his own dunghill."
---Publilius Syrus
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-----------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999, by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Fri Apr 16 20:15:41 1999
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 20:15:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: usgw_all@listbot.com
Subject: Daily Board Show
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.990416191810.17523D-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Just a miner for a heart of gold...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Wednesday 14 April 1999:
Celia Snyder, webmaster for the national page, resigns, saying, "I really
feel like it would be best for me to resign as Webmaster of The USGenWeb
Project national website as soon as is convenient. I have discovered that
events in my personal life no longer allow me the time required by the
position." [What?! The USGW Project has a webmaster?! Could've fooled
me. I hear we have a Board Secretary too.] Celia goes on to say she's
enjoyed her tenure as "webmaster" and is looking forward to less active
participation [not gonna say it...] and devoting more time to her county
pages.
The Way We Were Corner: From Brian Leverich, 27 Sept 1998: "We may at
some future time allow Webmasters to include their material in RootsWeb's
search engines. That's going to be kinda messy from a human engineering
standpoint, though, because either Webmasters are going to need to be as
careful as the Archives file managers or we're going to wind up with a
search engine as yucky as Broderbund's IFF." [which he now advertises;
guess their money isn't yucky!]
"Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any
kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can
willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their
power; but they will never look to anything but power for their relief."
---Edmund Burke
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
--------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Sat Apr 17 19:28:35 1999
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 19:28:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: usgw_all@listbot.com
Subject: Daily Board Show
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.990417190803.29247A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Status: RO
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Go ahead, make my day...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* the Surgeon General has determined that this contains editorial
content. Read at your own risk!
Thursday 15 April 1999:
There is no Board-L traffic on this date.
Tomorrow's News Today: The Board votes on Celia's resignation [Ta ta, C!]
The Shameless Rumor Mill Corner: Rumor Has It that the Board is going to
solicit the project membership for a new national webmaster. So all you
wannabe designers out there should dust off the old resumes, and start
thinking of some new ideas for the national page!
New Toys Corner: For those of you who either don't get the RW Review or
who don't read it, the new threaded archives have been formally
announced. From the most recent RWR: "Now you can read 122,813 messages
from 877 mailing lists using your Web browser by visiting
<http://archiver.rootsweb.com/>. All those messages are from just three
months of beta tests -- watch this archives grow with its public debut."
According to the announcement, for security reasons, "To use the Archiver
you will need to pick a user name and password and you will need to accept
a cookie." We've heard that RW is "strongly encouraging" _all_ RW
listowners to switch to the new system, although some are balking.
"In every generation, there are those who want to rule well--but they mean
to rule. They promise to be good masters--but they mean to be masters."
---Daniel Webster
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
----------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Sun Apr 18 11:17:45 1999
Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 11:17:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: usgw_all@listbot.com
Subject: Daily Board Show
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.990418104056.17345A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
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Meddling in the affairs of dragons...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Friday 16 April 1999:
The NC posts the following: "Now that the discussion period for Motion
99-9 has passed (5 PM) and that hour total is now at 32.5 hours, please
vote whether or not to accept Celia Snyder's resignation as Webmaster."
[perhaps not surprisingly, the original motion, its second, and any
discussion appear to have taken place safely out of the project's view on
the secret list.]
By the end of the day, 13 Board members had voted "aye" to Motion 99-9.
Tomorrow's News Today: The NC declares Motion 99-9 passed.
The Way We Were Corner: From Brian Leverich, 1 Jan 1999, TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L:
"Now that Palladium is just another name for Mattel / TLC / Broderbund /
Banner Blue, we obviously aren't promoting competition by advertising
their products. It's not at all clear why RootsWeb would want to
publicize what essentially amounts to a monopoly with virtually unlimited
powers to fix prices." [Because their money is green?]
"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence."
---Charles De Gaulle
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
----------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.