Apr 19-25 1999

From merope@Radix.Net Mon Apr 19 19:36:53 1999

Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 19:36:52 -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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Just do it...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Saturday 17 April 1999:

The NC posts the following: "Now that most Board members have voted - with

13 yes and 0 no and 2 not voting - I declare Motion 99-9 - to accept Celia

Snyder's resignation as Webmaster to be passed.

Major Mea Culpa Corner: On the 16th I reported that there was only one

piece of traffic on the 14th, that containing Celia Snyder's resignation.

Yesterday I reported that voting was progressing, apparently without

benefit of motion, second and discussion on Board-L. It was brought to my

attention today that the motion was made and seconded on Board-L, and a

subsequent check reveals several messages that were not in the Archives

for the 14th when they were checked on the 16th. To whit: a Board member

motions to accept Celia's resignation, "with appreciation and gratitude

for her services", the motion is seconded [twice], and the NC gives the

motion number 99-9 and opens the floor for a 24 hour discussion period.

My apologies for my earlier misrepresentation of this sequence of

events go to the Board and to the NC.

A Brief Respite Corner: As noted earlier today in a message forwarded by

Board Secretary Bill to several project mailing lists, the Board will be

taking a brief break. They will tentatively be returning on Thursday 22

April.

In The News Corner: A reader reports that there's an intersting article on

genealogy online

at:http://www.salonmagazine.com/tech/feature/1999/04/14/genealogy/index.html

No mention of USGW that I could fine, though.

The same reader also reports on a extensive list of genealogy resources

presented at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/254376.asp (it is part of another

story about online genealogy at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/256222.asp).

The USGW Tombstone Project, Kidz Project, and Lineage Project are listed,

but are unfortunately listed as being Rootsweb resources. The USGW

Project is mentioned, and is cited as "One of the best resources on the

Web, with a state-by-state listing of useful links and information."

Another reader reports that "The current issue of NGS/CIG DIGEST also

carries a three-year update on the USGenWeb project", written by Carmen

Finley. Unfortunately, this article appears not be be available online.

If I am incorrect in this, someone please send me the url!

"A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything."

--Napoleon Bonaparte

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

----------------

From merope@Radix.Net Tue Apr 20 22:07:33 1999

Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 22:07:32 -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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Flagrantly ignoring the ban...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* This contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Sunday 18 April 1999

There is one further "aye" vote on Motion 99-9

The Great Man Speaks Corner: In response to the pleadings of a state

coordinator on behalf of two CCs, Brian "Show Me The Money" Leverich has

at last revealed the conditions under which two of the Rootsweb

Four might be allowed back onto the Rootsweb mailing lists. And they are

a hoot. First he apologizes for the slowness of his response [a day late

and...well, you know the rest.] Then he notes that "at least two and

possibly more of the banned folks flagrantly ignored the ban," and his

staff can't keep up with it all. Since his staff don't have time to

monitor all the posts by the two CCs, he sets forth the following

conditions: "if they want to come back, the deal is that for the next year

they are narrowly limited in posting rights to matters directly involved

in genealogy and the operation of genealogical Websites. Any other topic

that interests them should be talked about on some other server. And

obviously they should be civil in the narrow ranging of topics that are

available to them on RootsWeb." The SC is instructed to write to Tim

"Igor" Pierce if these terms are acceptable to the banned CCs. [hope lil

Timmy doesn't wait up too late.]

For the curious, I am _not_ one of the two CCs covered by these

conditions.

The Way We Were Corner: From Brian Leverich, 23 December 1998,

TEAM-ROOTSWEB: "In the long term, we still don't know how or if the

acquisition of Palladium by Banner Blue / Broderbund / TLC / Mattel will

affect the sponsorship. Obviously from RootsWeb's standpoint, the

identity of the sponsor is the single most important aspect of the

sponsorship and a change in that identity essentially changes everything."

[well, he seems to have resolved that 'conflict']

"Airs of importance are the credentials of impotence."

--Johann Kaspar Lavater

This has been Your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

------------------

From merope@Radix.Net Wed Apr 21 17:56:28 1999

Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 17:56:27 -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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The good, the bad, and the Banned!...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Monday 19 April 1999:

The NC posts a message stating that due to a death in the family of one of

the Board members, the Board will be taking a few days off. The Board is

tentatively scheduled to return to business Thursday 22 April.

For some reason, the Board Secretary forwards this same message back to

the Board-L.

Aw, You Shouldn't Have Corner: Although I am not usually a sentimental

person, I must admit I was a bit choked up to see the DBS on the -ALL list

again. *sigh* Good times, good times.

And, still on a sentimental note, if my archives are complete, the DBS

turned 6 months old on April 17. Thanks, everyone, for your support and

readership!

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude

better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We

ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed

you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that

ye were our countrymen."

-- Samuel Adams

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

-----------

From merope@Radix.Net Thu Apr 22 21:02:49 1999

Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 21:02:48 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show--Brief Hiatus

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Good Evening, everyone. Since the Board has decided to take a break until

Monday, 26 April, the DBS will do the same.

Of course, should there be any breaking news, we'll let you know!

You all have a nice weekend.

-Teresa

merope@radix.net

From merope@Radix.Net Fri Apr 23 17:12:30 1999

Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 17:12:28 -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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Not quite gone yet...its your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

[As soon as the message we would take a brief break went out out

yesterday, I was tipped off by several people that we might want to hold

off a day or two, as there was "interesting stuff" on Board-L. So here

you go!]

Wednesday 21 April 1999:

Board member Beth Wills forwards a message to Board-L that originally

appeared on the Rootsweb-Help list. It was forwarded to her by fellow

Board member Kay Mason. Kay forwarded it to her fellow board member,

noting it was from Beth's constituent, "who seems to be furious... and I

don't blame her.." Beth forwarded it to the Board, noting that she is

also furious about the situation, having had a similar experience herself:

"I was told that I could not remove the queries and that if I did, the

board would be re-activated and placed up for adoption for anyone to take

over - county coordinator or not. I too thought that I had a choice,

guess not!"

The forwarded message, if you haven't already guessed, is from a CC who

uses GenConnect/RW and wants to move her queries and close her query

board. The CC notes that when she signed up the guidelines stated,

"Should you ever decide to stop using GenConnect let us know and we can

put all your queries, already formatted, into a single file for you and

either send them to you or put them somewhere so you can grab them as a

.zip file." When she pointed this out to a GC/RW rep, she was told "that

the statement should have already been changed to the effect that the

queries can never be removed."

The CC is quite upset about being unable to remove her queries and close

the board, and also that she was not told this up front, when she signed

on to try out a GC/RW board, before she spend a considerable amount of

time entering queries from her old CC Helper system. In her opinion,

"Whoever CHOOSES not to use it should have the "right" to take their

queries and other submissions to their county system of CHOICE. At the

same time, those GenConnect queries should be purged/removed/sent to the

CC and a link put from GenConnect to the county's query page/other page at

a county coordinator's request." She also notes that "If GenConnect boards

can be created and/or maintained for a county by someone other than the

county coordinator, IMO, this is wrong, a slap in the face, and unfair for

the many good county volunteers out here."

Board member Betsy Mills asks Pam Durstock, GC/RW sysadmin and a developer

of GC/RW, to answer the CC's and Board members' concerns, and posts her

reply to the group. Pam notes that anyone is free to try GC/RW, and

anyone is free to leave GC/RW, and those who leave are free to take copies

[operative word] of their queries with them for posting elsewhere. She

wonders, "Why should they care if copies remain on the board also? We

certainly aren't trying to keep them for ourselves .... why should anyone

else ... and then blast us for being the more generous of the parties?"

Pam also expresses surprise at Kay's unhappiness with the situation: "I

thought that Kay was a big supporter of RootsWeb, their policies, and

their sponsored projects. I guess not, eh? I can't comment any further

(other than to say that GenConnect's policies are the same as RootsWeb's

policies - posted data belongs to the person who posted it) because this

simply shocks me too much to see such a comment from Kay Mason, of all

people." [Perhaps Kay is still a little upset over Brain's failing to

support her in her attempt to hijack the Census Project?]

Pam notes that the policy the CC quotes nowhere says that GC/RW will

delete the board, and claims that the CC was told changing the policy

statement on the webpage GC/RW meant changing it to reflect new procedures

in place to automatically download all queries on a board, not a new

policy to keep boards open after a CC has requested they be closed. She

points that comparing CC Helper to GC/RW is unfair, as they are not

similar programs, and a truer comparison would be between GenConnect

and GenForum; Pam says she suspects "[name deleted] knows that already."

[At this point, Pam begins the usual "people that complain about us must

have some other issues" refrain heard so commonly around RW. About the CC

in question she says, "What's becoming more and more obvious to me is

that [name deleted] has some other deep-rooted personal issues that aren't

being brought out so that perhaps we can work with her to reach some sort

of agreement." It apparently can't just be the case that their

instructions and information are confusing and misleading. It would

resolve half the complaints I hear about GC/RW if they would just put a

statement in large and clear type on the page where you request a board

and in any correspondence you have with them prior to setting up your

board that it will _never_ be closed. It might also help is the SCs who

push GC/RW so hard on their CCs would inform them of this up front. But

of course, such an honest policy might cause people not to sign up for

boards. Its far better to lure them in and _then_ tell them.]

According to Pam, only CCs and their assistants are allowed to open county

query boards, but anyone may open open any other type of board [This same

conditions exists for the American Local History Network and the American

Civil War Project; also for local genealogical and historical societies.]

Pam closes with, "If she's so self-centered that she can't stand anyone

else having data on her county, then I see that as her problem. I'd be

glad to work with her to resolve this, but she's going to have to play

fair and be a little more honest with everyone, especially herself,

because this has gone on long enough." [Also, anyone who disagrees with

them is dishonest. See a pattern here?]

[Folks, these are extremely long messages, and I recommend you go and read

them for yourself.]

The NC posts a message noting that there is a memorial to the students and

teacher killed in Colorado a few days ago on the national web page, and

then notes that the Board will take "the rest of the week off and will

resume business on Monday."

Price on Your Head Corner: Ever wondered how much you are worth to

Rootsweb? Apparently, its right around 2 bucks. In an article in this

week's RW Review, Rootsweb users are asked to evaluate a site called

FamilyPoint in view of a potential partnership between them and RW. If

you sign up to FamilyPoint through their relationship with RW, RW gets $2.

Ever helpful, the DBS dispatched a staff member to evaluate FamilyPoint to

evaluate its services. Here's what we found:

FamilyPoint has nothing to do with genealogy. Its kind of like setting

up an intranet, only its on the web. It is a fancy way to keep

in touch with family and friends, basically. You can post notes to an

area that can be read by all users of your web page. You can chat with

your users. You can post photos, send greeting cards [we almost sent a

lovely one of a zebra's behind to Rootsweb, but changed our minds], make

an address book, etc. The graphics are nice and pretty simple, but there

are ads on every page. When you sign up you are required to provide your

zipcode, gender, and birthdate (along with age and email address). Even

worse, when you invite your family members and they respond, they are

_also_ required to provide the same information. It sets half a dozen

cookies when you login. According to information available at the site:

"Registration data collected by the site during your enrollment and

membership is used only for the purpose of generally identifying what type

of visitors we receive. This information then allows us to find

appropriate advertisers to help keep the site available as a free service

to the Internet community." Users agree explicitly to provide this info in

the Terms Of Service document and acknowledge that it will be used for

advertising purposes, some targeted.

Its very similar to Ancestry's MyFamily.com and could be considered a

direct competitor to it [big surprise there]. It generates its revenues

from advertising (both pages and emails carry ads). In articles about the

company, "customer acquisition" is described as the main focus for these

types of services. That, in my guess, is where Rootsweb comes in. RW

claims to have a million users. For everyone it can convince to sign up

to FamilyPoint, it get two bucks. Since RW has found time after time that

it users generally don't want to see ads on pags and in their emails, how

to generate revenue from that vast pool of checkbooks out there? Why,

sell them, of course! But how to do that, when you've publicly sworn you

never would? Why, get them to do it for you by going into partnership

with and promoting someone who can obtain the information and use it, of

course! And not only RW users, but their family members too! Its a

multiple win situation for RW. It gets income from its users without

alienating them with ads on its own pages and emails, it takes advantage

of its attractive and large user pool without actually mining its own

lists to do it, AND it possibly prevents the same folks from using

Ancestry's competing service. Nifty trick.

For more info on FamilyPoint:

http://www.siliconalleystocks.com/feat426.htm

http://www.techmall.com/techdocs/TS980526-8.html

http://www.sageway.com/nl18.html (has an interesting discussion comparing

three similar services)

"It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The

want of money is so quite as truly."

---Samuel Butler

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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