From merope@Radix.Net Sun Aug 1 21:44:57 1999
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 21:44:56 -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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Water under the bridge...its Your Daily Board show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Friday 30 July 1999:
Board member Jim Powell forwards a post from a CC suggesting that USGW
have Root$web add a USGW banner to its noncommercial rotation. [The person
who sent in this suggestion, which would be me, originally forwarded it a
week previously to all three of her reps _and_ the NC, and received no
acknowledgement whatsoever from any of them.]
Board member [and RW employee] Betsy Mill notes that there is a USGW
banner currently in rotation on Root$web and thanks RW enthusiastically.
Election Update: Voting closed last night. According to an announcement
by Election Committee Chair Jim Powell, the results of the election will
be announced Monday night, Aug 2, at 10pm EDT.
"In no direction that we turn do we find ease or comfort. If we are honest
and if we have the will to win we find only danger, hard work and iron
resolution."
---Wendell L. Willkie
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 Mon Aug 2 19:08:23 1999
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 19:08:21 -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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Collect the set!...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Saturday 30 july 1999:
There is no Board-L traffic on this date.
Election Update: As inadvertently announced earlier today by Board
Secretary and NC Candidate Bill Oliver, there will apparently be a run-off
election for the NC race. No clue yet on which of the three contestants
gets the lovely parting gift, but the early skinny on the elections
results is that they are not pretty. [You may, of course, interpret that
based on your own feelings about the candidates. I can say no more.]
"I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing
something incredibly stupid ... and I went ahead anyway."
-- Crow T. Robot, MST3K
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 Tue Aug 3 19:03:44 1999
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 19:03:43 -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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You win some, you lose some...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Sunday 31 July 1999:
There is no Board-L traffic on this date.
Election update: Results were announced last night and are as follows:
At-Large--Holly Fee Timm
NE/NC SC rep--Ginger Hayes
NE/NC CC rep--Tina Vickery
NW/P SC rep--Joy Fisher
NW/P CC rep--Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman
SE/MA CC rep--Teri Pettit
SW/SC CC rep (2 yr)--Barbara Dore
SW/SC CC rep (1 yr)--Gloria Mayfield
Congrats to all the winners!
Runoff elections will be held for the NC position (between Tim Stowell and
Fred Smoot) and for SE/MA SC rep (between Shari Handley and Leigh
Compton). Runoffs will start Wed Aug 4 and end Aug 18. Vote.
Defeated board members include: Bill Oliver, David Young, and Lynn
Waterman. Thanks to these folks and other departing Board members for
their service to the project, and better luck next time!
Election Analysis: The big winner in this election was Census I, which
picked up at least three dependable votes to add to the handful of
supporters they already have on the Board. Is it enough to tip a vote in
their favor? Only time will tell, but I bet one of the first orders of
business for the new Board will be to "resolve" the census mess. The
small portion of the electorate that cast ballots appeared to want
"business as usual", and that's what they'll probably get. Predictions for
the coming year include more of the same. Board meetings will continue to
be cloaked in secrecy and Root$web's shadow management of the Project will
remain unchallenged. Also predicted by those "in the know" is a renewed
attempt to pass a so-called "standards and ethics" policy, which ought to
be good for pages and pages of rhetoric before it blows over like the last
time. The DBS looks forward to another interesting year!
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and
deserve to get it good and hard."
---H.L. Mencken
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 Aug 4 19:34:14 1999
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 19:34:11 -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.SV4.3.96.990804062158.7549A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Paved with good intentions...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Sunday 1 Aug 1999: [our fact checker admits to searching the wrong date
yesterday!]
The board is asked for guidance on the the election results for some
races. Specifically, since no candidate received a majority of the votes
for NC a run-off is assumed. The Board is asked for procedures on a
tie-breaker should the SE/MA runoff election result in another tie.
Finally, regarding the SW/SC election, the EC chair says "Problem, we
received 136 ballots (272 potential votes, majority would be 68) so a lot
of people only voted for one candidate. We suggest that you use actual
votes to determine a majority. Total votes 201, one quarter of 201 round
to 51, 2 candidates have a majority." The Chair also asks, "Do you want
us to run the run off elections? On the run off elections, what is the
time period? We would like to see a two week time period. A month seems
too long. We would suggest holding this runoff from Wednesday, August 4th
through Wednesday, August 18th." He reminds the Board that the EC would
like to announce the results on their original announced schedule.
The EC chair again writes to the Board and says, "We will follow your
lead, if has been decided that the top two in the 4 way race are elected,
we will drop that one from our list of "help needed". On your other
point, I would assume that in a two way race if you use "votes cast" to
determine a majority only a tie could prevent one of the two from
acquiring a majority."
Monday 2 August 1999:
Bill Oliver congratulates the new Board members.
Regarding the SW/SC race, a David Young says that in his opinion, "In
this last election, in my opinion, A wins the two year term. B, C, & D
have to run off for the one year term office." In response, Megan
Zurawicz says "on this race I believe we specified before the election
that with two candidates to be elected it would be the top two vote
getters; on that basis I see no justification for a runoff. If #2 and #3
had gotten the same # of votes (instead of #3 and #4), then I'd be able to
see it."
Megan also suggests a runoff for the NC race and the SE/MA race, stating
she has no idea what to do if a second runoff is needed. She also thinks
the SW/SC race should go to the top two vote getters. She asks the group
for consensus so they get it off to the EC as soon as possible.
Ginger Csiweski agrees with her, stating "This sounds like a good plan to
me! <g> As for the SE/MA, I think the Bylaws would require us to keep
trying until a definite majority is reached, so hopefully it won't come
to that!" Lynn Waterman, Joe Zsedeny and Bill Oliver post agreeing with
Megan's suggestions.
The NC weighs in with "no comment" on the issue of the NC race <g>, the
suggestion to "tell both candidates, see if they can agree on a tie
breaking procedure", and the observations that "I was under the
impression that the Board had already said that the top two vote getters
would be the Reps for this area."
The NC sends the Board's consensus to Jim Powell, EC Chair, "The consensus
of the Board appears to be to hold a runoff for the top two candidates for
NC, a runoff for the SE/MA SC race, and that for the SW/SC race: Top two
vote getters win; top person gets the two year term, second person gets
the one year term."
"A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on."
--- William Burroughs
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 Aug 5 10:40:55 1999
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 10:40:53 -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.SV4.3.96.990805062815.9466A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Get a load of THIS...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Tuesday 3 August 1999:
Megan Zurawicz posts the following suggestion: "Last year, about a week
after the election results were in, we invited the new members onto the
board list so that they'd have a chance to ask questions, etc., before we
left. There's no etched-in-stone policy on it of course, but it's
something to consider doing...."
Trey Holt posts that he agrees with Megan and notes that "We brought the
new folks onto the list to observe and ask questions so that they could
hit the floor running on Sept 1st. Unfortunatley last year it seemed that
no one ask questions and ther was very little discussion during the
transition period." Thus, the board spent its first few months dealing
with procedural issues [and resignations]. He suggests getting to know
the new members "so that the board can have a productive year." He also
thanks the EC for the job it has done with the elections this year.
Election Update: As posted earlier by EC Chair Jim Powell, ballots will
not be received by mail. Rather, you must go to this URL to place
your vote: http://vote.rootsweb.com/usgw-nc.html [NC race only,
presumably the folks in SE/MA got a similar one for their SC rep race.]
In a message posted to the SC list, but not shared with rest of the
project, it is quite clear that this new system is being beta tested
during the run-off and may return numerous errors. According to a Board
member who has written me privately, the Board was not informed of this
change in procedure and they [personally, not the Board in general] view
it as a "great way for RW to hand pick the new NC of their choice". [and
yes, RW does have a horse in this race.]
I don't know about that, but it will be interesting to see how much lower
the voter turnout is under this new system. First, voter participation in
run-off elections tends to be lower anyways. Second, this new system
requires them to take the extra step of visiting a web page rather than
just hitting "return". Third, if an error message is generated, they are
required to contact their SC in order to get the error resolved, and then
[I presume, its not clear from the SC list message] go back and vote
again. Fourth, after you have successfully voted, you get a confirmation
number which you will then need to do something with in order to verify
your vote. At which point, I wonder, will people just give up?
Voting started last night and runs through Aug 18, midnight. Make the
extra effort and vote!
Ban Me, Ban My List Corner: We hear from a recently banned former
Root$web listowner that if her list members want their posts removed from
RW's archives [and she claims 100% of them do] they will NEVER be allowed
to use RW's mailing lists again. According to Robert Tillman, CEO of
Root$web, "You and others requesting archive removal will be restricted
from using ALL mailing lists at RootsWeb for life. Removing posts is a
terrible resource drain for us. We will not accept any new mailing list
posts from an individual requesting removal for the life of that
individual." [This is an interesting philosophy. RW claims that posters
retain copyright to their posts, but will not remove posts at the
copyright owner's request. If the owner pushes the issue they are told
their posts will be removed but only at the cost of being prevented from
ever using RW's resources again. Seems a steep price to pay for asking
them to honor your copyright.]
On an interesting side-note, in response to numerous historical quotes
describing earlier promises made to listowners and RW users from Brian
Leverich and Karen Isaacson and various RW staffers that were forwarded to
Mr. Tillman, Mr. Tillman has this to say: "As CEO I have the power to make
policy and have done so in this instance. RootsWeb did many things in the
past with which I disagree and which I have changed."
Changing Times Corner: New slogan seen on a Root$web ad banner:
"RootsWeb--Not Just Genealogy".
Look Again Corner: New ad spotted on Root$web for "Third Age", some fad
diet company. The banner has the slogan "Learn how to undress a woman in
10 easy steps" and has a picture of a little red car with women's
underwear flying out of it. [Now wouldn't you like to see _that_
appearing over your grandfather's obituary?]
A Little Light Reading Corner: In the advertisement-filled RootsWeb
Review this week is revealed the following: Root$web has joined the
"venture capitalists" [Brian Leverich's words, not mine] at Ancestry.com
in their "affiliate program" and is now avidly encouraging Root$web users
to --you guessed it-- sign up for an Ancestry subscription. Under this
program if you subscribe to Ancestry as a RW affliate, Root$web will get
its thirty pieces of silver. [My, how the times have changed. Seems like
only a few months ago that Brian was telling us if we gave money to
Ancestry we were destroying genealogy.]
Also in the New Zoo Review this week, Root$web announces "GenSeeker",
apparently its answer to Broderbund's Family Finder Index. GenSeeker is
described as "a new search engine that accesses almost all sites at
RootsWeb and many genealogical sites elsewhere on the Web" and is
described as being better and faster than ever before [and it almost
certainly returns an ad banner with every hit].
And last but not least, Root$web is sponsoring an ad banner contest.
Users are encouraged to "design a banner (468x60 pixels) urging
contributions to RootsWeb" The one with the highest click-thru rate in
September will be treated to a $200 dinner paid for by RW CEO Robert
Tillman. According to the notice, RW "will run all banners that are not
outright offensive. Hint: Bob has a quirky sense of humor." [guess he's
not offended by "tips" on how get women to take off their clothes and
pictures of flying underwear.]
"A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry; but money
answereth all things"
---Ecclesiastes 10:19
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 Aug 7 10:08:34 1999
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 10:08:33 -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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MIME-Version: 1.0
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Its a cruel, cruel summer....its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Wednesday 4 August 1999:
Election Committee Chair Jim Powell posts the notice on the procedural
change for the run-off election for NC. He says "Due to recently forseen
Circumstances, you will not be receiving Run Off Elections Ballots this
evening. The Run Off Election has not been postponed. To see the reason
for this contradictory message please got to
http://vote.rootsweb.com/usgw-nc.html and follow the directions and
PROCEED TO VOTE."
Thursday 5 August 1999:
Pam Reid asks EC Chair Jim Powell if the other run-off election will be
handled in the same way as the NC election. Jim tells her he'll be
answering that question shortly.
Jim Powell posts a mesage that says the EC made a mistake. According to
Jim, "we had added a voter, that was not an SC or ASC in that Region, to
the list for that race during one of our missing ballot additions. We
also discovered that this voter voted. We have checked with both
Candidates and they would like us to reveal the New Board member using the
previous vote minus the ineligible voter." Shari Handley is announced as
the new SE/MA State Coordinator representative.
Election Update: I had someone vote for me yesterday, using the new
procedure, and I am pleased to report it went quite smoothly. Here's what
you do: go to http://vote.rootsweb.com/usgw-nc.html; enter your email
address in the space for it; check the box for the candidate of your
choice, click the "submit" button, wait for the "confirmation email"
[takes a few seconds, apparently] and go to the web page to confirm your
vote. Note: Per Tim Pierce, if you have an older browser you may get a
"404" error; I think in that case you need to contact the EC, as Tim
appears to have set up a work-around for this. Also, if you enter an
email address it doesn't recognize, you will be notified to contact your
SC before you can vote. Incidentally, the notice at the top of the page
where you vote says the run-off election extends to August 23. So, go vote
already!
Correction Corner: Current Root$web ad sponsor ThirdAge.com is not a fad
diet company, as previously reported here. Instead, it appears to be a
community website for people who were born before 1970. Its got jokes,
advice columns, forums, chat rooms, and yes, a fad diet <g> [this is the
sponsor running the "learn how to undress a woman in 10 easy steps
banner]. The DBS apologizes for any confusion.
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty
when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are
naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers.
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of
zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."
--Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting Olmstead v. United States,
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-----------
Daily Board Show, (c) 1999 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.