From merope@Radix.Net Mon Aug 20 11:58:59 2001 Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 11:58:58 -0400 (EDT) From: merope Reply-To: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Daily Board Show, 8/20/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: O X-Status: From here to eternity...its Your Daily Board Show! *warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk! Sunday 19 August 2001: Tim Stowell calls the vote on Motion 01-24, to thank the Election Committee. Thus far 11 Board members have voted yes [and this motion has passed]. === Bait and Switch Corner: A couple of days ago, MyFamily.com announced its new "Premium Site" service, by which it graciously allows you to pay for what you formerly got for free. According to the press release, users will be limited to 5mb of free space [formerly unlimited], but for $19.95/year they can "upgrade" to 100mb of ad-free space. For an additional $19.95 per 100mb chunk, users can pay for even more space. Email lists, once provided for free, will now be available only to those who pay. The Premium Site accounts are also available free to people who sign up for or already have an annual membership at Ancestry.com [nice bit of synergy there]. Folks who signed up for service when it was both free and unlimited and who cannot afford the 20 bucks a year are out of luck; they have until September 17, 2001 to either "upgrade" or make other arrangements. After that date, they will no longer be able to upload anything over the 5mb limit. Its not clear from the press release if MyFamily will be reducing the size of existing accounts to 5mb or just turning off the ability to upload to them. Whichever, we hear there will be a big run on Root$web's FreePages come September 16. [although that might not be a safe haven for long...] And no, we don't know in what universe going from free, unlimited space to limited space you have to pay for constitutes an upgrade. But apparently the marketing department at MyFamily is from there. The Things You Find When Browsing Corner: We are pleased to report that our write-up about the "Angie's Genealogy Research Site" from a couple of weeks ago has made its way to Dear Myrtle's website: http://www.dearmyrtle.com/01/0812.htm [hmmm...wonder if I submit the DBS to her, if she'd include it in her list of online columnists.] === "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." ---James Madison This has been your Daily Board Show. 12 more days. -Teresa Lindquist merope@radix.net ------- Daily Board Show, (c) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved. From merope@Radix.Net Mon Aug 20 14:04:16 2001 Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 14:04:15 -0400 (EDT) From: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Correction, 8/20/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: O X-Status: Hi everybody, Its been brought to my attention that there is an error in today's DBS. I reported that "Email lists, once provided for free, will now be available only to those who pay." This should read "email accounts", not lists. Just a little mental blip on my part. Sorry for any confusion! -Teresa merope@radix.net From merope@Radix.Net Tue Aug 21 13:28:19 2001 Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 13:28:19 -0400 (EDT) From: merope Reply-To: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Daily Board Show, 8/21/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: Coming through!...its Your Daily Board Show! *warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk! Monday 20 August 2001: Board Secretary Sundee Maynez posts a Board report, and then posts an addendum to it. Voting continues on Motion 01-24. Thus far, 11 Board members have voted yes. === Popularity Contest Corner: In yet another break from precedent, Tim Stowell is polling the members of STATE-COORD-L on whether or not non-SC/ASC Board members and Special Projects coordinators should continue to be subscribed to the list and whether or not they should be allowed to post if they are subscribed. In the past, of course, all Board members were subbed regardless of what the other listmembers wanted. At my last count, list members were in favor of subbing Board members 24 to 1, and in favor of them having posting privileges 20 to 4. At least one list member told Tim to just sub the new Board members to whatever lists they would be on when their term began as has been done in the past. [Tim's poll is, of course, little more than a delaying tactic; he has only to drag this out for 11 more days before it will be a moot point.] We've heard through the grapevine that he's refusing to sub all the new Board members to Board-Exec because he doesn't want to sub Ron Eason and me. Seems he's afraid we will violate the Sacred Secretness [or was it the Secret Sacredness...?]. Whichever, its Typical Tim. ;) === "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." ---Mark Twain This has been your Daily Board Show. 11 more days. -Teresa Lindquist merope@radix.net ------- Daily Board Show, (c) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved. From merope@Radix.Net Wed Aug 22 13:11:03 2001 Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 13:11:01 -0400 (EDT) From: merope Reply-To: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Daily Board Show, 8/22/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: Blessed are the cheesemakers...its Your Daily Board Show! *warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk! Tuesday 21 August 2001: Teri Pettit posts a long message regarding guidelines for SCs to use when hiring/firing CCs. After a detailed discussion of some of the issues the Board faces when they are asked to handle grievances filed by CCs who were denied counties by SCs or fired even though they were meeting the guidelines, she suggests that SCs be asked to formulate guidelines for hiring/firing CCs. She notes "we could leave the details of the guidelines to each state, and still require that by some set date every state have decided upon and posted official guidelines for (1) how CC's are to be chosen when a county site changes hands, (2) what procedures must be followed to remove a sitting CC, particularly whether such can be done to a CC who meets the minimal page requirements, and (3) what process a CC or CC-applicant should follow if they feel that the posted procedures are not being complied with." She asks for input on how best to go about it and whether or not there are any states that have already implemented formal rules for CC selection and/or removal. [Teri's message was posted to -ALL and CC-L as well as BOARD-L; some discussion has proceeded on the other two lists, but not on the Board list.] Voting proceeds on Motion 00-24, with Maggie Stewart abstaining. Wednesday 22 August 2001: Tim Stowell declares Motion 00-24 passed with 12 yes votes and one abstention. === "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to my conscience, above all liberties." ---John Milton This has been your Daily Board Show. -Teresa Lindquist merope@radix.net ------- Daily Board Show, (c) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved. From merope@Radix.Net Thu Aug 23 15:11:20 2001 Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 15:11:18 -0400 (EDT) From: merope Reply-To: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Daily Board Show, 8/23/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: O X-Status: Tastes great, less filling...its Your Daily Board Show! *warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk! Thursday 23 August 2001: Board Secretary Sundee Maynez posts a summary of Board business. === Circle The Wagons Corner: The Census Project has announced a new special subproject for Native American records. From their press release: "There are many records out there for the American Indian researchers, but most of them are unknown or unavailable to a great many researchers. We hope that by offering a centralized place to make these records available to everyone it will make that research much easier for all. That is the easy part....now the hard part comes in getting these records transcribed. For that, we need volunteers. People like you who are willing to sit down and transcribe the materials that are available and then have someone proofread it (we are all human and we all make mistakes) and then submit it so that it will be available to ALL researchers. Please visit our website at http://www.us-census.org and look it over. Our pages will tell you a little more about us and what we are doing. They will also tell you about what is necessary and how to do it. We hope that it will interest you enough that you will volunteer to help us accomplish our goal of getting these records online for everyone to be able to research for free." The Native American section of the USGenWeb Census Project is available at: http://www.us-census.org/native/ === "We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them." ---Abigail Adams This has been your Daily Board Show. Nine more days. -Teresa Lindquist merope@radix.net ------- Daily Board Show, (c) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved. From merope@Radix.Net Fri Aug 24 19:52:33 2001 Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 19:52:33 -0400 (EDT) From: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: News Flash Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: O X-Status: This speaks for itself. -Teresa merope@radix.net ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 20:00:16 -0500 From: Holly Timm Reply-To: BOARD-L@rootsweb.com To: BOARD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [BOARD-L] the Domain USGenWeb.com Resent-Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 17:47:50 -0600 Resent-From: BOARD-L@rootsweb.com I'm not sure why Tim didn't send this on through when it bounced to him but we all need to know about it Holly NC-Elect ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: Bridgett Schneider To: BOARD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: the Domain USGenWeb.com Date sent: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 17:35:13 -0500 This is the only way I know how to get this message to the entire board. Since Doc is no longer interested in retaining the usgenweb.com domain he is going to sell it. We had the domain appraised and it is worth $3,073 to $3,755. We don't want the domain to go out on the auction block for some porn company to pick it up, so we are offering it to the Project for $2,500 (negotiable). If you would like to see the appraisal you can go to: http://www.greatdomains.com/Services/Wav/WavReport.asp?sVal=069996E9F9 57950E56B6CA269A Bridgett and Doc Schneider From merope@Radix.Net Sat Aug 25 10:10:28 2001 Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2001 10:10:27 -0400 (EDT) From: merope Reply-To: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Daily Board Show, 8/25/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: A wolf in sheep's clothing...its Your Daily Board Show! *warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk! Friday 24 August 2001: Maggie Stewart makes the following motion: "In an effort to adhere to the bylaws and to not make the new boards job more difficult by leaving this seat open for them to fill before getting on with business the membership is anxious to see... I move the board appoint a replacement to the AB seat vacated by Ken Short." [We are touched. Truly. However, the Board has not yet actually accepted Ken's resignation, so Mags' motion is a wee bit premature.] Holly Timm forwards the [now infamous] letter to the Board from Bridgett Schneider, in which Bridget and Doc inform the Board that they will be selling the usgenweb.com domain for a substantial amount of cash. [see below] Joe Zsedeny moves "that the proposed sale of USGenWeb.com be advertised throughout the Project and that all use of that domain by USGenWeb be immediately terminated." Saturday 25 August 2001: Richard Harrison seconds Joe's motion. === An Offer You Can't Refuse Corner: Well, we thought our rant today would be about Maggie's attempt to influence the new Board on her way out the door, but in light of new developments, we imagine that her motion will be forgotten. Now that we've had time to sleep on it and think about it, the enormity of what is being attempted here has struck us full on. But first, a little history. Back in the early days of the project, John Rigdon gave Dale "Doc" Schneider money to register the usgenweb.com domain. Dale, instead of registering the domain to USGenWeb or to John, registered it to his own name instead [this is how he became the "owner" of the domain]. Later, when the Dills, Pat Smith, Doc and Doc's mysterious lady friend were planning to incorporate USGenWeb, Inc., the domain name was transferred to the corporation as its only asset, and the domain name registration was changed to reflect that. After the USGenWeb, Inc. issue blew up in the Project's face, the domain name became an issue of serious contention. Members were told to stop using the usgenweb.com domain, the .org and .net domains were purchased, and usgenweb.org became the Project's primary domain. Eventually, after extensive [and possibly questionable] effort by Linda Lewis, InterNIC transferred the domain name back to Doc Schneider, and it has remained in his control ever since. In the ensuing years, whenever someone raises the issue of acquiring the domain name, the membership has been assured that the domain is safe where it is, that it is more or less being held on behalf of USGenWeb until we incorporate, and that there is nothing to worry about. [kinda makes you wonder what Linda's cut will be] On August 1, Doc was abruptly fired from his job at Root$web; his wife, Bridget had ceased working there some four or five months previously. On July 3, 2001, Shari Handley notified the Board that the usgenweb.com domain was set to expire on July 11; she asked NC Tim Stowell to find out what Doc intended to do with it. A few days later Tim informed the Board that Bridgett had let him know that Doc had already re-registered the domain for another two years. In a few weeks, Doc was out of a job. On the evening of August 23, Bridgett sent her letter to Board-L. As she is not a Board member, the message would have bounced to Tim. In the letter, she specifically wanted the entire Board to see it [and presumably the public too; she did not send it to the secret list]. For whatever reason, Tim did not forward the message to the Board, and more than 24 hours later Holly Timm received a forwarded copy from Bridgett and made it public. In short order Joe made his motion recommending that the project discontinue the use of the domain and that the members be informed of the attempted sale. As luck would have it, I was in IRC last night when Bridgett and Doc showed up. Doc was quiet, but Bridgett had a bit to say. For instance, when I suggested that the right thing to do in this circumstance is to either donate the domain to USGenWeb or to sell it to us for their cost to register it, I got this back: it is at our cost -- all the bull Doc had to put up from some of you guys -- pay backs are hell aren't they? A couple of things are abundantly clear, both from "Bridey"'s response above and from the letter itself. 1) certain people are not above cashing in on their friends; 2) certain people are also not above threatening their friends with the spectre of pornographers in order to cash in on them; 3) my dictionary defines extortion as "the act of getting money, etc., by threats, misuse of authority, etc." The astonishing thing is that there are actually some project members who think we should pay them, to keep the domain out of the hands of someone far worse [although I can't honestly think of anyone worse than someone who would deliberately seek to personally profit off of a ragtag volunteer organization]. Others though are suggesting that the Project follow through on a cybersquatting complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and have the domain removed from Doc's control and transferred to the project. Enough evidence [emails, chat logs, cancelled checks, etc.] probably exists to show that the domain was originally meant to be the property of USGenWeb and that we have not pushed the registration issue because we understood that the Project would always have the use of the domain. I don't think many people would have objected to reimbursing Doc for the years he's registered the domain for us. I also don't think they'd have had any problem with giving him some extra money; after all, members used to bail Doc out of his financial difficulties routinely back in the good old days. [A couple of people have even reminded me about the money they lent Doc to keep body, soul and servers together; wonder if he'll be forwarding any funds to them?] Had they not directly threatened us with selling our domain to pornographers, even I might have supported reimbursing them. But not now. Now they don't deserve a single penny from the good people of this project. Let them live with selling it south; their reputations are already trash in the USGenWeb Project and if they sell the domain to a less than reputable buyer, they can expect their names to be mud in the entire online genealogy community. They are giving us until October 16 to decide. The Other Rant Corner: Now I'm all out of steam for my Maggie rant. Oh well. Word has it that Maggie's rationale for all this is that the Board needs to clear old business before the new term starts. Her choice for the seat is allegeldy Edward Hayden; the reasoning is that had the seat been open during the election [as it would have been if the Board had addressed the resignation when it was made], Ed would have gotten votes from the same people who voted for Jana Black. Interesting leap of logic, that. Anyways, in the hullabaloo surrounding the domain name issue, Maggie's motion will likely be ignored and/or forgotten; its out of order anyways, since the Board has not yet even accepted Ken's resignation. For those not in the know, Ken Short resigned on July 1, following the death of his daughter. The Board, upon Tim's recommendation, decided to hold his seat until at least Aug 31 and then let the new Board deal with it. The hope is, of course, that Ken will be able to come back and resume his USGenWeb activities. So why the sudden urge to fill the seat? Well, its pretty clear that Maggie would rather the new Board NOT fill that seat, since we'd probably not put in someone who is necessarily favorable to her cause. And we may even decide to put in the runner-up from the recent election, Don Tharp, who has been a vocal critic of the Archives and Maggie's census project and a supporter of the USGenWeb Census Project. Mustn't have that. So we'll just shove ole Ken out the door and bring in some new guy. Very classy. Not quite on the scale of Doc and Bridgett, but a valiant effort nevertheless. === "Money is the fruit of evil, as often as the root of it." ---Henry Fielding This has been your Daily Board Show. 7 more days. -Teresa Lindquist merope@radix.net ------- Daily Board Show, (c) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved. From merope@Radix.Net Sun Aug 26 08:55:25 2001 Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 08:55:24 -0400 (EDT) From: merope Reply-To: merope To: Daily Board Show Subject: Daily Board Show, 8/26/2001 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: O X-Status: Fire in the hole!...its Your Daily Board Show! *warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk! Saturday 25 August 2001: Regarding the proposed sale of the usgengweb.com domain, Pam Reid asks "Was there any additional explanation on this, any discussion? Does this only apply to usgenweb.com or does it effect usgenweb.org and usgenweb.net? If we are to stop using usgenweb.com, where does that leave us for now?" Sunday 26 August 2001: Tina Vickery suggests that Maggie's motion to replace Ken Short is a bit premature, noting "the announcement of his resignation, the acceptance of it, with most sincere condolences to Ken and his family, our appreciation of a a job well done within the USGenWeb Project should precede any motion from this board, or the incoming board to replace." Tim Stowell gives Joe Zsedeny's motion to terminate use of the usgenweb.com domain number 01-25 and opens the floor for discussion. Tim explains that the reason that he didn't forward Bridget Schneiders's message through is because Holly's version was the first time he saw it. === Past Due Bills Corner: Since Dale and Bridget Schneider's "ransom note" was made public, the woodwork has literally been crawling with people who Dale owes money to, many of them people who helped him keep body and soul together during the the early days of USGenWeb. Among them are John Rigdon, who paid for the original domain registration and who proceeded to support Dale's servers for several months, and Jerry Dill, who loaned Dale thousands of dollars over the course of several months [no wonder Dale was so quick to turn on Jerry]. But there are others, lots of others. Some of whom would very much like their money back when Dale gets his ransom money from USGenWeb. If we figured it right, Dale is already several thousand dollars in the hole, and that's _if_ USGenWeb can scrape up the cash to pay for its own domain. === "The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts." ---John Locke This has been your Daily Board Show. Six more days. -Teresa Lindquist merope@radix.net ------- Daily Board Show, (c) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.