GenWebStalkers.com: 2011

December 31, 2011

Advisory Board or lynch mob?

From: board-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:board-bounces@rootsweb.com] On
Behalf Of Sherri
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 6:50 PM
To: board@rootsweb.com
Subject: [BOARD] MOTION 2011/12-09 Update to the SC Guidelines re:
Unresponsive State Coordinators
Presented by Pat Asher and seconded by Jeff Kemp and dated 22 December 2011,
the motion reads:
"I move the following paragraph be added to "Volunteer and Web Site
Standards/Guidelines" (http://usgenweb.org/volunteers/guidelines.shtml)
under "Required for SCs & ASCs ...": State Coordinators are required to
notify the Election Committee of all changes to the State membership list on
a continuing or quarterly basis, and respond promptly to any special
requests for information from the Election Committee and/or Advisory Board
members.
Is there any discussion on this? If not, please respond with "no
discussion".
Sherri Bradley
National Coordinator
USGenWeb Project
Information about the USGenWeb Project at http://usgenweb.org
Advisory Board Agenda http://usgenweb.org/agenda2.shtml

December 03, 2011

Throw the Baby Out !

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 has grossed $550,000,000. Fans, millions of young teens, are willing to spend their month’s allowance to see a Vampire and a cute human girl roll around in the marriage bed. The acting is terrible, but the characters are handsome. Movie producers will not throw good money after bad. They know where the $$$’s are. But that is precisely what the Online Genealogy Projects are doing, Wasting Good time and Energy into losing enterprises.

Take a quick look at USGenNet. The whole of it is but a hollow trunk. They have sunk mucho bucks into that ill-fated mouse trap since 1998. Everything failed. Their US Data Repository has been around for years. It is an empty bucket. Empty. The few web sites they still sponsor are some of the worst in the world of genealogy: empty websites. Yet, it hangs on, polluting the Internet.

ALHN: Good idea, except they followed the same format as USGenWeb. On the Alaska site, for instance, they say this:
Notice: ALHN AK is hosted by USGenNet, Inc., a nonprofit Safe Haven educational web-hosting service providing historical and historical-genealogical Free-access websites. USGenNet is solely supported by tax-deductible contributions. If you have received a benefit from your visit here today, please consider making a contribution to USGenNet and support Free-access online history and genealogy.

I ask you this: Is our job as genealogists to support USGenNet or to put data online? Which?

On the California ALHN site are 47 counties up for adoption. I’m not picking on California or Alaska, they are typical of the web sites at ALHN. They have been following the USGenWeb format since creation with marked failure. One definition of insanity is to keep trying the same thing over and over expecting different results. Time to give it up.

Over on TTTP the most prominent request is for Volunteers. One TTTP’er even went of Facebook and asked for 500 volunteers to come to TTTP’s rescue. FIVE-HUNDRED?? Where they coming from?
Time to give it up.

The other two Projects Genealogy trails and Lost Souls are in the same sinking boat. They had grand ideas, but where are the Volunteers? A logical tact would be to join USGenWeb. Of course, the stench is so bad at USGenWeb that few knowledgeable volunteers world venture into those polluted waters.

This leaves one Project to consider.You do know where volunteers, technical support, great management and state of the art FREE web space. You can see the water, but only you will decide to drink. If you prefer to die of thrust, so be it.

For The Daryl

November 27, 2011

Destroy Everyone

USGW eats their own. The AB killed all of the opponents of the imperial rulers. With no one else to kill, they are going after their own flesh. Destroy the SC's. Destroy 'em all, they say.
Cyndie wrote:
Just a suggestion...I think that there should be a notification of the non-response to the State Coordinator list after reasonable attempts to contact them but prior to beginning a recall process.

Pat Replied:
I totally agree. But if such notification is to be a requirement, then that rule has to be written some place.
Where? Should we rewrite Standard Rule II. REMOVAL OF AN SC OR ASC. to include a list of valid reasons for removal and requirements of notice and procedures?
Or should the steps preceding initiation of a recall process be left to the AB members to decide, based on specific circumstances of the situation and point in time?
Pat
end garbage quote
Yes, Dear ones, The AB now eats their own children. The day is near when SC's will be an endangered species. The unholy bond between the AB and the SC's has produced a mix of Voodoo and blood letting.
See it is, so be it.
For The Daryl

November 21, 2011

It Rolls downhill

Since they killed The Daryl, they have been attacking each other. Over the past month or two, they have been discussing how to destroy other Volunteers if they were considered to be harassing another member. Well, Dear Ones, they used to take great pleasure in piling on The Daryl, calling him everything from a pedophile, criminal, shithead and other niece words, going to his house, taking photos of his house and in general shitting on him on the Net to the delighted leadership. They dropped their goal of killing members who they considered were harassing others because someone realized how stupid it was. Here is some other poo-poo.

Quote:
(To a usgenweb list )Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 12:35:08 PM
Subject: Re: [ABChat] Next Agenda Item, Discussion regarding unresponsive State Coordinators is now open.

Thanks, Sherri:
Sorry about my delay. I think I missed this.

Anyway, I placed this item on the agenda because I have had problems reaching at least 2 different SCs when I had questions about the state and about other issues in those states.

I believe both SCs were grandfathered SCs. I don't have a problem with the rule that grandfathered some SCs, but I do have a problem when the SC is not responsive to their own CCs, from questions sent by surfers to the SC or when the EC members contact them, or when anyone from the Board attempts to contact them.

I firmly believe that the SCs have a responsibility to be in touch and be available when they take on the roll of being a State Coordinator. Why would they be in that position if they do not want to help make a difference for others. Along with that goes the responsibility of being part of the USGenWeb and thus being responsive, not only to researchers,
but also to the USGenWeb itself. It is unconscionable to be unresponsive in that position. It's one thing to have issues come up and time periods when one cannot be reached, but not on any long term basis.

One SC I repeatedly sent emails to over a period of time and never once received a response. Finally, I emailed an ASC and got a wholly negative response from that person.

I believe there needs to be some procedure to deal with unresponsive SCs.
I would like to hear from others on this issue. Thanks.

Denise
SEMA CC Rep
end quote

What the AB does not realize is that the SC's and ASC's have finally got their head out of the sand and want nothing to do with an imperial Advisory Board who has all but destroyed one of the finest organizational in the genealogy world.
For The Daryl

October 09, 2011

USGenNet - Farwell to Arms

Dick Tracey’s wrist watch was quaint, cute and fanciful. So may it be said of USGenNet.

The list of notable donors to USGenNet (not to be confused with USGenWeb) for 2011 includes the usual suspects who had differences with USGenWeb or rootsweb.com. The leadership has changed little, if any, over the course of its existence. The leadership includes: Virginia Cisewski, Bill Oliver, Rhoda Fone, Debbie Axtman, Pam Rietsch, Margie Daniels, Stan Schwarze, Janet Schwarze, Jim Cole, Connie Burkett, Fred Smoot, and so on.

The stated goal of USGenNet was to bring free genealogy and history to the internet. Their famous slogan in 2007, “Copycats on the Loose!” It detailed instances of other Projects using ‘their’ data. (USGenNet claims it is Not a “Project”, but merely a provider of web space for Projects. Common sense concludes otherwise.) http://www.usgennet.org/usgnhome/new2007.html
The historical goal of USGenNet might arguably be to wage a guerilla war against Rootsweb and to gain control of the USGenWeb Project.

USGenNet was not bashful in using power to achieve their goals, which might include going medieval on anyone they considered an enemy. This text snip illustrates the power which they enjoyed:
http://www.radix.net/~merope/february2006.txt
Quote :SHOT IN THE FOOT: After yesterday's DBS, USGenNet helpfully published a series of emails, screenshots, and scans of various things in an apparent effort to defend its actions against Charles "Little Dog" Barnum and further assassinate his character. They are posted here:

http://www.usgennet.org/usgnhome/business/barnum_documentation.html

We'll note a couple of things right off the bat. The first "document" contains some excerpts of an email that Charles sent to several recipients back at the end of January. We happen to have been one of them, so we have a copy of the full email, and its nowhere near as snarky and trouble-making as USGenNet would have you believe. Charles wanted to make a site that would link directly to all county data wherever it may be held [although he excepted the Archives from this]. He asked his correspondents to let him know what they thought of this idea:

"What if we established a web site that listed every database on USGENWEB Counties? It would have a list of states and under the states a list of counties, and under counties a list of links to databases. I do not mean we would invite people to submit links to us; we would just collect them state-by-state. If you could see the web site name, you’d understand. Our site would have no Byheehaws, no advisory board, no guidelines, no copyright statement, no logos and no State Coordinators. It would not be a web ring and no one would have to link to us. The county coordinators could do as the see fit or even resign from USGW, but their links would remain as long as they were valid links. No, I am not talking about stealing data. We’d collect links to counties databases—not data. This is not an easy assignment. I built one for a state awhile back, and I’ve learned from that. I’d pay for the domain name but I need no-strings attached web space. I can’t do it alone. Fifty volunteers would be optimum but I’d take 10 dedicated volunteers. Would it draw visitors? Yes, in time. Cream rises to the top. Remember Cyndi’s list? That used to be a good until it became a list of commercial sites. Ours will be 1000% better. If you are interested and wiling to take risks, contact me. You’ll find me in NM."
We have no idea what any of Charles' recipients thought of his proposal, but apparently one of them thought enough of it to forward it to USGenNet, which promptly took away his web space, message boards, and mailing lists. …” End Quote.

Regardless of the missteps the leadership took in the above Amanda Knox type prosecution, one fact is that USGenNet is a Dick Tracy wrist watch in the world of BlackBerrys and Smart Phones.

After USGenWeb separated from rootsweb.com, the fire burning in the heart of USGenNet became a dying ember.

The diaries and self-serving emails and inglorious web pages do not prove that USGenNet is innocence of anything; they have no weight, because the mislead can come up with their own version of stories like 'hard core criminals' who think that they are always innocent.

Perhaps their failure might be traced to the strong arm tactics by some of their troops. Or, perhaps they had the wrong motivation in the first place-fist, and second place-second. Why does man not follow their hearts instead of following others? To avoid that trap, we must all do what we know is right. We all die, sooner than expected, better to follow your heart because we're all naked. We have nothing to lose, it is already gone. Farwell USGenNet; if what we think is true, you will fold in a matter of weeks.

For The Daryl

September 20, 2011

Rampant theft?

August 31, 2011

A Genealogy Project Awakes

http://www.ahgp.org/index.html
Remember AHGP? It was considered to be a ‘better’ mouse trap than USGenWeb. It did well at first, but the management lacked the ability to improvise. They were stuck in USGenWeb's muddy ruts while organized around outdated Web-rings.

It is remembered that some USGenWeb members occupied AHGP State Coordinator slots and then deliberately stifled growth. They plastered links to USGenWeb on every page while the website itself contained no useful information. AHGP became known as a links-yard. Some SC’s had a ‘Main page’ that was merely a portal to their USGenWeb project. Those practices may be changing.

Genealogy Trails has eliminated the link-yard problem as did TTTP. If members don’t produce, they get the boot. But the new projects, like Genealogy Trails and TTTP, and a couple of others, are still in the USGenWeb rut. Here is a quote from a former USGenWeb transcriber,

"I've left the county-based projects. It's an outdated way of sharing/retrieving information. The wave of the future is Familysearch.org and the pay to view sites, and Find-A-Grave. USGenWeb’s sleaziness polluted the reputation of all Genealogy Projects."

Will AHGP achieve what it was intended to be? Or will it be a links-yard? AHGP’s new leadership shows the ability for success. Do they have the will?
For Daryl

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