GenWebStalkers.com

April 03, 2012

New Managers

Hello Genealogy World. This blog is under new management. Joker has gone bye-bye, but Mary is alive and well. Some posts may be retain the Joker signature due to administration thingys.

Stand bye for more.
The Staff at GenWebStalkers.

February 13, 2012

It's gone

This blog was intended to be a record of the dirt that goes down in online genealogy. To my dismay, I discovered that it only saves 99 posts. My my. I'm crushed.
Just a parting word before I kill this blog. Rootsweb never took a web site from me. USGenWeb never published an online slander page about me.
However, USGenNet did.

I always believed that USGenNet is more tyrannical than USGenWeb.
Things have changed. They always do. Hopefully, USGenNet and it's phony, "We are so good," propaganda will both die a terrible death.
Yes, I know, a dead cow in the field smells for several years before the stench is gone.
I'll wait like a vulture in a tree. Then I will feast.

February 08, 2012

We all die---soon.....

snipped....

Back to genealogy: Do not be timid about copying databases from the USGenWeb Archives. They lie when they say you may not copy it without written permission etc. Data is public domain. Just change the format and it is yours. Translocation of that data is ethical, moral and legal. I know of no better way to honor those who compiled the data than to collect it and present it on your web site.

February 07, 2012

Dakota's Feet

snipped.......

The world has Ended:
Over at USGenWeb, the CC’s were sleeping again. The Advisory Board passed another garbage rule giving them more power. They will kick-out anyone who uses an alias. The AB now has absolute power and control over the membership. They can do as they please because the membership is too ignorant or lazy to care. That's funny because I AM STILL A MEMBER using an alias. If they can’t catch this old fart, ….. who can they catch?

February 03, 2012

You can't have it. It's mine!

On a Friday evening: Quote from USGenWeb:

"USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only."

Why do they write that silly stuff?
Because they want to share the data submitted to them with the world. They can not do that if someone copies the data. Get it? If anyone could have it then they could not share it with the world. Only THEY are worthy to have genealogy data.
Whenever I need a laugh, I visit USGenWeb...

==
USGenNet, my, my. Looks like they will hang around a bit longer with or without contributors; With or without money. U. C., they have sponsored various Projects and sites providing free web space. They cannot just die. It's like the poor man in the ER at the local hospital. They can not just let him die. They cannot kick him out. It might hurt someone's feeling-besides being against the law. They could close the ER like one of our local hospitals did recently. No more dead wood. That is one way to get around the law. ER's must admit sick people and get them stabilized. But if they close the ER, they are not required to care for anyone.

That is probably what will happen in the case of USGenNet. They will slowly wilt and fall off the tree.

January 25, 2012

Necrophilia

Today:
From: "Jeff xxxx" xxxx@ xx.com
To: usgenweb-all@rootsweb.com
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 12:08:42 AM
Subject: Re: [ABChat] Next Agenda Item - Alias use within the Project
Well I'll state my opinion and I believe most may find it to harsh.
When I think back on all that this organization went through with the late
Mr. Lytton, I truly believe the use of aliases should not be allowed for
any reason.
Jeff xxxx
..............

No one is worse than a slim ball slandering the dead. Screw Jeff. Screw USGenWeb and the slim balls that run it.
If you are not a slim ball it does not refer to you, does it? It's sickening that other members of the Board praised Jeff for pointing out above. Bless you all. You truly represent the best in Genealogy.

January 22, 2012

Peep Squeaks

snipped
USGenWeb gets even more funny than I thought possible.
While strolling down the avenue I found this quote.
"As per new LAGENWEB rules any file that contains more than cemetery listings will be split up reedited
and moved to family or history folders. Cemetery submissions can only contain listings not geology info."

Hey Baby, how do you spell genealogy?

Another giggler was a USGenWeb Archives notice above a cemetery listing stating that neither the data nor the database could be used by any other projects, and so on and on and on.........................
Do not believe it. Oh ye of little faith, you MAY copy information, or the entire database, put it in your own format, and publish it as long as it is only the facts.
Facts are dates, names, and places. Commentary is not a fact. You can't re-use it.

January 17, 2012

Oh, My, God !!!!!

snipped
Dis-functional Paralysis: It's difficult to describe USGenWeb, to put it into words. In my dream, an Angel told me USGenWeb was suffering from Dis-functional Paralysis syndrome.
USGenWeb is a monster with at least five heads. The paranoid State Coordinators who never agree on anything. The CC's who have no clue what-up. The NC who takes her Que from the RAL, and the Advisory Board who cannot decide what their purpose is in life. It's a mixed up, crazy, mentally intoxicated organization too paralyzed to act in a rational or mature manner on just about every issue or imagined issue.
This is truly a day of days.

January 16, 2012

Girls Gone Wild

From our friends at USGenWeb, the sky is still falling, aliases are smashing everything. The latest of a long, dragged-out(drugged out?) discussion comprised mostly of bullshit ideas, comes this.

At 01:40 PM 1/15/2012, Nancy rote: Another thought...if someone chooses to use an alias, there should probably be a restriction that it cannot be offensive to the public at large. As much as I hate putting controls throughout the project, it may make sense to state that an alias must be approved prior to adding it to a site within the project.

The aliases have been invading USGenWeb from the mini-planet of Pluto since NCGenWeb was created. When are those volunteers going to get a clue and join one of the Pleasant Projects? It beats the hell out of me!

Meanwhile back in the real world: The YMCA (the Y) shut down everything in Northern Nevada. Lack of Money was the culprit. Was it? The Y was a great idea 50 years ago. It was a place where middle-class parents sent their kids for recreation and to meet new friends. Kids today spend their time on the computer and cell phones.
One citizen said the Y will never die because it is an idea, not a building. No, it’s dead, believe me, It Is Dead. It’s like some of those marginal Genealogy Projects hanging on for life. Does a Project really need to be incorporated? For what reason? A famous example of a failed Project was the incorporation in Florida GenWeb. Do Projects really need a Board of Directors? Do Projects really need an Advisory Board that controls rather than advises? Do we have to grit out teeth because USGenNet is fading into the sunset? Those are IDEAS. People are stubborn. They hate change, even change for the best.

Kristen Stewart: I did some digging and found that the five foot actress who is a multimillionaire bought a home in LA when she turned 18 years old. Who shares that big house with her? Does she really smoke cigarettes? What does she eat to look sixteen forever? About her using the Xxxk word. I found the original statement on a video clip from a Red Carpet event. She did not say, Xxxk everyone and be happy. She said, Xxxk everyone and be healthy. She immediately corrected herself. What I meant to say was, don’t worry what others think and be healthy. The X-word? She uses it often, as do others her age.

A jewel on the net that may be the next “in” thing is https://www.tumblr.com/ Tumblr. This could be used for a nice genealogy blog by someone if they find this blog too offensive.

January 03, 2012

Tears fall like rain

It is the new year. USGenNet is still online, polluting the internet. I was to delete this blog on Jan. 5, but alas, it must not leave until the great Devil is slain. In my mind--and in the mind of great geniuses, USGenNet has caused more harm to online genealogy than all the rest of the world combined. Yet, they stay online, barely paying bills month-to-month. The sites they sponsor are some of the worst in the history of mankind.
BUT The future holds promise:
Family search.org PLUS Find-A-Grave EQUALS the death of USGenWeb.
So, it is written in the great book, so shall it be.

Meanwhile that new Project is growing. Members are joining one by one.
Regarding the other projects, Old Proverb Say, "He eat too many noodle. He stink."

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.