In this issue (click to go): On Page One Editorial: The "Big Crunch" by AngelPie_Mouse Contests: Horror Story by ArrylT Chat Highlights Scheduled Chat Sessions Thread Digest (separate page) Featured Clubs/Groups New Clubs/Groups On Page Two Club/Group Anniversaries Club/Group and Member News by Mistybunny Software/Technical Review HTML Lesson Two: Lists by AngelPie_Mouse A Founders' Tip by NOWAYWINS Additional Articles Free Web Hosting Sites (Clubs or Groups) by NOWAYWINS and AngelPie_Mouse A Letter to My Members (Clubs) by Jordans_Journey_2001

We had quite a scare on Monday. Yahoo! Instant Messenger was down. Most of the club pages were inaccessible, leading to messages that "the club you are trying to access does not exist." Using another messenger format, I said to NOWAYWINS: "So much for giving us a warning when they are going to move our clubs." He said: "You think it is that?" And I said: "Well, it is one of four things: they may be moving our clubs, or we may have been hacked; it may be the Chinese hitting Yahoo! and making good on their retaliation threat, or it may be a power outage in Northern California." He said: "Groups is down too. They've posted a maintenance message." Reply: "I reiterate, so much for giving us a warning."

Yahoo! stated earlier this year that when the "big crunch" comes and they fold our clubs up into compressed data streams to be shipped off to the Groups servers, they will give us a warning. "We'll post a warning message in all clubs." A warning makes sense, and I smile at the thought I may have suggested it to Warren in terms only another Californian would understand. "You know giving us a warning when you intend to do this isn't just a matter of courtesy. I know, when I'm out on the road, I steer clear of sig alerts on the freeway. If people know there are going to be accessibility issues, they aren't going to be adding to the traffic problems by trying to force it." Of course, I was talking about Yahoo! adding a system status page so that we would have a sort of radio station to tell us that there had been "a five car pile-up on the Interstate 5 backing up traffic for fifteen miles" or something comparable in Yahoo! terms.

What's wrong with that idea? Well, sometimes, by the time they identify a problem and have an opportunity to post a message about it, it's already fixed. A system status page might not be all that useful, therefore, might only slow down the process of getting the traffic moving again. However, on major issues, such as the migration of club data to group servers, when they know they are going to be down for hours or even a day, a little warning might make it lots easier on their customer care folk. It was a thought.

We could have been hacked. It certainly looked like it at first brush. While the system was allowing me to log in, it didn't recognize my membership in CFC. In fact, it was suggesting that I join the club. Ouch! But a quick perusal of the situation informed me that the problem was more system-wide than merely CFC. I was getting the same response in other clubs, the same absence of pages in several I was not a member of. It was no hack of my ID or of CFC.

Was it a system-wide hack? Two years ago, on May 7, 1999, the US accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Bosnia, mistaking it from the air as an arms and ammunition depot while in the midst of pounding the Bosnian city. Two people were killed. More recently, there was the incident involving the Chinese fighter pilot and the US spy-plane. I don't know about your take on that in-flight collision, but to my way of thinking "the QE-II doesn't steer into the speedboat." And, actual taped footage of the same jet fighter and pilot performing the same maneuver against the bigger and very much slower propeller plane a few weeks before goes a long way to convincing me who hit who.

And then came a warning to all major US service providers. Chinese hackers were taking over US websites and replacing the usual displays with messages of protest, listing US wrongs against the Chinese people and their government. Such activity was expected to reach its highest during the first part of May and specifically on May 7...Monday according to ABC News. However, had it been that problem, surely we would have seen the anti-US message, the claim of responsibility, some indication of their victory, and it would have made the evening news or at least CNN, right?

According to trusted sources, it was the fourth issue I had indicated. Northern California had experienced a power outage, knocking the Yahoo! servers off line. I mentioned last month that PG&E, which supplies power to Northern California, had filed bankruptcy and that this could be an outcome. California consumers are still scratching their collective heads over the dividends and bonuses paid to stockholders in the company when at the same time the company could not pay its own debts. Ever since, the state has been busy trying to figure out how to bail the whole energy industry out, spending billions from tax coffers to settle old debts and keep the lights on. We're expected to have four power providers returning to service by mid-June (closed for refitting), four new electrical plants online by mid-Summer, and thirteen new ones in all built in the next few years at state and rate payer expense. I expect there will be criminal and civil suits coming out of this as well. Meanwhile, Bush has suggested the expansion of Texas oil interests in California as a means of alleviating the problem and what would you expect considering his loyalties. Pardon me, every once in a while I have to get that complaint concerning his obvious pecuniary bias off my chest.

Can we expect more problems? Probably. The weather in California contributes considerably to the problem of power usage. The higher the mercury goes in the old thermometer, the more the demand for air conditioning and cooling systems which just suck the energy in gulps. I sometimes wonder if all that air-cooling doesn't make the problem worse. Where does the heat go if you are exchanging it with cooler air and, of course, the equipment itself generates heat? But that's beside the point. It was 90 degrees at 3 p.m. here in the valleys on Monday. I turned off my computer and went for a walk.

For more on the energy problem see CNET News: Blackout dims Yahoo services (we thank Jordans_Journey_2001 for directing us to the article used to confirm the cause of Monday's Yahoo! outage).

AngelPie_Mouse
CFC Founder

Post Editorial Remarks:

This newsletter began on our club anniversary date, June 27th as our gift to our members. This is issue number eleven of volume one and the next issue will close the volume, moving us into volume two. What does that mean? Only that it is now time for us to take a sampling concerning what features of this newsletter are important to you. What do you want us to keep? What would you like us to remove so you speed through faster? And, what features would you like us to add? Do you want us to do more with software, HTML help, the basics on graphics or anti-virus protection, and advice on simple maintenance of your drives and computer system?

Please Vote!.

We've set up a poll in CFC_Experimental (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfc_experimental), so you can vote on some of these questions. We would, also, like to hear from you less anonymously if you have ideas or would like to try writing a regular column or single article yourself. Please write: clubfoundersclub@yahoo.com.

Welcome to the second annual CFC Horror Story Contest! Everyone has been so pre-occupied with questions about the introduction of the new clubs interface that we've almost forgotten about the CFC Horror Story Contest. And, there's only a few more days to get your stories in!

Despite the Halloween flavor, what we're looking for are reports of those irksome, ire raising, and, somehow, inevitable events that plague our clubs. ...and this year, our groups. In the past, we've heard tales of horror about members stalking members, message board hecklers, SPAM-mers, persons who use clubs as a tool to harrass others, missing founders. Such stories by no means exhausts the potential for trouble others can create or, indeed, we can create for ourselves. And, of course, there are two parts to the story--the problem and how it was solved. Your solution may be the usual, or it may be unique, may differ from the expected, or may suggest resources we didn't anticipate and need to know.

Come on, gang, you only have until midnight on May 13, 2001. We want to see your stories on the message board in CFC. In order that we may know that it is a contest entry, we ask that you put the words "Horror Story Contest Entry" in the subject line of your post. You may enter as often as you like with as many stories as you choose (not the same story each entry). Oh, and watch for answers to your entry from other members, who may offer other solutions to your problem in case you should ever face the situation again.

Prizes will include:
Grand Prize - Featuring (or re-featuring) of a club of your choice, reprint of horror story, winner's graphic logo for display. If you win and your club/group has not been featured before, your club or group will be featured for two weeks. If you have been featured before, your club or group will be featured for one week, and we do mean all new stuff. (See what Featured Clubs get).
Second Prize - Reprint of horror story, personal logo image for Yahoo! ID Profile use, winner's graphic logo for display.
Third Prize - Reprint of horror story, winner's graphic logo for display.

To see last years contest winners and their stories, Click Here.

Date/Time: Thursday -- May 3, 2001 at 10 p.m. EST

Topic: The Alternative to Survivor, Australian Outback

Summary:Apparently, the Survivor finale was far more important that we thought (okay, than I thought 'cuz Mistybunny watched it too).

Among the topics discussed were favorite TV shows, ratio of administrator to member, what does CFC look for in a co-founder, the goals and aims of CFC, sources for custom digital art, graphic editors, anti-virus protection, and preparing for the interface introduction.

Attendance: Mistybunny, NOWAYWINS, AngelPie_Mouse, and sjmpgrad2000.

No session is currently scheduled, but we hope to meet again close to the end of the month.

Averaging about three hundred posts a month, the Thread Digest has become just too large to publish except as a separate page. So that's what we're doing...click here.

If you haven't seen the sort of thing featured clubs get beyond the club logo which appears on our clubsite for a week, then you haven't seen anything yet.

Each week (sometimes monthly), ArrylT reviews and forwards the name or a list of clubs which have requested and meet the guidelines for featuring (see Feature Policy). A full webpage is prepared with fresh graphics, describing the club, displaying over a dozen graphics for clubsite display, and offering banners and more.

The clubs and events presented during April included:

The feature event for Monday, April 9, 2001 was...

Click Here!

The feature club for Monday, April 16, 2001 was...

Click Here to the feature page,
Click Here to go to the club.

The feature club for Monday, April 30 and May 7, 2001 was...

Click Here to the feature page,
Click Here to go to the club.

We like to notice all clubs and groups in which are members have administrative status. You may have reported the one nearest, dearest, or most in trouble, but if you plan on continuing with Yahoo! Club Founders' Club--and we hope you do--please let us know if we are missing any clubs or groups, if you've closed one, or started a new one.

Take the time to stop by one or two of these clubs for a visit, or see their description in our Member Club Listing to see if this club is one that appeals to your own interests.

Club policy is to allow membership for ninety (90) days to persons not reporting a club in foundership. This period allows persons who join to learn how to start clubs to ask questions and receive assistance in setting up their clubs. After the grace period, persons who have not reported a club foundership are administratively removed from CFC membership. It's part of our contract with you that all members are founders. If you have not reported a club because you wish the club name to remain confidential or you just forgot, please write: Angelpie_Mouse@yahoo.com.

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