Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Very Important Note: changes in Newsletter List structure

Dear friends,

Due to recent instabilities in my home computer setup, I've
*reluctantly* come to a necessary decision about this list. Currently,
the list has resided on my own computer, run by a small professional
list software application. I've done this to avoid the ads and other
annoyances of services such as Yahoo Groups and to keep the list private
for your sakes.

However, my old computer continues to grow older by the day, and I'm
having more, and more frequent, problems with it. Therefore, I'll be
moving the newsletter list to YahooGroups so that it can continue in a
relatively (I hope) stable environment and I'll be able to contact you
via the web interface there if this computer should suddenly decide it's
not going to wake up some morning.

On mulling over the various ways to do this, I had several possibilities
in mind. I've decided that the easiest way for everyone would be to
send you the sign-up address

gazehound_communicate-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

and the web interface page

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gazehound_communicate

and ask that everyone who wishes to continue receiving my newsletters
simply either send an email to the former (it can be a blank email as
long as the address is correct), or take their web browser to the latter
and subscribe.

In order to try to keep the list as secure and protected as possible
from spammers, I've set it up so that all new members have to be
approved by me. That way there won't be any "reproductive enhancement
product salesmen" stopping by. :-/ Therefore, depending on how you
choose to subscribe (the latter is recommended, as that way you have a
chance to associate your current, if you have one, Yahoo ID -- or apply
for a new one if not -- and use the photos, chat and calendar, etc,
features, should we decide they're desirable), you'll recieve welcome
files and instructions on how to proceed. If you subscribe via the web,
include a note in the comments field of the form that says something
like "current member", just in case I don't recognize your email
address. If you use the email method, you should receive a note from
the moderator (me) that you can simply reply to and do the same. That
way I'll know you're you, and be able to approve you right away.

I'm really sorry for any inconvenience this change might cause. It's
just gotten to the point that I'm concerned over the real possibility of
having no news list at all unless I do something "soon". Making the
switch in this way gives everyone a choice as to whether they wish to
continue receiving the newsletters, while putting the majority of the
work (approving everyone) on my shoulders. I really do hope that all of
you will decide to continue, and if you have any confusion or questions
about the process, please email me at allcreatures@gazehound.com.

The "old list" is going to disappear, probably tomorrow, to give it a
chance to process this message and make sure everyone has received their
copy. I'll be re-routing the old address to my main account rather than
the "list" to catch any new subscription requests and error messages
that might come in, but the actual processing software will be taken
offline.

The list will remain as it is otherwise, just an announcement/news list,
and will not be a "discussion" list ... so it will not be adding to your
email burden in any way once the changes are in place.

Again, my apologies for any inconvenience, and I do hope sincerely that
you all will stay with me.

--Gayle

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