CyndisList-L Archives

Archiver > CyndisList > 1999-11 > 0942398120


From: Cyndi Howells <>
Subject: October - November 11, 1999
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 01:15:20 -0800


The CyndisList Mailing List

This list is for announcements only. Subscribers to this list will
receive three types of messages:
1. Frequent, most often daily, messages (automated) with a
numbers breakdown for the links by category.
2. Daily messages (automated) with a set of new links submitted
to Cyndi's List each day by visitors to the site.
3. Regular messages (personal) regarding updates that have been
made to the Cyndi's List web site at:
http://www.CyndisList.com

FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS:
~~The first section below contains new information about the
work I've done on the site in the last few days.
~~The remaining sections in this message list repetitive
information regarding the web site, including:
About Updates To The Site
The "Numbers"
New Categories Added Recently
Recent Improvements
~~The end of this message contains information on how to
UNSUBSCRIBE from this list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October - November 11, 1999

Hello all -

I have many things to tell you all about. All sorts of good news.
I've been busy getting many details worked through, and getting
myself settled back home after a busy October. I was honored to be
a guest lecturer at three seminars in October:
Victoria Genealogical Society, B.C., Canada
McHenry County Genealogical Society, Illinois
Michigan Genealogical Council, Grand Traverse, Michigan
My thanks to all the wonderful people I met at these
seminars! Everyone made me feel at home and I had a lot of fun.

In between trips, my mother had some major surgery done. She is
doing fine now, if a bit tired, but it was a hard couple of weeks
for everyone. Now, I'm back home, back to work full time, catching
up again and completing many projects.

~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~

NEW FEATURE FOR THE MAILING LIST

For quite some time now I have had a set of web pages titled
"What's New on Cyndi's List?" located
at: http://www.CyndisList.com/whatsnew.htm
As visitors to the site submit new links to be added to Cyndi's
List, they are automatically added to these "what's new" pages,
temporarily until I have a chance to visit the sites, categorize
them and set up a permanent link elsewhere on the site. The whole
process is automated each day, taking some of the e-mail pressure
off of me.

Thanks to a great suggestion from Jen Godwin, I will now be sending
a copy of these same "what's new" links to this mailing list each
day. With a lot of help and technical support from Boon Chew at
Sierra Online, the whole thing has been automated so that there is
very little extra work for me to do, while giving all of you the
opportunity to see the latest links submitted to Cyndi's List each day.

I appreciate Jen's idea and Boon's diligent help in getting this
new feature up and running!

~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~

NEW FEATURE ON THE WEB SITE

OK, you've all asked me for it, but I've avoided it until now. I
give up. I give in. I have set up a search engine form for Cyndi's
List. The search engine is courtesy of FreeFind. It searches
Cyndi's List and gives you a set of results which point you to the
pages on Cyndi's List on which you'll find possible matches for
your search. One of the reasons I've resisted until now is because
search engines are not perfect. They do not always work as you hope
they will. I've set up Cyndi's List with cross-referencing to the
point that you should always be able to find what you need
relatively easy by topic. The only place where this doesn't work
would be when you search for specific surnames. They could be in a
variety of categories through Cyndi's List. Therefore, the search
engine will be useful in that regard. Hopefully, the use of the
search engine will also help people learn more about how Cyndi's
List is set up and where to find what they need in the future.

The new form is on a new web page:
Search It!
http://www.CyndisList.com/searchit.htm

This page also includes details on the alternatives methods for
finding information on Cyndi's List. You will find a link to this
page on the bottom of each web page on Cyndi's List, along with
links to each of the four category indexes.

I hope you all find the form easy to use and helpful in making your
research a success.

~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~

THE EVAN STORY OF THE WEEK:

A new computer was delivered for Mark two weeks ago. Evan, being
very much a two-year-old, had to help me put the computer together
for Daddy. So, I gave him the miscellaneous cords to unwrap and
untwist. While I was busy reading the chart for putting it all
together, he untwisted the cord for the keyboard and plugged it
into the back of the CPU....in the CORRECT SPOT! I dropped my jaw
and asked him how he knew what to do. He told me "cause it is right
there" pointing to the spot on the chart. So, I made a big deal out
of it and I told him he was a genius!! The next day, my mom asked
him if he helped and then how he knew what to do. His answer was,
"Cause I be a genius!" Out of the mouths of babes, huh?

I think that Dell computers should have a new slogan - "so easy to
put together that a two-year old child can do it."

~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~

THE PUPPY

After a long search, we finally located a female Boston Terrier
puppy last month! Evan has named her "Cassie" after a character on
one of his favorite cartoons. Cassie is just 5 weeks old and will
come home to be with us by Thanksgiving. Evan can't wait. OK,
neither can I.

~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~==~

Don't forget to check out:
GENERATIONS - FIND YOUR ROOTS - (NEW DAY AND TIME!)
A Web-Interactive Family History Talk Show with Elon Gasper on
TalkSpot.com: a simultaneous chat group, audio broadcast, and more!
http://www.sierra.com/sierrahome/familytree/community/webcast/
http://www.talkspot.com/shows/Generations/
Each WEDNESDAY, from 5pm to 6:00pm, Pacific Time Zone. See any of
these sites for time zone conversions:
http://www.timezoneconverter.com/
http://sandbox.xerox.com/stewart/tzconvert.cgi
http://www.worldtimezone.com/

In order to join the show on TalkSpot you need:
1. A computer with a sound board and speakers.
2. A web browser (i.e. Netscape, MS Internet Explorer, AOL).
3. Real Audio software for listening to audio files (see below).
4. A pioneering spirit and sense of adventure.

Then, visit this web site ahead of time & register a user name with
TalkSpot (it's free):
http://www.talkspot.com/register.html

Join the current TalkSpot.com shows in progress from:
http://www.talkspot.com/chan_lifeExpo.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ABOUT UPDATES TO THE SITE:

I have thousands of requests for links backed up in my
mailbox right now. I'm working through 100-200 messages
each day. I promise I will get to everyone as soon as
humanly possible. In the meantime, my priorities are to
correct broken links first, followed by improvements to the
list and additions of new links. Please do NOT send me
repetitive requests for links to your web site. This only
delays things longer because it keeps me sorting through
the daily e-mail instead of working on the links.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE "NUMBERS":

~~I add approx. 1,500 new links per month.
~~I correct approx. 100 broken links per month.
~~There are almost 8,800 subscribers to this mailing list.
~~There are more than 70,000 visitors to the web
site each day.
~~I receive more than 200 e-mail messages each day.
~~There really is only ONE of me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEW CATEGORIES ADDED RECENTLY:

America Online ~ AOL
Catholic
Citing Sources
Correspondence
Cousins & Kinship
Dictionaries & Glossaries
Languages & Translations
Immigration & Naturalization
Lost & Found
Kids & Teens
Methodist
Microfilm & Microfiche
Money
Names
Novelties
Obituaries (split off of the Cemeteries page)
Oral History & Interviews
Primary Sources
Reunions
Schools
Societies & Groups - General Societies & Groups
Ethnic & Religious Organizations
Fraternal Organizations
General Resource Sites
Lineage Societies
Military Societies
National Societies
Unique Peoples & Cultures
U.K. - Military
Writing Your Family's History

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS:

1. A new FAQ page to answer many of the repetitive
questions and cut down on my incoming e-mail:
http://www.CyndisList.com/faq.htm

2. This mailing list, also in the hope of cutting down on
incoming e-mail by keeping everyone posted on what I'm
up to each day.
http://www.CyndisList.com/maillist.htm

3. An easier to navigate table of links at the bottom of each
page. These links to are to other pages in my web site
that relate to the day-to-day operations of Cyndi's List.

4. The addition of the NetMind / URL-Minder form at the
bottom of each page. This is a free service that will
notify you by e-mail that changes were made to a web
page of your choice.

5. A new, non-intrusive javascript menu was added at the
bottom of each US state, Canadian province, UK and
Scandinavian page. This is a drop-down menu that will
allow your javascript-capable browser to jump to another
web page within that category without having to return to
the main index.

6. New, highly optimized graphics on the site that aid in
a quicker load time in your web browser.

7. A new, very fast web server at RootsWeb to host the site.

8. A new, easy to remember address:
http://www.CyndisList.com

9. A helpful new page to answer many of the questions I
receive by e-mail regarding technical issues online:
Internet Stuff You Need To Know
http://www.CyndisList.com/internet.htm

10. Added new forms for submitting new links and for reporting
broken links on each page.

11. Added a new page "Before Sending E-mail to Cyndi..." with
some helpful guidelines:
http://www.CyndisList.com/e-mail.htm

12. Added automated scripts that will place a "NEW" or
"UPDATED" graphic next to appropriate links.

13. Added an automated script that will audit the site and
report the numbers via e-mail to the CyndisList
mailing list.

14. Added a set of pages with all new submitted:
What's New on Cyndi's List?
http://www.CyndisList.com/whatsnew.htm

15. Added a new page so that visitors can set their
browsers to start with Cyndi's List each time they
log on:
"Make Cyndi's List Your Homepage!"
http://www.CyndisList.com/yourhome.htm

16. Added a Disclaimers page:
http://www.CyndisList.com/disclaim.htm

17. Added two new, alternative indexes:
Alphabetical Category Index
http://www.CyndisList.com/alpha.htm
Topical Category Index
http://www.CyndisList.com/topical.htm

18. Added a new page for Cyndi's List--The Book:
http://www.CyndisList.com/cl_book.htm


Successful surfing!
Cyndi

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cyndi Howells Edgewood, Washington


Cyndi's List
http://www.CyndisList.com
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http://www.CyndisList.com/faq.htm

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