No new subscribers this week, although a number of AOL members have switched to other ISP accounts ! (see below). If you haven't already contributed, we hope to hear from you soon. ****** ****** ****** As Ian pointed out in his OT (off topic) post, do be wary of scams by phone; and I'll add - also be wary of those oh so plausible scams on the Internet. To bring it on topic <G>, I doubt if our Bute ancestors were much troubled in their time by the equivalent - door to door Con merchants, as being comprised of islands Bute provided some security against quick departure from the area ! Or can someone show this is an incorrect assumption on my part ? To half answer myself - possibly in Rothesay town? Has anything on this topic been seen by researchers scanning old copies of "The Buteman" ? ****** ****** ****** Next a necessary batch of List Admin items to cope with recent events: With the recent splurge of Viruses and Worms, again a reminder - DO NOT open unsolicited attachments. DO invest in anti-virus software, and keep it up to date. DO make sure the subject is meaningful to the recipient. ------ ------ ------ List mail problems 1: Specifically re AOL problems: RootsWeb did change the internet address of one of its Server's last week - this caused the problems for AOL subscribers where all RootsWeb mail to AOL was bounced. RootsWeb staff did request that the new server ID be placed on AOL's "whitelist". The status of that request is covered in more detail at the RootsWeb Helpdesk. http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ Please note that the bulk of the alleged RootsWeb mail which is causing AOL subscribers to press their "report spam" button and thus get the RootsWeb mail "banned", is Virus generated spam with false Senders Addresses and/or Subjects. This part of the problem is linked to AOL placing of RootsWeb on their "whitelist", and has, at my last check, NOT yet been resolved. {Consequently those affected, who are not using an alternative account, will have to catch this via the archives} ------ ------ ------ List mail Problems 2: Generic - the 3 possible causes: 1) Your mail box is full, or your ISP has a system fault of some sort of a couple of days duration. Either way, incoming mail is bounced, so RootsWeb's mail robot in turn unsubscribes you. List Admin's do receive copies of bounced mail, but for the obvious reason, can't advise the subscriber. One easy check for the status of your ButeshireGenWeb subscription is non receipt of this regular Sunday post. {There is one other possibility here, and that is that the subscriber has changed their ISP and forgotten to change the subscription address! } If you think you have been bounced off, try resubscribing. If you are still subscribed, you will be told so and no further action is taken by the RootsWeb mail robot, otherwise you will be resubscribed and the default welcome message sent out. In this case you can catch up with missed items via the archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ButeshireGenWeb-L/ 2) If the resubscribe attempt says you are OK, perhaps your ISP has minor problems such that it's holding list mail back, rather than bouncing it. In that case you'll get it in a day or two. If you haven't had a message from your ISP, check their Service Status web-page. 3) If its not a problem at your ISP, then possibly the mail isn't getting out from RootsWeb due to system issues, or they know particular ISPs are not accepting RootsWeb mail. Refer to RootsWeb's Help Desk for updates - see the AOL notes above, for the link. Finally, you can always contact your list admin - for any list (replace LISTNAME as appropriate) at LISTNAME-admin@rootsweb.com . ****** ****** ****** Finally, let's see who reads right to the bottom - in an attempt to get some more regular contributions - the theme for February is "Unusual stories from old newspapers about Bute or about my Buteshire Ancestors"; and to give you time to think about it, for March try coming up with "Who, out of all your Buteshire ancestors, would you invite to dinner today ?" Suggestions for future monthly themes welcomed, and as usual, feel free to join in and present your own items. Peter Cook cookfmly@bigpond.com List maintainer and Co-host with Barbara < babrown12@optonline.net > of the ButeshireGenWeb mailing list.