Following is a press release by Palladium Interactive. We Listowners were not informed of this beforehand and only learned of it by seeing the press release. RootsWeb is getting some necessary financial support, although I, as a Listowner, am a little concerned over the fact that Palladium's software programs will be the only ones that are built to directly connect with RootsWeb and the files there. This could certainly give them a great advantage in the market for genealogy programs, since many RootsWeb users may be tempted to buy or switch to Palladium's programs. Not saying it's good or bad, just making a comment. If you wish more information on this subject, go to the following URL and click on the upper left corner. SgtGeorge Listowner ************************************************** ULTIMATE FAMILY TREE PRESS RELEASE PALLADIUM SUPPORTS ROOTSWEB GENEALOGICAL DATA COOPERATIVE (DENVER, CO) May 5, 1998, National Genealogy Society Conference - In a move that will support and enhance the efforts of thousands of genealogists worldwide, Palladium Interactive has become the sole commercial sponsor of the oldest and largest Internet genealogical resource, the RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, the company announced today. With more than 300,000 users, RootsWeb currently hosts more than 3,000 genealogy-related homepages on its site, and their daily web traffic exceeds 1,000,000. The site also hosts the genealogy web sites for 40 of the 50 USGenWeb state pages, and a large majority of the 3,100 county pages. Palladium will build an Internet "spider" and search tool specifically for genealogists, with design and programming assistance from RootsWeb. Palladium will also integrate tools into its genealogy products that give users easy access to RootsWeb web sites and other related subject matter. "We're proud to have the opportunity to sponsor RootsWeb, and become part of a data cooperative that is held in such high regard within the genealogy community," said Ed Bernstein, president and chief executive officer of Palladium Interactive. "Palladium is committed to RootsWeb's continual growth, and this sponsorship provides RootsWeb with the ability to offer even more tools and resources for genealogy enthusiasts." "Palladium has more experience and cares more about genealogy than any other software company today," said Dr. Brian Leverich, co-founder of RootsWeb. "Their highly acclaimed titles, focused commitment to genealogy and innovative positioning are a perfect fit for our online genealogical data cooperative. Palladium's sponsorship role will allow RootsWeb to continue to provide the most valuable and in-depth data available on the Internet." In separate releases today, Palladium announced the Ultimate Family Data Library series, a collection of valuable records, reports and other vital statistics for use with any genealogy software currently on the market. Palladium also revealed it would be releasing a pocket version of its award-winning Ultimate Family Tree software for the PalmPilot hand-held PC. About Palladium Interactive: Headquartered in San Rafael, Calif., Palladium Interactive develops and publishes three main lines of top quality consumer software. Palladium's Ultimate line of home productivity software (www.uftree.com) includes Ultimate Family Tree, Family Tree Companion and Ultimate Photo Wizard Deluxe. In addition, Palladium is the exclusive sponsor of RootsWeb, the oldest and largest online genealogy data cooperative. The Parroty Interactive line, including Microshaft Winblows 98, (www.winblows.com) and PYST (www.pyst.com), has parodied many of the most famous cultural icons in the world including Star Wars, The X-Files, Microsoft and the best-selling CD-ROM game, MYST. The Palladium Kids brand publishes CD-ROMs based on some of the most recognized licenses on the businesses including products based on Lisa Frank, the category leader in girls creativity products and WISHBONE, the popular PBS television show (www.wwwishbone.com). For more information on Palladium Interactive and its products, the company's web site can be accessed at http://www.palladium.net. About RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative: RootsWeb's own genealogy runs back more than a decade to the days of net.roots, and all of its databases, mailing lists, and other activities are open to the public. RootsWeb hosts 40 the country's state genealogical societies, and the site sends up 3,000,000 subscriber e-mails each day. RootsWeb has two main objectives: 1) to make large volumes of data available to the online genealogical community at a minimal cost, and 2) to provide support services to online genealogical activities such as USENET newsgroup moderation, mailing list maintenance, surname list generation, etc. For more information visit the company's web site at www.rootsweb.com. CONTACT: Robert Naify Palladium Interactive (415) 464-5500, ext. 417 rnaify@palladium.net RootsWeb Brian Leverich (805) 242-3351 leverich@rootsweb.com © 1998 Palladium Interactive, Inc.