Hello to All! Greetings on this Special Day: 01-01-01 ... the first day of the first month of the first year of the first century of the New Millennium. First, a big "thank you" to all the cousins and friends who have helped to make this List successful. Each of us is indebted to those who have shared their research with us. Second, a big "welcome" to those who have recently joined us. You're welcome to stay in the background (it's called "lurking" but it's not a mean term) as long as you wish, but we can help you more if at some point you begin asking questions. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Third, a gentle reminder to read the rules of the List which came with your original Welcome Message. Basically, they are the same as every other RootsWeb List, which is to stay on topic, be polite, and be kind. * We can do this by remembering the Name of the List and asking how/whether the message we are about to post relates to that Name. * We can remember that quoting a small part of a previous message is often a good idea (it helps us know what you are referring to), but to quote an entire previous posting is unnecessary. * We can re-read our messages before posting to not only check for spelling, accurate dates, etc., but also whether someone else will understand what we've said. * And finally, we can remember to change the Subject Line if we are, in fact, changing the subject of our message! And now... A Word of Warning -- and Reassurance -- to Everyone! During the past two months, a number of new and new variations of viruses have been flooding the e-mail systems. Fortunately, most of these have been more of a nuisance than a disaster, but who knows what may be coming tomorrow! It is really quite important that each of us makes certain we are using virus protection on our computers, and that we take advantage of the frequent upgrade programs that are available. I know that most of us already know this, but remember that each year, many new users are launched just after Christmas, and they don't always think of the hazards. But the good news is -- YOU CAN NOT RECEIVE A VIRUS FROM ANY MESSAGE THAT COMES TO YOU FROM THIS MAILING LIST! RootsWeb has imposed a strict "plain text only" rule for transmitting its messages, which prevents any special coding from being carried along: no attachments, no HTML-embedded worms, etc. In short, no viruses. Even so, many of the recent spate of viruses send themselves randomly to all addresses in an infected computer's address book, and use FALSE return addresses. Thus, occasionally, it may *look like* a message came from this List with an attachment, when in fact, it did not. With routine protection and precaution, you should have no reason to be afraid to continue engaging in online genealogical research. I wish each of you a prosperous New Year in which your strongest brick wall crumbles! Regards! JS List Custodian -- ________________________ James Shuman, instructor Modesto High School [email protected] ________________________