To All RootsWeb List Members who use AOL for their EMail: The following was sent to all ListOwners at RootsWeb by Carole Hammett, Combs RootsWeb List Co-Moderator. I have taken the liberty of editing what she sent, to make it applicable to all the Lists, rather than just the COMBS-L List. **********(Carole's Message Follows)********** Within Just the Past Week Alone, AOL'S Mail Processor has: (1) Converted a 495 byte Email from one of the Lists to a File Attachment. (2) Converted a 645 byte Email from one of the Lists to a File Attachment. BUT, the Only Reason that the File Attachment was only 645 bytes was that AOL CORRUPTED the Email and DELETED part of it, including the Address and the Header. (3) Converted a 27kb Email from one of the Lists to a File Attachment and DELETED Half of the 16 messages in it (4) Delivered a 23kb Email from one of the Lists SIX DAYS LATE! There are Many More Examples of AOL Problems with Email since their latest Upgrade, which is Definitely a DOWNGRADE. The above are only a Very Few Examples; however, as a result: (a) A copy of this message was sent to AOL'S <[email protected]>, and henceforth it is planned to forward to them Each and Every Email and/or File Attachment that is Corrupted and/or Delayed. (b) A message was posted to AOL'S Email Message Board of Each and Every Email and/or File Attachment that was Corrupted and/or Delayed. (c) It is requested that each of you who get EMail through AOL (almost half the users on all the Lists) please do the same (d) A post was made to the RootsWeb List Owner's List, asking the 1,000+ other RootsWeb Listowners to also post a version of the above to Each of their Own Lists. We need this sort of problem like we need a Hole in the Head. It HAS to come to a Dead Halt Now, and that won't happen unless we all turn into Squeaky Wheels in Urgent Need of Grease! **********(End of Carole's Message)********** As Listowner of 13 Lists at RootsWeb, I have received my share of email complaining about this same problem. Usually, it involves those who receive the Digests from the Lists, but not always. I know personally that many AOL users have had to unsubscribe from the Digest Mode and subscribe to the Normal Mode in order to receive each and every post. And, even then, some individual posts have been corrupted beyond being of use. I cannot speak for anyone else, BUT, if you are an AOL user, AND, if you are tired of the mercenary attitude of the people who run AOL, it would seem to me that if enough users complain, Steve Case will HAVE to do something. Until about 6 weeks ago I was an AOL user, and had been since AOL was first started several years ago. I just got tired of problems with AOL -- seems like every time they made an "upgrade", I had problems. I kept my subscription to AOL, even after I had started to use a separate ISP for all my Net, Web, and EMail connections. There were a few things there that made it worth the extra monthly expense to keep AOL. Then, after one recent "upgrade", I tried to access a part of AOL and was told that I would have to download additional files, which I agreed to. The "automated" upgrade down- loaded the files to my system, started to install them, then hit a "glitch" somewhere and stopped. From that time forward, I could not even get the AOL interface to load on my system. The "auto- matic upgrade" thoroughly trashed my AOL files! After several messages back and forth to and from AOL, via my ISP email connection, I saw it was just hopeless to expect any kind of response from AOL that would solve my problem. So, I made a phone call and cancelled. Haven't regretted it since and really don't miss all the grief. My advice? Get yourself a separate ISP, use your own EMail program and Web Browser. You'll experience 99% less hassle and heartache, AND you'll get all your email from RootsWeb uncorrupted and whole. The above is just my honest opinion and if any of you take exception to anything I have said, PLEASE don't reply to the List -- send to me personally at my email address. I know that getting rid of something which is familiar is hard to do, BUT, you never know how satisfied you can be with something new until you have tried it. SgtGeorge