Stan Cornelius wrote:
> List managers provide a volunteer service that takes much time and often
> goes underappreciated by list members.  I do not agree with his position
> about research tools being off topic, and do not know if the bellsouth
> system can download 22.5 megs in 1 minute as can cable connections, but I
> believe in his right to set the rules.  I will mention it here no more.

You are quite right about the amount of time spent. It quickly absorbs vast
quantities of time setting up and managing the Forum, solving email problems of
the participants, responding to people who want to argue about everything,
answering people who want me to help them with their research, creating and
editing the Forum web pages, setting up the Forum goodies spread around the
Internet, etc. Doing all this for the SCRoots Forum, the Coker Forum, and the
DuBose Forum has taken most of my free time for some months now. If I had
realized the time required, I would never have accepted the position when I was
asked. 

Some of the most time consuming episodes I've had to deal with have been
responding to Forum participant's complaints. In particular, complaints
regarding inappropriate messages and commercial solicitations they've received
either through the Forum or privately from other Forum participants. Thankfully,
these complaint episodes are the exception and not the rule. But, when one
flares up, it can become a royal pain.

Regarding the "research tools" comment, you are of course welcome to your
opinions regarding Internet Service Providers (ISPs). And, if you wish to
discuss the topic outside of this forum, that is not my concern. However, ISPs
are not genealogy "research tools" and such discussions are OFF TOPIC in the
SCRoots forum. I think that I was quite clear about that in my previous message. 

It usually is okay if someone makes an off-topic remark in the body of an
overall on-topic message. But, announcements, commercial solicitations, and
messages that are completely off-topic are usually not acceptable and are likely
to draw reaction. If you feel strongly about spreading the cable service gospel,
you can put a short blurb about it in a tagline and attach it to every on-topic
message that you post in the forum.

I've posted links on the Help and FAQ section of the SCRoots web site about how
to find Internet Service Providers. I'll probably add more information there
about such topics. Also, ISPs are commercial operators and they do pretty good
marketing their services without our help. I'm confident that anyone with cable
TV service will receive promotional literature in their monthly bills when it
becomes available from their operator.

I have not researched recently all the Pro's and Con's of the various "faster"
Internet access options. Most are either unavailable here or they are not within
my budget. A few options I'm somewhat familiar with include:

* Installing T1 or T3 lines with suitable hardware. Much too expensive to
consider.

* ISDN is now affordable and available in many places. Not as fast as some
others, but much faster than a regular modem.

* Satellite service options can provide high speed download, but a regular land
line modem connection is needed for uploading. 

* The cable TV modem option is said to give very fast, reliable service for both
downloading and uploading. If it was available here, I would have signed up
years ago. My memory is that the potential problem with Cable TV Internet access
is congestion. The speed of the service is said to be affected by the number of
users online. I believe I read that if too many users signup and go online, then
the high speeds may slow down significantly. 

* Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology is being promoted by
BellSouth and other phone companies these days. They say that it will provide
high speed Internet access using existing copper telephone lines at up to 50
times faster than 28k modems. ADSL allows information to travel at speeds up to
1.5 Mbps from the provider to the user, and up to 256 kbps from the user to the
provider.

I'll take whatever I can get, as soon as I can get it. I've had a 56k modem for
about two years and have never been able to get better than a 28k connection.

Now, like I said before.  This is OFF-TOPIC and the SCRoots Forum is not an
appropriate place for this discussion.

Steven J. Coker
SCRoots Manager

A few links on Internet services options.
http://www.56k.com/isps/
http://www.modemhelp.com/
http://think.atr.net/adsl.html
http://www.ucalgary.ca/library/access97/wiggins/index.htm
http://www.teleport.com/~samc/cable5.html
http://www.digitalsat.com/dpcndata.html
http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmg/1615/pcmg0132.html
http://www.cabledatacomnews.com/
http://www.modemshop.com/resources.html
http://www.hotbot.com/IU0T4KHC9E980BADFF9B3391C0C766C70BB2B646/?MT=ADSL+AND+Cable+AND+Internet+AND+Service+AND+Modem&SM=B&SW=web&DC=100&DE=1

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