* WELCOME * IMPORTANT PLEASE READ * CAMARADERIE * PROTECT YOUR PASSWORDS * SHOP TALK * KUDOS * IN APPRECIATION *WELCOME* Welcome to all the new volunteers. You will find that volunteering for RAOGK will be a very rewarding part of your life. Quite a few of our volunteers have been with us since the site began 8 1/2 years ago. Long-time volunteers have said that their rewards have been great and many new friendships have been created. You have read the FAQ's for Volunteers (http://www.raogk.org/faq-vols.htm) prior to signing up. If you haven't read the Guidelines for making a request (http://www.raogk.org/faq-requesters.htm) you may wish to do so. You may also want to bookmark both. See the list at the bottom of this newsletter for all the links that you will need as a volunteer. ***************** *IMPORTANT PLEASE READ* If you get an email from Harold , please ignore until you hear from Staff. He is using our request system to obtain volunteers for his own volunteer site. So far he has targeted Canada Saskatchewan. Volunteering for another site is okay to do, however we do not appreciate others going through our site to approach our own volunteers. If you should have any questions please contact the NON-USA Coordinator at raogkstaff6@raogk.org. Thank you. ***************** *CAMARADERIE* Would you like to chat with fellow RAOGK volunteers? We have two mailing lists for you to be able to do just that. RAOGK-L RAOGK-L is strictly a help list. This is where you can ask about methods of research, what would other volunteers do in a particular situation, sometimes ask for help with your own research. You need to use the address you have volunteered with to join this mailing list. All subscriptions to this list are approved. To subscribe to RAOGK-L, go to the list description page at: http://lists.raogk.org/mailman/listinfo/raogk-l RAOGK-Chat The name of this list says it all. Most, if not all, of the messages on this list is of general chat. We've discussed topics from what is the best fertilizer to use on flower beds to which city in Nevada is the best to go to, Reno or Las Vegas. As you can guess, the chat list is busier than the RAOGK-L list, and we do have fun. To subscribe to RAOGK-Chat, go to the list description page at: http://lists.raogk.org/mailman/listinfo/raogk-chat Come join us on either list, be glad to have you. ***************** *PROTECT YOUR PASSWORDS* submitted by Brenda Moore, MI Volunteer With our banking, credit cards and of course, for raogk.org folks --for our precious genealogy (grin); -- a safe password is essential. Do you resort to the easy ones? For instance, do you use kids’ names, births, marriage or death dates, your cat or dog's name or maybe your brother's name with his age? Rumor has it, those are the easiest to crack.  There is actually software that will help you do just that.  Simple to sophisticated, thieves create software to come up with thousands of names and word combinations and most often can figure out just what you have chosen.   Using google.com, I typed in "Software to crack passwords".  The first hit was http://www.crackpassword.com/. Here you will find many different types of programs (ie: Windows, MSOffice, WP, Lotus, Quicken, Yahoo and many others) they say can help you access the software.  We know if the "legit" folks can do it, the crooks can do it just as well or better.  Just from this one URL, the list goes on and on. There are software programs to help you remember your passwords, but not having used them, I wonder, "do they use a password?"  If so, you will still need the dreaded decision on what password to use.   Now, check out what google.com has for ways to "create safe passwords".  There are more ideas than raogk.org could list in a year's worth of newsletters.  Microsoft.com has a good article on passwords that you might want to read. The articles had in common the tip of using a long password with a combination of numbers and letters. One additional tip was to use phrases such as "The Big Brown Fox Jumped The Fence 365 Days A Year".  Then take the first letter of each word TBBFJTF365DAY, and you have a relatively safe password. It does not have to be the first letter either use the third or last. Be creative in your phrases.  We genealogists might use something like, "Grandpa Sailed The Waters Blue In 1862 With Frank, Sadie, Jim, John, and Sue", giving you GSTWBI1862WFSJJS.  The thought is to use at least 16 characters although there are some sites that limit you to 12. We hope in giving you ideas on what to search for, you will begin thinking about securing your passwords. But, please no sticky notes on the office computers! ***************** *SHOP TALK* We have 2 genealogy specific shops online. The first shop is a RAOGK logo shop (http://www.cafepress.com/raogk), mainly for you volunteers to buy items with the RAOGK logo on it. The second shop is called Genealogy For You (http://www.cafepress.com/genealogyforyou) and contains designs on mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, baby and kids apparel, items for your home, greeting cards and more that show the humorous side of our hobby. Proceeds from these two shops help RAOGK pay its bills to stay online. I know that Halloween has yet to arrive and in the USA Thanksgiving is only about a month away, but since this newsletter goes out once a month I would like to mention our Christmas Section on Genealogy For You. http://www.cafepress.com/genealogyforyou/793923 Some of the designs have a genealogy theme to them, some are just humorous designs. There are greeting cards (single, 10 pk, and 20 pk), some nice mugs and keepsake boxes. Nice gift items for your favorite family historian. We also have 2008 calendars for sale: http://www.cafepress.com/genealogyforyou/864785 Stop by our shops and browse around. ***************** *KUDOS*: http://www.raogk.org/thankyou/ The month of October saw kudos written about: Warren Hilt (Washington), Joe Whitefield (Indiana), Amy Hohler (Michigan), Pat Connor [2] (New York), LuAnn Kline (Colorado), Beccy Friesner (Michigan), Shirley Peck (Michigan), Sheila Peckman & Barbara Fallon (Rhode Island), Cathie Shaw (Australia), Robert Milner (Missouri), Janet Eubanks (Mississippi), Marilyn and Jeff Tetzlaff (Florida), Norma Schumow (California), Linda Baralou (Ohio), Carl Smith (California), Danny Wilber (Michigan), Patricia Diaz [2] (Idaho), Ann Waterbury (Minnesota), Elaine Linke (North Dakota), Lorraine Hirning (Canada), Brett Prentice (Australia), Yvonne Bush (Indiana), Teresa Jackson (Tennessee), John Boggess (Indiana), Jean Boling (Oregon), Gordon & Gina Young (Canada), Mary Ellen Moulton (New Hampshire), NancyAnne Carkeek (Massachusetts), Eleanore Honeywell (Pennsylvania), Kathleen Woodring (Texas), Jan Brul (Netherlands), Fran Grochowski (Texas) ***************** *IN APPRECIATION* Every month we receive contributions from researchers and volunteers alike. We are most appreciative of these donations. Some contributions, however contain notes which will name a specific volunteer who has been such a great help. The month of October saw Marilyn Bell (Florida) mentioned on contributions. Our hats go off to all the unnamed wonders we have on our site. A great big THANK YOU goes out to one and all who have helped RAOGK to continue to be a presence online. Your purchases through one of our stores or by sending a contribution via PayPal or check are very much appreciated. http://www.raogk.org/support.html ***************** *CURRENT STATS* Last month: 4035 This month: 4006 New: 42 Left: 37 Staff removals*: 15 October Requests (through October 25, 2007): 4,763 USA volunteers received: 4,277 NON-USA volunteers received: 486 *Staff removals are those folks whose e-mail address has been reported bouncing and confirmed or volunteers who, over the course of trying many times, did not respond back to requesters or staff. The STAFF thanks you for volunteering and until next month. . . . . . THE STAFF Bridgett, Michele, Bill, Anja, Terri, Jo, Bonnie, Melissa, Dennis, Kathy, Jeniann and Doc, the Tech Guru