Yahoo Forum Archive

Hey guys,

A few days ago I mentioned that we would start the 2010 awards soon, but that the other volunteers and I were still fine-tuning the schedule. We've now decided that we'll kick things off on May 15, which is (*eep!*) about two weeks away. That means:

1. Nominations will be accepted: May 15-June 15
2. All nominations must be finalized by: June 21
3. Check ballots posted: July 7-July 15
4. Reviewer Goals must be set by: August 15
5. Voting ends: December 15
6. Results Posted: December 18

One thing you'll notice is that we've shortened the nomination season to one month. (Before, it has been 5-6 weeks.) My hope is, since we've simplified the amount of emails authors have to send to their liaisons, nominations can be finalized more quickly. We also didn't want to end the awards at the end of November or at the end of December, since those are very busy times for many of our participants - but we couldn't see a good way to do that except for shortening the awards by two weeks. We considered shortening the voting season, but thought that would create even more problems for more people.

To help with the shortened nomination period, I highly encourage you to spend the next two weeks getting ready to nominate stories. Think of it like the first two weeks of nomination season. You can't enter your nominations into the website, obviously, but you can do everything but that. You can decide what you want to nominate, make sure you have all the information you need, even contact the author to let her know you want to nominate her, so she'll be expecting an email from a MEFA volunteer. You can also enter your nominations as soon as possible (don't wait until the end of nominations to see if someone else will nominate it). That will really help us get all the nominations ready to compete on time.

You can check whether a story has been nominated in the past by using our MEFA archive:

http://mefawards.net/mefa-archive/

Eligibility requirements are the same as they were in 2009, but in case you need a reminder:

http://mefawards.net/MEFA2009/index.php?page=FAQeligibility

****************************************

Nominating stories is probably the most important job you can do right now, because without nominations we won't have a good awards. You can also start talking up the awards with your friends. But if you want to do something more formal to help the MEFAs, read on. :^)

1. Banner Coordinator

We need someone to organize banner creation. Your first job would be to work with the banner artists, to make sure we have a good variety of banners. You would also need to work with me and other volunteers, to discuss changes we want to make in how we handle banners. Finally, you would be a "banner makers' advocate." If they do not like the way we're handling the banners part of the awards, you should listen to their concerns and discuss them with me to see how we can change things.

You do *not* need to be a banner artist yourself; some knowledge of graphics is helpful, but the banner coordinator mainly makes sure that the banner portion of the awards runs smoothly.

Requirements:

--- available May 15-beginning of January, at least every 3-4 days and more often in certain periods
--- basic familiarity with online graphic-sharing website (e.g., Photobucket, picasa, etc.)
--- general knowledge of Tolkien fandom
--- general familiarity with MEFA rules about banners
--- an ability to manage other volunteers
--- a willingness to enforce rules

2. Banner Creators

If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you credit.

Requirements:

--- graphics skills
--- willingness to follow directions

3. Beta Testers

Starting next week, we'll need people to try to "break" the 2010 site. If you have time to nominate some test stories and are willing to discuss whether the site does what you expect, we want you!

Requirements:

--- available May 8-May 15 (preferably every day)
--- basic technical skills
--- basic familiarity with past MEFA websites

4. Author Liaisons

Author liaisons work with authors to make sure they fill out their forms correctly. This is a great first step to get involved with volunteering, as you will have the full attention of myself and other long-term volunteers. It also allows you to deliver good news to authors (which can be quite fun). But to do it, you *do* need a fair amount of time and patience, as you will be explaining a fairly complicated process to authors, some of whom may not know anything about the awards.

Requirements:

--- available regularly May 15-June 21 (esp. June 15-21), preferably every day
--- positive and friendly personality
--- ability to follow directions
--- willingness to ask questions
--- basic familiarity with MEFA policy and Tolkien canon

5. Promoters

As always, we need people to make MEFA announcements at non-MEFA groups. If you know of a place where Tolkien is discussed, and you're willing to make announcements there, let me know the place. I ask that you officially "sign up" so I can make sure only one person is making announcements at each place, and so we can credit you on our website.

Requirements:

--- available regularly May 15-December 15 (preferably at least twice a week)
--- familiarity with a Tolkien group that would benefit from MEFA announcements
--- willingness to ask questions

6. Ratings Committee

When authors are unsure what rating is appropriate for their story, we invite them to have a group of volunteers look at the particular scene, and tell you what rating is appropriate for your story. (Authors can also provide context for the scene.) This means that we need members willing to read these scenes and make recommendations. The ratings panel will consist of three volunteers and one alternate.

Requirements:

--- available regularly May 15-June 21 (preferably every day or two)
--- familiarity with MEFA ratings policies
--- willingness to apply those policies to specific stories
--- willingness to read potentially objectionable content -- some of which may be sexually explicit (m/m, m/f, and f/f) or graphically violent

As the awards progress there will be other ways to volunteer. I'll let you know about those as they come up.

*************************************

If any of these tasks interest you, please let me know by emailing me at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com. Please do this even if you volunteered last year; I don't assume you still want to volunteer. If you think you'd like to help but aren't sure you quite qualify, email me anyway and we'll discuss whether you'll be able to handle the job.

P.S. - I may have already mentioned it, but on May 12 the 2009 site will no longer be available. Reviews and basic story information will still be available through the archive. However, if you need anything else off the 2009 site, please get it before May 15.

At your service (and your family's),

Marta (humble MEFA admin.)

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@...> wrote:

>
> Marta and all the volunteers!!, Thank you again for all you do.
>
> Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
> ~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com
>

Thanks for the appreciation. As always, it's --well-- appreciated. *g*

Marta

Hello!

Uhm, just one question, concerning Marta's e-mail:

> 3. Check ballots posted: July 7-July 15

What exactly is "check ballots"? *blush* Being a part of MEFA only one year (2009), and not being a native speaker, I do not recognize the phrase. Once you tell me, I'll probably remember I saw it last year, but right now, I am not sure what that is.
 
Thanks, bye,
 
Ellynn
 
 
 
P.s. Looking forward to new season! .)))))))




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hiya Ellynn,

No problem - it's a good question to ask, since other newer members might be
confused as well.

After all the nominations are in, a group of volunteers go to work sorting
it into main categories and subcategories. These are the groups you will
actually be competing in, and that determine awards results come December.
It's a group of 6-12 stories, poems, etc., and the highest-scoring piece
gets first place, the next highest gets second place, and so on.

Anyway, in July, we give authors an opportunity to check that we've actually
put your story in the right category and subcategory. When we sort the
stories, there are a lot of mouse-clicks over at the website, and with 600+
stories it's possible we made a technical mistake. For instance, maybe you
wrote a Horror story but it ended up in the Humor category - two groups that
are next to each other alphabetically (so the kind of mistake a volunteer
could make when entering things onto the website), but obviously a *huge*
different in content. It's not really a free-for-all where you can say your
story would fit better in some other subcategory. But it does give you the
opportunity to say "wait, that's not how I described my story. Are you sure
that's right?"

I'll be posting a list of all the nominated stories, grouped by the category
and subcategory they ended up in. I'll be posting those lists here. If you
see a story that looks like the volunteers made a mistake on, you can ask
about it during check ballots. After that, the categories and subcategories
are "set," meaning we only move tings in very rare circumstances (like when
WIPs are completed).

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Ellin Ithilwen
> Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 5:24 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call for Volunteers
>
>
>
> Hello!
>
> Uhm, just one question, concerning Marta's e-mail:
>
> > 3. Check ballots posted: July 7-July 15
>
> What exactly is "check ballots"? *blush* Being a part of MEFA only one
> year (2009), and not being a native speaker, I do not recognize the
> phrase. Once you tell me, I'll probably remember I saw it last year,
> but right now, I am not sure what that is.
>
> Thanks, bye,
>
> Ellynn
>
>
>
> P.s. Looking forward to new season! .)))))))
>

> No problem - it's a good question to ask, since other newer members might be

confused as well.

> After all the nominations are in, a group of volunteers go to work sorting

it into main categories and subcategories.
 
Oh yes, just like I thought - now that you described it, I remember that part of season from last year and I know exactly what it is. :) I remember the list of stories devided in categories you sent us last year. I just wasn't sure about the phrase "check ballots".
 
Thanks a lot, bye,
 
Ellynn




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Just so you know, I'm interested in being a liaison again! I really enjoyed working with authors in that way, so I'm excited about helping out in that way again.

In the meantime, I'll start looking for things I want to nominate. I haven't been very active with writing or reading lately, so this will be a good reason to get re-involved again.

Thanks to all who are getting things organized for us so that we'll enjoy the 2010 MEFA season as much as we have past seasons -- or more!

Lin

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "aure_enteluva" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> A few days ago I mentioned that we would start the 2010 awards soon, but that the other volunteers and I were still fine-tuning the schedule. We've now decided that we'll kick things off on May 15, which is (*eep!*) about two weeks away. That means:
>
> 1. Nominations will be accepted: May 15-June 15
> 2. All nominations must be finalized by: June 21
> 3. Check ballots posted: July 7-July 15
> 4. Reviewer Goals must be set by: August 15
> 5. Voting ends: December 15
> 6. Results Posted: December 18
>
> One thing you'll notice is that we've shortened the nomination season to one month. (Before, it has been 5-6 weeks.) My hope is, since we've simplified the amount of emails authors have to send to their liaisons, nominations can be finalized more quickly. We also didn't want to end the awards at the end of November or at the end of December, since those are very busy times for many of our participants - but we couldn't see a good way to do that except for shortening the awards by two weeks. We considered shortening the voting season, but thought that would create even more problems for more people.
>
> To help with the shortened nomination period, I highly encourage you to spend the next two weeks getting ready to nominate stories. Think of it like the first two weeks of nomination season. You can't enter your nominations into the website, obviously, but you can do everything but that. You can decide what you want to nominate, make sure you have all the information you need, even contact the author to let her know you want to nominate her, so she'll be expecting an email from a MEFA volunteer. You can also enter your nominations as soon as possible (don't wait until the end of nominations to see if someone else will nominate it). That will really help us get all the nominations ready to compete on time.
>
> You can check whether a story has been nominated in the past by using our MEFA archive:
>
> http://mefawards.net/mefa-archive/
>
> Eligibility requirements are the same as they were in 2009, but in case you need a reminder:
>
> http://mefawards.net/MEFA2009/index.php?page=FAQeligibility
>
> ****************************************
>
> Nominating stories is probably the most important job you can do right now, because without nominations we won't have a good awards. You can also start talking up the awards with your friends. But if you want to do something more formal to help the MEFAs, read on. :^)
>
> 1. Banner Coordinator
>
> We need someone to organize banner creation. Your first job would be to work with the banner artists, to make sure we have a good variety of banners. You would also need to work with me and other volunteers, to discuss changes we want to make in how we handle banners. Finally, you would be a "banner makers' advocate." If they do not like the way we're handling the banners part of the awards, you should listen to their concerns and discuss them with me to see how we can change things.
>
> You do *not* need to be a banner artist yourself; some knowledge of graphics is helpful, but the banner coordinator mainly makes sure that the banner portion of the awards runs smoothly.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available May 15-beginning of January, at least every 3-4 days and more often in certain periods
> --- basic familiarity with online graphic-sharing website (e.g., Photobucket, picasa, etc.)
> --- general knowledge of Tolkien fandom
> --- general familiarity with MEFA rules about banners
> --- an ability to manage other volunteers
> --- a willingness to enforce rules
>
> 2. Banner Creators
>
> If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you credit.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- graphics skills
> --- willingness to follow directions
>
> 3. Beta Testers
>
> Starting next week, we'll need people to try to "break" the 2010 site. If you have time to nominate some test stories and are willing to discuss whether the site does what you expect, we want you!
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available May 8-May 15 (preferably every day)
> --- basic technical skills
> --- basic familiarity with past MEFA websites
>
> 4. Author Liaisons
>
> Author liaisons work with authors to make sure they fill out their forms correctly. This is a great first step to get involved with volunteering, as you will have the full attention of myself and other long-term volunteers. It also allows you to deliver good news to authors (which can be quite fun). But to do it, you *do* need a fair amount of time and patience, as you will be explaining a fairly complicated process to authors, some of whom may not know anything about the awards.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available regularly May 15-June 21 (esp. June 15-21), preferably every day
> --- positive and friendly personality
> --- ability to follow directions
> --- willingness to ask questions
> --- basic familiarity with MEFA policy and Tolkien canon
>
> 5. Promoters
>
> As always, we need people to make MEFA announcements at non-MEFA groups. If you know of a place where Tolkien is discussed, and you're willing to make announcements there, let me know the place. I ask that you officially "sign up" so I can make sure only one person is making announcements at each place, and so we can credit you on our website.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available regularly May 15-December 15 (preferably at least twice a week)
> --- familiarity with a Tolkien group that would benefit from MEFA announcements
> --- willingness to ask questions
>
> 6. Ratings Committee
>
> When authors are unsure what rating is appropriate for their story, we invite them to have a group of volunteers look at the particular scene, and tell you what rating is appropriate for your story. (Authors can also provide context for the scene.) This means that we need members willing to read these scenes and make recommendations. The ratings panel will consist of three volunteers and one alternate.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available regularly May 15-June 21 (preferably every day or two)
> --- familiarity with MEFA ratings policies
> --- willingness to apply those policies to specific stories
> --- willingness to read potentially objectionable content -- some of which may be sexually explicit (m/m, m/f, and f/f) or graphically violent
>
> As the awards progress there will be other ways to volunteer. I'll let you know about those as they come up.
>
> *************************************
>
> If any of these tasks interest you, please let me know by emailing me at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com. Please do this even if you volunteered last year; I don't assume you still want to volunteer. If you think you'd like to help but aren't sure you quite qualify, email me anyway and we'll discuss whether you'll be able to handle the job.
>
> P.S. - I may have already mentioned it, but on May 12 the 2009 site will no longer be available. Reviews and basic story information will still be available through the archive. However, if you need anything else off the 2009 site, please get it before May 15.
>
> At your service (and your family's),
>
> Marta (humble MEFA admin.)
>

Hi Lin,

> Just so you know, I'm interested in being a liaison again! I really
> enjoyed working with authors in that way, so I'm excited about helping
> out in that way again.
>

Excellent; I'll mark you down and will be getting in touch in the next few
days.

> In the meantime, I'll start looking for things I want to nominate. I
> haven't been very active with writing or reading lately, so this will
> be a good reason to get re-involved again.
>

I've heard comments from a lot of people to the same effect. I'm looking
forward to reading stories that I missed over the last few months, as people
nominate them.

Marta

I'd be happy to be a breaker. .. .you know I'm good at that. And am
happy to be on the ratings committee again.

Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com

All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner

On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 6:49 PM, linaewen0 <marggrenawalt@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Just so you know, I'm interested in being a liaison again!  I really enjoyed working with authors in that way, so I'm excited about helping out in that way again.
>
> In the meantime, I'll start looking for things I want to nominate.  I haven't been very active with writing or reading lately, so this will be a good reason to get re-involved again.
>
> Thanks to all who are getting things organized for us so that we'll enjoy the 2010 MEFA season as much as we have past seasons -- or more!
>
> Lin
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "aure_enteluva" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>>
>> Hey guys,
>>
>> A few days ago I mentioned that we would start the 2010 awards soon, but that the other volunteers and I were still fine-tuning the schedule. We've now decided that we'll kick things off on May 15, which is (*eep!*) about two weeks away. That means:
>>
>> 1. Nominations will be accepted: May 15-June 15
>> 2. All nominations must be finalized by: June 21
>> 3. Check ballots posted: July 7-July 15
>> 4. Reviewer Goals must be set by: August 15
>> 5. Voting ends: December 15
>> 6. Results Posted: December 18
>>
>> One thing you'll notice is that we've shortened the nomination season to one month. (Before, it has been 5-6 weeks.) My hope is, since we've simplified the amount of emails authors have to send to their liaisons, nominations can be finalized more quickly. We also didn't want to end the awards at the end of November or at the end of December, since those are very busy times for many of our participants - but we couldn't see a good way to do that except for shortening the awards by two weeks. We considered shortening the voting season, but thought that would create even more problems for more people.
>>
>> To help with the shortened nomination period, I highly encourage you to spend the next two weeks getting ready to nominate stories. Think of it like the first two weeks of nomination season. You can't enter your nominations into the website, obviously, but you can do everything but that. You can decide what you want to nominate, make sure you have all the information you need, even contact the author to let her know you want to nominate her, so she'll be expecting an email from a MEFA volunteer. You can also enter your nominations as soon as possible (don't wait until the end of nominations to see if someone else will nominate it). That will really help us get all the nominations ready to compete on time.
>>
>> You can check whether a story has been nominated in the past by using our MEFA archive:
>>
>> http://mefawards.net/mefa-archive/
>>
>> Eligibility requirements are the same as they were in 2009, but in case you need a reminder:
>>
>> http://mefawards.net/MEFA2009/index.php?page=FAQeligibility
>>
>> ****************************************
>>
>> Nominating stories is probably the most important job you can do right now, because without nominations we won't have a good awards. You can also start talking up the awards with your friends. But if you want to do something more formal to help the MEFAs, read on. :^)
>>
>> 1. Banner Coordinator
>>
>> We need someone to organize banner creation. Your first job would be to work with the banner artists, to make sure we have a good variety of banners. You would also need to work with me and other volunteers, to discuss changes we want to make in how we handle banners. Finally, you would be a "banner makers' advocate." If they do not like the way we're handling the banners part of the awards, you should listen to their concerns and discuss them with me to see how we can change things.
>>
>> You do *not* need to be a banner artist yourself; some knowledge of graphics is helpful, but the banner coordinator mainly makes sure that the banner portion of the awards runs smoothly.
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- available May 15-beginning of January, at least every 3-4 days and more often in certain periods
>> --- basic familiarity with online graphic-sharing website (e.g., Photobucket, picasa, etc.)
>> --- general knowledge of Tolkien fandom
>> --- general familiarity with MEFA rules about banners
>> --- an ability to manage other volunteers
>> --- a willingness to enforce rules
>>
>> 2. Banner Creators
>>
>> If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you credit.
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- graphics skills
>> --- willingness to follow directions
>>
>> 3. Beta Testers
>>
>> Starting next week, we'll need people to try to "break" the 2010 site. If you have time to nominate some test stories and are willing to discuss whether the site does what you expect, we want you!
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- available May 8-May 15 (preferably every day)
>> --- basic technical skills
>> --- basic familiarity with past MEFA websites
>>
>> 4. Author Liaisons
>>
>> Author liaisons work with authors to make sure they fill out their forms correctly. This is a great first step to get involved with volunteering, as you will have the full attention of myself and other long-term volunteers. It also allows you to deliver good news to authors (which can be quite fun). But to do it, you *do* need a fair amount of time and patience, as you will be explaining a fairly complicated process to authors, some of whom may not know anything about the awards.
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- available regularly May 15-June 21 (esp. June 15-21), preferably every day
>> --- positive and friendly personality
>> --- ability to follow directions
>> --- willingness to ask questions
>> --- basic familiarity with MEFA policy and Tolkien canon
>>
>> 5. Promoters
>>
>> As always, we need people to make MEFA announcements at non-MEFA groups. If you know of a place where Tolkien is discussed, and you're willing to make announcements there, let me know the place. I ask that you officially "sign up" so I can make sure only one person is making announcements at each place, and so we can credit you on our website.
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- available regularly May 15-December 15 (preferably at least twice a week)
>> --- familiarity with a Tolkien group that would benefit from MEFA announcements
>> --- willingness to ask questions
>>
>> 6. Ratings Committee
>>
>> When authors are unsure what rating is appropriate for their story, we invite them to have a group of volunteers look at the particular scene, and tell you what rating is appropriate for your story. (Authors can also provide context for the scene.) This means that we need members willing to read these scenes and make recommendations. The ratings panel will consist of three volunteers and one alternate.
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- available regularly May 15-June 21 (preferably every day or two)
>> --- familiarity with MEFA ratings policies
>> --- willingness to apply those policies to specific stories
>> --- willingness to read potentially objectionable content -- some of which may be sexually explicit (m/m, m/f, and f/f) or graphically violent
>>
>> As the awards progress there will be other ways to volunteer. I'll let you know about those as they come up.
>>
>> *************************************
>>
>> If any of these tasks interest you, please let me know by emailing me at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com. Please do this even if you volunteered last year; I don't assume you still want to volunteer. If you think you'd like to help but aren't sure you quite qualify, email me anyway and we'll discuss whether you'll be able to handle the job.
>>
>> P.S. - I may have already mentioned it, but on May 12 the 2009 site will no longer be available. Reviews and basic story information will still be available through the archive. However, if you need anything else off the 2009 site, please get it before May 15.
>>
>> At your service (and your family's),
>>
>> Marta (humble MEFA admin.)
>>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Marta,

I plan to create banners again this year.

I'd like some help, though: I think you hinted at some changes this year,
like the wording for Review Junkies? I really want to know *all* the
rules/guidelines as soon as possible, so I don't have to keep going back and
re-working banners that I'd already made. (I never know when my Banner Muse
will hit -- or desert me entirely -- in fact, I've already made a couple of
new ones for this year....). Is there a FAQ for banner-makers up yet, or do
you have a source doc that explains the rules, or at least any changes for
this year?

With the changes to the Review Junkie wording, I'll probably cut down to
only one Review text -- whichever is the most popular -- rather than having
two texts, "Commended Reviewer" (which takes up an awful lot of space....)
and "Review Junkie". That way I'll only make 3 versions of each banner, not
four (Nominee, Review X, and Winner -- and I'm leaving "Winner" banners
blank this year).

Secondly, a request for you and/or the Banner Coordinator this year: if you
are going to have separate areas to post the different banner types (i.e.
Nominees vs. Reviewers vs. Winners), please designate those areas and send
out locations and passwords at the *beginning* of the process. Whenever I
make a banner, I make all the various versions immediately... and last year,
it was just a huge pain to go back and revisit banners that I had already
"finished", because the location/password was posted for Nominees first,
then much later the loc/pw for the other places. I want to be able to finish
a banner, post it all the places it's going to be needed, and be DONE with
it.

Thanks for all your work, Marta! These awards have really gotten better and
better each year.

*note to self: next time, hit "Send".....*

- Barbara

On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 12:42 PM, aure_enteluva <marta.fandom@gmail.com>wrote:

>
>
>
> 2. Banner Creators
>
> If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and
> icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their
> review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you
> credit.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- graphics skills
> --- willingness to follow directions
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

DAMMIT! I meant to send this to you personally, not to the list.... my
apologies!

Serves me right for getting distracted with RL while I'm composing an
email.... *sigh* Mind like a steel sieve.....

- Barbara


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elena Tiriel <elenatiriel@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, May 3, 2010 at 6:14 PM
Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call for Volunteers
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com


Marta,

I plan to create banners again this year.

I'd like some help, though: I think you hinted at some changes this year,
like the wording for Review Junkies? I really want to know *all* the
rules/guidelines as soon as possible, so I don't have to keep going back and
re-working banners that I'd already made. (I never know when my Banner Muse
will hit -- or desert me entirely -- in fact, I've already made a couple of
new ones for this year....). Is there a FAQ for banner-makers up yet, or do
you have a source doc that explains the rules, or at least any changes for
this year?

With the changes to the Review Junkie wording, I'll probably cut down to
only one Review text -- whichever is the most popular -- rather than having
two texts, "Commended Reviewer" (which takes up an awful lot of space....)
and "Review Junkie". That way I'll only make 3 versions of each banner, not
four (Nominee, Review X, and Winner -- and I'm leaving "Winner" banners
blank this year).

Secondly, a request for you and/or the Banner Coordinator this year: if you
are going to have separate areas to post the different banner types (i.e.
Nominees vs. Reviewers vs. Winners), please designate those areas and send
out locations and passwords at the *beginning* of the process. Whenever I
make a banner, I make all the various versions immediately... and last year,
it was just a huge pain to go back and revisit banners that I had already
"finished", because the location/password was posted for Nominees first,
then much later the loc/pw for the other places. I want to be able to finish
a banner, post it all the places it's going to be needed, and be DONE with
it.

Thanks for all your work, Marta! These awards have really gotten better and
better each year.

*note to self: next time, hit "Send".....*

- Barbara

On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 12:42 PM, aure_enteluva <marta.fandom@gmail.com>wrote:

>
>
>
> 2. Banner Creators
>
> If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and
> icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their
> review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you
> credit.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- graphics skills
> --- willingness to follow directions
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

yeah. I did the same thing, then when I did reply privately to a
later mail panicked and thought I'd sent it back to the list. eep!
(need more coffee.. I'm at work and still have four hours on the
clock, I should be more alert than this!)

Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com

All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner

On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 8:17 PM, Elena Tiriel <ElenaTiriel@gmail.com> wrote:
> DAMMIT!  I meant to send this to you personally, not to the list.... my
> apologies!
>
> Serves me right for getting distracted with RL while I'm composing an
> email.... *sigh*  Mind like a steel sieve.....
>
> - Barbara
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Elena Tiriel <elenatiriel@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, May 3, 2010 at 6:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call for Volunteers
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>
>
> Marta,
>
> I plan to create banners again this year.
>
> I'd like some help, though: I think you hinted at some changes this year,
> like the wording for Review Junkies? I really want to know *all* the
> rules/guidelines as soon as possible, so I don't have to keep going back and
> re-working banners that I'd already made. (I never know when my Banner Muse
> will hit -- or desert me entirely -- in fact, I've already made a couple of
> new ones for this year....). Is there a FAQ for banner-makers up yet, or do
> you have a source doc that explains the rules, or at least any changes for
> this year?
>
> With the changes to the Review Junkie wording, I'll probably cut down to
> only one Review text -- whichever is the most popular -- rather than having
> two texts, "Commended Reviewer" (which takes up an awful lot of space....)
> and "Review Junkie". That way I'll only make 3 versions of each banner, not
> four (Nominee, Review X, and Winner -- and I'm leaving "Winner" banners
> blank this year).
>
> Secondly, a request for you and/or the Banner Coordinator this year: if you
> are going to have separate areas to post the different banner types (i.e.
> Nominees vs. Reviewers vs. Winners), please designate those areas and send
> out locations and passwords at the *beginning* of the process. Whenever I
> make a banner, I make all the various versions immediately... and last year,
> it was just a huge pain to go back and revisit banners that I had already
> "finished", because the location/password was posted for Nominees first,
> then much later the loc/pw for the other places. I want to be able to finish
> a banner, post it all the places it's going to be needed, and be DONE with
> it.
>
> Thanks for all your work, Marta! These awards have really gotten better and
> better each year.
>
> *note to self: next time, hit "Send".....*
>
> - Barbara
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 12:42 PM, aure_enteluva <marta.fandom@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> 2. Banner Creators
>>
>> If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and
>> icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their
>> review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you
>> credit.
>>
>> Requirements:
>>
>> --- graphics skills
>> --- willingness to follow directions
>>
>>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Serves me right for getting distracted with RL while I'm composing an
email.... *sigh* Mind like a steel sieve.....


*hugs* Barbara!


Story of my life. Well, most of the time, anyhow. Every Mother's Day I'm tempted to ask for four hours just to myself... but always end up doing a whole-family-all-together day because isn't that what moms are all about? (Don't answer, not looking to start a debate if opinions vary on this concept, just reflecting on life in general and my life in particular.)

"Mind like a steel sieve"--I like it. The variation we use around here is "My mind's like a steel trap, and thoughts are water... leaking right through."

Want to take this opportunity to thank all those who volunteered last year (don't remember if I did--I started a "thank you" email but don't know if I finished and sent it, when the awards ended), and thank in advance those who will be helping with the current year.

As a homeschooling mom, I thought that things would get easier as the dc grew older and more independent. What I didn't count on was the subjects getting harder, and the schedule ever more complicated (read that: crazy).

Hats off to you for keeping the MEFAs going. Perhaps if the dc are in swim team this summer I can print off stories to read by the poolside during practice sessions... I keep hoping for more reading (and writing) time.

Anyhow, thanks again,
Lin (Jean)
aka Lindelea (but not so often as I'd like, these days)




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hiya Lin(delea),

> Hats off to you for keeping the MEFAs going. Perhaps if the dc are in
> swim team this summer I can print off stories to read by the poolside
> during practice sessions... I keep hoping for more reading (and
> writing) time.
>

Glad to see you pop in. It's a pleasure - a guilty pleasure at times, with
time stolen from offline obligations for our "mad hobby," but a pleasure,
definitely.

Do feel free to review whatever you have time for, if you can manage it.

Marta

P.S. - To Elena Tiriel - I have your email, and am collecting some info for
you. As soon as I have it, will be in touch, from the mefasupport addy.

>
> P.S. - To Elena Tiriel - I have your email, and am collecting some info for
> you. As soon as I have it, will be in touch, from the mefasupport addy.

Thank you, Marta! And my apologies to the group for the unintentional
spam.....

- Barbara


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'll be happy to make banners again:)

Nath

.............................................~o^=o>
.....................................~o^=o>
..............................~o^=o>
........................~o^=o>

--- On Mon, 3/5/10, aure_enteluva <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: aure_enteluva <marta.fandom@gmail.com>
> Subject: [MEFAwards] ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call for Volunteers
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Monday, 3 May, 2010, 20:42
> Hey guys,
>
> A few days ago I mentioned that we would start the 2010
> awards soon, but that the other volunteers and I were still
> fine-tuning the schedule. We've now decided that we'll kick
> things off on May 15, which is (*eep!*) about two weeks
> away. That means:
>
> 1. Nominations will be accepted: May 15-June 15
> 2. All nominations must be finalized by: June 21
> 3. Check ballots posted: July 7-July 15
> 4. Reviewer Goals must be set by: August 15
> 5. Voting ends: December 15
> 6. Results Posted: December 18
>
> One thing you'll notice is that we've shortened the
> nomination season to one month. (Before, it has been 5-6
> weeks.) My hope is, since we've simplified the amount of
> emails authors have to send to their liaisons, nominations
> can be finalized more quickly. We also didn't want to end
> the awards at the end of November or at the end of December,
> since those are very busy times for many of our participants
> - but we couldn't see a good way to do that except for
> shortening the awards by two weeks. We considered shortening
> the voting season, but thought that would create even more
> problems for more people.
>
> To help with the shortened nomination period, I highly
> encourage you to spend the next two weeks getting ready to
> nominate stories. Think of it like the first two weeks of
> nomination season. You can't enter your nominations into the
> website, obviously, but you can do everything but that. You
> can decide what you want to nominate, make sure you have all
> the information you need, even contact the author to let her
> know you want to nominate her, so she'll be expecting an
> email from a MEFA volunteer. You can also enter your
> nominations as soon as possible (don't wait until the end of
> nominations to see if someone else will nominate it). That
> will really help us get all the nominations ready to compete
> on time.
>
> You can check whether a story has been nominated in the
> past by using our MEFA archive:
>
> http://mefawards.net/mefa-archive/
>
> Eligibility requirements are the same as they were in 2009,
> but in case you need a reminder:
>
> http://mefawards.net/MEFA2009/index.php?page=FAQeligibility
>
> ****************************************
>
> Nominating stories is probably the most important job you
> can do right now, because without nominations we won't have
> a good awards. You can also start talking up the awards with
> your friends. But if you want to do something more formal to
> help the MEFAs, read on. :^)
>
> 1. Banner Coordinator
>
> We need someone to organize banner creation. Your first job
> would be to work with the banner artists, to make sure we
> have a good variety of banners. You would also need to work
> with me and other volunteers, to discuss changes we want to
> make in how we handle banners. Finally, you would be a
> "banner makers' advocate." If they do not like the way we're
> handling the banners part of the awards, you should listen
> to their concerns and discuss them with me to see how we can
> change things.
>
> You do *not* need to be a banner artist yourself; some
> knowledge of graphics is helpful, but the banner coordinator
> mainly makes sure that the banner portion of the awards runs
> smoothly.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available May 15-beginning of January, at least every
> 3-4 days and more often in certain periods
> --- basic familiarity with online graphic-sharing website
> (e.g., Photobucket, picasa, etc.)
> --- general knowledge of Tolkien fandom
> --- general familiarity with MEFA rules about banners
> --- an ability to manage other volunteers
> --- a willingness to enforce rules
>
> 2. Banner Creators
>
> If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need
> banners and icons for nominated authors, winning authors,
> and reviewers who meet their review goal. Let us know you
> want to get involved, so we can give you credit.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- graphics skills
> --- willingness to follow directions
>
> 3. Beta Testers
>
> Starting next week, we'll need people to try to "break" the
> 2010 site. If you have time to nominate some test stories
> and are willing to discuss whether the site does what you
> expect, we want you!
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available May 8-May 15 (preferably every day)
> --- basic technical skills
> --- basic familiarity with past MEFA websites
>
> 4. Author Liaisons
>
> Author liaisons work with authors to make sure they fill
> out their forms correctly. This is a great first step to get
> involved with volunteering, as you will have the full
> attention of myself and other long-term volunteers. It also
> allows you to deliver good news to authors (which can be
> quite fun). But to do it, you *do* need a fair amount of
> time and patience, as you will be explaining a fairly
> complicated process to authors, some of whom may not know
> anything about the awards.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available regularly May 15-June 21 (esp. June 15-21),
> preferably every day
> --- positive and friendly personality
> --- ability to follow directions
> --- willingness to ask questions
> --- basic familiarity with MEFA policy and Tolkien canon
>
> 5. Promoters
>
> As always, we need people to make MEFA announcements at
> non-MEFA groups. If you know of a place where Tolkien is
> discussed, and you're willing to make announcements there,
> let me know the place. I ask that you officially "sign up"
> so I can make sure only one person is making announcements
> at each place, and so we can credit you on our website.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available regularly May 15-December 15 (preferably at
> least twice a week)
> --- familiarity with a Tolkien group that would benefit
> from MEFA announcements
> --- willingness to ask questions
>
> 6. Ratings Committee
>
> When authors are unsure what rating is appropriate for
> their story, we invite them to have a group of volunteers
> look at the particular scene, and tell you what rating is
> appropriate for your story. (Authors can also provide
> context for the scene.) This means that we need members
> willing to read these scenes and make recommendations. The
> ratings panel will consist of three volunteers and one
> alternate.
>
> Requirements:
>
> --- available regularly May 15-June 21 (preferably every
> day or two)
> --- familiarity with MEFA ratings policies
> --- willingness to apply those policies to specific
> stories
> --- willingness to read potentially objectionable content
> -- some of which may be sexually explicit (m/m, m/f, and
> f/f) or graphically violent
>
> As the awards progress there will be other ways to
> volunteer. I'll let you know about those as they come up.
>
> *************************************
>
> If any of these tasks interest you, please let me know by
> emailing me at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com. Please do this
> even if you volunteered last year; I don't assume you still
> want to volunteer. If you think you'd like to help but
> aren't sure you quite qualify, email me anyway and we'll
> discuss whether you'll be able to handle the job.
>
> P.S. - I may have already mentioned it, but on May 12 the
> 2009 site will no longer be available. Reviews and basic
> story information will still be available through the
> archive. However, if you need anything else off the 2009
> site, please get it before May 15.
>
> At your service (and your family's),
>
> Marta (humble MEFA admin.)
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     MEFAwards-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>

Hiya Nath,

Thanks for letting me know. I've marked you down as interested and will make
sure you get the information about banners, as soon as we have a banner
coordinator.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of nath kuijpers
> Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:29 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call for Volunteers
>
>
>
> I'll be happy to make banners again:)
>
> Nath
>
>

[snip]

I don't consider myself to have enough knowledge outside my own niche to be much use at suggesting banners, but I did notice that there were very few winners banners featuring Aragorn and Arwen or Boromir and none at all featuring Denethor.

Linda

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Elena Tiriel <ElenaTiriel@...> wrote:
>
> Marta,
>
> I plan to create banners again this year.
>
> I'd like some help, though: I think you hinted at some changes this year,
> like the wording for Review Junkies? I really want to know *all* the
> rules/guidelines as soon as possible, so I don't have to keep going back and
> re-working banners that I'd already made. (I never know when my Banner Muse
> will hit -- or desert me entirely -- in fact, I've already made a couple of
> new ones for this year....). Is there a FAQ for banner-makers up yet, or do
> you have a source doc that explains the rules, or at least any changes for
> this year?
>
> With the changes to the Review Junkie wording, I'll probably cut down to
> only one Review text -- whichever is the most popular -- rather than having
> two texts, "Commended Reviewer" (which takes up an awful lot of space....)
> and "Review Junkie". That way I'll only make 3 versions of each banner, not
> four (Nominee, Review X, and Winner -- and I'm leaving "Winner" banners
> blank this year).
>
> Secondly, a request for you and/or the Banner Coordinator this year: if you
> are going to have separate areas to post the different banner types (i.e.
> Nominees vs. Reviewers vs. Winners), please designate those areas and send
> out locations and passwords at the *beginning* of the process. Whenever I
> make a banner, I make all the various versions immediately... and last year,
> it was just a huge pain to go back and revisit banners that I had already
> "finished", because the location/password was posted for Nominees first,
> then much later the loc/pw for the other places. I want to be able to finish
> a banner, post it all the places it's going to be needed, and be DONE with
> it.
>
> Thanks for all your work, Marta! These awards have really gotten better and
> better each year.
>
> *note to self: next time, hit "Send".....*
>
> - Barbara
>
>
> On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 12:42 PM, aure_enteluva <marta.fandom@...>wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> > 2. Banner Creators
> >
> > If you just want to make banners, we need you too! We need banners and
> > icons for nominated authors, winning authors, and reviewers who meet their
> > review goal. Let us know you want to get involved, so we can give you
> > credit.
> >
> > Requirements:
> >
> > --- graphics skills
> > --- willingness to follow directions
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Hiya Linda,

That seems to vary from year to year. We seem to have not enough hobbit
banners one year, not enough Silm the next, and so on. It really depends on
what banner-makers are most active. We do our best to round out the edges,
and I think the banner-makers do a good job of that, but there will always
be deficiencies.

More use than suggesting banners, would be to make some yourself or to
recruit friends from your corner of the awards to make some. If there are
people who write a certain kind of story, there are (hopefully!) artists who
like working with those same characters. If they want to create MEFA
banners, we're more than happy to find them. We also hope to have more
"generic" banners that can be used for a wide variety of stories - graphics
with landscapes, castles, scrolls, that kind of thing.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Linda
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 4:17 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call for Volunteers
>
>
>
> I don't consider myself to have enough knowledge outside my own niche
> to be much use at suggesting banners, but I did notice that there were
> very few winners banners featuring Aragorn and Arwen or Boromir and
> none at all featuring Denethor.
>
> Linda
>

Hey guys,

Aranel Took is looking for a few brave souls to test out the MEFA site. She and Tanaqui have made some changes that will help the site work better, and we want to make sure those changes are working before the awards start "for real" at the end of the week. If you have a little bit of time to spare, please check it out.

To help out with this:

1. Join the mefa-discussion Yahoo group, where Aranel wants you to post how the website worked for you.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/

2. Follow the instructions in msg #2378 of that group.
3. Post to that group with any errors you ran into.

If you have the time, this is a great way to help get the awards ready for the new year.

Marta

Hi all,

I'm glad to hear there's interest in more 'general' banners, as I much prefer making those myself:-)

Nath (who should start doodling soon, to get a jumpstart on making things)

> Hiya Linda,
>
> That seems to vary from year to year. We seem to have not
> enough hobbit
> banners one year, not enough Silm the next, and so on. It
> really depends on
> what banner-makers are most active. We do our best to round
> out the edges,
> and I think the banner-makers do a good job of that, but
> there will always
> be deficiencies.
>
> More use than suggesting banners, would be to make some
> yourself or to
> recruit friends from your corner of the awards to make
> some. If there are
> people who write a certain kind of story, there are
> (hopefully!) artists who
> like working with those same characters. If they want to
> create MEFA
> banners, we're more than happy to find them. We also hope
> to have more
> "generic" banners that can be used for a wide variety of
> stories - graphics
> with landscapes, castles, scrolls, that kind of thing.
>
> Marta
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com]
> On
> > Behalf Of Linda
> > Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 4:17 AM
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: ADMIN - 2010 Calendar, + Call
> for Volunteers
> >
> >
> >
> > I don't consider myself to have enough knowledge
> outside my own niche
> > to be much use at suggesting banners, but I did notice
> that there were
> > very few winners banners featuring Aragorn and Arwen
> or Boromir and
> > none at all featuring Denethor.
> >
> > Linda
> >
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     MEFAwards-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>

Hey guys,

With only a few days left until MEFA-time (*eep*), I wanted to do a quick
round-up of where we have volunteers - and where we still need them.

1. Banners - Neume Indil has volunteered as our banner coordinator for this
year (*cheers*), and we have several people who have agreed to make banners:
Elena Tiriel, Elleth, Ellynn, and Nath. But the more the merrier! If you
like playing around with graphics we could still use your help.

(Elena Tiriel, I know I owe you an email and haven't forgotten. Just been
very busy. I'll get back to you soon, I promise!)

2. Author Liaisons - This is probably our biggest need right now. So far we
have the following people signed up as liaisons: Cathleen; Dreamflower;
Dwimordene; elliska; Fiondil; foxrafer; Inkling; and Linaewen. That's
several less than last year. If you volunteered last year and aren't on that
list, please let me know if you still want to volunteer. (Or if you don't
want to; knowing one way or the other would really help.) And if you haven't
been a liaison before, and would like to start, let me know that too, and we
can get you trained up to help.

3. Beta Testing - We're currently testing the 2010 site over at
mefa-discussion. Pop over there if you'd like a sneak peak of the new site,
and if you have some time to try it out.

4. Promoters - We currently have promoters for the following groups:

Aragron_Angst
Blind-Chit-Chat
Book_Talk
Books4theBlind
booktalk
CouncilofRivendell
Henneth Annun Story Archive
Henneth_Annun
In the Hall of Fire: A Tolkien Fanfic Workshop
LOTR DFIC Group
LOTR GFIC Group
LOTR LJ Challenge Group
Many Paths to Tread
Middle-earth news
Silmarillion Writers Guild
Stories_of_Arda
SWG listserv
There and Back
Tolkien_Weekly

If you see a group not listed here, and you'd like to promote there, please
let me know.

**********************************

We're all set for everything else. Thanks for everyone who has already
volunteered.

If you see something on here you'd like to volunteer for please email me at
mefasupport@gmail.com so I can help you get started.

Thanks,

Marta (MEFA Admin.)

Sorry for the late reply. If you still need liaisons, let me know.

Agape

On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 2:29 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> Hey guys,
>
> With only a few days left until MEFA-time (*eep*), I wanted to do a quick
> round-up of where we have volunteers - and where we still need them.
>
> 1. Banners - Neume Indil has volunteered as our banner coordinator for this
> year (*cheers*), and we have several people who have agreed to make
> banners:
> Elena Tiriel, Elleth, Ellynn, and Nath. But the more the merrier! If you
> like playing around with graphics we could still use your help.
>
> (Elena Tiriel, I know I owe you an email and haven't forgotten. Just been
> very busy. I'll get back to you soon, I promise!)
>
> 2. Author Liaisons - This is probably our biggest need right now. So far we
> have the following people signed up as liaisons: Cathleen; Dreamflower;
> Dwimordene; elliska; Fiondil; foxrafer; Inkling; and Linaewen. That's
> several less than last year. If you volunteered last year and aren't on
> that
> list, please let me know if you still want to volunteer. (Or if you don't
> want to; knowing one way or the other would really help.) And if you
> haven't
> been a liaison before, and would like to start, let me know that too, and
> we
> can get you trained up to help.
>
> 3. Beta Testing - We're currently testing the 2010 site over at
> mefa-discussion. Pop over there if you'd like a sneak peak of the new site,
> and if you have some time to try it out.
>
> 4. Promoters - We currently have promoters for the following groups:
>
> Aragron_Angst
> Blind-Chit-Chat
> Book_Talk
> Books4theBlind
> booktalk
> CouncilofRivendell
> Henneth Annun Story Archive
> Henneth_Annun
> In the Hall of Fire: A Tolkien Fanfic Workshop
> LOTR DFIC Group
> LOTR GFIC Group
> LOTR LJ Challenge Group
> Many Paths to Tread
> Middle-earth news
> Silmarillion Writers Guild
> Stories_of_Arda
> SWG listserv
> There and Back
> Tolkien_Weekly
>
> If you see a group not listed here, and you'd like to promote there, please
> let me know.
>
> **********************************
>
> We're all set for everything else. Thanks for everyone who has already
> volunteered.
>
> If you see something on here you'd like to volunteer for please email me at
> mefasupport@gmail.com <mefasupport%40gmail.com> so I can help you get
> started.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Marta (MEFA Admin.)
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey guys,

The 2010 Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards begin at 12:01 AM GMT on May 15.
What exactly that means for you varies depending on where you live. For
instance, here in New York (U.S.A.) the awards start at 8 PM. To find the
exact time the awards start, use the website www.timezoneconverter.com, and
convert "12:01 AM GMT, May 15" into your local time zone.

At 12:01 AM you can start nominating stories. To do so, log in to

http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/

and click the link either to nominate a story (where someone else is the
author) or to self-nominate a story (where you are the author). As in
previous years you can nominate up to twenty pieces.

To review some eligibility concerns:

1. Stories are only eligible once as a completed story, and once more as a
WIP. Before nominating, check that the story hasn't competed in the past:

--- For previous years' nominations, check
http://www.mefawards.net/mefa-archive/
--- For stories already nominated this year, click the "Stories" link within
the MEFA2010 site itself.

If the story was nominated before, you may lose your nomination.

2. Stories need to be publicly accessible. You need to have a site you can
point to, that doesn't require people to log in to that website in order to
read the story. If you mistype the URL, or if it doesn't let everyone read
the story, you will lose your nomination.

3. For stories posted on more than one page, there needs to be a way to get
from page to page. The most common way to do this is either by linking to a
"table of contents" (that offers a link to each page), or by providing a
link to the previous and next page in the story.

4. Stories must meet either our General, Teen, or Mature ratings to be
eligible to compete. This doesn't mean a story can't be rated NC17 or Adult
*at its archive*. Different sites have different criteria. But you will want
to read our ratings guidelines and make sure that it meets *our*
requirements for General, Teen, or Mature before you nominate it.

For more info:

--- http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQeligibility
--- http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQnominations
--- http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQratingsguide

You will find lots of little changes at the new site, but two bear
mentioning.

1. Acceptance Emails. Authors no longer are required to email their liaisons
that they accept the nomination, or that they are done with the form.

--- When you begin working on the form we assume you accept the nomination.
(You are still encouraged to email in if you won't begin the form right
away, so we know you have received the email.)
---- At the bottom of the form, there is a checkbox you select to say you
are finished with the form. You should click this in addition to setting the
status to "Author Satisfied with Form." But you do *not* have to email your
liaison to let him or her know that you are done with it.

2. Alternate URLs. In previous years web sites have become unavailable in
the middle of the MEFAs. This obviously puts some authors at a disadvantage.
To help with this, we are encouraging (not requiring) all authors to include
an alternate URL. In the case that a site goes down, we will change your
primary URL to the alternate one for you. However, it is *very important*
that you check that these alternate URLs are correct; your liaison won't
check them for you, and it's your responsibility to make sure they work.
Alternate URLs are optional, but if you choose not to include one, it's up
to you to get in touch with us if the site where your story is hosted, goes
down.

*****************************************

Also: if you are still interested in volunteering, we need the following:

1. A Welcome Manager. Essentially you would send a quick email to all new
members other than authors, welcoming them to the site and answering any
questions they had. You can pass on any questions you aren't sure of to me.
The purpose of this is to give new members someone to go to with their
problems. Think of it like a liaison for non-authors. *g*

2. Banner Makers. Our banner coordinator, Neume Indil, is getting things
organized and we will soon have some banners for nominees available. If you
haven't volunteered yet but want to make banners, let me know.

3. Promoters. If you know of a group not receiving announcements from the
MEFAs, and would like to make announcements there, let me know. You can find
a list of the sites already receiving announcements at:

http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvolunteers

If you're interested in helping out in any of these ways, shoot me an email
at mefasupport@gmail.com

Thanks,

Marta (MEFA Admin.)

I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.

I got the same message...

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
>
> I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.
>

Rats! I stayed up specially to nominate, and now it's not working. :(

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Ann" <ann@...> wrote:
>
> I got the same message...
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "annettekupke" <annette@> wrote:
> >
> > I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.
> >
>

I'm having the same problem,
Linda

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
>
> I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.
>

Hey guys,

Apparently several people are having this problem, including myself. Knowing
our tech volunteers, they are either unaware of the problem (some of them
living in far-off time zones where it's well past midnight), or they are
already hard at work on a solution. I'm sure things will be running smoothly
as soon as possible.

Sorry for the error messages, guys. I appreciate your patience as this
situation is straightened out.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Linda
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:36 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>
>
>
> I'm having the same problem,
> Linda
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> ,
> "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
> >
> > I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got
> the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in
> all asteriksed fields.
> >
>
>
>
>

Count me in as having the exact same problem.

Also, once this form works, after it's filled out, will the nominated author be able to put in her/his preferred story URL, or be stuck with whichever URL the nominator has used?



Raksha The Demon




<<<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:

>
> I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.
>
>>>>>

I wasn't able to enter a nom for someone else, which I'm sure I did
without any trouble during the testing because I didn't realize at
first you were especially asking for self noms to test the forms.

but i did just now enter a real self-nom without any trouble. so it's
only the short form that isn't working.

Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com

All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 7:35 PM, Linda <gingerleo@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm having the same problem,
> Linda
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
>>
>> I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.
>>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

um. i just went back to check it and all the story information I
filled in seems to be gone ... ?

Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com

All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 8:52 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wasn't able to enter a nom for someone else, which I'm sure I did
> without any trouble during the testing because I didn't realize at
> first you were especially asking for self noms to test the forms.
>
> but i did just now enter a real self-nom without any trouble. so it's
> only the short form that isn't working.
>
> Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
>  ~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com
>
> All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
> http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 7:35 PM, Linda <gingerleo@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm having the same problem,
>> Linda
>>
>> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in all asteriksed fields.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Hello everyone,

I'm aware of the problem and am currently writing the fix. It should be up
soon, probably within a half hour after 9pm US Central Time.

Sorry for the inconvenience. :-(

Aranel


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

it seems to be working now.

Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com

All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 8:03 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> Apparently several people are having this problem, including myself. Knowing
> our tech volunteers, they are either unaware of the problem (some of them
> living in far-off time zones where it's well past midnight), or they are
> already hard at work on a solution. I'm sure things will be running smoothly
> as soon as possible.
>
> Sorry for the error messages, guys. I appreciate your patience as this
> situation is straightened out.
>
> Marta
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
>> Behalf Of Linda
>> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:36 PM
>> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm having the same problem,
>> Linda
>>
>> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> ,
>> "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
>> >
>> > I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got
>> the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in
>> all asteriksed fields.
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

I've uploaded the fix, so everything should be working now.

Aranel


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

nope. it's not again.

ok - I'll wait until someone technical can get a word in edgeways.

*sitting on hands*

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:14 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com> wrote:
> it seems to be working now.
>
> Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
>  ~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com
>
> All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
> http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 8:03 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hey guys,
>>
>> Apparently several people are having this problem, including myself. Knowing
>> our tech volunteers, they are either unaware of the problem (some of them
>> living in far-off time zones where it's well past midnight), or they are
>> already hard at work on a solution. I'm sure things will be running smoothly
>> as soon as possible.
>>
>> Sorry for the error messages, guys. I appreciate your patience as this
>> situation is straightened out.
>>
>> Marta
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
>>> Behalf Of Linda
>>> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:36 PM
>>> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>>> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm having the same problem,
>>> Linda
>>>
>>> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> ,
>>> "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got
>>> the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in
>>> all asteriksed fields.
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Thanks for the quick work. I just tried to nominate a story and it went
through this time without a hitch.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Aranel Took
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 9:58 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>
>
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm aware of the problem and am currently writing the fix. It should be
> up
> soon, probably within a half hour after 9pm US Central Time.
>
> Sorry for the inconvenience. :-(
>
> Aranel
>

Hiya Raksha,

> Count me in as having the exact same problem.
>

It looks like the issue is fixed now, at least for me. I hope it works for
you, too!

> Also, once this form works, after it's filled out, will the nominated
> author be able to put in her/his preferred story URL, or be stuck with
> whichever URL the nominator has used?
>

The author can change it, definitely. It's important that you use a working
link because the liaison needs to make sure the story is eligible before
contacting the author. But the author can then change the link if they want.
I do this all the time, personally, because I prefer to link to one
particular site where I keep my most polished version of my stories, and
it's quite easy to do. :-D

Marta

No, I've just tried again and I still cannot nominate stories. I'm disappointed. Hope the glitch is fixed before too long.


Raksha




<<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:

>
> Hiya Raksha,
>
> > Count me in as having the exact same problem.
> >
>
> It looks like the issue is fixed now, at least for me. I hope it works for
> you, too!
>
> > Also, once this form works, after it's filled out, will the nominated
> > author be able to put in her/his preferred story URL, or be stuck with
> > whichever URL the nominator has used?
> >
>
> The author can change it, definitely. It's important that you use a working
> link because the liaison needs to make sure the story is eligible before
> contacting the author. But the author can then change the link if they want.
> I do this all the time, personally, because I prefer to link to one
> particular site where I keep my most polished version of my stories, and
> it's quite easy to do. :-D
>
> Marta
>
>>>>

Hi Sulriel,

What exactly is happening that isn't working? Is this a new story, or the
story you already nominated? What do you mean it's not saving the
information? It won't accept a new Nomination or is this a Self-Nomination
where the info doesn't show up on the nomination form when you edit the
form? Or is it not showing up in Browse Stories?

Thanks,
Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:27 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com>wrote:

> nope. it's not again.
>
> ok - I'll wait until someone technical can get a word in edgeways.
>
> *sitting on hands*
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:14 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > it seems to be working now.
> >
> > Becky/Sue L (Huffman) Burkheart [how did life get so complicated?!?]
> > ~ A Hard Hero is Good to Find ~ www.WritingHorses.com
> >
> > All about Horses of North Texas, their people & the games they play ~
> > http://www.examiner.com/x-40428-Fort-Worth-Equestrian-Examiner
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 8:03 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> Hey guys,
> >>
> >> Apparently several people are having this problem, including myself.
> Knowing
> >> our tech volunteers, they are either unaware of the problem (some of
> them
> >> living in far-off time zones where it's well past midnight), or they are
> >> already hard at work on a solution. I'm sure things will be running
> smoothly
> >> as soon as possible.
> >>
> >> Sorry for the error messages, guys. I appreciate your patience as this
> >> situation is straightened out.
> >>
> >> Marta
> >>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> >>> Behalf Of Linda
> >>> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:36 PM
> >>> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> >>> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I'm having the same problem,
> >>> Linda
> >>>
> >>> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com<MEFAwards%2540yahoogroups.com>>
> ,
> >>> "annettekupke" <annette@...> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > I've just tried to nominate three different stories and each time got
> >>> the message that the form was incomplete, even though I had filled in
> >>> all asteriksed fields.
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Raksha,

I tested the site and I'm able to nominate a story. Can you give me more
details on what exactly is happening for you? Are you getting an error
message? Does the submit work, but the story isn't showing up in the Browse
Stories list?

Thanks,
Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:02 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@aol.com> wrote:

>
> No, I've just tried again and I still cannot nominate stories. I'm
> disappointed. Hope the glitch is fixed before too long.
>
>
> Raksha
>
>
>
>
> <<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hiya Raksha,
> >
> > > Count me in as having the exact same problem.
> > >
> >
> > It looks like the issue is fixed now, at least for me. I hope it works
> for
> > you, too!
> >
> > > Also, once this form works, after it's filled out, will the nominated
> > > author be able to put in her/his preferred story URL, or be stuck with
> > > whichever URL the nominator has used?
> > >
> >
> > The author can change it, definitely. It's important that you use a
> working
> > link because the liaison needs to make sure the story is eligible before
> > contacting the author. But the author can then change the link if they
> want.
> > I do this all the time, personally, because I prefer to link to one
> > particular site where I keep my most polished version of my stories, and
> > it's quite easy to do. :-D
> >
> > Marta
> >
> >>>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi, Aranel:


I fill out the author name, story title, story URL, and add the Author's email address to the last field; press SUBMIT and get an "Incomplete" message. I've also tried it leaving the last field (the one with Author's Notes, Nominator's notes) blank, and I still get a message telling me that the form is Incomplete.

I was able to fill in several fields in the form for my own stories that were nominated by someone else, and save that changed form.


Raksha






<<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Aranel Took <araneltook@...> wrote:

>
> Hi Raksha,
>
> I tested the site and I'm able to nominate a story. Can you give me more
> details on what exactly is happening for you? Are you getting an error
> message? Does the submit work, but the story isn't showing up in the Browse
> Stories list?
>
> Thanks,
> Aranel
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:02 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@...> wrote:
>
> >
> > No, I've just tried again and I still cannot nominate stories. I'm
> > disappointed. Hope the glitch is fixed before too long.
> >
> >
> > Raksha
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > <<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hiya Raksha,
> > >
> > > > Count me in as having the exact same problem.
> > > >
> > >
> > > It looks like the issue is fixed now, at least for me. I hope it works
> > for
> > > you, too!
> > >
> > > > Also, once this form works, after it's filled out, will the nominated
> > > > author be able to put in her/his preferred story URL, or be stuck with
> > > > whichever URL the nominator has used?
> > > >
> > >
> > > The author can change it, definitely. It's important that you use a
> > working
> > > link because the liaison needs to make sure the story is eligible before
> > > contacting the author. But the author can then change the link if they
> > want.
> > > I do this all the time, personally, because I prefer to link to one
> > > particular site where I keep my most polished version of my stories, and
> > > it's quite easy to do. :-D
> > >
> > > Marta
> > >
> > >>>>
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Hiya Aranel,

I wanted to let you know that earlier tonight I nominated a story by another
author (#7), and it went through fine. I also just now self-nominated a
number story (#17), which I have since withdrawn because I wanted to make
sure that form also worked for me. That form also went through without a
problem. #17 also showed up in the story list before I withdrawn it, and #7
is still showing up.

I did manually tell my website to reload the language file, using the link
at the top of the screen. I don't know whether that explains the
discrepancy, or if there's something else going on. But for what it's worth,
I've been able to nominate and self-nominate successfully.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Aranel Took
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 11:14 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>
>
>
> Hi Raksha,
>
> I tested the site and I'm able to nominate a story. Can you give me
> more
> details on what exactly is happening for you? Are you getting an error
> message? Does the submit work, but the story isn't showing up in the
> Browse
> Stories list?
>
> Thanks,
> Aranel
>

arg! mine are still not going. :(

Becky

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:31 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the quick work. I just tried to nominate a story and it went
> through this time without a hitch.
>
> Marta
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
>> Behalf Of Aranel Took
>> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 9:58 PM
>> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I'm aware of the problem and am currently writing the fix. It should be
>> up
>> soon, probably within a half hour after 9pm US Central Time.
>>
>> Sorry for the inconvenience. :-(
>>
>> Aranel
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Hi Becky,

I really need more information than that to be able to do anything. Is this
a Nomination or a Self-Nomination? Are you getting an error message? Is this
the same issue with the information not being saved?

Thanks,
Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:23 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com>wrote:

> arg! mine are still not going. :(
>
> Becky
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:31 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Thanks for the quick work. I just tried to nominate a story and it went
> > through this time without a hitch.
> >
> > Marta
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> >> Behalf Of Aranel Took
> >> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 9:58 PM
> >> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> >> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Hello everyone,
> >>
> >> I'm aware of the problem and am currently writing the fix. It should be
> >> up
> >> soon, probably within a half hour after 9pm US Central Time.
> >>
> >> Sorry for the inconvenience. :-(
> >>
> >> Aranel
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Raksha,

It's possible your browser may have cached the old page and is using that
rather than re-loading the updated page.

Things to try:

- Clear your browser cache and try loading the page again.
- If that doesn't work, quit and restart your browser.
- If neither of those work, send an email to techsupport@mefawards.net and
we'll try to figure out what's happening.

Thanks,
Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:18 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@aol.com> wrote:

> Hi, Aranel:
>
>
> I fill out the author name, story title, story URL, and add the Author's
> email address to the last field; press SUBMIT and get an "Incomplete"
> message. I've also tried it leaving the last field (the one with Author's
> Notes, Nominator's notes) blank, and I still get a message telling me that
> the form is Incomplete.
>
> I was able to fill in several fields in the form for my own stories that
> were nominated by someone else, and save that changed form.
>
>
> Raksha
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Aranel Took <araneltook@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Raksha,
> >
> > I tested the site and I'm able to nominate a story. Can you give me more
> > details on what exactly is happening for you? Are you getting an error
> > message? Does the submit work, but the story isn't showing up in the
> Browse
> > Stories list?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Aranel
> >
> > On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:02 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@...> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > No, I've just tried again and I still cannot nominate stories. I'm
> > > disappointed. Hope the glitch is fixed before too long.
> > >
> > >
> > > Raksha
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > <<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hiya Raksha,
> > > >
> > > > > Count me in as having the exact same problem.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > It looks like the issue is fixed now, at least for me. I hope it
> works
> > > for
> > > > you, too!
> > > >
> > > > > Also, once this form works, after it's filled out, will the
> nominated
> > > > > author be able to put in her/his preferred story URL, or be stuck
> with
> > > > > whichever URL the nominator has used?
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > The author can change it, definitely. It's important that you use a
> > > working
> > > > link because the liaison needs to make sure the story is eligible
> before
> > > > contacting the author. But the author can then change the link if
> they
> > > want.
> > > > I do this all the time, personally, because I prefer to link to one
> > > > particular site where I keep my most polished version of my stories,
> and
> > > > it's quite easy to do. :-D
> > > >
> > > > Marta
> > > >
> > > >>>>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> > > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just logged out. reloaded the language file and logged back in and
still can't nom another story. i had one go through earlier, one self
and one other, but now I can't get another one to go through.

Sulriel


On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:23 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth
<sulriel@gmail.com> wrote:

> arg!  mine are still not going. :(
>
> Becky
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:31 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Thanks for the quick work. I just tried to nominate a story and it went
>> through this time without a hitch.
>>
>> Marta
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
>>> Behalf Of Aranel Took
>>> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 9:58 PM
>>> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>>> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>>
>>> I'm aware of the problem and am currently writing the fix. It should be
>>> up
>>> soon, probably within a half hour after 9pm US Central Time.
>>>
>>> Sorry for the inconvenience. :-(
>>>
>>> Aranel
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Hi Sulriel,

I just logged in as you and was able to submit a Nomination (I immediately
withdrew it so you didn't lose any of your allotted nominations).

Try clearing your browser cache, and if that doesn't work quit your browser
and try again. If those things don't work, email
techsupport@mefawards.netand we'll try to figure out what's going on.

Thanks,
Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com>wrote:

> I just logged out. reloaded the language file and logged back in and
> still can't nom another story. i had one go through earlier, one self
> and one other, but now I can't get another one to go through.
>
> Sulriel
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:23 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth
> <sulriel@gmail.com> wrote:
> > arg! mine are still not going. :(
> >
> > Becky
> >
> >
> > On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:31 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> Thanks for the quick work. I just tried to nominate a story and it went
> >> through this time without a hitch.
> >>
> >> Marta
> >>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> >>> Behalf Of Aranel Took
> >>> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 9:58 PM
> >>> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> >>> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Problems with 2010 site
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Hello everyone,
> >>>
> >>> I'm aware of the problem and am currently writing the fix. It should be
> >>> up
> >>> soon, probably within a half hour after 9pm US Central Time.
> >>>
> >>> Sorry for the inconvenience. :-(
> >>>
> >>> Aranel
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:26 PM, Aranel Took <araneltook@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Becky,
>
> I really need more information than that to be able to do anything. Is this
> a Nomination or a Self-Nomination? Are you getting an error message? Is this
> the same issue with the information not being saved?
>
> Thanks,
> Aranel
>

I'm on a delay with this list. I had all my various mails over the
last few years being dumped into my huffman mail, and since I've lost
all my passwords and their all keyed to the old htcomp account which
is long dead, I just fw all the huffman mail to my new burkheart mail
since I got divorced last year.

so - the point of all that is that the sulriel mail has to be fw'd
twice before I get it and I just tried to get to the list to read
online and locked myself out of that account.

you can email me privately if that would be faster/easier for you.

I logged out and reloaded the language file and logged back in.
I still am getting the same error: "The data you entered is
incomplete. Please check your entries."

this is on a nom for another author.

earlier, while the problems were still ongoing, I was able to enter a
self nom. All the cate and genre information disappeared, but i was
able to put it back in through the 'edit' function and it stayed.

Then I was able to nom a story by another author. It initally told me
"incompletely", but then went.

But I've tried two different stories, but different authors and
neither one will go. I haven't tried another self-nom.

Let me know what else is needed. I don't mind doing another self-nom
if that would help. I'll have to see what I have.

Hi Sulriel,

Since you're having problems with getting mails from the list, I'll email
you privately about this.

Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 11:19 PM, Sulriel of Menegroth <sulriel@gmail.com>wrote:

> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:26 PM, Aranel Took <araneltook@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi Becky,
> >
> > I really need more information than that to be able to do anything. Is
> this
> > a Nomination or a Self-Nomination? Are you getting an error message? Is
> this
> > the same issue with the information not being saved?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Aranel
> >
>
> I'm on a delay with this list. I had all my various mails over the
> last few years being dumped into my huffman mail, and since I've lost
> all my passwords and their all keyed to the old htcomp account which
> is long dead, I just fw all the huffman mail to my new burkheart mail
> since I got divorced last year.
>
> so - the point of all that is that the sulriel mail has to be fw'd
> twice before I get it and I just tried to get to the list to read
> online and locked myself out of that account.
>
> you can email me privately if that would be faster/easier for you.
>
> I logged out and reloaded the language file and logged back in.
> I still am getting the same error: "The data you entered is
> incomplete. Please check your entries."
>
> this is on a nom for another author.
>
> earlier, while the problems were still ongoing, I was able to enter a
> self nom. All the cate and genre information disappeared, but i was
> able to put it back in through the 'edit' function and it stayed.
>
> Then I was able to nom a story by another author. It initally told me
> "incompletely", but then went.
>
> But I've tried two different stories, but different authors and
> neither one will go. I haven't tried another self-nom.
>
> Let me know what else is needed. I don't mind doing another self-nom
> if that would help. I'll have to see what I have.
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanx, Aranel; clearing the browser cache seems to have done the trick; and I've done my first five nominations.


Raksha, much relieved!



<<<<<<<<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Aranel Took <araneltook@...> wrote:

>
> Hi Raksha,
>
> It's possible your browser may have cached the old page and is using that
> rather than re-loading the updated page.
>
> Things to try:
>
> - Clear your browser cache and try loading the page again.
> - If that doesn't work, quit and restart your browser.
> - If neither of those work, send an email to techsupport@... and
> we'll try to figure out what's happening.
>
> Thanks,
> Aranel
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:18 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi, Aranel:
> >
> >
> > I fill out the author name, story title, story URL, and add the Author's
> > email address to the last field; press SUBMIT and get an "Incomplete"
> > message. I've also tried it leaving the last field (the one with Author's
> > Notes, Nominator's notes) blank, and I still get a message telling me that
> > the form is Incomplete.
> >
> > I was able to fill in several fields in the form for my own stories that
> > were nominated by someone else, and save that changed form.
> >
> >
> > Raksha
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Great, Raksha! Thanks for letting me know!

Aranel

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 11:39 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@aol.com> wrote:

> Thanx, Aranel; clearing the browser cache seems to have done the trick; and
> I've done my first five nominations.
>
>
> Raksha, much relieved!
>
>
>
> <<<<<<<<<--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Aranel Took <araneltook@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Raksha,
> >
> > It's possible your browser may have cached the old page and is using that
> > rather than re-loading the updated page.
> >
> > Things to try:
> >
> > - Clear your browser cache and try loading the page again.
> > - If that doesn't work, quit and restart your browser.
> > - If neither of those work, send an email to techsupport@... and
> > we'll try to figure out what's happening.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Aranel
> >
> > On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 10:18 PM, raksha022002 <PGail99@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi, Aranel:
> > >
> > >
> > > I fill out the author name, story title, story URL, and add the
> Author's
> > > email address to the last field; press SUBMIT and get an "Incomplete"
> > > message. I've also tried it leaving the last field (the one with
> Author's
> > > Notes, Nominator's notes) blank, and I still get a message telling me
> that
> > > the form is Incomplete.
> > >
> > > I was able to fill in several fields in the form for my own stories
> that
> > > were nominated by someone else, and save that changed form.
> > >
> > >
> > > Raksha
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just noticed that stories nominated from last year for Aearwen22 are not listed on the Previously Nominated Stories list. I can't find her at all though I know she had a number of stories that competed.

NiRi

Hi NiRi,

Are you talking about the author of Elladaniel, En Route, First Impressions,
and so on? If so, she's listed - but at the end of the "Ae" authors. Her
displayed name is " Aeärwen", and I think because of the diacritical over
the second 'a', the archive alphebatizes her at the end of all 'Ae' authors.
If that makes sense.

Is this the author you were referring to?

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of nierielraina
> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 2:11 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Previously Nominated Stories - some missing?
>
>
>
> I just noticed that stories nominated from last year for Aearwen22 are
> not listed on the Previously Nominated Stories list. I can't find her
> at all though I know she had a number of stories that competed.
>
> NiRi
>
>
>
>

Yes, that's her. Thank you.

NiRi

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hi NiRi,
>
> Are you talking about the author of Elladaniel, En Route, First Impressions,
> and so on? If so, she's listed - but at the end of the "Ae" authors. Her
> displayed name is " Aeärwen", and I think because of the diacritical over
> the second 'a', the archive alphebatizes her at the end of all 'Ae' authors.
> If that makes sense.
>
> Is this the author you were referring to?
>
> Marta

Hello everyone!

After the first few banners I've made, now I have to make a pause, for I will be away from home (and computer) for a few days. When I return, I'll make more; if you have any wishes, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll do my best to make as many banners as possible. :)
Bye,

Ellynn





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey guys,

One of our liaisons ran into some "fake virus alert" malware at an archive
site last night while working on approving stories. She received a popup ad
that told her that her computer was corrupted and she needed to purchase
some software to fix it. (There's an explanation of these kinds of threats
at http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx).

We've done a little investigation and it seems there have been incidents in
the past when the adverts shown on some archive sites have included malware
of this kind. In this instance, the story was hosted at fanfiction.net, but
this is by no means the only site where this could happen. It can
potentially happen on any site that displays adverts supplied by one of the
advertising network, and on any story that happens to have that ad served
when it's displayed.

Please be alert to these kinds of scams and do not click on them. (The best
thing is to shut your browser down completely without closing that
particular window on its own if you can.)

You should make sure you have a good anti-virus program installed and keep
it up to date. There are several good free anti-virus solutions available,
for example:

--- AVG: http://free.avg.com/
--- Avast: http://www.avast.com

(Don't forget to have a firewall in place, too!)

You should also consider using adblocking software such as the Adblock Plus
extensions for various browsers, or switching on adblocking and popup
blocking if it's built into your browser (Internet Explorer 8 and Opera both
have some kind of adblocking support) to keep ads at bay.

We sincerely hope that, by taking these steps you can enjoy the 2010 MEFAs
without risking a computer melt-down. Happy nominating!

Marta (MEFA Admin.)

This is a very timely warning, Marta. Some of these adverts can even auto-download malware to your computer without you even touching them! You don't have to click on the ad; you just visit the page and WHAM! your computer is infected. I've had that happen to me twice: once when visiting fanfiction.net, but once when visiting a reputable non-fanfic site (The Atlantic Monthly). Even big-name places like The New York Times, CNN, and YouTube have occasionally hosted these infectious ads. Adblocking software is like a condom for your browser; I can't recommend it highly enough! And if you are using a PC and have Firefox as your browser, you might also consider installing the Firefox plugin NoScript; it preemptively blocks both Flash and Javascript as well as other nasty things from running unless you specifically allow them, allowing you much more control over what's permitted to run on your system.

Ithilwen

-----Original Message-----

From: telperion1

Sent: May 24, 2010 7:35 AM

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)


Hey guys,


One of our liaisons ran into some "fake virus alert" malware at an archive

site last night while working on approving stories. She received a popup ad

that told her that her computer was corrupted and she needed to purchase

some software to fix it. (There's an explanation of these kinds of threats

at http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx).



We've done a little investigation and it seems there have been incidents in

the past when the adverts shown on some archive sites have included malware

of this kind. In this instance, the story was hosted at fanfiction.net, but

this is by no means the only site where this could happen. It can

potentially happen on any site that displays adverts supplied by one of the

advertising network, and on any story that happens to have that ad served

when it's displayed.



Please be alert to these kinds of scams and do not click on them. (The best

thing is to shut your browser down completely without closing that

particular window on its own if you can.)



You should make sure you have a good anti-virus program installed and keep

it up to date. There are several good free anti-virus solutions available,

for example:



--- AVG: http://free.avg.com/

--- Avast: http://www.avast.com



(Don't forget to have a firewall in place, too!)



You should also consider using adblocking software such as the Adblock Plus

extensions for various browsers, or switching on adblocking and popup

blocking if it's built into your browser (Internet Explorer 8 and Opera both

have some kind of adblocking support) to keep ads at bay.



We sincerely hope that, by taking these steps you can enjoy the 2010 MEFAs

without risking a computer melt-down. Happy nominating!



Marta (MEFA Admin.)

Hi there!

> We've done a little investigation and it seems there have been incidents in
> the past when the adverts shown on some archive sites have included
> malware of this kind. In this instance, the story was hosted at fanfiction.
> net, but this is by no means the only site where this could happen.

That is the major reason why I reset the primary URL for my nominated stories to a different place entirely. Unfortunately, I've heard of several viral infections originating from FFN.

Cuio mae.

Aeärwen

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be possible to
suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the SoA
location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about FF.net's
pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has started a
letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know. I'll be
glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)

And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site (guilty as
charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their host
website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate location
to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk anyone
wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of posting and
cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Letting the folks at ff.net know that their ad provider is serving up a problematic ad is a good idea, but I'm not sure how much it will change things. The problem is, it isn't simply ff.net's ad provider that is the problem - it's ALL the ad providers. Not a single ad service out there is 100% reliable about keeping bad ads off their network. Even Google Ads have served up malware-containing ads on occasion. ANY site, anywhere, that serves the reader ads is a security risk. That includes LiveJournal. And while I certainly agree that it would be nice for folks to use story links that go back to only ad-free sites, I'm not sure how we'd go about suggesting they do it.

The bottom line is, allowing any ads whatsoever to run on your computer is inherently risky. (Heck, allowing any Flash, Javascript, or Java applets served up by a third-party site to run on your computer is a security risk.) If you can install an ad-blocker, a Flash-blocker, or NoScript on your browser, you should definitely do so. Otherwsie it's just a matter of time before your computer is infected. These days, surfing the web without blocking software installed is an online form of Russian roulette.

Ithilwen


-----Original Message-----

From: Neume Indil

Sent: May 24, 2010 4:06 PM

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)


I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be possible to

suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the SoA

location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary

location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about FF.net's

pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has started a

letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know. I'll be

glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)



And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site (guilty as

charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their host

website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate location

to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk anyone

wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of posting and

cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.

Every site on the web is vulnerable to being infected with attacks like this, so just using other sites when possible doesn't solve the problem.... I recently did a paid account for the LJ community I moderate because the ads on LJ are very dangerous, and paid communities don't have ads. Ithilwen's recommendation to use a pop-up blocker and also seriously consider using Firefox (a much safer browser than IE) and getting their "NoScript" plugin which blocks Flash and JavaScript also (another major avenue of attack) is a must in this day and age.

Cactuskim




________________________________
From: Diana Nevins <dlnevins@earthlink.net>
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 6:50:28 AM
Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)


This is a very timely warning, Marta. Some of these adverts can even auto-download malware to your computer without you even touching them! You don't have to click on the ad; you just visit the page and WHAM! your computer is infected. I've had that happen to me twice: once when visiting fanfiction.net, but once when visiting a reputable non-fanfic site (The Atlantic Monthly). Even big-name places like The New York Times, CNN, and YouTube have occasionally hosted these infectious ads. Adblocking software is like a condom for your browser; I can't recommend it highly enough! And if you are using a PC and have Firefox as your browser, you might also consider installing the Firefox plugin NoScript; it preemptively blocks both Flash and Javascript as well as other nasty things from running unless you specifically allow them, allowing you much more control over what's permitted to run on your system.

Ithilwen

-----Original Message-----

From: telperion1

Sent: May 24, 2010 7:35 AM

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)

Hey guys,

One of our liaisons ran into some "fake virus alert" malware at an archive

site last night while working on approving stories. She received a popup ad

that told her that her computer was corrupted and she needed to purchase

some software to fix it. (There's an explanation of these kinds of threats

at http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx).

We've done a little investigation and it seems there have been incidents in

the past when the adverts shown on some archive sites have included malware

of this kind. In this instance, the story was hosted at fanfiction.net, but

this is by no means the only site where this could happen. It can

potentially happen on any site that displays adverts supplied by one of the

advertising network, and on any story that happens to have that ad served

when it's displayed.

Please be alert to these kinds of scams and do not click on them. (The best

thing is to shut your browser down completely without closing that

particular window on its own if you can.)

You should make sure you have a good anti-virus program installed and keep

it up to date. There are several good free anti-virus solutions available,

for example:

--- AVG: http://free.avg.com/

--- Avast: http://www.avast.com

(Don't forget to have a firewall in place, too!)

You should also consider using adblocking software such as the Adblock Plus

extensions for various browsers, or switching on adblocking and popup

blocking if it's built into your browser (Internet Explorer 8 and Opera both

have some kind of adblocking support) to keep ads at bay.

We sincerely hope that, by taking these steps you can enjoy the 2010 MEFAs

without risking a computer melt-down. Happy nominating!

Marta (MEFA Admin.)




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ditto that Ithilwen, I was just posting about this and your first comment apparently while you were posting this ;p.

Cactuskim




________________________________
From: Diana Nevins <dlnevins@earthlink.net>
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 1:47:54 PM
Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)


Letting the folks at ff.net know that their ad provider is serving up a problematic ad is a good idea, but I'm not sure how much it will change things. The problem is, it isn't simply ff.net's ad provider that is the problem - it's ALL the ad providers. Not a single ad service out there is 100% reliable about keeping bad ads off their network. Even Google Ads have served up malware-containing ads on occasion. ANY site, anywhere, that serves the reader ads is a security risk. That includes LiveJournal. And while I certainly agree that it would be nice for folks to use story links that go back to only ad-free sites, I'm not sure how we'd go about suggesting they do it.

The bottom line is, allowing any ads whatsoever to run on your computer is inherently risky. (Heck, allowing any Flash, Javascript, or Java applets served up by a third-party site to run on your computer is a security risk.) If you can install an ad-blocker, a Flash-blocker, or NoScript on your browser, you should definitely do so. Otherwsie it's just a matter of time before your computer is infected. These days, surfing the web without blocking software installed is an online form of Russian roulette.

Ithilwen

-----Original Message-----

From: Neume Indil

Sent: May 24, 2010 4:06 PM

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)

I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be possible to

suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the SoA

location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary

location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about FF.net's

pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has started a

letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know. I'll be

glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)

And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site (guilty as

charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their host

website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate location

to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk anyone

wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of posting and

cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hiya Neume,

As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While it is
true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't tied
to a certain story or even to a certain archive.

*Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides FF.net...)
is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer FF.net
to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they simply
like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their most
polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to get in
the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another. Given
this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories at one
archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just begging
for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.

I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run, to just
have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses like
this.

Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers allow
you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If you don't
want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted elsewhere
and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Neume Indil
> Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> (Oh, My!)
>
>
>
> I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be possible
> to
> suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the
> SoA
> location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> FF.net's
> pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> started a
> letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know.
> I'll be
> glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
>
> And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> (guilty as
> charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their host
> website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> location
> to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> anyone
> wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of posting
> and
> cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Hey guys,

Do you know any of these authors?

--- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
--- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
--- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
--- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
--- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
--- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
--- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
--- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
--- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)
--- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
--- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
--- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)

They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my records at
least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've been
nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the author
could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one
volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet. These
authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm yet; we
still have a bit of time.

--- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes fixing
any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the form a few
days before that deadline.

--- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they were
nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean starting the
form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be
withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two weeks,
you just have to get started.)

So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the
nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to drop them
a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if you see
your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your nomination,
or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll help
you get the ball rolling.

Thanks,

Marta (MEFA Admin.)

Hi there!

> Do you know any of these authors?

I've dropped emails to both SurgicalSteel and KyMahalei, asking them to get in touch with their liaisons.

Cuio mae.

Aeärwen

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I nominated one of Canafinwe's stories, and we talked about it back at the beginning of May. She seemed excited about the prospect, but I haven't heard anything since. I just sent her an email, so maybe I'll hear something soon. Possibly the nomination announcement was lost in the junkmail...?

Thundera

---------------------------------------------
"No one can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion."
Colonel Flagg - M*A*S*H
---------------------------------------------

On browser safety: Firefox (version 3.x) is certainly safer than IE6, and anyone still running IE6 should definitely look into upgrading to IE8, if for whatever reason they can't/won't switch to Firefox.

Whichever browser you use, /always/ make sure you're running the latest version that you can run (obviously some people on older hardware may not always be able to run the most recent update).

Nath

.............................................~o^=o>
.....................................~o^=o>
..............................~o^=o>
........................~o^=o>

--- On Mon, 24/5/10, kimberli leal <kim@flash.net> wrote:

> From: kimberli leal <kim@flash.net>
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Monday, 24 May, 2010, 21:49
> Every site on the web is vulnerable
> to being infected with attacks like this,  so just
> using other sites when possible doesn't solve the
> problem.... I recently did a paid account for the LJ
> community I moderate because the ads on LJ are very
> dangerous,  and paid communities don't have ads.
> Ithilwen's recommendation to use a pop-up blocker and also
> seriously consider using Firefox (a much safer browser than
> IE) and getting their "NoScript" plugin which blocks Flash
> and JavaScript also (another major avenue of attack) is a
> must in this day and age.
>
> Cactuskim
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Diana Nevins <dlnevins@earthlink.net>
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 6:50:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses
> and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)
>
>  
> This is a very timely warning, Marta.  Some of these
> adverts can even auto-download malware to your computer
> without you even touching them!  You don't have to
> click on the ad; you just visit the page and WHAM! your
> computer is infected.  I've had that happen to me
> twice: once when visiting fanfiction.net, but once when
> visiting a reputable non-fanfic site (The Atlantic
> Monthly).  Even big-name places like The New York
> Times, CNN, and YouTube have occasionally hosted these
> infectious ads.  Adblocking software is like a condom
> for your browser; I can't recommend it highly enough! 
> And if you are using a PC and have Firefox as your browser,
> you might also consider installing the Firefox plugin
> NoScript; it preemptively blocks both Flash and Javascript
> as well as other nasty things from running unless you
> specifically allow them, allowing you much more control over
> what's permitted to run on your system.
>
> Ithilwen
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: telperion1
>
> Sent: May 24, 2010 7:35 AM
>
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and
> the MEFAs (Oh, My!)
>
> Hey guys,
>
> One of our liaisons ran into some "fake virus alert"
> malware at an archive
>
> site last night while working on approving stories. She
> received a popup ad
>
> that told her that her computer was corrupted and she
> needed to purchase
>
> some software to fix it. (There's an explanation of these
> kinds of threats
>
> at http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx).
>
> We've done a little investigation and it seems there have
> been incidents in
>
> the past when the adverts shown on some archive sites have
> included malware
>
> of this kind. In this instance, the story was hosted at
> fanfiction.net, but
>
> this is by no means the only site where this could happen.
> It can
>
> potentially happen on any site that displays adverts
> supplied by one of the
>
> advertising network, and on any story that happens to have
> that ad served
>
> when it's displayed.
>
> Please be alert to these kinds of scams and do not click on
> them. (The best
>
> thing is to shut your browser down completely without
> closing that
>
> particular window on its own if you can.)
>
> You should make sure you have a good anti-virus program
> installed and keep
>
> it up to date. There are several good free anti-virus
> solutions available,
>
> for example:
>
> --- AVG: http://free.avg.com/
>
> --- Avast: http://www.avast.com
>
> (Don't forget to have a firewall in place, too!)
>
> You should also consider using adblocking software such as
> the Adblock Plus
>
> extensions for various browsers, or switching on adblocking
> and popup
>
> blocking if it's built into your browser (Internet Explorer
> 8 and Opera both
>
> have some kind of adblocking support) to keep ads at bay.
>
> We sincerely hope that, by taking these steps you can enjoy
> the 2010 MEFAs
>
> without risking a computer melt-down. Happy nominating!
>
> Marta (MEFA Admin.)
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     MEFAwards-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>

I think Lady Bluejay is a school teacher and might be busy this time of
year, but I'll send her a PM through a site we both use to make sure she
knows about it.

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 11:59 PM, Laura <thunderalaura@juno.com> wrote:

>
>
> I nominated one of Canafinwe's stories, and we talked about it back at the
> beginning of May. She seemed excited about the prospect, but I haven't heard
> anything since. I just sent her an email, so maybe I'll hear something soon.
> Possibly the nomination announcement was lost in the junkmail...?
>
> Thundera
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> "No one can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I
> keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion."
> Colonel Flagg - M*A*S*H
> ---------------------------------------------
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi there! Thundera said:

> Possibly the nomination announcement was lost in the junkmail...?

Could be. I have more than one nomination, but I only received the very last announcement... And my IP doesn't have a spamfilter on it, that I know of.

Cuio mae.

Aeärwen

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Just a point of clarification:

"As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "

That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both since
this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one occasion?
Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or was
hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a feature
that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).

Sorry I wasn't clear before,
Neu

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> Hiya Neume,
>
> As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While it is
> true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't tied
> to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
>
> *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides FF.net...)
> is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer FF.net
> to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they simply
> like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their most
> polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to get in
> the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another. Given
> this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories at
> one
> archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just begging
> for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
>
> I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run, to
> just
> have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses like
> this.
>
> Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers allow
> you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If you
> don't
> want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted elsewhere
> and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
>
> Marta
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:
> MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On
> > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> > (Oh, My!)
> >
> >
> >
> > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be possible
> > to
> > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the
> > SoA
> > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> > FF.net's
> > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> > started a
> > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know.
> > I'll be
> > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
> >
> > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> > (guilty as
> > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their host
> > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> > location
> > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> > anyone
> > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of posting
> > and
> > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'll contact Dawn Felagund and Marethiel. ;)



Hey guys,



Do you know any of these authors?



--- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)

--- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)

--- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)

--- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)

--- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)

--- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)

--- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)

--- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

---




















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Neume,

You've got nothing to apologize for; I mis-spoke because I was in a hurry to
answer your email before heading out. I meant to say that I think it will do
more damage than good, to encourage people to *link* to one archive over
another. This is for a few reasons.

Most importantly: some people are very "territorial" about their favorite
archives. This comes from "fandom wars," where one site is put down and some
fandom members would say that the "good" fic is on a different site. For
many people being told not to use FF.net has some icky associations. (And
these associations probably apply to other sites, too, for different
people.) I'm not being dismissive of these feelings; for some people being
told "Archive [x] isn't welcome here" will be upsetting in a very real way.
Because we are an awards, and that necessarily involves winners and losers,
I think it is important to make everyone feel like they are equally a part
of the MEFA family as much as we can before those winners are announced. It
happens to be true that all authors are welcome, wherever they prefer to
post. I don't want to give people the wrong impression.

I know this isn't what you meant, but I don't want people to associate the
MEFAs with those past events. I think telling authors not to link to a
certain archive would have that association for some people - and fair or
not, accurate or not, that's something I want to avoid.

Also: when I tell someone not to use site [x] because the ads there may have
viruses, to a lot of people that means that other sites I don't list are
safe. But I can't guarantee that. Nobody can. And this isn't limited just to
sites that use ads. Anything that allows embedded content (videos and so on)
isn't safe, either. That's a big part of why I am reluctant to single out
sites to be avoided where possible, because it gives the illusion that sites
not listed are safe. And why I still wouldn't want to do that, even if the
concern I mentioned above, about avoiding memories of past fannish events,
wasn't an issue.

The only way to be really safe is to take safety steps like the ones people
have described in this thread. Have a good anti-virus program; use
ad-blockers; that kind of thing.

Anyway, I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Sorry if I wasn't clear
before.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Neume Indil
> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:17 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> (Oh, My!)
>
> Just a point of clarification:
>
> "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "
>
> That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
> posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
> addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both
> since
> this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one
> occasion?
> Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or
> was
> hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a
> feature
> that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).
>
> Sorry I wasn't clear before,
> Neu
>
> On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Hiya Neume,
> >
> > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While
> it is
> > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't
> tied
> > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
> >
> > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides
> FF.net...)
> > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer
> FF.net
> > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they
> simply
> > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their
> most
> > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to
> get in
> > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another.
> Given
> > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories
> at
> > one
> > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just
> begging
> > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
> >
> > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run,
> to
> > just
> > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses
> like
> > this.
> >
> > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers
> allow
> > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If
> you
> > don't
> > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted
> elsewhere
> > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
> >
> > Marta
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> [mailto:
> > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On
> > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the
> MEFAs
> > > (Oh, My!)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be
> possible
> > > to
> > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use
> the
> > > SoA
> > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> > > FF.net's
> > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> > > started a
> > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me
> know.
> > > I'll be
> > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
> > >
> > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> > > (guilty as
> > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their
> host
> > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> > > location
> > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> > > anyone
> > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of
> posting
> > > and
> > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Marlyn Bumpus
> Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 11:08 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
>
>
>
> Hi there!
>
> > Do you know any of these authors?
>
> I've dropped emails to both SurgicalSteel and KyMahalei, asking them to
> get in touch with their liaisons.
>
> Cuio mae.
>
> Aeärwen
>

Excellent, thanks.

Marta

I spoke to Elvenson about nominating him a while back, I'll get on the case today though...

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> Do you know any of these authors?
>
> --- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> --- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> --- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> --- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> --- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)
> --- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)
>
> They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my records at
> least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've been
> nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the author
> could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one
> volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet. These
> authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm yet; we
> still have a bit of time.
>
> --- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes fixing
> any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the form a few
> days before that deadline.
>
> --- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they were
> nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean starting the
> form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be
> withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two weeks,
> you just have to get started.)
>
> So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the
> nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to drop them
> a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if you see
> your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your nomination,
> or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll help
> you get the ball rolling.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Marta (MEFA Admin.)
>

I'm not sure why I'm on the list. I started my forms pretty much immediately
after receiving my nominations, and Elliska and I have been in touch. Thanks
to everyone who emailed me to let me know that I had been nominated! :)

Best regards,

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Just sent an email to Branwyn - she should see it later tonight.

Blessings,
Agape

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> Do you know any of these authors?
>
> --- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> --- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> --- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> --- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> --- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)
> --- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> --- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)
>
> They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my records at
> least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've been
> nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the author
> could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one
> volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet. These
> authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm yet; we
> still have a bit of time.
>
> --- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes fixing
> any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the form a few
> days before that deadline.
>
> --- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they were
> nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean starting the
> form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be
> withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two weeks,
> you just have to get started.)
>
> So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the
> nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to drop them
> a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if you see
> your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your nomination,
> or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll help
> you get the ball rolling.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Marta (MEFA Admin.)
>

I know Surgical Steel, Dawn Felegund, and Tehta. Tehta's not around much online these days, and may prove impossible to reach, but the other two should be no problem. I'll get on it!

Ithilwen

-----Original Message-----

From: telperion1

Sent: May 24, 2010 10:39 PM

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors

Hey guys,



Do you know any of these authors?



--- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)

--- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)

--- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)

--- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)

--- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)

--- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)

--- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)

--- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

--- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)



They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my records at

least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've been

nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the author

could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one

volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet. These

authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm yet; we

still have a bit of time.



--- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes fixing

any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the form a few

days before that deadline.



--- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they were

nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean starting the

form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be

withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two weeks,

you just have to get started.)



So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the

nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to drop them

a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if you see

your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your nomination,

or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll help

you get the ball rolling.



Thanks,


Marta (MEFA Admin.)

Hi Neume,

I'd like to clarify on this that the second URL provided on the nomination form this year is not available to readers (it's only in the "nomination notes"), so even with both URLs provided there is still only one link publicly available for the story.

Next year's site will have both URLs (as links) available to readers (if the author chooses to provide both).

Aranel
MEFA Tech Support

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Neume Indil <neumeindil@...> wrote:
>
> Just a point of clarification:
>
> "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "
>
> That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
> posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
> addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both since
> this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one occasion?
> Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or was
> hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a feature
> that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).
>
> Sorry I wasn't clear before,
> Neu
>
> On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Hiya Neume,
> >
> > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While it is
> > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't tied
> > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
> >
> > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides FF.net...)
> > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer FF.net
> > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they simply
> > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their most
> > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to get in
> > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another. Given
> > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories at
> > one
> > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just begging
> > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
> >
> > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run, to
> > just
> > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses like
> > this.
> >
> > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers allow
> > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If you
> > don't
> > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted elsewhere
> > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
> >
> > Marta
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:
> > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On
> > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> > > (Oh, My!)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be possible
> > > to
> > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the
> > > SoA
> > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> > > FF.net's
> > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> > > started a
> > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know.
> > > I'll be
> > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
> > >
> > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> > > (guilty as
> > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their host
> > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> > > location
> > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> > > anyone
> > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of posting
> > > and
> > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I had a good security filter that stopped and deleted the trojan virus after just opening link to a story on fanfiction - but the virus had already infected my computer.

Tanaqui tried to help, but the system was so compromised that I could not even open a gmail link. Linaewen, bless her, helped me add Adblock to my system - hopefully, this will help. However, I can no longer use any of the yahoo services through IE. I keep getting error messages, so I'm using Firefox.

However, and this should be taken into account when one considers whether or not to let other 'readers' know about such problems... There are folks out there as computer-illiterate as I. Only with the help of friends and family was I able to 'save' my computer.

I will NOT read anything on fanfiction or any site that takes ads from now on.... even with the adblock, and a good virus protection system, I will not chance this horror. It took days to get my computer back - after listening to the poor thing hiccup for three days. I do NOT have the funds to use Geek Squad and other such pay-through-the-nose help avenues.

I sorely rue this action, but I cannot chance the loss of my computer.

Blessings,
Agape

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Neume,
>
> You've got nothing to apologize for; I mis-spoke because I was in a hurry to
> answer your email before heading out. I meant to say that I think it will do
> more damage than good, to encourage people to *link* to one archive over
> another. This is for a few reasons.
>
> Most importantly: some people are very "territorial" about their favorite
> archives. This comes from "fandom wars," where one site is put down and some
> fandom members would say that the "good" fic is on a different site. For
> many people being told not to use FF.net has some icky associations. (And
> these associations probably apply to other sites, too, for different
> people.) I'm not being dismissive of these feelings; for some people being
> told "Archive [x] isn't welcome here" will be upsetting in a very real way.
> Because we are an awards, and that necessarily involves winners and losers,
> I think it is important to make everyone feel like they are equally a part
> of the MEFA family as much as we can before those winners are announced. It
> happens to be true that all authors are welcome, wherever they prefer to
> post. I don't want to give people the wrong impression.
>
> I know this isn't what you meant, but I don't want people to associate the
> MEFAs with those past events. I think telling authors not to link to a
> certain archive would have that association for some people - and fair or
> not, accurate or not, that's something I want to avoid.
>
> Also: when I tell someone not to use site [x] because the ads there may have
> viruses, to a lot of people that means that other sites I don't list are
> safe. But I can't guarantee that. Nobody can. And this isn't limited just to
> sites that use ads. Anything that allows embedded content (videos and so on)
> isn't safe, either. That's a big part of why I am reluctant to single out
> sites to be avoided where possible, because it gives the illusion that sites
> not listed are safe. And why I still wouldn't want to do that, even if the
> concern I mentioned above, about avoiding memories of past fannish events,
> wasn't an issue.
>
> The only way to be really safe is to take safety steps like the ones people
> have described in this thread. Have a good anti-virus program; use
> ad-blockers; that kind of thing.
>
> Anyway, I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Sorry if I wasn't clear
> before.
>
> Marta
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:17 AM
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> > (Oh, My!)
> >
> > Just a point of clarification:
> >
> > "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "
> >
> > That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
> > posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
> > addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both
> > since
> > this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one
> > occasion?
> > Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or
> > was
> > hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a
> > feature
> > that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).
> >
> > Sorry I wasn't clear before,
> > Neu
> >
> > On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@...>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Hiya Neume,
> > >
> > > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While
> > it is
> > > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't
> > tied
> > > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
> > >
> > > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides
> > FF.net...)
> > > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer
> > FF.net
> > > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they
> > simply
> > > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their
> > most
> > > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to
> > get in
> > > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another.
> > Given
> > > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories
> > at
> > > one
> > > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just
> > begging
> > > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
> > >
> > > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run,
> > to
> > > just
> > > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses
> > like
> > > this.
> > >
> > > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers
> > allow
> > > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If
> > you
> > > don't
> > > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted
> > elsewhere
> > > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
> > >
> > > Marta
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > [mailto:
> > > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On
> > > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> > > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the
> > MEFAs
> > > > (Oh, My!)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be
> > possible
> > > > to
> > > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use
> > the
> > > > SoA
> > > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> > > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> > > > FF.net's
> > > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> > > > started a
> > > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me
> > know.
> > > > I'll be
> > > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
> > > >
> > > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> > > > (guilty as
> > > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their
> > host
> > > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> > > > location
> > > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> > > > anyone
> > > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of
> > posting
> > > > and
> > > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>

After receiving the first e-mail from a friend telling me I was on the 'hard to reach' list, I almost immediately completed all three of my nomination forms. I've gotten four more since. Can we now get the word out that I'm not hard to reach? ;)

Surgical Steel

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Diana Nevins <dlnevins@...> wrote:
>
> I know Surgical Steel, Dawn Felegund, and Tehta. Tehta's not around much online these days, and may prove impossible to reach, but the other two should be no problem. I'll get on it!
>
> Ithilwen
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: telperion1
>
> Sent: May 24, 2010 10:39 PM
>
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
>
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
>
> Hey guys,
>
>
>
> Do you know any of these authors?
>
>
>
> --- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> --- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
>
> --- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> --- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
>
> --- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
>
> --- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
>
> --- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
>
> --- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
>
> --- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)
>
> --- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> --- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> --- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)
>
>
>
> They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my records at
>
> least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've been
>
> nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the author
>
> could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one
>
> volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet. These
>
> authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm yet; we
>
> still have a bit of time.
>
>
>
> --- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes fixing
>
> any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the form a few
>
> days before that deadline.
>
>
>
> --- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they were
>
> nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean starting the
>
> form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be
>
> withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two weeks,
>
> you just have to get started.)
>
>
>
> So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the
>
> nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to drop them
>
> a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if you see
>
> your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your nomination,
>
> or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll help
>
> you get the ball rolling.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Marta (MEFA Admin.)
>

You are probably on the list because your status us still set to "Emailed Author" (i.e. it was never changed to "Author has begun but not finished form" or whatever the exact wording is). No worries. I know you are contacted. Sorry about the confusion. elliska

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Dawn Felagund <DawnFelagund@...> wrote:
>
> I'm not sure why I'm on the list. I started my forms pretty much immediately
> after receiving my nominations, and Elliska and I have been in touch. Thanks
> to everyone who emailed me to let me know that I had been nominated! :)
>
> Best regards,
>
> Dawn
>
> --
> ~oOo~
> Dawn Felagund
> http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
> http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Ah! Apparently I missed the part about them not being available this year,
or read that they would be for next year as that they'd be ready for this
year's awards. My mistake.

All settled now. :)

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Aranel <araneltook@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> Hi Neume,
>
> I'd like to clarify on this that the second URL provided on the nomination
> form this year is not available to readers (it's only in the "nomination
> notes"), so even with both URLs provided there is still only one link
> publicly available for the story.
>
> Next year's site will have both URLs (as links) available to readers (if
> the author chooses to provide both).
>
> Aranel
> MEFA Tech Support
>
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>, Neume
> Indil <neumeindil@...> wrote:
> >
> > Just a point of clarification:
> >
> > "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "
> >
> > That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
> > posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
> > addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both since
> > this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one
> occasion?
> > Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or
> was
> > hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a
> feature
> > that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).
> >
> > Sorry I wasn't clear before,
> > Neu
> >
> > On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Hiya Neume,
> > >
> > > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While it
> is
> > > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't
> tied
> > > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
> > >
> > > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides
> FF.net...)
> > > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer
> FF.net
> > > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they
> simply
> > > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their
> most
> > > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to get
> in
> > > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another.
> Given
> > > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories
> at
> > > one
> > > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just
> begging
> > > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
> > >
> > > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run, to
> > > just
> > > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses
> like
> > > this.
> > >
> > > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers
> allow
> > > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If you
> > > don't
> > > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted
> elsewhere
> > > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
> > >
> > > Marta
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com><MEFAwards%
> 40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:
> > > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> <MEFAwards%
> 40yahoogroups.com>] On
> > > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> > > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com><MEFAwards%
> 40yahoogroups.com>
> > > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the
> MEFAs
> > > > (Oh, My!)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be
> possible
> > > > to
> > > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use the
> > > > SoA
> > > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> > > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> > > > FF.net's
> > > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> > > > started a
> > > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me know.
> > > > I'll be
> > > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
> > > >
> > > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> > > > (guilty as
> > > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their
> host
> > > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> > > > location
> > > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> > > > anyone
> > > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of
> posting
> > > > and
> > > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Surgical Steel,

I have edited the LJ post to show people don't need to email you. I can't
edit Yahoo posts, but hopefully people will see your email and know not to
try to reach you.

Sorry if we've been a bit enthusiastic. And thanks for working on your
forms.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of surgeon_ruth
> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 5:02 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
>
>
>
> After receiving the first e-mail from a friend telling me I was on the
> 'hard to reach' list, I almost immediately completed all three of my
> nomination forms. I've gotten four more since. Can we now get the word
> out that I'm not hard to reach? ;)
>
> Surgical Steel
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> ,
> Diana Nevins <dlnevins@...> wrote:
> >
> > I know Surgical Steel, Dawn Felegund, and Tehta. Tehta's not around
> much online these days, and may prove impossible to reach, but the
> other two should be no problem. I'll get on it!
> >
> > Ithilwen
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> > From: telperion1
> >
> > Sent: May 24, 2010 10:39 PM
> >
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> >
> > Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
> >
> > Hey guys,
> >
> >
> >
> > Do you know any of these authors?
> >
> >
> >
> > --- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> >
> > --- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen,
> virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)
> >
> > --- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> > --- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> > --- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)
> >
> >
> >
> > They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my
> records at
> >
> > least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've
> been
> >
> > nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the
> author
> >
> > could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one
> >
> > volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet.
> These
> >
> > authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm
> yet; we
> >
> > still have a bit of time.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes
> fixing
> >
> > any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the
> form a few
> >
> > days before that deadline.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they
> were
> >
> > nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean
> starting the
> >
> > form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be
> >
> > withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two
> weeks,
> >
> > you just have to get started.)
> >
> >
> >
> > So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the
> >
> > nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to
> drop them
> >
> > a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if
> you see
> >
> > your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your
> nomination,
> >
> > or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll
> help
> >
> > you get the ball rolling.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> >
> > Marta (MEFA Admin.)
> >
>
>
>
>

Hi Dawn,

I think the confusion was that your stories had the status "Email sent to
author." That usually means that you the author had been contacted but had
not begun your form; though obviously not this time! Since I saw that I
assumed that you hadn't begun your form. While I thought you would complete
the nominations at some point, I aim to be over-thorough rather than
under-thorough and so included you.

I've updated the status of your nominations to "Author has begun but not
finished form," which should keep you off future lists. I'll also go edit
the LJ post, so hopefully people won't contact you anymore. If they do, my
apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for the patience as we work
this out.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Dawn Felagund
> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 11:26 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
>
>
>
> I'm not sure why I'm on the list. I started my forms pretty much
> immediately
> after receiving my nominations, and Elliska and I have been in touch.
> Thanks
> to everyone who emailed me to let me know that I had been nominated! :)
>
> Best regards,
>
> Dawn
>
> --
> ~oOo~
> Dawn Felagund
> http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
> http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>

No worries, Marta! It is indeed better to be safe than sorry. And, believe
me, after juggling Back to Middle-earth Month this year, I have a much
better appreciation for running events that require a lot of admin work
behind the scenes. You all always do a fab job! :)

Dawn

--
~oOo~
Dawn Felagund
http://themidhavens.net/heretic_loremaster/
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Agape,

If you have the installation disk for your Operating system, then you can always reformat your hard drive and get a whole new start and have a completely clean healthy system . You just need to make sure you back up all of your files first (reformatting/re-installing the operating system will wipe out EVERYTHING on your Hard drive) after you re-install the OS, you then install your Anti-virus right away and Update the OS so that it has the latest updates (your installation disk will not have the latest patches from Microsoft). Then add in any other security software you use like Ad-block and re-install all of your other programs, and finally copy your personal files from the back-up back onto your now clean Hard drive.

If you go to Microsoft's site, they should have instructions on how to reformat/re-install Windows OS. There are also other members here who have had lots of experience doing this who might be able to help. Sometimes when a system gets hit badly, reformatting is the only way to get it healthy again.

As for using Firefox; I would recommend staying with firefox, it is Much more secure than even IE8... Sorry, I know there are some Die-hard IE users, but it is just a totally unsafe platform because of a combination of it's dependence on 'Active-X' and Microsoft's truly horrid record of not patching potential security problems when they are pointed out until AFTER someone starts to exploit them. I have several people in my LJ group who have been hit repeatedly with Trojans (Monthly) and when they finally switched to Firefox, they were not been hit again. I have read several articles that explaine in great detail what the problem is with all versions of IE, and can probably dig them out if necessary.

BTW, I have been using Firefox, and before that Netscape (also Mozilla) for 8 years, and have NEVER been hit at ff.net, not even once. For a long time I scratched my head and wondered about Why I never had the problems others did, but after researching IE, I'm not scratching my head any more.

Re Antivirus protection; there are lots of places and people that say that the free Antivirus programs are just as good as the paid programs. IMO you get what you pay for. If you are at ground Zero... the small group of people hit with something totally new Before it has been reported to any of the AV groups or MS so that a patch/protection can be made and issued, you are going down *sorry*, no way around that, but the good news it that very few people are in that group... I was ground Zero 7 years ago with Blaster Worm and Sasser Worm . From the time those hit the net, to the time Norton had patches pushed out AND a fix for those who had been hit at ground Zero (like me), was about 36 hours. That's pretty impressive. I use 'Norton 360 Premier addition' (Norton's top of the line suit) it not only has Antivirus, you get an excellent firewall (Microsoft's firewall;especially XP sucks), you also get Anti-spyware and add blocking and other
security features... it is a total security suit. It ALSO will automatically do lots of maintenance that we frequently forget to do that slow down our computers, like scans, de-fraging your Hard drive and it can even be set to do auto back up for you (including 2GB of on-line storage).

I'm not saying that everyone should all run out and get it, but I will say that I have been using Norton 360 premier edition exclusively (no other security programs at all), and Firefox (with the anti-script plug-in) for the last 5 years on an 8 year old computer running XP professional, and I have not been hit with ANYTHING in that whole time dispute the fact that my Hobby (photomanipulation) involves doing searches that tend to dump you into some very high risk places. Will that Always be the case? Naw, I could still get nailed at ground Zero like I did 7 years ago... and with my luck probably will ;p. But keeping top of the line security installed and Backing up obsessively to protect against bad luck or hardware failure, is the best you can do.

Cactuskim









________________________________
From: agape4rivendell <agape4rivendell@gmail.com>
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 12:18:36 PM
Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)


I had a good security filter that stopped and deleted the trojan virus after just opening link to a story on fanfiction - but the virus had already infected my computer.

Tanaqui tried to help, but the system was so compromised that I could not even open a gmail link. Linaewen, bless her, helped me add Adblock to my system - hopefully, this will help. However, I can no longer use any of the yahoo services through IE. I keep getting error messages, so I'm using Firefox.

However, and this should be taken into account when one considers whether or not to let other 'readers' know about such problems... There are folks out there as computer-illiterate as I. Only with the help of friends and family was I able to 'save' my computer.

I will NOT read anything on fanfiction or any site that takes ads from now on.... even with the adblock, and a good virus protection system, I will not chance this horror. It took days to get my computer back - after listening to the poor thing hiccup for three days. I do NOT have the funds to use Geek Squad and other such pay-through-the-nose help avenues.

I sorely rue this action, but I cannot chance the loss of my computer.

Blessings,
Agape

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Neume,
>
> You've got nothing to apologize for; I mis-spoke because I was in a hurry to
> answer your email before heading out. I meant to say that I think it will do
> more damage than good, to encourage people to *link* to one archive over
> another. This is for a few reasons.
>
> Most importantly: some people are very "territorial" about their favorite
> archives. This comes from "fandom wars," where one site is put down and some
> fandom members would say that the "good" fic is on a different site. For
> many people being told not to use FF.net has some icky associations. (And
> these associations probably apply to other sites, too, for different
> people.) I'm not being dismissive of these feelings; for some people being
> told "Archive [x] isn't welcome here" will be upsetting in a very real way.
> Because we are an awards, and that necessarily involves winners and losers,
> I think it is important to make everyone feel like they are equally a part
> of the MEFA family as much as we can before those winners are announced. It
> happens to be true that all authors are welcome, wherever they prefer to
> post. I don't want to give people the wrong impression.
>
> I know this isn't what you meant, but I don't want people to associate the
> MEFAs with those past events. I think telling authors not to link to a
> certain archive would have that association for some people - and fair or
> not, accurate or not, that's something I want to avoid.
>
> Also: when I tell someone not to use site [x] because the ads there may have
> viruses, to a lot of people that means that other sites I don't list are
> safe. But I can't guarantee that. Nobody can. And this isn't limited just to
> sites that use ads. Anything that allows embedded content (videos and so on)
> isn't safe, either. That's a big part of why I am reluctant to single out
> sites to be avoided where possible, because it gives the illusion that sites
> not listed are safe. And why I still wouldn't want to do that, even if the
> concern I mentioned above, about avoiding memories of past fannish events,
> wasn't an issue.
>
> The only way to be really safe is to take safety steps like the ones people
> have described in this thread. Have a good anti-virus program; use
> ad-blockers; that kind of thing.
>
> Anyway, I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Sorry if I wasn't clear
> before.
>
> Marta
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:17 AM
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> > (Oh, My!)
> >
> > Just a point of clarification:
> >
> > "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "
> >
> > That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
> > posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
> > addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both
> > since
> > this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one
> > occasion?
> > Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or
> > was
> > hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a
> > feature
> > that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).
> >
> > Sorry I wasn't clear before,
> > Neu
> >
> > On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@...>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Hiya Neume,
> > >
> > > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
> > > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While
> > it is
> > > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't
> > tied
> > > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
> > >
> > > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides
> > FF.net...)
> > > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer
> > FF.net
> > > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they
> > simply
> > > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their
> > most
> > > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to
> > get in
> > > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another.
> > Given
> > > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories
> > at
> > > one
> > > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just
> > begging
> > > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
> > >
> > > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run,
> > to
> > > just
> > > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses
> > like
> > > this.
> > >
> > > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers
> > allow
> > > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If
> > you
> > > don't
> > > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted
> > elsewhere
> > > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
> > >
> > > Marta
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > [mailto:
> > > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On
> > > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
> > > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
> > > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the
> > MEFAs
> > > > (Oh, My!)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be
> > possible
> > > > to
> > > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use
> > the
> > > > SoA
> > > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
> > > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
> > > > FF.net's
> > > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
> > > > started a
> > > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me
> > know.
> > > > I'll be
> > > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
> > > >
> > > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
> > > > (guilty as
> > > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their
> > host
> > > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
> > > > location
> > > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
> > > > anyone
> > > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of
> > posting
> > > > and
> > > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Great post, Cactuskim!

Another useful tip is to get in the habit of backing up all the contents of your computer's hard drive onto a separate, portable hard drive at regular intervals. If you're using a Mac running Leopard or Snow Leopard, the built-in Time machine function makes this easy; I know it can be done with PCs running Windows and Linux as well, although I don't know the details for those systems. If you have a separate up-to-date backup disk, in the event you ever DO have to totally reformat your computer's hard drive, it's not a total catastrophe. You can restore your entire system from the backup hard drive, and lose nothing. It's really cheap insurance against computer disasters such as a nasty virus attack or a hard drive failure. Learn how to back up your own computer's hard drive, and then do it religiously! In the long run, it's worth it.

Ithilwen

-----Original Message-----

From: kimberli leal

Sent: May 25, 2010 8:23 PM

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)


Hi Agape,

If you have the installation disk for your Operating system, then you can always reformat your hard drive and get a whole new start and have a completely clean healthy system . You just need to make sure you back up all of your files first (reformatting/re-installing the operating system will wipe out EVERYTHING on your Hard drive) after you re-install the OS, you then install your Anti-virus right away and Update the OS so that it has the latest updates (your installation disk will not have the latest patches from Microsoft). Then add in any other security software you use like Ad-block and re-install all of your other programs, and finally copy your personal files from the back-up back onto your now clean Hard drive.

If you go to Microsoft's site, they should have instructions on how to reformat/re-install Windows OS. There are also other members here who have had lots of experience doing this who might be able to help. Sometimes when a system gets hit badly, reformatting is the only way to get it healthy again.

As for using Firefox; I would recommend staying with firefox, it is Much more secure than even IE8... Sorry, I know there are some Die-hard IE users, but it is just a totally unsafe platform because of a combination of it's dependence on 'Active-X' and Microsoft's truly horrid record of not patching potential security problems when they are pointed out until AFTER someone starts to exploit them. I have several people in my LJ group who have been hit repeatedly with Trojans (Monthly) and when they finally switched to Firefox, they were not been hit again. I have read several articles that explaine in great detail what the problem is with all versions of IE, and can probably dig them out if necessary.

BTW, I have been using Firefox, and before that Netscape (also Mozilla) for 8 years, and have NEVER been hit at ff.net, not even once. For a long time I scratched my head and wondered about Why I never had the problems others did, but after researching IE, I'm not scratching my head any more.

Re Antivirus protection; there are lots of places and people that say that the free Antivirus programs are just as good as the paid programs. IMO you get what you pay for. If you are at ground Zero... the small group of people hit with something totally new Before it has been reported to any of the AV groups or MS so that a patch/protection can be made and issued, you are going down *sorry*, no way around that, but the good news it that very few people are in that group... I was ground Zero 7 years ago with Blaster Worm and Sasser Worm . From the time those hit the net, to the time Norton had patches pushed out AND a fix for those who had been hit at ground Zero (like me), was about 36 hours. That's pretty impressive. I use 'Norton 360 Premier addition' (Norton's top of the line suit) it not only has Antivirus, you get an excellent firewall (Microsoft's firewall;especially XP sucks), you also get Anti-spyware and add blocking and other security features... it is a total security suit. It ALSO will automatically do lots of maintenance that we frequently forget to do that slow down our computers, like scans, de-fraging your Hard drive and it can even be set to do auto back up for you (including 2GB of on-line storage).

I'm not saying that everyone should all run out and get it, but I will say that I have been using Norton 360 premier edition exclusively (no other security programs at all), and Firefox (with the anti-script plug-in) for the last 5 years on an 8 year old computer running XP professional, and I have not been hit with ANYTHING in that whole time dispute the fact that my Hobby (photomanipulation) involves doing searches that tend to dump you into some very high risk places. Will that Always be the case? Naw, I could still get nailed at ground Zero like I did 7 years ago... and with my luck probably will ;p. But keeping top of the line security installed and Backing up obsessively to protect against bad luck or hardware failure, is the best you can do.

Cactuskim



________________________________

From: agape4rivendell <agape4rivendell@gmail.com>

To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 12:18:36 PM

Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh, My!)



I had a good security filter that stopped and deleted the trojan virus after just opening link to a story on fanfiction - but the virus had already infected my computer.



Tanaqui tried to help, but the system was so compromised that I could not even open a gmail link. Linaewen, bless her, helped me add Adblock to my system - hopefully, this will help. However, I can no longer use any of the yahoo services through IE. I keep getting error messages, so I'm using Firefox.



However, and this should be taken into account when one considers whether or not to let other 'readers' know about such problems... There are folks out there as computer-illiterate as I. Only with the help of friends and family was I able to 'save' my computer.



I will NOT read anything on fanfiction or any site that takes ads from now on.... even with the adblock, and a good virus protection system, I will not chance this horror. It took days to get my computer back - after listening to the poor thing hiccup for three days. I do NOT have the funds to use Geek Squad and other such pay-through-the-nose help avenues.



I sorely rue this action, but I cannot chance the loss of my computer.



Blessings,

Agape

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:

>

> Hi Neume,

>

> You've got nothing to apologize for; I mis-spoke because I was in a hurry to

> answer your email before heading out. I meant to say that I think it will do

> more damage than good, to encourage people to *link* to one archive over

> another. This is for a few reasons.

>

> Most importantly: some people are very "territorial" about their favorite

> archives. This comes from "fandom wars," where one site is put down and some

> fandom members would say that the "good" fic is on a different site. For

> many people being told not to use FF.net has some icky associations. (And

> these associations probably apply to other sites, too, for different

> people.) I'm not being dismissive of these feelings; for some people being

> told "Archive [x] isn't welcome here" will be upsetting in a very real way.

> Because we are an awards, and that necessarily involves winners and losers,

> I think it is important to make everyone feel like they are equally a part

> of the MEFA family as much as we can before those winners are announced. It

> happens to be true that all authors are welcome, wherever they prefer to

> post. I don't want to give people the wrong impression.

>

> I know this isn't what you meant, but I don't want people to associate the

> MEFAs with those past events. I think telling authors not to link to a

> certain archive would have that association for some people - and fair or

> not, accurate or not, that's something I want to avoid.

>

> Also: when I tell someone not to use site [x] because the ads there may have

> viruses, to a lot of people that means that other sites I don't list are

> safe. But I can't guarantee that. Nobody can. And this isn't limited just to

> sites that use ads. Anything that allows embedded content (videos and so on)

> isn't safe, either. That's a big part of why I am reluctant to single out

> sites to be avoided where possible, because it gives the illusion that sites

> not listed are safe. And why I still wouldn't want to do that, even if the

> concern I mentioned above, about avoiding memories of past fannish events,

> wasn't an issue.

>

> The only way to be really safe is to take safety steps like the ones people

> have described in this thread. Have a good anti-virus program; use

> ad-blockers; that kind of thing.

>

> Anyway, I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Sorry if I wasn't clear

> before.

>

> Marta

>

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On

> > Behalf Of Neume Indil

> > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:17 AM

> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com

> > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs

> > (Oh, My!)

> >

> > Just a point of clarification:

> >

> > "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start

> > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "

> >

> > That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone

> > posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2

> > addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both

> > since

> > this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one

> > occasion?

> > Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or

> > was

> > hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a

> > feature

> > that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).

> >

> > Sorry I wasn't clear before,

> > Neu

> >

> > On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@...>

> > wrote:

> >

> > >

> > >

> > > Hiya Neume,

> > >

> > > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start

> > > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While

> > it is

> > > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't

> > tied

> > > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.

> > >

> > > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides

> > FF.net...)

> > > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer

> > FF.net

> > > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they

> > simply

> > > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their

> > most

> > > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to

> > get in

> > > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another.

> > Given

> > > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories

> > at

> > > one

> > > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just

> > begging

> > > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.

> > >

> > > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run,

> > to

> > > just

> > > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses

> > like

> > > this.

> > >

> > > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers

> > allow

> > > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If

> > you

> > > don't

> > > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted

> > elsewhere

> > > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.

> > >

> > > Marta

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > > -----Original Message-----

> > > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>

> > [mailto:

> > > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On

> > > > Behalf Of Neume Indil

> > > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM

> > > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>

> > > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the

> > MEFAs

> > > > (Oh, My!)

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be

> > possible

> > > > to

> > > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use

> > the

> > > > SoA

> > > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary

> > > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about

> > > > FF.net's

> > > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has

> > > > started a

> > > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me

> > know.

> > > > I'll be

> > > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)

> > > >

> > > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site

> > > > (guilty as

> > > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their

> > host

> > > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate

> > > > location

> > > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk

> > > > anyone

> > > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of

> > posting

> > > > and

> > > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.

> > > >

> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> > > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> >

> >

> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> >

> >

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

> > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/

> > Yahoo! Groups Links

> >

> >

> >

>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Definitely a good suggestion to back up, Ithilwen! In fact, I just kicked
off a backup after reading your post.... I back up my data files every day
or two, and my entire system maybe once a month.

I used to have the Norton security suite, but it was expensive to renew
every year and noticeably slowned down my pc. So, I did some research last
year, and found some useful -- and free -- security software for Windows,
and thought I'd share what works for me, in case anyone else is
interested....

Malware Detection:
*Ad-Aware Free* by Lavasoft, at <www.lavasoft.com>
download free edition, currently version 8.2, at <
download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Free-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10045910.html>

Firewall:
*Outpost Free* 2009 by Agnitum, at <www.agnitum.com>
download free edition, currently version 2009, at <free.agnitum.com>

Antivirus:
*Avira AntiVir Personal - Free* by Avira, at <www.avira.com>
download free edition, currently version 10.0.0.567, at <
download.cnet.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html

>

I am sure there are also other good free utilities for the above functions.

However, I would like to highly recommend one more free utility, which keeps
track of security vulnerabilities for very commonly-installed programs and
utilities, such as browsers and plug-ins, Adobe Flash, Java Run-time,
Shockwave, Quicktime, etc. For example, within hours after a serious
security vulnerability in the Opera browser was patched, I was prompted to
upgrade. It also either tells you where to get the updated versions, or
often includes a link that you can simply click on to upgrade. A
knowledgeable techie I know called this program "worth its weight in
platinum":

Personal Software Inspector:
*Secunia PSI* from Secunia, at <www.secunia.com>
download free edition, currently version 1.5.0.1, at <
secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/>

Hope this helps!

- Barbara

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 5:58 PM, Diana Nevins <dlnevins@earthlink.net>wrote:

>
>
> Great post, Cactuskim!
>
> Another useful tip is to get in the habit of backing up all the contents of
> your computer's hard drive onto a separate, portable hard drive at regular
> intervals. If you're using a Mac running Leopard or Snow Leopard, the
> built-in Time machine function makes this easy; I know it can be done with
> PCs running Windows and Linux as well, although I don't know the details for
> those systems. If you have a separate up-to-date backup disk, in the event
> you ever DO have to totally reformat your computer's hard drive, it's not a
> total catastrophe. You can restore your entire system from the backup hard
> drive, and lose nothing. It's really cheap insurance against computer
> disasters such as a nasty virus attack or a hard drive failure. Learn how to
> back up your own computer's hard drive, and then do it religiously! In the
> long run, it's worth it.
>
> Ithilwen
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: kimberli leal
>
> Sent: May 25, 2010 8:23 PM
>
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
>
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
> (Oh, My!)
>
> Hi Agape,
>
> If you have the installation disk for your Operating system, then you can
> always reformat your hard drive and get a whole new start and have a
> completely clean healthy system . You just need to make sure you back up all
> of your files first (reformatting/re-installing the operating system will
> wipe out EVERYTHING on your Hard drive) after you re-install the OS, you
> then install your Anti-virus right away and Update the OS so that it has the
> latest updates (your installation disk will not have the latest patches from
> Microsoft). Then add in any other security software you use like Ad-block
> and re-install all of your other programs, and finally copy your personal
> files from the back-up back onto your now clean Hard drive.
>
> If you go to Microsoft's site, they should have instructions on how to
> reformat/re-install Windows OS. There are also other members here who have
> had lots of experience doing this who might be able to help. Sometimes when
> a system gets hit badly, reformatting is the only way to get it healthy
> again.
>
> As for using Firefox; I would recommend staying with firefox, it is Much
> more secure than even IE8... Sorry, I know there are some Die-hard IE users,
> but it is just a totally unsafe platform because of a combination of it's
> dependence on 'Active-X' and Microsoft's truly horrid record of not patching
> potential security problems when they are pointed out until AFTER someone
> starts to exploit them. I have several people in my LJ group who have been
> hit repeatedly with Trojans (Monthly) and when they finally switched to
> Firefox, they were not been hit again. I have read several articles that
> explaine in great detail what the problem is with all versions of IE, and
> can probably dig them out if necessary.
>
> BTW, I have been using Firefox, and before that Netscape (also Mozilla) for
> 8 years, and have NEVER been hit at ff.net, not even once. For a long time
> I scratched my head and wondered about Why I never had the problems others
> did, but after researching IE, I'm not scratching my head any more.
>
> Re Antivirus protection; there are lots of places and people that say that
> the free Antivirus programs are just as good as the paid programs. IMO you
> get what you pay for. If you are at ground Zero... the small group of people
> hit with something totally new Before it has been reported to any of the AV
> groups or MS so that a patch/protection can be made and issued, you are
> going down *sorry*, no way around that, but the good news it that very few
> people are in that group... I was ground Zero 7 years ago with Blaster Worm
> and Sasser Worm . From the time those hit the net, to the time Norton had
> patches pushed out AND a fix for those who had been hit at ground Zero (like
> me), was about 36 hours. That's pretty impressive. I use 'Norton 360 Premier
> addition' (Norton's top of the line suit) it not only has Antivirus, you get
> an excellent firewall (Microsoft's firewall;especially XP sucks), you also
> get Anti-spyware and add blocking and other security features... it is a
> total security suit. It ALSO will automatically do lots of maintenance that
> we frequently forget to do that slow down our computers, like scans,
> de-fraging your Hard drive and it can even be set to do auto back up for you
> (including 2GB of on-line storage).
>
> I'm not saying that everyone should all run out and get it, but I will say
> that I have been using Norton 360 premier edition exclusively (no other
> security programs at all), and Firefox (with the anti-script plug-in) for
> the last 5 years on an 8 year old computer running XP professional, and I
> have not been hit with ANYTHING in that whole time dispute the fact that my
> Hobby (photomanipulation) involves doing searches that tend to dump you into
> some very high risk places. Will that Always be the case? Naw, I could still
> get nailed at ground Zero like I did 7 years ago... and with my luck
> probably will ;p. But keeping top of the line security installed and Backing
> up obsessively to protect against bad luck or hardware failure, is the best
> you can do.
>
> Cactuskim
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: agape4rivendell <agape4rivendell@gmail.com<agape4rivendell%40gmail.com>
> >
>
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
>
> Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 12:18:36 PM
>
> Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs (Oh,
> My!)
>
> I had a good security filter that stopped and deleted the trojan virus
> after just opening link to a story on fanfiction - but the virus had already
> infected my computer.
>
> Tanaqui tried to help, but the system was so compromised that I could not
> even open a gmail link. Linaewen, bless her, helped me add Adblock to my
> system - hopefully, this will help. However, I can no longer use any of the
> yahoo services through IE. I keep getting error messages, so I'm using
> Firefox.
>
> However, and this should be taken into account when one considers whether
> or not to let other 'readers' know about such problems... There are folks
> out there as computer-illiterate as I. Only with the help of friends and
> family was I able to 'save' my computer.
>
> I will NOT read anything on fanfiction or any site that takes ads from now
> on.... even with the adblock, and a good virus protection system, I will not
> chance this horror. It took days to get my computer back - after listening
> to the poor thing hiccup for three days. I do NOT have the funds to use Geek
> Squad and other such pay-through-the-nose help avenues.
>
> I sorely rue this action, but I cannot chance the loss of my computer.
>
> Blessings,
>
> Agape
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> >
>
> > Hi Neume,
>
> >
>
> > You've got nothing to apologize for; I mis-spoke because I was in a hurry
> to
>
> > answer your email before heading out. I meant to say that I think it will
> do
>
> > more damage than good, to encourage people to *link* to one archive over
>
> > another. This is for a few reasons.
>
> >
>
> > Most importantly: some people are very "territorial" about their favorite
>
> > archives. This comes from "fandom wars," where one site is put down and
> some
>
> > fandom members would say that the "good" fic is on a different site. For
>
> > many people being told not to use FF.net has some icky associations. (And
>
> > these associations probably apply to other sites, too, for different
>
> > people.) I'm not being dismissive of these feelings; for some people
> being
>
> > told "Archive [x] isn't welcome here" will be upsetting in a very real
> way.
>
> > Because we are an awards, and that necessarily involves winners and
> losers,
>
> > I think it is important to make everyone feel like they are equally a
> part
>
> > of the MEFA family as much as we can before those winners are announced.
> It
>
> > happens to be true that all authors are welcome, wherever they prefer to
>
> > post. I don't want to give people the wrong impression.
>
> >
>
> > I know this isn't what you meant, but I don't want people to associate
> the
>
> > MEFAs with those past events. I think telling authors not to link to a
>
> > certain archive would have that association for some people - and fair or
>
> > not, accurate or not, that's something I want to avoid.
>
> >
>
> > Also: when I tell someone not to use site [x] because the ads there may
> have
>
> > viruses, to a lot of people that means that other sites I don't list are
>
> > safe. But I can't guarantee that. Nobody can. And this isn't limited just
> to
>
> > sites that use ads. Anything that allows embedded content (videos and so
> on)
>
> > isn't safe, either. That's a big part of why I am reluctant to single out
>
> > sites to be avoided where possible, because it gives the illusion that
> sites
>
> > not listed are safe. And why I still wouldn't want to do that, even if
> the
>
> > concern I mentioned above, about avoiding memories of past fannish
> events,
>
> > wasn't an issue.
>
> >
>
> > The only way to be really safe is to take safety steps like the ones
> people
>
> > have described in this thread. Have a good anti-virus program; use
>
> > ad-blockers; that kind of thing.
>
> >
>
> > Anyway, I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Sorry if I wasn't
> clear
>
> > before.
>
> >
>
> > Marta
>
> >
>
> > > -----Original Message-----
>
> > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:
> MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>] On
>
> > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:17 AM
>
> > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
>
> > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the MEFAs
>
> > > (Oh, My!)
>
> > >
>
> > > Just a point of clarification:
>
> > >
>
> > > "As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
>
> > > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. "
>
> > >
>
> > > That's not at all what I was suggesting. My point was that *if* someone
>
> > > posts at more than one site, they have the option now of providing 2
>
> > > addresses on the nomination form. Why not suggest they provide both
>
> > > since
>
> > > this problem has arisen for more than one person on more than one
>
> > > occasion?
>
> > > Iirc, the second web address was suggested after an archive crashed or
>
> > > was
>
> > > hacked during the awards last year; this might be another use for a
>
> > > feature
>
> > > that's new to the proceedings, but may not be well-known (yet).
>
> > >
>
> > > Sorry I wasn't clear before,
>
> > > Neu
>
> > >
>
> > > On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM, telperion1 <marta.fandom@...>
>
> > > wrote:
>
> > >
>
> > > >
>
> > > >
>
> > > > Hiya Neume,
>
> > > >
>
> > > > As a volunteer, I think it would do more damage than good to start
>
> > > > recommending that authors archive some places and not others. While
>
> > > it is
>
> > > > true that there's been a problem with viruses from FF.net, this isn't
>
> > > tied
>
> > > > to a certain story or even to a certain archive.
>
> > > >
>
> > > > *Any* archive that displays ads (and that includes many besides
>
> > > FF.net...)
>
> > > > is vulnerable to these issues. Also, many authors and readers prefer
>
> > > FF.net
>
> > > > to other archives for various reasons, ranging from technical (they
>
> > > simply
>
> > > > like the site's features better) to personal (like, they have their
>
> > > most
>
> > > > polished version there). Perhaps most importantly, I don't want to
>
> > > get in
>
> > > > the business of encouraging people to use one archive over another.
>
> > > Given
>
> > > > this fandom's history, that could make some people think that stories
>
> > > at
>
> > > > one
>
> > > > archive are more welcome at the MEFAs than another, which is just
>
> > > begging
>
> > > > for misunderstandings down the road. It's also simply not true.
>
> > > >
>
> > > > I think it would be simpler and better (and safer!) in the long run,
>
> > > to
>
> > > > just
>
> > > > have everyone take steps to make sure they're protected from viruses
>
> > > like
>
> > > > this.
>
> > > >
>
> > > > Of course, you as the reader can make your own choice. Most browsers
>
> > > allow
>
> > > > you to see what URL you are about to click by hovering over it. If
>
> > > you
>
> > > > don't
>
> > > > want to read at FF.net, it's okay to see if the story is posted
>
> > > elsewhere
>
> > > > and try to read it there, or to choose not to read it at all.
>
> > > >
>
> > > > Marta
>
> > > >
>
> > > >
>
> > > >
>
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
>
> > > > > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com><MEFAwards%
> 40yahoogroups.com>
>
> > > [mailto:
>
> > > > MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> <MEFAwards%
> 40yahoogroups.com>] On
>
> > > > > Behalf Of Neume Indil
>
> > > > > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:07 PM
>
> > > > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com><MEFAwards%
> 40yahoogroups.com>
>
> > > > > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Admin - Online Adverts, Viruses and the
>
> > > MEFAs
>
> > > > > (Oh, My!)
>
> > > > >
>
> > > > >
>
> > > > >
>
> > > > > I know for some stories this just won't work, but would it be
>
> > > possible
>
> > > > > to
>
> > > > > suggest to authors that a story posted at, say SoA and FF.net use
>
> > > the
>
> > > > > SoA
>
> > > > > location as the primary URL, with the FF.net address as a secondary
>
> > > > > location? In that way, fewer people will need to be concerned about
>
> > > > > FF.net's
>
> > > > > pesky pop up ads that still sneak through. (Also, if someone has
>
> > > > > started a
>
> > > > > letter writing campaign to FF.net's ad provider, please let me
>
> > > know.
>
> > > > > I'll be
>
> > > > > glad to throw my two cents into a politely worded email.)
>
> > > > >
>
> > > > > And, an idea: Obviously some authors post exclusively to one site
>
> > > > > (guilty as
>
> > > > > charged), but for those now concerned about the security of their
>
> > > host
>
> > > > > website, a Blogger or Live Journal account can be a good alternate
>
> > > > > location
>
> > > > > to post short to medium length pieces as well. I'd be happy to talk
>
> > > > > anyone
>
> > > > > wishing to start a Live Journal account through the process of
>
> > > posting
>
> > > > > and
>
> > > > > cuts, etc. and can be reached at this email address.
>
> > > > >
>
> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> > > > >
>
> > > >
>
> > > >
>
> > > >
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > > ------------------------------------
>
> > >
>
> > > Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
>
> > > Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Oh, I don't mind enthusiasm, LOL. Thing is, I'd only gotten one of the three e-mails sent to me regarding nominations (the other two ended up in my spam filter for reasons unknown) - and the one I received was on Saturday. I went to the site, saw I had three nominations and three forms to complete, and then promptly got called into the hospital to see a guy who didn't have appendicitis. Next thing I know, I get an e-mail saying I'm 'hard to reach.' I fill out all my forms and then get a ton more e-mails saying I'm hard to reach.

I'm sure the first e-mail must've been sent much earlier - but the first one I actually got was not even 72 hours before I completed all my forms. So I found it somewhat funny - that the surgeon who literally sleeps with a pager, a cell phone, and a land line phone in a neat row on the bedside table is 'hard to reach.' ;)

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "telperion1" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Surgical Steel,
>
> I have edited the LJ post to show people don't need to email you. I can't
> edit Yahoo posts, but hopefully people will see your email and know not to
> try to reach you.
>
> Sorry if we've been a bit enthusiastic. And thanks for working on your
> forms.
>
> Marta
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On
> > Behalf Of surgeon_ruth
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 5:02 PM
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
> >
> >
> >
> > After receiving the first e-mail from a friend telling me I was on the
> > 'hard to reach' list, I almost immediately completed all three of my
> > nomination forms. I've gotten four more since. Can we now get the word
> > out that I'm not hard to reach? ;)
> >
> > Surgical Steel
> >
> > --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com> ,
> > Diana Nevins <dlnevins@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I know Surgical Steel, Dawn Felegund, and Tehta. Tehta's not around
> > much online these days, and may prove impossible to reach, but the
> > other two should be no problem. I'll get on it!
> > >
> > > Ithilwen
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > >
> > > From: telperion1
> > >
> > > Sent: May 24, 2010 10:39 PM
> > >
> > > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MEFAwards%40yahoogroups.com>
> > >
> > > Subject: [MEFAwards] Admin - Possibly Hard-to-Reach Authors
> > >
> > > Hey guys,
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Do you know any of these authors?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- Branwyn (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Canafinwe (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Dawn Felagund (Liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Elvenson (Liaison: Marta, marta.fandomATgmailDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Estelyn Telcontar (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- KyMahalei (Liaison: foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Lady Bluejay (Liaison: Cathleen,
> > virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Lamiel (Liaison: Cathleen, virginia_lee_redcatATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Marethiel (Liaison: Linaewen, marggrenawaltATsbcglobalDOTnet)
> > >
> > > --- Raniel42 (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- SurgicalSteel (Liaison: Elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > > --- Tehta (Liaison: Dwimordene, dwimmer_laikATyahooDOTcom)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > They have all been nominated at least a week and (according to my
> > records at
> > >
> > > least!) have not given us any indication that they *know* they've
> > been
> > >
> > > nominated. Now, there are several reasons for that. For instance, the
> > author
> > >
> > > could be out of touch temporarily (it is the start of summer), or one
> > >
> > > volunteer may not have gotten the world to another volunteer yet.
> > These
> > >
> > > authors haven't done anything wrong, and there's no need for alarm
> > yet; we
> > >
> > > still have a bit of time.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- All nominations must be 100% completed by June 21. That includes
> > fixing
> > >
> > > any mistakes found on the form, so it's good to try to finish the
> > form a few
> > >
> > > days before that deadline.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- All nominated authors must give some indication they know they
> > were
> > >
> > > nominated, within two weeks of being nominated. This can mean
> > starting the
> > >
> > > form or emailing the liaison. If they don't, the nomination *may* be
> > >
> > > withdrawn, at our discretion. (You don't have to be done within two
> > weeks,
> > >
> > > you just have to get started.)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > So even if you see your name above, there's still time to accept the
> > >
> > > nomination. But if you know any of these authors, you may want to
> > drop them
> > >
> > > a line and make sure they know they've been nominated. Authors, if
> > you see
> > >
> > > your name listed, please contact your liaison for help with your
> > nomination,
> > >
> > > or mefasupportATgmailDOTcom for help logging in to our website. We'll
> > help
> > >
> > > you get the ball rolling.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > >
> > > Marta (MEFA Admin.)
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

On top of all the good advice (yes, Firefox, Adblock, NoScript + AV and a firewall), this sounds like a good time to remind people about Dreamwidth (http://www.dreamwidth.org/) and OTW's Archive Of Our Own (http://archiveofourown.org/) as possible archiving alternatives.

Both are, and are committed to remaining, ad-free. Dreamwidth, while not an archive per se, is fan-friendly, and is like LJ but without the ads and other recent ickiness. Whereas Archive of Our Own is of course *built* with fannish needs in mind. Both are still in Open Beta, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying the hell of out them.

If anyone's interested, I have invite codes for Dreamwidth available (contact me off-list), while Archive of Our Own has currently all of 6 people on its waiting list...!

For the record, while I'm a Translation volunteer for AO3, I have no connection to Dreamwidth other than being a Very Happy User.

Amanda.

P.S. Can I use this opportunity to ask that people trim the posts they're replying to to the important bits? I'm on digest, and it's kinda hard to find the actual messages among the copies of copies of copies.... Thanks!