Stay calm, Marsha, I didn't mean to imply you're on the DG marketing team, or anything, but although their section on use of material is much less lengthy than the one in the new iVillage TOS (as are their sections in pretty much ALL of their TOS, which is about the size of GW's OLD TOS when Spike still owned it), it DOES have the same gist to it, i.e., that they're saying they can use whatever you contribute however they see fit. It's kind of like some magazines that accept a lot of submissions from readers... For instance, I subscribe to "Birds & Blooms," and I LOVE the magazine... Each issue is FULL of plenty of beautiful pictures and occasionally a useful article or two, as well :) MANY of those photographs happen to be user-contributed, however, through various sections of the magazine where they tell you how you can contribute and in most cases they say something to the effect that "photographs cannot be returned and become the property of 'Birds & Blooms,'" thereby getting a lot of content for free -- or they sometimes will say they'll send you a free "suncatcher" or something similar if they use your photograph (token payment). That sort of thing is quite common among smaller PAPER publications. The INTERNET, on the other hand, is still a rather young and evolving area, and I think this idea of forums laying claim to perpetual use of all material posted on them might be a growing trend, since I now see it on both Dave's Garden and in the new iVillage TOS... Prior to this development, the internet, still being very much a sort of "wild west editorial environment," has had forums like these with sometimes experts and even famous people posting on them as just "regular Joes," sharing their knowledge and expertise, perhaps in some cases even relieved to finally be able to have something resembling "public conversations" without having to worry about being swamped by fans, and so forth, or repeatedly asked for free professional advice because people know they actually happen to be Dr. Phil, or Steven King, or whoever. And NO, I'm definitely NOT one of THOSE people... At one point a few years ago, I had a bit of "local celebrity" status as a weekly newspaper editor, but the biggest thing I've ever published was the cover story for a state-wide public policy journal read by all the lawmakers and public officials in SC... And I'm not aware of any such folks on the Carolina Gardening forum, but I DO know of at least one Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Vermont who is a sometimes (used to be regular) poster on the Ponds forum and wrote that forum's FAQs. He's been featured in pond programs on national programs on Public Television, too. I seriously doubt HE'D appreciate having HIS contributions -- many of which he doubtless gained through years of research and study both in his pond and at the university -- appropriated by iVillage to use for THEIR advertising, without attribution, for free. As for the photographs, Yeah, I've done a bit of "professional photography." I shot many of the photographs for several of the papers I worked for, and I also shot weddings for a while, and got some really good shots... And today, with digital cameras and the ability to see what you have and keep shooting until you get what you want, I can get even better shots (My theory on professional photographers has long been that the biggest difference between most pros and serious amateurs was how many shots they could afford to take)... So nowadays, I'm getting some garden shots I think are of publishable quality, although since I lost my paper I'm too blocked to get up the gumption to go back to free-lancing again... BUT I'd still like that option. And I'm sure I'm not the only one... If you want another example, go to the Ponds and Aquatic Plants forum, click on the Gallery and look for the Fall Ponds Photos (10-17, I believe), posted by Cliff_and_Joann. That lady (Joann seems to do all the posting) takes GREAT pictures and has some of the most beautiful ponds with some of the most beautiful koi I've ever seen... and she usually posts them fairly large. She doesn't deserve to have those "appropriated." No, Dianne. I won't leave (although they may kick me off with all I've been writing, lol). But I may be more selective with what I post and shy away from some of the more humorous or creative posts, or anything I think might look "attractive" to someone looking for something to "appropriate." And Marsha, I think your efforts on this front are admirable, so please don't think I was slamming you. I'm not really all that concerned about the cookies and partners and ads and so forth. I just don't like them laying claim to all our "intellectual property." By the way, it's not just me. I think all of YOU have a lot of "intellectual property" to protect, as well, even if you don't. Take care, Jeff

This is posted on the suggestions forum: Hi Folks, We are experiencing login problems today and our tech team is hard at work trying to isolate and fix the problems. I know it's frustrating and I do appreciate your patience as we go about fixing this. I'll post an update as we get one. If you don't see something right away, please know that we haven't forgotten about you, but that there just isn't an update at the moment. Thanks, Tamara Amey GardenWeb Community Manager

Some very sad stories due to trees. Near us two boys were sitting under at tree at their high school and were struck by lightning when it wasn't storming here. It can strike from very far away sometimes. I didn't used to take it seriously, but after hearing too many stories like these, I do now. They try to teach here, when you hear the roar, go indoors. (Thunder is the roar). We had a tree fall across the driveway due to a heavy snow load, leaving a 12 ft. trunk standing alone. It was still anchored in very well, so I let it stay for about 3 years thinking of woodpeckers and whatever other wildlife might use it, but I had it removed this spring because I didn't want the rest of it falling over the driveway someday, possibly at a bad time. nhl, your situation is so distressing to me. What are the consequences of removing the tree illegally? Would it be a fine? You were already going to be on the hook to buy five new trees. Would a qualified tree company do it, or will they refuse without permission? Being so close to your house you need someone who knows what they're doing. Besides all the current trouble for you, it's making it impossible if you ever want to sell your house, having to disclose problems like flooding and so on. I bet you wish lightning would hit that tree and kill it so you could finally get permission to take it down.

Many thanks to all of you for checking. It seems to be a problem that strikes some - even many - but certainly not all. In the meanwhile, I was able to contact some of the Readers Paradise regulars off the forum. Some are fine, some are having problems, and some have had this problem in the past. For one it magically went away after a day or so, but for another (like me) it was persistent. She developed a workaround that allowed me to logon early this morning. It might be of interest to you, Fig-Insanity. If you logon with the URL https://www.houzz.com/discussions/tag=496 it takes you to the Readers Paradise Forum. The header says Home and Gardens Discussions, only it really is RP. At this point you can read and post. However, if you want to be able to easily get back some day without having to remember this odd URL, then go to the right directly across from Home and Garden Discussions and click on the box marked Follow. This will list the forum for easy access on the lefthand side of the screen whenever you are logged in to Gardenweb under My Topics. The person who gave me this workaround said that the problem started with an update that increased security.