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

Thanks Shboom. Perhaps it is the download speed. I recently switched from dialup to Hughesnet and when I first came on-line, the loading speed seemed quite fast. Recently however Hughesnet has seemed slower than usual. Perhaps that's it. I'll definitely talk w/ Hughesnet to see if there's a problem. The neighbor has Hughesnet & commented tonight about the slower download speed he had been noticing. Thank you again - the investigation continues. :-)

Thanks, cynic. I've been rebooting. I think there is something wrong with my computer. At first it just seemed to be my google account, but I've been having trouble with everything now. My computer is only several months old (MacAir) so I think I'll bring it in next week. All of a sudden it's working fine but I think I'll still have it checked out. Of course, it's like an automobile that makes a funny noise until you get to the dealership. If it continues to work fine it will be difficult for the Geek squad to pinpoint the trouble. Nevertheless, I want it looked at while its still under warranty.

I just gave up...... After having a Gardenweb account since forever, since back when it was an offshoot of the "Parent Soup" channel thing at AOL.back in the mid-late 1990's and was still doing the same thing at the various changes and new corporate whatevers and never had an issue before or after changing my email address to Gmail in April 2004. I finally just entered a new account name at the same exact email address I have maintained since April 2004 and seemingly have either no "old" account or the new account has no conflict with the old. The old just not being able to "sign in". I have been doing this sort of thing since 1990 before even AOL back when "online" was a BBS running off of a hot rod 2400 Baud modem plug in card on an Apple IIE. I have never been one tobe concerned with site appearances, but the Huuzz scheme fonts colors layout everything, is absolutely horrendous. Just my $.02 worth..... YMMV