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 Thursday, June 21, 2001
In this issue of News2Me:
- my perspective on Microsoft's announcement tonight regarding the discontinuation of their popular ListBot service...
- some valuable features that just made it into BigSender 1.0 before its final release...
- two awards granted this week to a couple of my online endeavors...
- a few films in which I appear are being released over the next few months...
News2Me is an infrequent subscription-based email newsletter from Craig Richards Design. An index of News2Me's past issues as well as up-to-the-minute technology news from TechNewsWorld is available at CraigRichards.com/news2me.
Microsoft Axes ListBot and Introduces
bCentral List Builder At Up To $1,029.95 Per Month
June 29, 2001 – Our Redmond friends have become aware of the value of your contact list and have announced a shutdown schedule for its free ListBot service – enormously popular among small businesses, charities and other organizations with more than 100,000 users (10% of whom already pay for enhanced services).
According to tonight's announcement, Microsoft will permanently shut down the ListBot service and current list managers are being "encouraged to upgrade" to bCentral List Builder which starts at US$29.95 per month with optional upgrades that could cost larger list owners an ongoing US$1,029.95 each and every month.
from Microsoft's ListBot.com website...
Information on the ListBot service shutdown
You will have heard by now that we will be discontinuing the ListBot service on August 20th, 2001 in favor of List Builder, bCentral's new tool specifically built for small businesses. Access to your ListBot account will no longer be available as of this date. Please read on for information on your alternatives and the ListBot shutdown schedule. If this information is not sufficient please consult our ListBot shutdown FAQ.
The List Builder service, which was launched in February of this year, offers a few of the functions already built into BigSender, such as the ability to generate and send rich HTML messages – which Microsoft cites as getting generally 35% higher response rates than plain text emails.
 
There's no mention on their website about List Builder using "hybrid" rich/plain messaging technologies (or anything similar), or on-the-fly HTML message conversion, etc. – features that have been built into BigSender.
With its low purchase price and no monthly fee, perhaps this is a great time for you to bring your list in-house with BigSender? Order online at CraigRichards.com/software/buynow.html – MasterCard, Discover, Visa as well as business and personal checks are accepted.
Microsoft and other insignia are trademarks or registered tradmarks of Microsoft Corporation and their respective owners.
Last-Minute Bonuses For BigSender Users
Users of BigSender, the easy-to-use yet powerful list manager, personalized high-volume emailer and web publisher, benefited from some eleventh-hour coding by its developer Craig Richards.
Two added features, not previously publicized, are an "opt-in activator" setting and an option that lets administrators collect a single "full name" from subscribers or the subscriber's name in two separate "first name" and "last name" fields.
"As important as those options are to me and to list managers, I wasn't sure I could get those modules written and debugged in time for BigSender's debut," confesses Richards who publicly released his web application on Monday, June 18.
BigSender's Newest Features:
opt-in activator setting helps ensure the integrity of your list
Check a box in the Configurator and BigSender will require subscribers to 'activate' their subscriptions before they are added to your list. When users subscribe, BigSender sends an email asking them to click on a special 'activator' link. If the email address the user submitted is not valid, they won't be able to activate their subscription.
support for combined full name or separate first name and last name fields
You can now set BigSender to collect email addresses and/or the subscriber's full name in a single field or first name and last name in two separate fields for seamless compatibility with your existing lists.
Did ya know? BigSender has the unique ability for your other web applications to hook into it. That makes it a simple matter to add a "check here to subscribe" to your existing registration forms, shopping carts, etc.
BigSender may be purchased online via an order form that now allows users to choose from either credit card or business/personal check payment options.
Visit the CraigRichards.com website at CraigRichards.com/software/bigsender where you will find more details on BigSender and a link to the order form.
A try-before-you-buy free custom demo is online for users who want to experience BigSender's features before buying. Links to the demo are also on that website.
AdminPro Earns Tucows' Highest Rating 
Tuesday, June 19, the product review team at Tucows Network announced it had completed its review of AdminPro™ 2.5.3 and awarded it a "5 out of 5 Cows" rating.
AdminPro is the shareware CGI debugging and remote file management tool from Craig Richards Design which has gained notoriety in the internet community as the "must-have tool" for website designers, CGI programmers, developers and content administrators. "We recently downloaded AdminPro and can't tell you how much we appreciated it. This gives us a more in-depth explanation for our CGI errors," says Jerry Davis of ApartmentSpecials.com. With tracked downloads in the hundreds each day, plus the encouraged practice of pass-along distribution among users, AdminPro has a user base of more than 70,000.
Webhosting firms have begun pre-installing AdminPro on new domains so their clients can manage files and debug their scripts without the need for separate Telnet or FTP access. As a side effect, support requests at these firms (and their assocated expenses) have dropped off significantly as their clients with AdminPro can are able to resolve most issues themselves.
"Previous versions had earned '4 Cows' and I was grateful the expert review panel at Tucows thought so highly of AdminPro!" says Craig Richards, developer, "with their newer and even higher appraisal of AdminPro's design and utility, I can't help but feel honored."
AdminPro and some other tools from Craig Richards Design are publicly available for free download by going to CraigRichards.com/software. Users who like and continue to use AdminPro after the 10-day trial are encouraged to register and pay a nominal US$20 shareware fee which entitles them to unlimited email technical support, notification of new releases and free update notification. See website for details.
FamilyReunion.com Honored by Family Tree Magazine
The editors of Family Tree Magazine have announced FamilyReunion.com is among their "101 Best New Websites" list.
The entire list will be published in the August 2001 issue of Family Tree Magazine, which is now going out to subscribers and goes on sale at newsstands nationwide on Tuesday. That list is also online at FamilyTreeMagazine.com/101newsites. Each honoree in the "101 Best" list will be featured on the FamilyTreeMagazine.com homepage.
"I'm grateful that FamilyReunion.com has been receiving that kind of attention from the media since I launched it and probably accounts a great deal for the more than 1/3-million pageviews it is now getting each month," says Craig Richards, owner and publisher of FamilyReunion.com, "and we consider it an honor to be included on such a short and prestigious list!"
The editors say, "Family Tree Magazine is America's largest-circulation genealogy magazine, helping readers discover, preserve and celebrate their
family history. Family Tree Magazine is from the publishers of Betterway Books, known for such bestselling genealogy titles as Unpuzzling Your Past by Emily Croom and Organizing Your Family History Search by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. By reaching out to a broad consumer audience (this new issue, for example, was just featured on ABC-TV's "The View") and making genealogy accessible even to beginners, we're hoping to share the excitement of family history and bring new users to valuable websites such as FamilyReunion.com."
Craig Richards' Upcoming Appearances
It has been my privilege to have been part of a diversity of performances in some major motion pictures to be released over the next few months... Be sure to watch for me on the big screen!
The Princess Diaries
(Disney / scheduled release: August 3, 2001)
Director Garry Marshall cast me as a father touring the prestigious Grove Academy as my character considers enrolling his daughter. The film stars Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Heather Matarazzo, Mandy Moore, Hector Elizondo and Larry Miller, among others. The storyline: "A precocious 16-year-old girl discovers she is the princess of a small European country after her mother confesses to a one-night fling with a member of the royal family. As heir to the throne, she's pressed into taking princess lessons from her grandmother (Julie Andrews)."
Rat Race
(Alphaville Films / Paramount Pictures / scheduled release: August 3, 2001)
Director Jerry Zucker cast me as State Trooper Rossi in his newest film Rat Race featuring an all-star cast including Brecklin Meyer, Amy Smart, Whoopi Goldberg, Lanai Chapman, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jon Lovitz, Kathy Najimy, John Cleese, Dave Thomas, Paul Rodriguez, Seth Green, Dean Cain, Kathy Bates and Wayne Knight among many others. It has been described as the new-millennium remake of the 1963 film It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.
Corky Romano: "Special" Agent
(Disney / scheduled release: October 19, 2001)
This zany comedy stars Chris Kattan (of Saturday Night Live and A Night At The Roxbury fame) as a "loser son of a Mafia honcho that must go undercover for the FBI." Also stars Peter Berg, Peter Falk, Roger Fan, Jennifer Gimenez, Matthew Glave and Richard Roundtree, among others. Watch for my performances as the sternly disapproving fellow FBI agent.
The Majestic
(Castle Rock Entertainment / Darkwoods Productions / scheduled release: December 21, 2001)
Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) directs what promises to be a most memorable drama/romance/comedy starring Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, Allen Garfield, Laurie Holden, Bruce Campbell, Amanda Detmer, Bob Balaban among others. Storyline: "Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son." Toward the beginning of the film, my character is dispatched to escort Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) off the studio property when his name is mentioned during the infamous McCarthy Hearings and the studio immediately dismisses him from his dream job.
Check out CraigRichards.com/act for more details on Craig's upcoming appearances. Are you producing for film or television or casting a host or MC for your upcoming event? Contact Craig Richards for availability and booking information!
# # #
Craig Richards is a web publisher, developer and designer with more than 25 years in marketing and advertising success as a copywriter, artist, designer and creative director. Mr. Richards is also a professional actor with roles in major motion pictures, television and in theatre since 1977. He and his son live, work and play in Glendale, a Los Angeles-area suburb in Southern California.
BigSender and AdminPro are trademarks of Craig Richards Design.
News2Me Archive
BigSender 3.80 Availability Announced
In addition to other improvements and enhancements, BigSender now includes the long-awaited user authentication feature for connecting to your mailserver.
News2Me 05/20/2006
In this issue: we discuss some hosting firms' anti-spam policies, our shiny new dedicated webserver, our discussion forum is temporarily disabled and improved transaction security at CraigRichards.com with high-grade 256-bit SSL encryption
Craig Richards Design Plans BigSender Update to 3.70 in Early January
This BigSender release further enhances the Message Composer interface with a realtime WYSIWYG HTML Editor, a plain-text wordwrap feature, an initial caps format for names and other handy improvements.
BigSender Now Speaks Italian
In addition to other improvements, fixes and enhancements, BigSender now includes an Italian BigSender Language File plug-in.
News2Me
In this issue, we announce our website's new search feature, information on my recent movie role and the latest enhancements to BigSender.
News2Me: Imagine Contact Management Made Simpler
What should you look for in a contact management solution? Power. Affordability. Flexibility. Simplicity.
BigSender 3.670 Released: Breakthrough Features
Innovative new features make BigSender 3 more powerful than ever!
BigSender Technical Bulletin: Annotations
BigSender 3.661 Gets Convenient New Features
BigSender Reviewed by The Office Letter
After an independent comprehensive evaluation of BigSender, The Office Letter concludes that, "for the money, it's a steal!"
BigSender Now Speaks German
BigSender Broadcasts: Get the Speed You Need
How to optimize BigSender and your server environment for the fastest send rates possible.
BigSender 3.6: Continuing the Revolution
After more than six months in development, now you can match to whole records or only specific fields for the most granular narrowcasting!
BigSender 3x: Now Even More Power and Flexibility
Announcing the newest batch of features in our popular web application designed to make it simple to manage your contact lists and to easily publish your announcements, e-zines, press releases and other online publications
Monday 10/21/2002 News2Me
In this issue: Pursuing Passions and Perfection
News2Me
In this issue, we announce our new alliance with Sun Microsystems, our smooth move, and BigSender gets even more new features!
BigSender 3 Released: More List-Management Features Built In
The most complete online list-management and email/web publishing system available gets a one-click automated bounce manager and other built-in conveniences!
News2Me: How To Publish Without Spamming
BigSender is a powerful yet easy-to-use publishing system ñ but like any tool, it can be used incorrectly. Follow these guidelines to get optimal results with BigSender...
E-News Gallery Goes Live
Where publishers of electronic newsletters & e-zines can showcase their publications.
AdminPro Is Updated
No longer requires Perl to execute!
Then The Rope Went Slack
Rather than dazzled and empowererd, has all this techno-speak ever left you feeling dazed and confused?
Marketing Secrets Revealed: When Customer Loyalty Isn't
Master Minds: Becoming a Software Guru
Are you an entry-level veteran or an inquisitive innovator?
What Is A Web App?
Bill Gates emphasizes the web browser as the "central application of computing."
BigSender Backgrounder
Microsoft Discontinues ListBot
Out: free services. In: fee services.
Official Premiere: News2Me
What's Happened to AdminFTP and TestMy.CGI?
AdminPro 2.5: More Power, More Control
Debug CGI & Manage Files from a Web Browser?
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