Well, we have a serious problem on our hands.  One of the administrator's
here on campus has told me that I have to take down Ferret World and the
Rainbow Bridge.  The reason given was that it is using state resources for
something that has nothing to do with the college.  He said that it wasn't
just me but anybody in the state of GA that is using state resources for
non-related material.  I explained to him that it was running on my own
computer and that I was only using the DNS and the network, which would be
running regardless of whether or not FW or RB existed.  Furthermore, I told
him that I don't make a money off of it.  Its sole purpose is to provide the
ferret community and potential ferret owners with information.
 
I sent a piece of email to the president explaining the situation.  One of
my comments was that this (the college) is a place where people come to
learn.  I explained to him that Ferret World is a place where people all
over the world come to learn about ferrets.
 
The president seems to know nothing about making me take it down and told me
not to worry he'll see what we can work out.  I am crossing my fingers!!!!!!
 
If it does have to be shut down, I really don't know what I'll do.  I would
like to get an ISP to provide me space and register with Internic.  However,
the particular ISP (internet service provider--in case you didn't know) that
I called wanted $175 up front which included Internic registration and $50 a
month thereafter.  Ok, I would almost agree to that but that's only 10 megs
of hard drive space.  Ferret World is huge.  FW and Rainbow Bridge gobble up
over 70 megs!  So, I ask about more storage and the highest rated service
they provide is 50 megs which will cost $275 up front and $150 a month!!  I
know Internic registration is $100 a year so I don't have a clue as to why
they charge $275 up front.  I'm sorry but I cannot afford that.  My last
name is Poore, after all.
 
After over 2 and a half years, I do NOT want this to end.  I have really
enjoyed listening to peoples comments--the good and the bad.  I enjoy the
"thank you"s I get by posting a pet that has passed away and people giving
me praise for doing so.  That makes me feel really good.  Believe it or not,
I still edit the Rainbow Bridge documents by hand.  I could have written a
script to enter the pets for me but, for some strange reason, it feels more
personal when I do it.  It makes me read the truly sad stories that people
have had to deal with.  I enjoy going to shows and hear one ferret owner
tell another ferret owner, "hey you gotta check out this web site called
Ferret's World..at h t t p colon slash slash ferret dash blablabla".  Hey,
they're talking about my creation.  The last GDFA show I went to, I brought
3 of my kids in their stroller.  Someone said to me, "hey, I seen someone
else that had one of those on the Internet".  Well, she was probably talking
about mine.  I don't know of any of you that have made one.  Although, I'm
not trying to say that you haven't.  I just don't know about it.
 
If any of you have any suggestions or can give me any legitimate reasons
that I can give the administrators here, I would greatly appreciate it.
 
 
##############
Roger Poore
 
Ferret World, The Coolest Place on Earth!
  http://ferret-world.clayton.edu
 
The Legend of Rainbow Bridge (dealing with pet loss)
  http://ferret-world.clayton.edu/Rainbow_Bridge
[Posted in FML issue 1841]