January 2010

GoldToken's Monthly News

Can you believe this is the 73rd issue of GoldToken's Monthly Newsletter! So many things have changed over the years, but GoldToken still remains the solid foundation it was built upon. Would you enjoy reviewing the changes made in the last 5 years? Good news! Soon, we will be able to make copies of all the old issues available in un-editable site wikis. Stay tuned to the game sheet news for more on this topic!

The last of 2009 brought us the much needed separation of club teams and ladders, 5 additional gammon variants, Cribbage, and 4 Cribbage variants unique to GoldToken. This is certainly not the end of site improvements. This month, GoldToken's Platinum players enjoyed contributing their ideas on the direction GoldToken will take in the next few months. The bonus to all Platinum players is the ability to help decide whats next when we come to the end of our current list of projects. I admit, it is not a monthly option. There are so many improvements in the works, that we have at least three years of full time work for Mecir. But any time we come to a point where we can go a number of directions, I rely on our highest contributing players to decide which way to go. Gold members enjoy being the first to know whats next! For many, the best part of being Gold or Platinum must surely be the ability to test out all new features on GoldToken's beta site. If you have never been a Gold or Platinum member, and would like to give it a try, you can take advantage of a one time upgrade, for 10 Golderos per membership level throughout the month of January 2010 only. For example: 10 Golderos to change a Silver membership to Gold, and 20 Golderos to change a Silver membership to Platinum. Please note: this is a membership upgrade only, and does not increase or decrease the time left on your membership.

MAY_ALL_YOUR~~~~_GAMES_BE_WINNERS!

--Badger



In this month's newsletter, we have:
  • Birthdays & Special Announcements
  • Player Appreciation
  • Club News & Announcements
  • Testimonial Of The Month
  • Tournament News
  • Your Internet Safety


Birthday cakeBirthdays & Special AnnouncementsOffering gift

Birthday Wishes:

-- Happy Birthday to Wildaisy on January 1st! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to SIRI on January 2nd! - From { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club, { Club } and { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to ScoobyRex02 on January 3rd! Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to Leeeeeesa on January 3rd! - With love from all your friends! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to Big Giant Head on January 3rd! Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to GUINESS14 on January 4th! - From The Backgammon Tournament Club Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to BrnIdGirl on January 5th! - From { Club } and The Innocent Instigators Club Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to China_Blue on January 5th! - From { Club } Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to Trist on January 8th! - From The Innocent Instigators Club! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to Callie on January 8th! - From The Backgammon Tournament Club and { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to vtmom on January 8th! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to BabyGirl The Rebel Angel on January 9th! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to Capricorn - From The Renegades Gaming Club and Lorraine of the Renegades on January 9th! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to The TT on January 11th! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to GOPACKGO on January 11th! - From { Club } Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to JenJen on January 12th! - With love, from the GoldToken Management Team! Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to Blackhawks Fan on January 13th! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to ArkAngel on January 14th! - From The Backgammon Tournament Club and { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to Rostom on January 15th! Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to adopt 3 on January 17th! - From { Club }, { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club, { Club } and { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to gravyrun on January 17th! - From { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club and { Club }
also a very special birthday wish from your daughters joannamarie, Holly and kaitums Offering gift
-- Happy Birthday to Loretta on January 18th! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to maggiefrommd on January 18th! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to MandyB on January 20th! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to monkeytyper on January 20th! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to LadyKnightWolf on January 22nd! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to Richlyn on January 23rd! - Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to spellbound on January 24th! - From { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to squirrel on January 25th! - From monkeytyper Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to kittyrambo on January 26th! - From { Club }, { Club } and { Club } Offering flower
-- Happy Birthday to HEATHER on January 31st! - From { Club }, { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club, { Club } The Renegades Gaming Club and Lorraine of the Renegades Offering flower
Anniversary & Other Wishes:


-- Happy Wedding Anniversary Bride Groom goes out to Chuckc33 and Lori on January 5th! Many special wishes sent to you both!








* If you would like to announce any birthdays, anniversaries or other special events coming up for next month, please send GoldToken Support a message before the 25th of this month, so we can give them a shout out in next month's newsletter! (Please keep all announcements upcoming and not belated. Announcements submitted after the newsletter is published, can not be put in after the fact, we're sorry!)








**Player* Appreciation*




This months appreciation goes to a quiet player named CELTICBRUCE. Perhaps you know him? Bruce has played on GoldToken since 2002, loves the tournament games most, occasionally posts on the boards and is a member of several clubs. What you may not know is, if it were not for Bruce, GoldToken would not have Tournament Halma. Bruce loves the game and badgered me until we added it! If you love the game too, send him a Tournament Halma invite along with your thanks for a job well done!



A big Thank you to CELTICBRUCE for Tournament Halma from all of us at GOLDTOKEN!



~~Badger








Club News & Announcements


Brought to you by: CATCHER211




Don't forget to take advantage of the monthly news letter for your club!  Send your club updates, news and search for new players to me the last week of each month to be included in next months news!





-- CATCHER211 --










Testimonials Of The Month 


Brought to you by: *GoldToken* Players





maintenance man




I joined this site in 2001. I had met someone online chatting who became a good friend to me. I had just picked up a Webtv and I wasn't too familiar with it. It was new to me, but I had mentioned I like to play backgammon, but couldn't because Webtv wasn't compatible. She had found GoldToken and suggested it to me. I find GoldToken a pleasure to play on, and have played many backgammon games here along with others throughout the years. 



I have to say I have liked all the changes the site has made throughout the years also and I look forward to seeing more! Smiling










EagleAnney



I came to GoldToken in 2001. At that time, and still today not many game sites are compatible with my ancient Webtv. I got started on IYT and someone there told me about GoldToken. I came over and brought one person from there, because this was a family friendly site and should there ever be problems with other people it will be taken care of immediately. 



Kind of like a big family here. Whenever someone is sick, has a death in the family, we all care. When someone stops playing we are concerned. Hugging When they started charging for the memberships I went with Gold and have stuck with it. It is good for me. I have met and played games with people all over the word. I find that fascinating. I love some of the newer games and have really gotten into Whist.



I brought my 2 daughters, grandson and granddaughter here to play too. Then other friends and my family brought their friends. Not everyone has as much time as I do to play. I give thanks for GoldToken and the GoldToken Support Team and Management who have never done anything but be a big help with any problem. Thank you you all for all you do.










Shelly13



I came here with an invite from chromer when we played on IYT. I was just recently single and feeling alone. The Pork Chop Club was my first club. hoot's were next and then Nancy's. I was very fortunate to meet some great people here whom I can call friends. Grinning



porkpie1 is the best, he is my buddy! He has helped me learn the ropes here as have hoot, Hillbilly, heyred72, DiamondBackGirl, and some new ones, just to name a few.


I have my boyfriend playing here along with my older sister. This site is a great place to meet new people or my original reason, to unwind, release stress and just have fun!!! GoldToken is the best and I appreciate all the hard work every one does.


I love this site and it really helped me at a time I needed help!


One happy member,

Shelly13 










Tournament News 


Brought to you by: The Tournament Team




Site-wide club tournament The February 2010 Site-Wide Club Tournament starts February 15, 2010. if you would like your club to participate please send Jacob1987 your club number he will add your club



The Jan 2010 - Basic Renju, 10 banneros prize Tournament starts at 2,00am on Thursday, 28 January 2010. This is a prize tournament. It is a round robin, and the game is Basic Renju. You get a chance to play one of GoldToken's recently installed games, an interesting and challenging game from the Far East, and you have a shot at the first-place prize of 10 Banneros. Good luck and have fun.





GoldToken would like to send a big *CONGRATULATIONS out to all our recent tournament winners!!!* 










Your Internet Safety


Brought to you by: FixitDave




Christmas time is over and not only a new year, but a new decade has started.



No doubt some of you would have either received or given a computer away as a gift, luckily there is a club within GoldToken.com called The Fixit & problems computers Club that is available for member to ask any questions regarding computers.



For those that are new to computers, especially parents. I'd like to bring to your attention Internet Security and the importance of using firewalls, antivirus tools and methods of helping you or your children stay safe.



Quite a lot of shop bought computers will have firewalls & antivirus software already installed, this software is only free for a short period and it will try to get you to pay for a full working version. There isn't really any need to pay for this as there are plenty of free firewalls, Antivirus & antispyware applications out there for all to use.



Firewalls

Don't rely on the built in Firewall that comes with Windows, it isn't adequate for the job and is a complete false sense of security as it will only block incoming connections but not outgoing.

Outgoing connections from your computer can be an indication of a virus, malware or keylogging software (stores what you type and sends the data to a remote computer) on your computer. A good firewall will not only block Incoming & Outgoing connections but also what programs can start other programs which could also be an indication of a virus, malware/spyware etc. Firewalls may be a little tricky to get hang of, but once you get used to it you'll be fine.



Recommended Free Firewalls



Antivirus

There are plenty of good FREE antivirus applications out there to help you stay virus free, so there is no excuse not to have one installed. These applications monitor the files on your computer for known viruses, and if a virus is found either remove it, block access to the file or delete the file.



Recommended Free Antivirus Applications



Recommended Bought Firewall & Antivirus Applications in one suite



Within this last section I'm hoping to bring your attention to children and Internet safty.

Do you really know what your children are doing on the Internet...some will say yes...but I'll ask again...do you REALLY know?

There are a lot of parents who know very little about computers and the Internet and allow their children to have private access to a computer connected to the Internet, for me this is a very worring thought.



Please have a read of this website to learn more about this subject.

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/safeuse/



While browsing the Internet looking for a content filter (to filter out specific websites or content on a web page) I came along this website;

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/



It lists 10 of the best applications to help your children stay safe by blocking access to specific sites, if you are looking for a free content filter have a look at http://www.k9webprotection.com/ although it wont have some of the features of the paid applications, it will block access to websites that belong to specific categories such as Social Networking, Shopping, Games, Phishing, pornographic sites, etc. The website lists are updated so you know the computer will always be up to date with the latest websites.



Although all this may sound a little daunting to some of you, but if you're not already a member the The Fixit & problems computers Club club, then please join and ask any questions regarding these subject so we can all help each other to stay save on the Internet.



Thanks for reading and hope you all have a good and safe 2010



Regards

FixitDave








Wanted





  • Do you have a special story, poem or testimonial you would like to share? How about some club news, announcements or any other special events? Then don't delay, send GoldToken Support your submissions today! We look forward to hearing from you! Smiling

** (Please note: All submissions are added on a first come first serve basis.) **

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