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8/2/07
Dear KSC participants,
Some of you may have noticed that the penpal box messages have been updated, and some of you may have wondered what this means... well, we still have a hope. The creator and director of KSC went to Tokyo last week to see a CEO of the biggest education company in Japan. The company holds over 4 million members aged from 3 to 18. The CEO was very impressed what KS and KSC have been doing: to make a safe and peaceful place for children to get together, to know each other, and to make great international friendship over the Internet. Unlike many other sites on the web that see users (us) as customers, KS and KSC see users as learners. The communication tools in KSC maybe very primitive, but it is simple and safe enough for young users to learn about the net and message exchanges. They also like what YOU kids are doing on the KSC. You are making friends and trying to get together to do something good. Unlike many other sites where we see fights or bad words, KSC members keep the site clean and friendly. We really appreciate your good manner on the site. We will talk more how to keep this communication site on the web. We need editors and monitors back to open the registration, new programming and systems to make the server faster and comfortable to use, new features to create real clubs on KSC, etc. But please note if our offer to the company is too expensive (just spending their money to make a safe site) then they cannot go for it. Their big decision will come in Fall. Please be tight together with KSC friends. Thank you very much for staying with KSC.
4/20/07
Dear KSC participants,
Thank you very much for still staying with KSC even after 6 months since we announced its closing. We are so sorry for not having posted any notes to you nor uploaded new support messages. We hope this note is to give you a small idea of where we are at now. We have looked for supporters in Japan. This is because the creator of the site and main staff in NYC are all Japanese women, so we have more connections to Japanese companies. A short trip to Tokyo for presenting KSC was held in March. Thank ANA for the plane ticket to the creator. She and KS volunteer members in Tokyo have met many people in many companies. We even have succeeded to submit our study report on Internet Safety for Children to governmental organizations. Even many companies are interested in what we are doing for children's communication, it is also a different story if we can get funded. Right now, we are waiting for their answers. Meanwhile, the server computer where KSC is stored, is okay for now. We were told to move out of the server because of too much traffic, we are somehow allowed to keep KSC as it is. We have no idea when the server computer company would start charging us, but until then, you can talk with your friends through KSMC. We would not suddenly stop the server. So please don't worry about that. We will post more after hearing from the companies. Cross your fingers.... 3/8/07
KSC is still alive! The creator and executive director of KS went to Japan to look for supporters. She talked with many people and companies, and waiting for their decisions. Please stay tuned and keep sending your stories at KSC. Thank you for your patience.
1/4/07
We are so sorry for the delay in the process of posting messages. We finally found what was wrong with the editing system today. It was from partial tag written in a penpal box messages. We ask all of you not to write any HTML tags from many reasons. First, many of you did not place the closing tag so that the effect of the tag goes to the bottom. Next, some of you place tag that causes the entire page dark or in motion and cannot read anything. And finally, as in the current problem, a tag can cause to disappear all contents from our editing system. We have been trying to process your messages (over 150 from December) but could not do it because the system was disabled by a tag! We will do our best to recover the system. Please wait for a while to see newer postings. 12/1/06
The present partcipants can post new messages in the two sections. The form will be open for two weeks.
12/1/06
KSC is trying to get the work done and the site will be open to the present participants for a while, to talk each other through the KS Messaging Center. Thank you very much for your support and patience.
11/14/06
Thank you very much for sending a lot of supporting letters. Some of them are totally amazing. We are very proud that our participants are using the site to broaden their views to the world, to help each other, to make great friendships, and to learn each other many things such as languages, flags, cultures, books, classrooms. We should create a page for these "success stories" if KSC is alive and running again. We also should plan a "club page" where multiple members can talk at the same time, and you can publish "club news" to KSC members also if this is affordable. However, we'd like to ask you to understand that KSC may not survive. It may the case that none of our efforts would work. We are asking for your writing because we believe it would be very important for the public to know that the small site like this could contribute tremendously to children's friendship. Please cross your fingers but please do not hold the expectation too high. We have been looking for the help for over a year, and this time, (read our first letter on 10/01/06) we came to the point that we cannot hire anyone for the site work, which is vital to keep the site safe. We cannot risk your safety without good evaluation at the registration, careful reviewing on the posting messages, checking the problems in the messaging center, answering all kind of questions, and fixing bugs in the server and programs. In Addition, KSC's database is huge, and it is pressing to other sites if we are to stay on the same server computer. We need to upgrade our server to meet the demand, otherwise KSC will be painfully slow and heavy, and this would not be good for children's communication either. Thus we need trained professional and machines to keep the site up on the Internet, but this is not easy to obtain immediately. KSC started as a part of International Kids' Space in 1995, then launched as KSC in 1997. We programmed the registration system in 1999, and then improved the system in 2002 to make the site with the present rules. It is very difficult for us to see the site is going to disappear.
Not all efforts could be rewarded. Please also be prepared for the time when KSC has to go.
11/10/06
After we made a form to collect your great stories at KSC, hoping to prove that KSC should be on the web. We have been receiving many amazing stories. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. We are still trying to get KSC to be on the Internet, yet we have not known what would come next. We will keep you updated through this page.
Thank you for your quick action and strong support to the site.
11/7/06
While we were discouraged by the fact that we could not continue KSC as explained in the note dated 10/1/06 below, a family offered an incredible help for our search of supporters. Nothing is sure yet, but please cross your fingers, we are working hard to try to keep the site up on the web.
Although we cannot take new users at this moment and the posting form was closed, the present users can talk through KSMC. Please keep your KSC friendship tied. We will let you know what is going on. Also, thank you very much for those who wrote us very encouraging letters. We have prepared for a form for you to share your friendship through KSC. Please visit the form page. Your letter will be a great help for us to seek for funding too. Thank you all KSC kids and families, 10/31/06
The posting forms have been closed. Please contact to your friends by using KS Messaging Center.
Since we have received many letters asking KSC to be up and running, we are trying very hard to save KSC. We cannot promise it for sure. We may have to ask you to write a letter that describe how much you need the KSC site to be on the web. Please cross your fingers and stay tuned. Thank you for your cooperation. KSC 10/01/06
Dear KSC Participants,
It is with a great deal of sadness that Kids' Space Connection must inform you that we will shortly have to close our site. Our foremost concern has always been to provide a safe and secure site for children around the world to communicate with one another. Advancing technologies have made it more and more difficult to meet that goal. In order to maintain and improve our level of security, we would need to update both our servers and software, as well as increase our editorial staff. KSC has relied upon the generous donations of corporate sponsors who believe in our vision of a safe Internet site for children. Our major contributor's financial difficulty has forced it to withdraw it's support. Since we will not be able to maintain our current levels of safety, nor provide the enhanced levels we believe will be needed in the future, we have decided not to continue the program at this time. We want to offer our heartfelt thanks to all the parents and caretakers who have worked with us in providing a safer experience for their children and the children of others. We know that many kids have formed close connections and we would like to see that continue. We cannot offer recommendations to other Internet websites, but we do suggest parents could choose to exchange e-mail addresses with the parents of their children's Penpals. That way the kids can maintain those friendships. With a heavy heart, The KSC Editorial Staff
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