Beam me back, Astra!
If you found this page, it's because you wanted to find out why Astra no longer features a guestbook at the Star Gate. When I began web designing eleven years ago, the guestbook was a very popular feature. People who used the gate were happy to put in their comments and fellow astronomers loved reading comments from their friends.
Today the web is different. The free guestbook service was no longer offered by my web host. (Free, but I paid anyway.) Eventually I was forced to pay for an outside service if I wanted a guestbook. Writing in a guestbook isn't as fun, because you have to read the hidden code embedded by the guestbook gurus. They hid the code to keep the spammers out. The problem was, the hidden code didn't work.
For some reason, sending individuals annoying and band clogging e-mails advertising smut and drugs isn't enough. The guestbook at Astra's offered the wiliest among them another vehicle to sell you and me these unwanted products and services via the guestbook. (I'm sure that many come to the gate to look at those lovely little ads. After all, just surfing until you find what you want is soo hard.)
Well, having made a short story long, I got tired of inspecting the guest book every two weeks to remove the trash. The problem is, there was more trash than comment and after over a year of paying and a mere five honest entries, Astra is crying, "uncle." If you would like to contact me, please feel free to write me an e-mail at the address below.