QUOTE

I don't recommend auto-opping people who join. Just Half OP (%/Access Level 4) or have a special servant who is protected op (&/Access level 10)

QUOTE

Unacceptable Use

Spam and Unsolicited Commercial Emails (UCE) are not allowed. Accounts will be cancelled and deleted immediately if found to be spamming or sending out UCE.

Web sites deemed offensive or racially degrading, by Astahost.com, will be removed from our servers without notice. Web sites promoting, making available or otherwise contributing to software piracy, hacking, spamming, denial of service attacks and/or damage to commercial networks or servers will be removed from our servers without notice and illegal acts will be reported and prosecuted. Abusive behavior of any type will not be tolerated.

Astahost.com has a zero tolerance policy for the use of its network for the posting of messages or commercial advertisements, which violate the rules, regulations, FAQ or charter of any newsgroups or mailing list.

Cgi-based message boards are not allowed.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) traffic is not permitted on our servers in any of its many forms including, but not limited to: bots and IRC servers.

All server activity is logged. Any snooping, hacking, or other inappropriate activity of any type outside of your account, on our servers, will be grounds for termination.

Astahost.com reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service to anyone at Astahost.com's sole discretion. Astahost.com may deny you access to all or part of the service without notice if you engage in any conduct or activities that Astahost.com in its sole discretion believes violates any of the terms and conditions in this agreement. Astahost.com shall have no responsibility to notify any third-party providers of services, merchandise, or information, nor any responsibility for any consequences resulting from such discontinuance or lack of notification.

Astahost.com reserves the right to cancel/suspend any account(s) without prior notice.

Astahost.com requests that anyone who believes that there is a violation of our policy to direct the information to abuse@Astahost.com

QUOTE

Steve Irwin, 44: Famed 'Croc' hunter
Sep. 4, 2006. 11:57 AM



CAIRNS, Australia (AP) — Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called Ocean's Deadliest when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.

"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program Crocodile Hunter. First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.

He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.

"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, `Crocs Rule!' "

Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honour President George W. Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death."

"It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters. "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people."

Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots.

Wild animal expert Jack Hanna, who frequently appears on TV with his subjects, offered praise for Irwin.

"Steve was one of these guys, we thought of him as invincible," Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium, told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday.

"The guy was incredible. His knowledge was incredible," Hanna said. "Some people that are doing this stuff are actors and that type of thing, but Steve was truly a zoologist, so to speak, a person who knew what he was doing. Yes, he did things a lot of people wouldn't do. I think he knew what he was doing."

Irwin's ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.

His public image was dented in 2004, however, when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him.

Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 25 centimetres long, flexes if a ray is frightened.

Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.

Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.

"It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare," Collin said.

News of Irwin's death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.

At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.

"Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace," was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.

"We're all very shocked. I don't know what the zoo will do without him. He's done so much for us, the environment and it's a big loss," said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate.

Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the "Crocodile Huntress," she co-starred on her husband's television show and in his 2002 movie.

— — —

On the Net:http://www.crocodilehunter.com

10:39ET 04-09-06