Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005 Dear Friend and Reader: I'd like to take a moment and point you to some of the new features on Planet Waves, and then remind you in about one sentence why it's a great idea to subscribe to our weekly service. Read to the end for special offers. All of these new projects are linked from our main homepage, above. For all readers, our new features include our Friends link -- this is an offsite-links area to people we work with, or otherwise appreciate. It's not a complete list; we're still adding pages regularly. Next is the column Psychsound. This is a blog written by civil rights attorney Steve Bergstein, which will span from the hard core political to rock music. Then there's the new Political Waves page. We've moved away from the old Yahoo! Groups page and we've linked to the same excellent content, selected (with commentary) by Planet Waves moderator Jude, via RSS feed. You can still subscribe to the service for free; follow the link. Then there's the PlanetWaves.info page, linked below (not officially live, but I couldn't wait!). This is a selection of RSS (Internet syndication) feeds based on the subjects of greatest potential interest to Planet Waves readers. Scroll down the whole page -- it's amazing. We're still doing a little work on the graphics. Last is the Cover Gallery. This is a selection of covers going back to January 2005. About 80% are my photography and the rest are by other photographers, or wire services. One of the reasons I can express my amazement about how beautiful these projects are is that I've had very little to do with their creation. Tracy Delaney in the UK has been having a programming and design brainstorm; FYI for nerds, PHP is one of her curiosities. Stuff is appearing on Planet Waves that I never even dreamed of. Anatoly Ryzhenko in the Ukraine has been assembling the guest links, keeps the front cover moving every day, handles all the "second pages" (horoscopes, what's new and related pages), and basically hauls rocks with his mouse behind the scenes, for example: http://planetwaves.net/charts/parallel_worlds_charts/ Parallel Worlds is the 2006 annual horoscope and Planet Waves 7th anniversary edition, which is included with all subscriptions. This is scheduled for publication on Dec. 22. Now, as for those subscriptions to Planet Waves Weekly. We're working diligently to keep you informed, to provide the most intelligent astrology information available in times of global transition, and to make sure that you get your news and information in a beautiful, advertising-free environment. As you can see, an aesthetic, non-distracting environment are VITAL to our mission; and keeping ads out of your face is truly important to us. So, every now and then, you get to read one of my subscription pitches! Our whole project, along with the Astrology Secrets Revealed project at Cainer.com, is supported by your subscriptions. Is that efficient, or what? So if you need a reason to subscribe besides the Planet Waves Weekly horoscopes (available nowhere else), the birthday report (available nowhere else), the weekly article (usually available nowhere else) and the bonus monthly horoscope (two of these appear only on our subscriber side) -- the reason is that your subscription makes a difference. And it makes a difference in times when it's really important to do just that. There are several ways to sign up for Planet Waves. One is you can call our freephone from the United States at (877) 453-8265. Otherwise, please call +(206) 567-4455, our Seattle-area number, but please call during Eastern business hours. Chelsea will answer, or return your call. We accept payments from phone orders by check as well as by credit card. Or, you can sign up online at this link, with your choice of secure credit card transaction, or Paypal: http://www.planetwavesweekly.com/sales/home.html Last, we offer COMP SUBSCRIPTIONS to people who don't have the cash. If you'd like one of those, or need a discount on the normal subscription fee, please call or email support@planetwaves.info. Thanks for visiting Planet Waves. Yours & truly, ERIC FRANCIS Paris PS, subscribe by phone this week, and gift subscriptions (of any length) for your friends will be half the usual subscription fee. The number to call is (877) 453-8265, or (206) 567-4455. And if you subscribe for one year this week only -- between Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 -- we'll include a Planet Waves Webmail account as a gift, which will last as long as you remain subscribed! So you can be You@PlanetWavesWeekly.com. Note, each Webmail account is subject to special terms of service, a user agreement, and to approval by Planet Waves, Inc.