NEW VISITORS: Please click on this STAGE 2 hot- link now to see how to join the Waiting List for 200 free Memberships in the NEXT Experiment which will officially begin at the end of AUG 1997. All fully completed Entry Forms will be reviewed in SEP 97 and the first 200 eligible applicants over age 18 will be notified by email.
STAGE 2 will begin soon in late AUGUST 1997, with additional features and improvements over STAGE 1. Watch this page or the |HOME| page for announcements some time after JUN 23. As of JUN 15 you may use the new STAGE 2 Entry Form to PRE- register on the Waiting List for one of the "free for first 200 applicants" openings still available. The Visitor counter for the new Form started at 001 on JUN 15, but there have already been over 100 applicants for the Waiting List; so don't delay if you want to participate in the free STAR MATES Experiment to find compatible astrology-lovers for friendship or romance. Previous Waiting List applicants will begin receiving emailed notices after AUG 25, in the order of their date of application. The processing may take a week or two, so please be patient. If you think your application may not have arrived, you can complete the new Entry Form-2 and enter your original Application Number (500-998) to indicate you have applied before. If you forgot it, use the Visitor number at the top of the page.
If you entered STAGE 1 and received your free Search Report but have not yet completed your Contact Request Form, please go to the |CONTACT| page now.
This STAR MATES page archives the original information about STAGE 1 and may be of interest for newcomers. For a shorter summary of the information you need for STAGE 2, you can link to the new STAGE 2 page now. All STAGE 1 Members are entitled to remain active in the ASTRO database for matching in STAGE 2, but you must FULLY complete the new STAGE 2 Entry Form to indicate your wish to retain your free active Membership until 1998. Please re-register soon or you may miss your chance to be matched to the 200+ new Members accepted in STAGE 2, and be sure to enter your original Member Number (001M or F to 225M or F) as well as your new Visitor/Application number.
If you have ALREADY applied to be in "the Experiment", please bookmark
the |CHECK-LIST| page so you can check if your
Entry Form was accepted and your Search Report was sent to you.
ALL of the LATEST DEVELOPMENTS and current news will be now be announced on
the |CHECK-LIST| page. The INTRODUCTION to "the Experiment", important
|QUESTIONS| about it, and
how to find the ENTRY FORM to apply to participate in it, will be found on
this |STAR-MATES| page.
The "Official" STAGE 1 CLOSING DATE for Entries was extended. A few more Entry Forms will be accepted to replace Members who have changed their email address and cannot be contacted. If your Entry Form number was 41 to 91 or 158 to 162, please be sure to read the next two paragraphs!
I have now finished processing the birth data for the first 200 participants in STAGE 1, and began processing Search Reports on FEB 20. The early entrants began receiving their new MEMBER # and Search Report by email on FEB 22 1997. When ALL the reports were sent out, the new |CONTACT| page was made available, with a free Contact Request Form you can use to ask for the email address of up to 5 Members listed on your Search Report as your Top 5 matches. Thank you for your participation, and for your patience!
If you've already filled in your Entry Form, please select this |CHECK-LIST| hot-link to go to the |CHECK-LIST| page where you can see the STATUS of your Application. If your Entry Form was INCOMPLETE or incorrect, you may need to RE-APPLY quickly! I regret that some email addresses were lost when a disk file was damaged, so PLEASE check the |CHECK-LIST| page and re-submit an Entry Form with your name and email address and ORIGINAL Entry number, so you may receive your free Search Report which is being processed now. About 30 Entry Forms were affected, in the range from 41 to 91 and 158 to 182. All the data except the email address was recorded by hand, so the Search Reports are being prepared but cannot be emailed until those affected re-submit their email address. My apologies for any inconvience this may cause these 30 Members and any who were matched to them and wish to contact them.
All those who submitted Entry Forms which were received and ACCEPTED by that date will be considered Members in "The Experiment" and will be matched against ALL other Members, not just the first 100. This meant that the 100 Search Reports scheduled for the week of JAN 27 could not be done until FEB 20 so they could contain matches to all 200 Members. If you have already been ACCEPTED as a Member, but have since CHANGED your email ADDRESS, please submit a new Entry Form and enter your ORIGINAL Entry number (or 000 if you forgot it), not the new one displayed on the screen. Then check the |CHECK-LIST| page in a day or two to confirm it was received and acknowledged.
(c)1997 by Michael Star
If you've already filled in your Entry Form, please select this |CHECK-LIST| hot-link to go to the |CHECK-LIST| page where you can see the STATUS of your Application, if sent more than 24 hours ago. If your Entry Form was incomplete or incorrect, you may need to RE-APPLY quickly!
I am presently working on processing the birth data for the 200 participants, and began doing Search Reports on FEB 20. If all goes well, you should begin receiving them by email over a period of several days following FEB 20 1997. Thank you for your participation, and your patience!
THE FOLLWOING IS THE INFORMATION POSTED AT THE OUTSET OF "THE
EXPERIMENT".
(Parts may appear out-dated at the present time.)
The STAR MATES Experiment is a regular weekly feature of STAR SIGNS Astrology Zine.
Initially this will be a beta test site for Michael's new compatibility matching program using advanced Astrology. Samples of the SEARCH REPORTS are now available (subject to final revisions), as are samples of the Nametag LABELS used in THE GREAT DATE GAME. Four similar descriptive lines for each of your "Top 5" matches are also included on Page 2 of your STAR MATES Search Report. If they will exchange full birth data with you, then you could also order a "Psyche Secrets" or "Romance Secrets" reading on each other and get a more detailed astrological reading. Or you could order a CUPID COMPATIBILITY Reading on the potential relationship with a prospective romantic partner. (These may be purchased, if you wish, by selecting the |READ-YOU| hyper-link.)
Volunteers who get on the the bandwagon early will be entered in the ASTRO dataBASE for FREE and have the opportunity to be matched with other Members who are in the same dataBASE or who enter later and request a search for their most compatible people. Matching will initially be done for the purpose of finding compatible Internet pen-pals who share an interest in Astrology, as these people are in the best position to appreciate and/or critique this astrological experiment.
On DEC 02 1996 an invitation to join was posted on the UseNet newsgroup: alt.astrology
I apologize for the delay in getting this underway. I began to take applications at NOON Eastern Standard Time on DEC 03 1996. Please expect a wait of a week or two before all the applications are in and the Reports go out. I cannot run anyone's Search Report until ALL the volunteers in the intitial dataBASE have submitted their data, so it will depend on how long it takes to get the applications in. As of DEC 30, the majority of Entry Forms have been from women (probably because women seem to be more interested in Astrology than men). Ladies, if you have any male friends, you may want to invite them to participate too! (Also, a number of people with female names have not entered F in the GENDER question, for some unknown reason. This slows down the processing, so please fill in EVERY answer box!)
An official ENTRY FORM was made available at NOON (E.S.T.) on DEC 03 1996 at the |ENTER-ME| hotlink shown near the end of this page. This is the ONLY way to enter "the Experiment". I regret that I simply do not have the time to process 100 or more email letters at once, or answer personal enquiries about The Experiment. I have written as much information as I can on this page, so that any questions may be answered here. Please take the time to read it all BEFORE you go to the |TERMS| page and the |ENTRY-FORM| link. You may wish to save this file and read it off-line before coming back to enter your application. [There is now an additional |STAR-MATES FAQ| page link on the |CHECK-LIST| page for those who are already entered.]
Please read the |TERMS| page completely before you link to the ENTRY FORM page. There is an |ENTRY-FORM| hot-link at the end of the |TERMS| page for you to use, once you decide to accept the terms and conditions of "The Experiment".
After you submit your ENTRY FORM, check this page again in 48 hours and select the |CHECK-LIST| page where you can check the status of your Application. If your Entry Form was incomplete or lost in the email system, this is the ONLY way you will know in time to RE-APPLY on a NEW Entry Form before the final closing date. Don't miss your chance to participate for free!You will need to check the "VISITOR" NUMBER on the opening screen and make a written record of it, because this is how I will anonymously NOTIFY you on the |CHECK-LIST| page if your application was not complete or was not received. This is VERY IMPORTANT -- if you do not RECORD the number, you will not know if your application was accepted until it is too late to participate in the free "Experiment". I CANNOT CONTACT YOU at all if your email address was entered incorrectly, or if the Entry Form data gets lost in transit, so listing your number and its status is the best I can do!
BEFORE you go to the |ENTRY FORM| see if you have your exact birth TIME handy, because the rating and ranking calculations are affected to a fair degree by the TIME of birth. To get the most accurate match, give the most accurate time...
You will NOT be put on any third-party mailing lists, and you will NOT be put on my own private mail list unless you enter a REQUEST to join the STAR SIGNS mail list for future announcements, by entering YES in a box on the Entry Form. If you enter NO you will receive your Search Report, but no other email such as announcements or invitations regarding this Experiment or future experiments. (As of DEC 30, only 5 out of 100 applicants have said NO.)
NO PERSONAL DATA WILL BE GIVEN OUT, with the exception of the
following, and even this will be seen ONLY by people who have YOU listed
near the top of their list as most compatible. Chances are, THEIR data may
appear on YOUR list too.
Email Addresses will NOT be given out until AFTER a compatible match is determined by the computer program; and even then, only AFTER the member who ordered the compatibility search has made a REQUEST for contact will the email address of his/her choice of highest-ranked matches be given to him or her. In other words: unless your name comes up as one of the Top 5 matches on someone's search list, no one will see your first name or email address.
If you choose to participate, it will be with the agreement that you will respond at least once to any email message sent to you by a Member whose Search Report shows your name as one of the highest-potential matches to them. You will be given a MEMBER NUMBER which only you and the people who have you on their list of Top 5 matches will know, and you may ask anyone writing you to state your Member Number to prove that you were matched to them (it is possible for you to be on THEIR list even if they did not rank quite high enough to appear on YOUR Top 5 list).
Details are still being worked out. The matching program has been tested with over 500 persons known to the programmer, and it appears to be working remarkably well. Now YOU can be part of the next step in the testing process and perhaps connect with some compatible cyber-pals!
This is not a mere Sun-Sign matching program. It is extremely complex and uses ALL THE PLANETS in each person's birthchart, plus the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, I.C., Vertex, and Nodes. There are weightings for orb of aspect, type of aspect, afflictions to the planets involved, dignities and rulerships, mutual reception, etc.
The program rates and ranks the subject on SEVEN FACTORS, or any combination of those factors, against EVERY other person in the same dataBASE. One of the factors is mental/emotional [RA]pport, which is likely to be an important factor in WWW virtual vibes. And yes, there IS a [PH]ysical factor that indicates the potential for a certain "chemistry" between people.
You are welcome to INVITE friends or partners to apply by filling in the application FORM themselves. However, please be truthful when indicating your "availability" and legal marital status. If two partners in a romantic relationship want to join "the Experiment" to see how well they may be "matched" or what their "ratings" may be, they are welcome to do so, provided they have SEPARATE email addresses and are willing to reply to any email sent to them by other participants who may find them on their "Top 5" list. Please note that the initial "Experiment" will be matching people on a "FRIENDSHIP ONLY" basis, not necessarily on romantic or physical attraction. Scores for ALL Factors will be calculated and SHOWN on the Search Reports, but the RANKING process will be weighted in favor of factors indicating "friendship".
OTHER TYPES of MATCHING can be done later, when "the Experiment" is successfully completed and people may choose to order other types of search reports based on their own specifications. You may then order your search based on any combination of Factors, and/or on age range, height range, availability, legal marital status -- even on the SIGN of the person's Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, or Ascendant. And even MORE specific searches may be offerred, such as people of the opposite sex who have their Mars in a certain aspect to your Venus (which usually indicates a strong physical attraction) or have their Sun conjunct your Moon or your Sun conjunct their Moon (which is often found in the synasty charts of happily married couples).
Please be aware that the matching program may or may not rank you and your present partner (if you both entered) as one of the "Top 5" matches for each other, especially if there happen to be many more more people of one sex in the group. For example, if there were many more females than males, then a match for "friendship only" could result in either the male or female partner finding 5 females who might be rated higher as potential FRIENDS than their own partner. Even if the partner were ranked number 6 out of 100, he or she would not APPEAR on the "Top 5" list.
Hopefully, your partner WOULD be listed as the best match for you, but the program matches you for potential compatibility based on ASTROLOGY only, and not by the methods people usually use to choose a partner, such as appearances or shared activities. You may wish to assess your potential relationship using BOTH methods, but the computer program will only be reporting on astrological compatibility. In my experience, the program usually DOES agree with my personal choices by giving high ratings for people to whom I was strongly attracted BEFORE I used the program to check.
There will be NO CHARGE to participate in the initial "Experiment". It is FREE for the first 100 (maybe 200) people to apply AFTER the initial announcement is made on alt.astrology. The exact number of volunteers will be announced at that time, and only that number of application forms will be taken for the initial Experiment. Any additional applications beyond that number will be held on the "waiting list" and some may be included later if any of the initial group withdraw, or are declined because they did not fully complete their application form. In selecting from the waiting list, preference will be given to members of the sex which is least represented in the group, in order to better balance the gender ratio if possible. People who submit exact birth times will also be given preference, because the rankings will be more accurate when accurate birth times are used.
I need to "catch" the interest of enough net-connected people to form a group large enough to find "best" matches which are actually GOOD matches. The best 5 out of only 20 possiblities would not likely include 5 with high ratings as your match. When and if the Experiment is completed successfully, you'll be INVITED to remain in the ASTRO dataBASE as "Charter Members" at no cost to you. If you accept by the deadline date, by re- applying on a new application FORM and including your original Member Number and data, it will be on the condition that you will abide by the published Rules, and agree to make at least one reply to any new Members who email you and cite your Member Number after being matched to you on their STAR MATES Report. You may remain active in the ASTRO dataBASE for ONE YEAR, or until you give notice of your intent to cancel your active membership.
Your Charter Membership will be FREE, and you could enjoy many email letters from compatible Members simply by remaining available in the dataBASE and being selected as one of the Top 5 matches in OTHER Member's search Reports. However, if you wish to order your OWN search reports to find other Members who would appear on a list of YOUR Top 5 matches, the regular search report fees may apply (these have not yet been determined).
In other words, you will receive ONE FREE SEARCH REPORT as part of your volunteering to participate in the "Experiment", and you will also be given an invitation to a FREE MEMBERSHIP in a growing ASTRO dataBASE of the original Members and any new Members who join later. After that, you will be expected to pay the same fees as any new Member would for any services beyond the initial membership processing and initial Search Report. These will be OPTONAL, and you may remain active in the ASTRO dataBASE free of charge until you request that your name be removed, or until 1998, whichever occurs first.
There will be additional dataBASES established for people who wish to meet others who share the same common interest or quality, such as spiritual "SEEKERS", or "ATHLETES", or college "STUDENTS". If you choose to join any additional dataBASE, there may be an additional charge to be entered and to order your own search reports in that particular dataBASE.
If you just can't wait to get comfortably compatible, you might try browsing the STAR SIGNS |HOME| page section on "Readings" |READ-YOU| and check out the CUPID COMPATIBILITY Reading C1 with MATING RATING.
If you already have birth data for someone you are interested in romantically, you could order this Reading, which uses the same seven- factor rating system as the STAR MATES matching program, but also provides a 10 to 15-page detailed commentary on how the two people are likely to attract, react, and interact as potential lovers.
You can see a SAMPLE at MATING-RATING. If you wish to order your own, please use the ORDER-FORM.
Thanks for your interest in "The Experiment". I look forward to your participation, and your comments on the results!
-- Michael Star
You may now select the |ENTER-ME| hyperlink below to go to the TERMS and
CONDITIONS page, where you may find the |ENTRY FORM| hyperlink and complete
your Application once you have read and understand the terms and
conditions. Thank you for participating, and best wishes for an enjoyable
adventure in astrology!
Last Updated AUG 25 1997.
(c)1997 by MICHAEL STAR (All rights reserved.)