The Gripe List celebrates its third year and more than 3,000 subscribers.

Ann Landers and Howard Stern's Love Child Survives . . .

An obscure ezine on the Internet has quietly been making money.

Gripelist.com, a web site that takes member submitted gripes,

complaints and pet peeves and then offers up some crass 'in your

face common sense, has been quietly turning a small profit after

the big internet crash.

With no intention to actually make money, The Gripe List started

out with only four subscribers and was created by the wickedly

evil humor of its owner, Steve Doss or, as he's more commonly

known, The GripeMaster. On the eve of its third birthday

however, the email ezine has not only survived the internet crash

and September 11th, but has seen membership balloon to just over

3000 with a dozen paying subscribers that help to defray the cost

of running this sleepy internet hit.

Surprisingly popular among devotees, this unsung hit survives via

membership submissions. Brave, daring people send in the little

nuggets of their day or commute or life in general to take the

chance of having the GripeMaster sting them with their own

stupidity or sing their praises. Fiercely critical of AOL users,

the GripeMaster has created a loyal following and made bitter

enemies in the Internet world.

The first two years of The Gripe List's existence were entirely

supported by Steve's real job. However, with an economic

downturn that source of funding, as well as his job, immediately

disappeared overnight. Faced with either killing off the ezine

completely or charging for the service and the wit of Steve's

alter ego, The GripeMaster, Doss took a leap of faith and split

the ezine into a free and a premium offering. To his surprise,

enough members immediately signed up for a monthly subscription

that the ezine has become entirely self-sufficient of outside

funding.

As this, to use the words of one loyal fan, '... child of Ann

Landers and Howard Stern turns three, the Gripe List is here to

stay and, at the moment, making more money than the guy who

started it.