Something to ponder.

All things related to the general running of the forum - got a suggestion? Here's where it should go.
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Gob
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Something to ponder.

Post by Gob »

Since moving back to the UK from Aus, I've had little or no use for my blog. Therefore the desire to pay for keeping it live is less and less attractive.

The trouble is that Plan B comes included in the cost of the blog, so if I shut the blog down, plan B goes.

Some people have been generous in the past, some people have never chipped in a cent. In fact one member funded a couple of years payments on their own. But I still don't think this is a fair and equal way of paying for Plan B, (also I'm a bit fed up of begging for money.)

Suggestions for how the forum can be funded in perpetuity welcomed.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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TPFKA@W
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by TPFKA@W »

Maybe it’s time to shut it down.

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Gob
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Gob »

We could always form a members only Facebook group?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Re FB, it may be my incompetence but I am unable to follow any individual "thread" in the three or four groups to which I belong. After 3 or 4 new posts, everything else vanishes into the nether regions of the fascist pig's trousers.

Here it's easy to see there are many active threads and - the links work really well. No links in FB AFAIK

I don't mind contributing - are you getting fed up Gob?
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by BoSoxGal »

Gob wrote:
Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:12 am
This is an email receipt for the paypal.com payment you just made through
https://panel.dreamhost.com/billing/

Your PayPal Account: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
Time: 2011-03-22 17:04:02
Transaction ID: 6342373
Amount: $119.40 (USD)
Applied to Account #: 396839

Thank you for your payment! We appreciate your business!

The Happy DreamHost Billing Team
http://www.dreamhost.com/
Ok, I've paid us up for another year, (this also includes the cost of my home/blog site)

No worries then.
Just to get nitty gritty details on the table, is this the total cost per year for hosting this site - $120 USD?

And are you asking to be relieved of the obligation to handle the task of paying it each year as well, or just the cost obligation?

If folks want to keep in going I can’t imagine we couldn’t rise to the occasion both to donate funds and to get the payment made - we could all vote on someone to do the nuts and bolts yearly, I would offer but since at least a few folks here dislike me strenuously it should probably be someone else.

On the other hand if nobody else really feels strongly about keeping the place active - posting stats are way down since LJ passed, I was attacked recently for pointing that out - maybe the board ending with a whimper is the way to go.

ETA: looking back at the thread I pulled the quote from, it appears after making payment in 2021 with funds left over from the prior year, you received some further donations to the PlanB fund. Maybe helpful to let us know how much we would need to contribute additionally to make up this year’s upcoming payment due so folks can consider that as they decide the fate of the place. Thanks!
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

Burning Petard
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Burning Petard »

My first introduction to personal exchanges on the web was after hearing a dot com address given on a PBS radio call-in show. My employer actually encouraged 'personal surfing' and I soon logged on to Cafe Dartre. I lurked for awhile. Meantime I found Amazon and discovered I could order a book or cd when I first got to work in the morning and the package would be waiting for me on my doorstep when I came home that same day. (Amazon had a big warehouse about 5 miles down the road then)

Since that time Amazon has become less efficient and more expensive. The web has become more personally risky. I have missed various BB's that enabled me to know individuals I cared about, but moved on to Facebook, or died a natural death.

I regard Facebook, and its many successors as too risky for me to participate in any way. I would miss this virtual place dearly if it should fade away.
At least there will always be the Chicken thread.

I know such carries its own risks, but I would prefer to send a personal check via snail-mail to a physical address. I have some paper Euros, left over from a trip to Europe many years ago, but now they have become clumsy in Great Britain.

snailgate.

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I'm quite willing to pay my share or even a bit more if there are some members/userswho are truly hard up. Especially during these days when we all have much reduced social lives. But I imagine Gob's contribution is also time as well as $$ or ££.

This may sound odd but I even value the posts of those with whom I disagree greatly. I don't come across many Trumpists in my daily life and I like to know how they think. It's easy to dismiss them all as low IQ need-do-wells but that simply is not the case, and it really is not helpful. Like SG/BP I would miss this place if it just faded away.

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Guinevere
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Guinevere »

Happy to keep on paying, but I don't have the time or interest to manage the site/keep it paid up. Would someone else be willing to take that over from Gob?

The other idea floated once before (@W, I think) was using reddit. I don't know anything about it, but I suppose would be willing to learn.

ETA: A Facebook group would also be fine, and yes MGM, links are allowed.

ETA2: Skip the FB comment - it would not allow anonymity, so I would pass.
Last edited by Guinevere on Tue Jan 04, 2022 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

Jarlaxle
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Jarlaxle »

Gob, check your PMs.

Methuselah
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Methuselah »

I agree with Ex’s and other posts above that request that this site stay alive. I’m willing to contribute cash and other services to split up the labor involved. Being of good health but 85 years old I shouldn’t volunteer for any post that would suffer if I suddenly disappeared, but I could do some correspondence under someone else’s direction. I don’t think user’s fees should be mandatory, as recruiting is tough enough as it is. If a reward for membership would be beneficial then other means, such as being eligible to have access to a special board (I think the software allows this) although I’m not sure it is a good idea. ‘Thuse
Last edited by Methuselah on Wed Jan 05, 2022 3:44 am, edited 2 times in total.

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TPFKA@W
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by TPFKA@W »

The other idea floated once before (@W, I think) was using reddit. I don't know anything about it, but I suppose would be willing to learn.
Yep, that was me. It is still, in my mind, the easiest solution. The need for anonymity is met in a similar way as it is met here. There would need to be a couple of supervising people who want to vet new members, (hahahaha new members, I made a funny.) It would be of no cost to members, and we can name the subreddit whatever we choose, though I would ditch the PlanB moniker due to the birth control implications. Maybe we could name it in honor of Lord Jim r/LordJimLives or something along those lines. It would free Gob of the burden of begging for financial input and would unburden those who cannot afford a contribution and there would be no burden of having someone with some technical knowledge on call. Last time I suggested this he was all happy about the burden but that seems to ebb and flow with the tides or blow hot and cold with the winds. If people are interested in sticking it out til we die off, this is a viable suggestion.

Burning Petard
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Burning Petard »

Well, if I MUST move my personal life into this century, Reddit looks a universe more ethical than Google or Facebook


snailgate

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Long Run
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Long Run »

First of all, thank you Gob for taking on this task. If things are going to change, it seems like money is not an issue since it takes just a few of us to kick in a modest amount to keep it going (though I have to say the contribution here is the only thing I use paypal for). The format works well for keeping threads separate in reasonable categories. Facebook is terrible for this, which is one reason it is an awful forum for political or any other kind of involved discussion (cute cat videos and short pithy observations of life work well there). If Gob is going to pass the baton, there should be at least two people with control so that there is little chance that both will be out of pocket at any one time. I have no opinion on Reddit having never used it, but would suggest that if that is on the table there should be a Tryit before doing the full shift. My two cents.

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by BoSoxGal »

The reasons I would rather see this place survive is that if it becomes obsolete we lose the whole archive of our past conversations here, which is all the more precious because we have lost friends over the years.

While I have spent some time reading (and very rarely posting) on Reddit, it is while capable of allowing for anonymity, a very different format in terms of layout and functioning. Like all oldsters I am set in my ways and not excited about a transition to a new framework and a loss of all our history here.

We need some clarification from Gob but if what he’d like is to step back from admin responsibility entirely then we just need two members to step up and volunteer to once per year post a call for donations and make the payment to DreamHost, and be available to step up to deal with them if we face in future another snafu like we did when they upgraded and our forum became temporarily nonfunctional.

I do have the time and am willing to serve, and I would even be willing to share a snailmail address for those wanting to contribute the old fashioned way because I’ve already revealed my IRL identity on this board in the past and can’t be hurt anymore than I already was when I did. I recognize some folks here don’t like me much but I have a reputation in real life for pretty scrupulous honesty when entrusted both with public funds and client funds, and since I cherish this place (even though I sometimes get frustrated with some who post here) I have no motivation other than to keep it alive for others who also cherish it.

Or two others can step up and my feelings won’t be hurt.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

This 1, 2 and 3:
Long Run wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 1:12 am
First of all, thank you Gob for taking on this task . . . The format works well for keeping threads separate in reasonable categories. Facebook is terrible for this, which is one reason it is an awful forum for political or any other kind of involved discussion . . . I have no opinion on Reddit having never used it, but would suggest that if that is on the table there should be a Tryit before doing the full shift
Thanks LR

And 4, thanks BSG:
The reasons I would rather see this place survive is that if it becomes obsolete we lose the whole archive of our past conversations here, which is all the more precious because we have lost friends over the years.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

liberty
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by liberty »

Could the fee be paid for several years in advance?
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.

Big RR
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Big RR »

I'm not certain how it can be funded in perpetuity, but perhaps we can create a fund that people can contribute to over the cost of the year so we can have something to draw on. I would also suggest haing a way other than paypal to contribute; for some reason it has never worked for me (even on ebay; I'm not sure why). I am more than willing to make a donation (which will, as Scrooge said, includes many back payments), and I think it makes sense to collect funds over the course of the year and keep it for future payments, but we need someone who would be willing to be responsible for keeping those funds and making the payments; if no one wants to, perhaps there is a service that could do it for a small fee (at least I would think there would be).

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Guinevere
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by Guinevere »

The archive is already mostly gone. The last upgrade cut off access to it (results show up in a search, but if you click on the link, you cannot read or access the full post). So why hang around here, but head somewhere that’s less work and less process.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by BoSoxGal »

Guinevere wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:49 am
The archive is already mostly gone. The last upgrade cut off access to it (results show up in a search, but if you click on the link, you cannot read or access the full post). So why hang around here, but head somewhere that’s less work and less process.
Your first post here:
Guinevere wrote:
Mon Apr 19, 2010 3:09 pm
Image

(my family is from the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, thus I am a St. Pauli girl myself!
All the posts are here. Go to Members, pick a member, search member posts, go to the last page and you’ll find that member’s first post from whenever they joined the board. And every other post they posted going back to April 2010 when the board launched, if they joined then.

Alternatively, go to any of the category headings, click on the largest page number at the top and you’ll find the first thread posted there - usually back in April 2010.

Not sure what method you’re using that you aren’t finding them.

The only inaccessible threads are under the label Guest, I believe from when Gob inadvertently deleted @w’s entire profile and user history. However her old posts still show up in many of the threads I’ve just been accessing, you just can’t click on her old user profile.

Everything else is still here.
Last edited by BoSoxGal on Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:45 am, edited 3 times in total.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Something to ponder.

Post by BoSoxGal »

LJ‘s first thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=584&p=6049#p6049

And this early thread by Gob, where some of our now departed friends share their thoughts on mortality: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=89

The archive here is priceless.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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