I never dreamed that I would climb over the moon in ecstasy. Nevertheless that is where I'm shortly about to be!!!!!! Cuz'... I've got a Golden Ticket! (It's OURS, Water!) I've got a Golden Chance to make my way! And with a Golden Ticket it's a Golden Day!!! Yippee!!
And what's your problem, Cottontop? You've found a different place and now hold Sci in contempt? Because your few weeks here were enough to understand what the place was like What it had to offer? No. I don't think so. You've said, yourself, what you prefer about this place than the other. The presence of many, many people. Not the presence of specific people. But just people. You're here for the social gathering. Aren't you? Well. I, for one, and Water, for two, know exactly what this place is like. What it has to offer. We have placed much of our energy and hundreds of thousands of words here. We've learned, loved, and laughed here (sorry for the 'we', water. I think I'm safe in this though.) What have you done here, Cottontop? Chatted it up? Will you come back if analbeads does?
it's on, it's off, it's on, it's off .. I'm glad it's back on but I'm pretty pissed and less forgiving. How about a good explanation, huh?
What's it worth, invert if the guy holding the keys to your lovely home just doesn't give a flying fuck nor does he even give you the common curtesy of a short explaination. Nor does he give an explaination to the people who he put in charge of looking after the place? People have a right to be pissed. It's everyone's time and effort that goes into the site, not Dave's alone.
I agree, if the owner of this site doesn't want to deal with it anymore, perhaps he should hand over control to the moderators. I went to "thescienceforum.com" and found many old sciforums members giving up on this site. that is a shame, this site is great, when it is up. it would not have been so bad if there was some kind of explanation. at least to the moderators.
What do you think persistent database errors would indicate? The explanation is self-evident I think. The site is outgrowing its home. The problem is, to find a new home requires money. Who provides that money - it ain't Arditezza, it ain't invert_nexus, it ain't the moderators. Bitch and complain all you want, call me an asshole all you want, but that doesn't change the simple economic fact that the site makes $0 yet costs me a non-trivial amount of money. Are abuse and an empty pocket my rewards for running this site? It would appear so. I had been quite ready to bite the bullet and accept the newly heightened expenses for the site, but if no one appreciates this, then I see no point. My motivation is close to exhaustion.
Errm. Nobody appreciates this? What part of my glorious song about Golden Tickets didn't you understand? I'm elated to have this site back. I'm not entirely happy with the weeks-long absence without any word on what's going on or not going on either. But, despite that I am in full recognition and utter appreciation for the return of the forums and am hopeful that the site will stay up. I love this place, Dave. I don't think that any other site I've ever seen comes close to comparing to it. Don't even think that I don't appreciate what we have here. Sheesh. I just erupted into song over it... How much more appreciative can you get? As to money. Google's actions are despicable. I can't believe they yanked their ads because of that lost month. They pay by the click so why should they care? They certainly didn't lose a drop of bandwidth in that month. Hopefully you'll be able to work something out with them to get them back. The site was making a slight profit the last I heard. Like a cup of coffee's worth or something was your claim if I remember right. Will the Amazon ads make up the difference do you think? If not, then a call for donations might be in order. Dave. This site is, hands-down, the only site on the internet that I would call home. I visit other sites. But I dwell here. Don't cast away my home. Edit: Note. I'm not completely forgiving and happy about the silence either. The problem may have been self-evident to you, Dave, but to us it was not. Anyway. While I would like to be more informed over these issues (and being ill-informed is the basis of my dissatisfaction) that doesn't take away the thrill and the joy of seeing this place back online once more. Fuck all of you that can't utter a simple hooray before asking for an explanation.
so... you need to change hosts? or is it just that you can't pay the one you have? what about banners? I could deal with more banners if it meant sciforums could stay up. I could even deal with a pop up once per visit. this site is a rare commodity, and worth protecting. I am sorry for lashing out, but it seemed as though you didn't care since nobody heard anything.
Dave, Tell me, how much does it cost to maintain sciforums? How much throughput/bandwith does it need?
All you had to do was ask. I give to three different forums right now, and I would gladly shell out money for here. But you didn't even attempt to let anyone know. You didn't tell anyone why it was down, or what they could do about it. Had you PM'ed Coffee, he could have let us know the details and we could have sent you money through paypal to get it back up. You obviously underestimate how much people love this place. You need a second administrator to take care of things when you are either too busy, or just not interested. You also should keep people aware. This is our home too, it's bigger than your personal interest in it. Had you said the word, I would have donated a long time ago and there are many who would have as well. Thank you for bringing it back up, but forgive me if I worry about it's future due to the current circumstances.
I was in NO CAPACITY to let you know - give me the benefit of the doubt on this. Christ, the money is secondary. The fact that you're berating me over this IS the issue. If all you want to do is insult and disrespect me, then why the hell should I waste my time and money? I don't need the hassle of presiding over something this dysfunctional.
Porfiry, It does seem that you do underestimate the place your site holds in the hearts of its members. Can you blame people for being pissy over having their favorite forum and valuable threads taken away with no word of explanation? The first time it went down, I'd managed to get the story out of you by email. So, those who found the 'refugee camp' had the knowledge that things would be fixed in a month. This time there were no such assurances. This time there was doubt and suspicion. Fear and dread. There will always be people who do not appreciate what they have. What this place offers. And they'll triumph in sharing their bitterness with others. But, fuck them. Sciforums is... like some word I can't think of right now. Something wonderful and shiny and magical. Yes. There are negative aspects to it. But these are far outweighed by the positive. Dave. Don't give up on this site. Try to understand just how meaningful it is to its members. And all complaints are not negative. There is such a thing as constructive criticism. We love this place and we want it to survive. Let us help you. Don't shut yourself down at the slightest hint of anger and hurt feelings. Sciforums should not be allowed to die. Tell me. When's the last time that you looked at this place with a sparkle in your eye? Was it ever so special to you? Or has it just been a mundane chore? Do you think its Golden Age is past and never to return as do some of the older members? Don't you sometimes feel like hugging the old gal and lifting her out of her depression? She loves you, Dave. Ah. Ok then. It's just that it was noticed that your development blog was updated at least once. And it was at this time that people started to get antzy. This was very recently, I believe. Anyway. This goes to show that perhaps, as Skinwalker recommended in another thread, that there should be some tighter communication between admin and owner. Give someone else the spare keys to the car, so to speak. Is this possible? Let us know how we can ensure the survival of this site.
Dave, if it comes down to the site going down for good due to costs, please let me know. I'll be happy to give it a home. I have an entire rack full of Dell servers and next to unlimited bandwidth. It's not worth anything to me personally, however it appears to be worth a lot to many others. The difference between us (the two forums) is that I can float for years without worrying about any expense. The benefits for me would be targeted advertising to businesses that I own. It would not really change anything from the users standpoint. The domain name would not even be needed. Just a thought to keep in mind.
Many families are dysfunctional. But that doesn't mean we're not family. Even that crazy, deformed cousin locked in the basement that eats babies when she occasionally breaks her chains and runs amuck... (you know who I mean...)
(In)Sanity, And it would be free of your particular brand of forum management? (I.e. vulgarity not frowned upon?) (In)Sanity, by the way, is the owner of our little refugee camp on the far shores of the long river. In case you weren't aware of the drama taking place in the disparate realms of the net.
