Charles Kozierok
01-03-2002, 07:56 PM
Hello everyone and Happy New Year! It's been a while since I wrote an update, so here it is. There are a few things I want to talk about.
First, thanks again to everyone who participates here on the Forums and helps continue to build our fine community. You folks are what make this place what it is.
The Forums run on The PC Guide's dedicated server, which is hosted by the fine folks at pair Networks (http://www.pair.com). The server is a few years old and had an 8 GB hard disk in it. Due primarily to the growing forums, this disk was 94% full and I would have had to start archiving (moving off-line) some of the content. Since a drive that small is also fairly old, I talked to pair and they agreed to upgrade the drive to a 20 GB model as a courtesy. So the disk is now only 38% full, and it should be a bit faster as well. The guys at pair are really great, and they have been instrumental in helping keep the site going. So if you are looking for a web hosting site, please consider pair, and tell them I sent you. This is one way you can get yourself a good provider and help support the site at the same time. (As you know, I don't make recommendations lightly.)
The server itself is a 350 MHz Pentium II. It's getting up in age, but for the most part, still acquits itself quite well. I realize that folks occasionally get server errors, so I am considering the possibility of an upgrade to the machine as a whole. It's unclear yet whether this is feasible, and what it will cost.
Which brings me to my next subject. A number of months ago, a few people suggested that I implement a "Tip Jar" for those who want to make donations to the site. I was reluctant, thinking this would appear "cheesy" or "desparate", but I realized that I am being silly. There really are costs associated with keeping the forums working well, and furthermore, I understand that some of you want to contribute to the site financially. I am also hopeful that some of the non-regulars who come here and benefit from the time and effort of the folks here, may want to make a contribution -- consider how much time and money the help here may save those with a problem.
I recently switched to a new system that allows me to accept credit card payments without requiring me to manually process each transaction. This makes the Tip Jar idea much more feasible than it was before, and I will be implementing this feature at some point in the near future. It will of course be entirely voluntary, and confidential. I do not expect anyone to pay just to use these forums, especially the regulars who make the place what it is. But the jar will be there for those who want to use it -- and I thank those who will contribute in advance.
I also at this time must apologize for my "disappearing act" regarding the enhancements to the forums that I promised to make many months ago. I will be rectifying this by doing some changes to the forums based on feedback from everyone here. Please see the related thread in the Suggestion Box (http://www.pcguide.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Suggestion+Box&number=4&DaysPrune=1000&LastLogin=) forum.
That's it for now. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif Feel free to respond to this thread here. Thanks again everyone.
------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.
[This message has been edited by ixl (edited 01-03-2002).]
First, thanks again to everyone who participates here on the Forums and helps continue to build our fine community. You folks are what make this place what it is.
The Forums run on The PC Guide's dedicated server, which is hosted by the fine folks at pair Networks (http://www.pair.com). The server is a few years old and had an 8 GB hard disk in it. Due primarily to the growing forums, this disk was 94% full and I would have had to start archiving (moving off-line) some of the content. Since a drive that small is also fairly old, I talked to pair and they agreed to upgrade the drive to a 20 GB model as a courtesy. So the disk is now only 38% full, and it should be a bit faster as well. The guys at pair are really great, and they have been instrumental in helping keep the site going. So if you are looking for a web hosting site, please consider pair, and tell them I sent you. This is one way you can get yourself a good provider and help support the site at the same time. (As you know, I don't make recommendations lightly.)
The server itself is a 350 MHz Pentium II. It's getting up in age, but for the most part, still acquits itself quite well. I realize that folks occasionally get server errors, so I am considering the possibility of an upgrade to the machine as a whole. It's unclear yet whether this is feasible, and what it will cost.
Which brings me to my next subject. A number of months ago, a few people suggested that I implement a "Tip Jar" for those who want to make donations to the site. I was reluctant, thinking this would appear "cheesy" or "desparate", but I realized that I am being silly. There really are costs associated with keeping the forums working well, and furthermore, I understand that some of you want to contribute to the site financially. I am also hopeful that some of the non-regulars who come here and benefit from the time and effort of the folks here, may want to make a contribution -- consider how much time and money the help here may save those with a problem.
I recently switched to a new system that allows me to accept credit card payments without requiring me to manually process each transaction. This makes the Tip Jar idea much more feasible than it was before, and I will be implementing this feature at some point in the near future. It will of course be entirely voluntary, and confidential. I do not expect anyone to pay just to use these forums, especially the regulars who make the place what it is. But the jar will be there for those who want to use it -- and I thank those who will contribute in advance.
I also at this time must apologize for my "disappearing act" regarding the enhancements to the forums that I promised to make many months ago. I will be rectifying this by doing some changes to the forums based on feedback from everyone here. Please see the related thread in the Suggestion Box (http://www.pcguide.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Suggestion+Box&number=4&DaysPrune=1000&LastLogin=) forum.
That's it for now. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif Feel free to respond to this thread here. Thanks again everyone.
------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.
[This message has been edited by ixl (edited 01-03-2002).]