Bulletin Board

[Pebblette]

Hey you college kids out there. Print a small colorful sign with the forum's address on it and post it to your bulletin in the cafeteria or dorm or wherever. I'm sure there are many other lonely college kids and you might find some local to you that you could form a group with.

Just an idea . I'm sure Bjarne would appreciate it.

 

[bjarne]

Nice idea...

If anyone wants to create/design such a poster (ie. as a pdf, word/openoffice document) feel free to upload it here...

 

[Pebblette]

The library is another good place to post the website address. It's public and oftentimes, lonely people are bookworms like me .

 

[Bluey]

Bump, Cos this is a good idea and you could end up meeting ppl around you as well.

We have some good artists that are members here. Any one fancy designing a small poster for us?

 

[wah]

I know this is a month-old thread, but I'd be careful with overpromoting the forums. Those that are meant to find us, will. Don't worry.

But unless the owner has means to finance the site on a monthly basis as opposed to paying a couple bucks once a year, I'd be careful with going your way to increase the online members numbers. A shared server can only take so much and once it starts coming down to its knees you're either stuck with a site that constantly times out or with a VPS meaning money every month.

And if you need a VPS, it means you have a busy forum.

And if you have a busy forum, it means it will only get even busier.

Which means very soon even a VPS won't cut it. And unless you want forums with dozens of mating ads, you better be a millionare to pay for the dedibox(es).

Remember, there are a lot of English-speaking lonely people with an internet connection in this world. A lot of them aren't seeking a partner or a one-night-stand. And from the looks of it, this is if not the only, then the friendliest site for saying you are.

So I'd be careful. It wouldn't be the first time you might actually get what you wanted.

It may seem lucrative for the owner from this point of view, but turning a cute little forum into a business requires resources. And remember that commercializing a once non-profit site often repelled more members than it attracted.

And it would be a real shame to see this forum turn into anything else than it is now.

 

[Bluey]

Actually I don't think bjarne earns a cent from the forum. Do you see any ads?

I am pretty sure he would know all this thou. As He dose run another site that is much much bigger then this one and that one dose have ads on.

 

[wah]

Actually I don't think bjarne earns a cent from the forum. Do you see any ads?

Read again what I wrote.

I wasn't implying the site is up for financial gain. I'm saying if it starts growing rapidly, it will have to turn into business in order to exist at all.

If that happens, than he will obviously be in an opportunity to make a buck or two on the side as well, if he chooses to.

But it will have to become business and involve an increadible amount of resources.

It may seem unlikely from this point of view, but so did Facebook in 2004.

I'm just saying be careful with overpromoting the forums is all.

 

[Bluey]

Actually I don't think bjarne earns a cent from the forum. Do you see any ads?

Read again what I wrote.

I wasn't implying the site is up for financial gain. I'm saying if it starts growing rapidly, it will have to turn into business in order to exist at all.

If that happens, than he will obviously be in an opportunity to make a buck or two on the side as well, if he chooses to.

But it will have to become business and involve an increadible amount of resources.

It may seem unlikely from this point of view, but so did Facebook in 2004.

I'm just saying be careful with overpromoting the forums is all.

I see, Well ye I agree he might have too. But at the speed that members come along I think where a few year of that yet. Personally I don't see the problem of ads on this site as it is now. I mean just as long as they don't get in the way which am sure they would not. I really don't understand why there is no ads.

 

[wah]

I see, Well ye I agree he might have too. But at the speed that members come along I think where a few year of that yet. Personally I don't see the problem of ads on this site as it is now. I mean just as long as they don't get in the way which am sure they would not. I really don't understand why there is no ads.

Well, currently there are no ads for two main reasons: bjarne's belief in non-profit forums and no interested advertisers.

Rule of thumb for general discussion forum economies is no financial gain under at least 100 members online at all times.

To get to that is indescribably hard. But it can also be easier than you think. Especially if the competition is hard to find if not none existent.

Just look at Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia ... All started in the parents' basements.

I don't remember any other forum for loners who are just looking for general support. That's why I believe it has lots of potential. And as great news as that is, it may not necessarily be what bjarne wants.

I don't see any problems with ads either. I'm pretty sure most folks here don't. But I know of too many sites that lost their traffic as soon as they went commercial. Not in terms of gain but pure cost-covering.

Still, people stopped coming. They felt the point got lost. It also might be that most of them had a hard time believing there was actually no revenue involved with the site with 3 000 online users even though it might have been true.

But the key part is that no site that grew heavy traffic has ever managed to maintain the atmosphere it used to have when it was still a nice small community of people of common interest.

Most warm forum communities are innocuous and do their best to stay that way.

Just look at what one that doesn't fit can do to the site. Now imagine there's a 100 of them. Then imagine there are at least a 100 keywords that pop this site on the top of the results list.

There are way too many of them out there who get an extra kick out of ridiculing those of use who aren't ashamed to admit to what they regard as failures, and they'll make sure they have a good time here.

Staying small and not too attractive will make us harder to find.

I'm not making any assumptions here. It's just eight years of forum experience talking.

 

[Bluey]

I see, Well ye I agree he might have too. But at the speed that members come along I think where a few year of that yet. Personally I don't see the problem of ads on this site as it is now. I mean just as long as they don't get in the way which am sure they would not. I really don't understand why there is no ads.

Well, currently there are no ads for two main reasons: bjarne's belief in non-profit forums and no interested advertisers.

Rule of thumb for general discussion forum economies is no financial gain under at least 100 members online at all times.

To get to that is indescribably hard. But it can also be easier than you think. Especially if the competition is hard to find if not none existent.

Just look at Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia ... All started in the parents' basements.

I don't remember any other forum for loners who are just looking for general support. That's why I believe it has lots of potential. And as great news as that is, it may not necessarily be what bjarne wants.

I don't see any problems with ads either. I'm pretty sure most folks here don't. But I know of too many sites that lost their traffic as soon as they went commercial. Not in terms of gain but pure cost-covering.

Still, people stopped coming. They felt the point got lost. It also might be that most of them had a hard time believing there was actually no revenue involved with the site with 3 000 online users even though it might have been true.

But the key part is that no site that grew heavy traffic has ever managed to maintain the atmosphere it used to have when it was still a nice small community of people of common interest.

Most warm forum communities are innocuous and do their best to stay that way.

Just look at what one that doesn't fit can do to the site. Now imagine there's a 100 of them. Then imagine there are at least a 100 keywords that pop this site on the top of the results list.

There are way too many of them out there who get an extra kick out of ridiculing those of use who aren't ashamed to admit to what they regard as failures, and they'll make sure they have a good time here.

Staying small and not too attractive will make us harder to find.

I'm not making any assumptions here. It's just eight years of forum experience talking.

You I would say know a lot moor about all this stuff then I. I was just meat to be a moderator here, not admin. I found myself in a persuasion of running this place and being admin cos one person who had admin access left and the other left for a bit. So lucky I did have admin access but to be honest with you I never really took any interest in that side of it. I was just happy interacting with the members and being a moderator. After all I too typed into google the same as most of the other members that got here. I have got to grips pretty well with the admin side of it and I must say I do enjoy it. I really enjoyed implementing the use of you-tub videos that we can now do. But I would be the first to admit I do not know nearly as much about running forums as someone who is in my persuasion should do. I would prefer for someone to be around who knows as much as you or bjarne dose. Now you would understand I could not give you access to even moderate power as I don't know you and you could even be our resident troll, that I really should not talk of as You should never feed the troll, Not even tip bits lol I would like to see this site grow into something much bigger then it is. That I think would be good for a lot of ppl. I think if this site is going to grow to the size of what you talk of there well have to be moor then just me trying to keep this place ticking over. I mean Princess Cleocatra did start to help again. But we have had some disagreements and this has not helped with things. I don't think its good when two ppl have admin access and two ppl keep changing things. I think your asking for a fall out when its like this. I don't think this is my fault or Princess Cleocatra. Someone who knows there stuff has to have the last say and the ability to be able to do that. And that someone needs to have a good knowledge of stuff like this as well. I do have the time and I do believe in this place cos this is the only place I have seen on the net like this as well. It is a subject that is close to my hart (unforturnatly) But it is a place that's helped me a lot. But I do not feel at this present time that I have the knowledge that it would take to make this forum into anything moor then what it is right now. All though I am learning fast. Would you believe that not even 3 years ago I could not even turn a PC on lol

I do think your a knolegable guy. I hope you stick around. I think in time you talents well be put to good use. Or maybe strait away if bjarne says.

 

[wah]

You I would say know a lot moor about all this stuff then I. I was just meat to be a moderator here, not admin. I found myself in a persuasion of running this place and being admin cos one person who had admin access left and the other left for a bit. So lucky I did have admin access but to be honest with you I never really took any interest in that side of it. I was just happy interacting with the members and being a moderator. After all I too typed into google the same as most of the other members that got here. I have got to grips pretty well with the admin side of it and I must say I do enjoy it. I really enjoyed implementing the use of you-tub videos that we can now do. But I would be the first to admit I do not know nearly as much about running forums as someone who is in my persuasion should do. I would prefer for someone to be around who knows as much as you or bjarne dose. Now you would understand I could not give you access to even moderate power as I don't know you and you could even be our resident troll, that I really should not talk of as You should never feed the troll, Not even tip bits lol
n just me trying to keep this place ticking over. I mean Princess Cleocatra did start to help again. But we have had some disagreements and this has not helped with things. I don't think its good when two ppl have admin access and two ppl keep changing things. I think your asking for a fall out when its like this. I don't think this is my fault or Princess Cleocatra. Someone who knows there stuff has to have the last say and the ability to be able to do that. And that someone needs to have a good knowledge of stuff like this as well. I do have the time and I do believe in this place cos this is the only place I have seen on the net like this as well. It is a subject that is close to my hart (unforturnatly) But it is a place that's helped me a lot. But I do not feel at this present time that I have the knowledge that it would take to make this forum into anything moor then what it is right now. All though I am learning fast. Would you believe that not even 3 years ago I could not even turn a PC on lol

I do think your a knolegable guy. I hope you stick around. I think in time you talents well be put to good use. Or maybe strait away if bjarne says.

No problem, bro. I'm always here if you need help or assistance with the technical how-tos.

This forum is a dream. Everything should be done to preserve its innocence. I too would be glad to see an increase in membership and the postcount, but not the online members number.

With a shared server and a theme forum, if it stays under 50, you're okay.

But if it comes to around 100, it will mean there's already a significantly large database. Which means more and more queries across the board.

Which means lower responsiveness. You know where it goes from there.

That's what I'm afraid of. That's why as much as I would like the memberbase to increase too, I'm not desperate to see rapid growth at any time.

You have to consider that a certain number of members sooner or later stops coming or attenuate their visits, whatever the reason. It's like that on every forum. Here it's probably going to be the change in their social circumstances or simply the lack of free time.

But that's what balances the average load. Otherwise we would already see server problems on this forum.

We agree, this is a unique online place. That's why I'm afraid to wish for any major change. Remember, websites are based on the positive and negative progress principle. The more popular they are, the more popular they get. The less popular the are, the less popular they get.

Once the cat's out of the bag, you better think of a way you're gonna raise money 'cause you may need it sooner than you think. The way this world is headed, the only future I see is the one with more and more loners seeking online socializing.

And those who are meant to find this site will. That's why I believe we should stay away from spreading the word in real life.

As to identification, there actually is a way for you to see if I'm the troll or not.

Resolve my IP address. You will see that I connect via an ISP called Amis all the time and that my IP address doesn't change more often than every 24 hours. When you resolve, it will say cpe-92-37-123-79.dynamic.amis.hr . "Dynamic" means that my IP address is dynamic, that is that it changes every time I reset or/and restart my internet connection, as opposed to static IP addresses. The troll almost certainly connects with a dynamic address, otherwise you'd just need to ban his IPA.

Then check all of my posts. Those from the last three days are all made from Amis. Those before were made from T-Com (I changed my ISP on the 24th). The IP address I wrote this post from is 92.37.123.79.

Then compare the ranges of my previous ISP and my current one. You will see that they are the same. That is, ever since I registered, I'm always within the same IP range.

Then check the logs of all of the troll's accounts. Unless he's from Croatia (which is highly unlikely considering he attacked my guestbook with provocations on the basis of nationality), you will see a completely different IP range and his addresses will resolve to something completely different.

In other words, it can only mean that I'm connecting to a computer in another coutry via VMC (remote control of another machine via the internet) or that I'm paying someone in another country to troll for me.

Of course, the guy could be behind a proxy in which case you won't be able to resolve him, but seeing as how he's clearly not a techno guy, I'm pretty sure he's not using it.

Then compare the ISPs of all of his dupe accounts. Chances are all of them are the same, most of them created in the same day probably have the same IP address.

Then Google the ISP and check and IP range and you'll see which country he's connecting from.

Of course, the best way to identify the troll is to report him to the abuse service like I advised you and after they take care of him see if any other account that connected via the same ISP always or most of the time is inactive ever since. That very likely might be your troll.

One thing, though. Never judge members based on their IP addresses.

IP addresses mean nothing. A countless amount of users can be on the same IP address at the same time. For all you know, if you share your terminal with another member of your household, he might be your troll.

It also might be an internet caffe, a hot spot or any other type of public network or a private one.

But that's very rare. It mostly has to do with the way server IP adresses are handled on the ISPs' side. Two members might have the same ISP and after one restarts his dynamic address the other one connects and the address of the former gets allocated to the latter. That's how dynamic IPAs work.

IP addresses say nothing. IP ranges and ISPs say a lot. Always concentrate on that.

Oh, and, by the way, someone who's a troll wouldn't be writing all this to you and suggesting you report him to the abuse service. Well, okay, I may be calling for help ... Everything is possible.