Jump to content

Frank Hagan

Administrators
  • Posts

    3,919
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    22

Posts posted by Frank Hagan

  1. In my efforts to reduce costs where I could I made what was, in retrospect, a bad decision and moved to a less expensive server back around Jan. 4th. After several days on the new server, I realized it just wasn't worth the downtime and problems getting things to run smoothly. I have reverted back to my prior data center in Dallas, on the more reliable server. While it costs me about $22 more per month, it is at least stable.

     

    BUT, that means posts from about the 4th or 5th until today are lost to the ages, and I won't be able to recover them. You may have posted, replied, etc. and now they are gone. It's nothing personal, just my screw-up!

  2. I have been forced to upgrade the server for messing-about.com due to increasing resource usage. After negotiations the new configuration still results in a 60% increase. I have added Google Ads to help defray the cost.

     

    Several of you have asked about ways to support messing-about.com. There are two links in side column on the main index page:

    • $12 a Year Supporting Member - Member status will be upgraded to Supporting Member and ads will not be shown to you.
    • $60 a Year Premium Supporting Member - Includes the upgrade to Premium Supporting Member, and optionally provides a year of hosting your website at HOSTkabob (a 50% discount from our regular rates). 

     

    You can choose to pay by credit card or PayPal after clicking the link. The forms pop-up, so if you don't see them ... turn off your pop up blocker and try again.  Or, if you prefer to keep it casual, you can send money via PayPal to frank@frankhagan.com.

     

    Finally, I want everyone to know that we completely understand if you don't decide to join in the monetary support effort; messing-about has always provided free access to those who qualify simply by virtue of their contributions and ability to "be nice" to everyone else. It is an honor for me to be associated with all of you. 

     

     

  3. The server has been upgraded, and luckily there hasn't been any disruption that I can see. 

     

    To pay for this I have added advertisements in two areas, at the top of the page and in between the first and second post. I'm using Google Ads, which at least monitor the ads and keep them virus free. 

     

    For those who want to contribute, there are two links at the top right of the main index page to support messing-about.com, a $12 a year option to remove the ads, and a $60 a year option that removes the ads and optionally includes a full year of HOSTkabob website hosting if desired. 

  4. Trying some Google ads now, and may hide those for people who donate once I get a donate button set up. I hope they aren't too intrusive.

     

    Things are stable on the server side but I probably will need to upgrade by the end of the year. I hope to avoid that but it looks like I will need more resources for things like the image hosting, etc. by then anyway.

    • Like 1
  5. 2 hours ago, Oyster said:

    Since this is probably one of the best run places on the net, can the members participate in the funding?   Its great to come here and not be buried in junk at any time day or night.

     

    I could put up a donation button for PayPal or Patreon; I'll look into what I could add for paying members as a bonus. 

     

    I'm working with the data center now on mitigating the attacks and turned the registration form back on with some changes; we'll see how it goes with the other measures in place. I'll keep everyone posted!

  6. Unfortunately I have had to disable registration due to excessive resources being used by phony registration attempts and "contact us" form spammers. I am looking at upgrading the server and resources, but I am not sure the 64% increase in costs is worth that solution.  

     

    If you have someone who wants to join messing-about let me know and I'll add them manually for now. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  7. 4 hours ago, Chick Ludwig said:

    I don't know how to reduce the size. I've posted hundreds of photos without a problem. Why now????

     

     

    You should be good to go. I mis-read the configuration file and granted everyone a generous 2,000,000 kilobytes of file space when I thought I was giving 2,000,000 MB.

     

    Kind of like when you mis-read inches for feet and end up with a dinghy 40 feet wide.

    • Like 1
  8. It is the kind of thing that you can turn off when it pops up. Many people just close the notification without choosing to either accept or block them, and it pops up on every page refresh.

     

    I was reminded how much of a bad experience it can be when I last visited my mother, and she had constant pop ups from the notifications area (lower right) on her Windows 10 system. There was a constant stream of them, even when all her browsers were closed. You can turn them off in Windows, but it's harder to find the switch in the browsers.  

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.