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SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the site-status-smorgasbord dept.
[Ed Note: I goofed. The upgrade is (roughly) 00:00 on 5/22/2017, no 5/21. Sorry for the screw up. - cmn32480]

[Ed Note 2: Damn devs have made a liar out of me... moved it back to the original schedule noted below. - cmn32480]

[TMB Note: Site update complete. Bumped so folks will notice.]

It has been a few months since we last updated SoylentNews, and we've not been content to rest on our laurels. Our next site update is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, 2017-05-21, depending on staff availability. We'll update this story when we know for sure when it will take place.

Since this post was started, other things have come to light, so there's a bit of everything in here. Read on for the full scoop:

Web Site Changes

In this latest update (scheduled around 00:00 UTC on 5.21.2017, but we are flexible), we have made the following improvements:

  1. Supported subscription payments made with Bitcoin [again].
  2. Fixed a bug which blocked non-whole-dollar bitcoin subscriptions.
  3. Provided immediate feedback of theme changes.
  4. Added button that, when clicked, marks all comments in a story as "unread".
  5. Added support for "<s>" and "<strike>" tags.
  6. Fixed bug where a plus sign "+" in a user's nickname made their user page inaccessible from site links.
  7. Removed unused Javascript code.
  8. Made minor, non-user-facing changes (code cleanup, etc.)

Backend Changes

As always, we appreciate constructive feedback. Reply with a comment to this story, join us in #dev on IRC (Internet Relay Chat), or submit a bug on GitHub.

Separately, the team has made great strides in moving to running on Gentoo. We are taking this step very methodically, making sure we have a solid foundation in place on one server before we even think of rolling it out to the rest of our systems. Yes, that means we will be free from systemd. Kudos to NCommander, Mechanicjay, Audioguy, TheMightyBuzzard, Paulej72, and Deucalion.

SoylentNews' Folding@Home Team Update

It's amazing how spare compute cycles add up! SoylentNews has a Folding@Home team which is helping researchers find a cure for diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's — among many others. Our team was launched on Feb. 12, 2016. In just over 15 months, we have amassed well over 300 million points which places us at Team 304 out of 226564! Barring any surprises, and continuing at our current rate, we are on track to break past 300 and into the 2xx's on or about May 28th, 2017.

We are always open to receiving new team members. Contact Sir Finkus for more information, either via email at this site, or via the #Soylent or #folding channels on our IRC -- Internet Relay Chat server.

Accounts Milestone

New account creation has been relatively consistent and steady over the past year averaging out to a new account pretty much every day. It is a pleasure to inform the community that, on May 18th, account number 6600 was registered on the site.

Funding Shortfall

Lastly, it is my sad duty to inform the community that our cash intake has been seriously deficient so far this year. Our budget for the six-month period of Jan 1, 2017 through June 30, 2017 is $3,000 and we are currently at approximately half that, with less than 6 weeks to go.

We have in excess of 100 users who have been active on the site within the last 30 days whose subscription has lapsed. It is easy enough to do — I have failed to notice my own subscription's end on more than one occasion!

Plain and simple, the site needs to pay its bills. Please look at your subscription page and consider making a contribution. The dollar amounts shown in the text-entry fields are the minimum amount required for that subscription duration. We've had a few users anonymously contribute significantly more than that in the past.

Some have chosen to give a gift subscription to NCommander (UID: 2) as a sign of support. However you choose to make a contribution, please do so now.

Thank-you
-- martyb

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by edIII on Saturday May 20 2017, @07:55PM (6 children)

    by edIII (791) on Saturday May 20 2017, @07:55PM (#512694)

    I'm not sure what the hell you are talking about. Are you complaining as a user here, or as somebody trying to contribute to site as a coder?

    As a user, I don't find an awful lot of rules. We don't support a lot of bullshit with the lameness filter, and not allowing people to embed gifs and cute emoticons everywhere. Although, it supports unicode so we can leave shit icons laying about. I'm not feeling restricted in the least in what I can do and say around here. While I've been complimentary to TMB on most occasions regarding the site and staff, I'm not above getting angry with him either. Yet, we are still both here, and there are no repercussions. Meaning, the staff isn't oppressive, there isn't censorship around here, etc. The staff is quite respectable around here.

    As a coder, suck it up. There is going to be a core group of people, and a general direction for the site. I've no idea what drama is involved in that, but unwritten rules just seems as a way to complain about personal issues, not site issues.

    As for TMB, grow the fuck up. You should see how mad I got yesterday at him, but I'm here today, I've donated, and nothing has changed my respect for him as a coder, as a staff member, and a contributor to SN. You only hurt yourself, and this community by childishly refusing to donate just because of him. Remember, there is his politics and the shit he says, and there is his coding and sysadmin work. I can call him an asshole for some of the things he says, and still greatly respect his contributions here. Take a guess who was here on Saturday on IRC handling a support request for a user?

    I only came back here to say that there might be some issues with Stripe today. Had to use PayPal to get a successful donation here, in case anyone else is trying to donate. Which please consider donating, the site needs it.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:45AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:45AM (#512840)

    That's like your opinion man. If he wants to be an asshole, fine, but being an asshole at the same time that he's acting in an official capacity here isn't what I would personally consider to be the kind of behavior that deserves being rewarded.

    The site needing money isn't really any of my concern. If TMB didn't piss me off, I'd consider donating, but I work too hard for my money to give it to people running their own personal fiefdoms. There's a ton of causes out there that need my money as well, why would I give it to a site that seems to be more about ego than anything else?

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:30AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:30AM (#512878) Journal

      but I work too hard for my money

      I don't believe you.
      The simple amount of posting coming from you is astounding, AC; someone may think you developed an obsession for SN, at least 30% of the SN posts are signed by you.
      No sleep, no food, no life 'cause you have no time for them, you compulsively need to keep posting on SN.
      That's more than a full time job and I bet SN doesn't pay you... so, what money?

      (grin)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:36AM (3 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:36AM (#512881) Journal

      That's like your opinion man. If he wants to be an asshole, fine, but being an asshole at the same time that he's acting in an official capacity here isn't what I would personally consider to be the kind of behavior that deserves being rewarded.

      Could you please describe this asshole behavior in conjunction with his official duties? We've sort of been taking it on faith to this point, but while I grant there is some behavior which some would consider asshole, I don't recall any done in an official capacity.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:43PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:43PM (#513057)

        Well, if you look up a ways, you'll see it in action. I don't think it's asking too much for the moderation action done by the site operators to be based upon written down rules is asking too much. TMB has already admitted that there are rules they use that aren't actually written down where people are likely to see them. Some of the rules are only known after you've committed an infraction or if you happen to stumble on some place in the comment section where they list them.

        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @05:59PM

          TMB has already admitted that there are rules they use that aren't actually written down where people are likely to see them.

          False. I in fact said they most certainly were written down where they belong.

          Some of the rules are only known after you've committed an infraction or if you happen to stumble on some place in the comment section where they list them.

          Oh this is true, if you never read the stories where they're discussed. And then don't read the ones where they're either implemented or tossed aside. And then don't read the official policies.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 22 2017, @02:09AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 22 2017, @02:09AM (#513264) Journal

          Well, if you look up a ways, you'll see it in action.

          Up a ways where? Link please. Vague accusations by an AC don't cut it with me. Keep in mind that I've been slammed before by anonymous accusations as well. It's not fair to the target to be accused of infractions or whatever, without any opportunity to defend themselves.