I hope this reaches you after a safe and healthy holiday!
Where We're At:
In our last fundraising update on 2021-21-20 we stood at $1510.49 towards our goal of $3,500.00 for the second half of the year. I am happy to report that we have since collected additional net subscriptions totaling $279.72. Thank You! You Rock!
mysql> SELECT SUM(payment_gross) AS Gross, SUM(payment_net) AS Net, ts, max(spid) AS SPID FROM subscribe_payments WHERE ts >= '2021-07-01' ;
+---------+---------+---------------------+------+
| Gross | Net | ts | SPID |
+---------+---------+---------------------+------+
| 1908.06 | 1808.21 | 2021-07-01 00:41:45 | 1711 |
+---------+---------+---------------------+------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
There were a total of 81 (YAY!) subscriptions purchased in the second half of this year (click to see):
mysql> SELECT ts, payment_gross, payment_net, method, submethod, payment_type FROM subscribe_payments WHERE ts >= '2021-07-01' AND payment_gross > 0 ORDER BY ts ;
+---------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-----------+--------------+
| ts | payment_gross | payment_net | method | submethod | payment_type |
+---------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-----------+--------------+
| 2021-07-01 00:41:45 | 20.00 | 19.12 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-01 02:15:00 | 20.00 | 18.82 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-01 02:20:50 | 20.00 | 19.12 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-01 02:34:13 | 20.00 | 18.82 | paypal | NULL | gift |
| 2021-07-01 03:26:34 | 20.00 | 18.82 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-01 14:19:33 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-01 16:35:50 | 22.34 | 21.39 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-01 18:36:56 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-02 10:49:17 | 20.00 | 19.12 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-02 14:43:16 | 20.00 | 19.12 | paypal | NULL | gift |
| 2021-07-02 21:06:24 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-05 21:59:27 | 40.00 | 37.94 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-05 22:07:16 | 400.00 | 388.10 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-06 14:07:24 | 5.00 | 4.55 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-18 14:27:40 | 5.00 | 4.55 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-19 15:13:31 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-22 12:14:55 | 4.00 | 3.52 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-07-25 07:14:27 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-07-29 11:57:17 | 10.00 | 9.41 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-08-06 12:30:41 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-08-13 10:28:11 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-08-18 11:54:17 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-08-22 12:11:44 | 4.00 | 3.31 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-08-29 13:03:40 | 10.00 | 9.16 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-03 12:33:49 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-06 10:20:14 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-06 13:35:17 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-10 18:30:22 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-11 23:56:46 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | gift |
| 2021-09-18 10:37:19 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-22 10:12:38 | 4.00 | 3.31 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-09-29 14:37:56 | 10.00 | 9.16 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-05 00:31:51 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-10-06 10:58:25 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-14 11:33:56 | 30.00 | 28.46 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-16 09:38:51 | 13.72 | 13.02 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-10-18 11:21:58 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-21 13:29:39 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-22 12:00:55 | 4.00 | 3.31 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-24 19:27:39 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-26 19:43:45 | 40.00 | 38.11 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-29 12:01:11 | 10.00 | 9.16 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-10-30 18:22:11 | 50.00 | 47.01 | paypal | NULL | gift |
| 2021-11-06 12:28:43 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-08 15:02:34 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-09 19:14:31 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-10 06:40:55 | 50.00 | 47.76 | paypal | NULL | gift |
| 2021-11-10 11:47:46 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-12 03:08:14 | 30.00 | 28.46 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-17 01:01:32 | 12.00 | 11.35 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-11-18 12:22:21 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-21 14:54:31 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-22 12:28:08 | 4.00 | 3.31 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-27 18:53:45 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-11-29 10:45:50 | 10.00 | 9.16 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-03 15:58:30 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | gift |
| 2021-12-04 02:20:36 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-06 11:29:58 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-11 04:02:13 | 4.00 | 3.31 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-11 12:38:48 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-12 11:08:54 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-13 20:52:42 | 12.00 | 11.09 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-15 09:21:39 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-15 16:00:03 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-16 10:32:40 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-16 13:42:40 | 100.00 | 96.80 | stripe | CC | gift |
| 2021-12-18 10:16:24 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-18 10:52:56 | 5.00 | 4.34 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-20 23:21:01 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-21 02:21:21 | 40.00 | 38.11 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-21 05:25:20 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-21 17:14:58 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-12-21 21:00:59 | 50.00 | 48.25 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-12-22 10:26:01 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-22 10:45:00 | 4.00 | 3.31 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-23 05:17:16 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-12-23 18:26:06 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | gift |
| 2021-12-23 20:05:03 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | gift |
| 2021-12-25 12:02:11 | 40.00 | 38.11 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-26 01:32:21 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-12-28 13:01:56 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
+---------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-----------+--------------+
81 rows in set (0.00 sec)
What's Next?
The sharp-eyed among you have already recognized something: that's not nearly enough:
We need to net an additional $1691.79 to reach our goal.
WE CAN DO THIS! 😃
Just click on Subscribe and follow the instructions! (Click the "*SPOILER* for more details.)
Select whether it's a subscription for yourself or a Gift to someone else. For a Gift sub you can provide your name to tell the recipient who the subscription is from or blank it out if you want to remain anonymous. Then choose a duration (30, 180, or 365 days). Important! You can accept the minimum amount offered (4.00, 12.00, or 20.00) OR type another (larger) amount into the field. Then click the "[Continue]" button.
NB: All transactions are processed remotely — SoylentNews sets up the transaction but does not actually participate directly. Also, if you have an Ad Blocker such as No Script or uBlock Origin installed, you may need to allow an exception for "soylentnews.org", "stripe.com", and "stripe.network" for the transaction to be entered and accepted.
You're on the Home Stretch! Click a button: PayPal (1) "[PayPal Buy Now], (2) "[PayPal Subscribe]", or (3) "[Pay with Card or BitCoin]" (Actually only "Card" is accepted at this time).
You are then taken to a form on their payment processor's site where you provide the payment information and confirm the transaction.
That's it! The payment processor then informs SoylentNews of the transaction amount and their processing fee.
Should you have a question or problem, please feel free to reach out for help on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and/or leave a message here in the comments.
These funds pay for hosting our servers, incorporation fees, taxes, and a CPA. All income goes to paying for the site. Period. Staff is all-volunteer. Nobody here has ever been paid anything for working on SoylentNews!
--martyb
Related Stories
Happy Holidays!
On behalf of the SoylentNews staff, we wish you safe and happy celebrations in the coming holiday season! 😀
I am also encouraging the editorial staff to post stories on a weekend/holiday schedule for Friday through Sunday (2021-12-24 UTC through 2021-12-26 UTC). Enjoy your well-deserved break!
COVID-19:
Let's face it, COVID-19 sucks. We've had to deal with lock-downs, masks, "Long Covid", and sadly the deaths and serious illness in our friends and loved ones. Did I say it sucks? To all who have suffered and struggled, please accept my genuine and heartfelt wishes for acceptance and peace. We can do our own part to mitigate the spread of this deadly disease. How deadly? Well over 800,000 people have died in the US so far, and 5.3 million have died worldwide.
Through all this we have tried to be a site where the community can come together to discuss things happening in the world today. We aim for a technical focus, but occasionally delve into other current events, too. A "known quantity" where we can have open, heart-felt discussions, all with a sense of humor strongly encouraged!
Fundraising:
We currently stand at $1510.49 (i.e. 43.2%) compared to our base fundraising goal of $3500.00 (for the 6-month period of 2021-07-01 to 2021-12-31).
We have 154 current subscribers. (WOW!) Thank You!
On 2021-12-16 we received a generous $100.00 subscription in memory of MichaelDavidCrawford (I still miss him and his positive attitude in the face of adversity!) That subscription was a great help; thank you! The large subscriptions are impressive, yes, but it's important to note we also received 12 other subscriptions so far this month that totaled $186.00. (These figures are gross amounts; they netted us $269.47 after processing fees.)
Want to help?
Click on our subscribe link and answer a few simple questions. (NB: we DO NOT directly handle the transaction; you may need to enable JavaScript for PayPal or Stripe). That's all there is to it. If you have any questions or problems, please reach out to admin (at) soylentnews.org (preferred) or IRC.
You guys are GREAT!
Previously:
In our last Fundraising Update we had raised $1,808.21 (net) towards our goal of $3,500.00 for the 2nd half of the year. (And five days earlier we stood at just $1,510.49).
Currently:
And where are we now? Hold onto your seat...
mysql> SELECT SUM(payment_gross) AS Gross, SUM(payment_net) AS Net, ts, max(spid) AS SPID FROM subscribe_payments WHERE ts >= '2021-07-01' ;
+---------+---------+---------------------+------+
| Gross | Net | ts | SPID |
+---------+---------+---------------------+------+
| 2435.06 | 2307.23 | 2021-07-01 02:15:00 | 1727 |
+---------+---------+---------------------+------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)mysql>
In that time, we had 4x $50.00 subscriptions and a $100.00 subscription (flagged by an "*" below):
mysql> SELECT ts, payment_gross, payment_net, method, submethod, payment_type FROM subscribe_payments WHERE ts > '2021-12-28 13:01:56' AND payment_gross > 0 ORDER BY ts ;
+---------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-----------+--------------+
| ts | payment_gross | payment_net | method | submethod | payment_type |
+---------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-----------+--------------+
| 2021-12-28 22:28:09 | *50.00 | 47.76 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-28 22:48:32 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-28 23:33:57 | *50.00 | 47.76 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 00:54:44 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 02:47:41 | *50.00 | 47.01 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 03:08:48 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 04:50:49 | *100.00 | 96.02 | paypal | NULL | gift |
| 2021-12-29 07:01:43 | 20.00 | 18.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 10:58:54 | 10.00 | 9.16 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 12:46:04 | 25.00 | 23.26 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 13:32:12 | 20.00 | 19.12 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-12-29 13:37:36 | *50.00 | 48.25 | stripe | CC | user |
| 2021-12-29 14:16:35 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 14:24:29 | 40.00 | 37.51 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 21:11:32 | 12.00 | 10.91 | paypal | NULL | user |
| 2021-12-29 22:06:03 | 20.00 | 18.81 | paypal | NULL | user |
+---------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-----------+--------------+
16 rows in set (0.00 sec)mysql>
Yes, the larger subscriptions are attention-getting, but $220.00 of that $527.00 came from subscriptions of $20.00 or less.
Remaining:
Since I started writing this, we received two more $20.00 subscriptions! All told, we need just $1,173.96 to make our goal and only 2 days to go. Can we do it? We Can Do This... Please Subscribe!
Ahem. Got carried away there. But seriously, every bit makes a difference; please help.
--martyb
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 28 2021, @02:59AM (1 child)
I'd give every one of the staff a fine steed to ride to the bank with their bags of loot. Alas, you're going to have to walk.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 28 2021, @10:26PM
>> Nobody here has ever been paid anything for working on SoylentNews!
Because Martian Hookers are free.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 28 2021, @11:38PM (11 children)
IOW, same as many other small hobby sites.
Section 230 protection is the same whether you're incorporated or not. So the only benefit to incorporating is being able to issue tax receipts. Hardly worth it for the donor of a $20 subscription to claim.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @03:10AM (9 children)
A poor version of Slashdot with no redeeming features?
SoylentNews current is offering us something very different compared to Slashdot, Facebook, Twitter, etc. An all-volunteer organization. Hell Wikipedia/Mozilla/Tor Project are less volunteer than they are.
I'm not at all in a position to donate this year (having a 0 figure income and living with family,) but any of you who truly believe should consider what techie purchase you could wait a little longer on and kick back a few dollars here for a community that is pretty damn special. The whole site runs on less than the cost of a decent used car every year, which in this day and age is pretty impressive.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:49AM
Has anyone invited MacKensie Scott to subscribe?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @12:42PM (1 child)
I've donated a little, but what I'd really like are figures on how many distinct active users we have. Do we advertise anywhere, can we get new blood? Most of us have been around for nearly 20 years, from the Green Site, if not longer. And the community is definitely shrinking.
I don't mind being Ars Technica with a better comment system, but maybe we could get some of the younger crowd over here? People in their 30s who know of SN or the Green Site are rare enough, and forget people younger than that. (I don't want to outlive all of you--who will I have to talk to... )
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @04:44PM
Search for "Generational Knowledge" on AltaVista.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @01:02PM (5 children)
It IS a poor version of what slashdot used to be. And from the shortfall in donations, looks like the decision to cut the non-necessary crap (the registration as a charity, the CpA, etc) may be inevitable.
So best to plan for it in advance. All the site NEEDS to keep running is domain name registration and server rental. The majority of the costs are due to maintaining charitable status. Get rid of that,, and subscriptions alone can carry the site along.
Plenty of small hobby sites exist this way. And this is very much a small, and diminishing, site.
Look at the demographics. Buck feta is mostly for aging farts and right-wing trolls who never worked in the tech field and now sit at home shitposting.
I'm sure I'm not the only one watching the slow dumpster fire wondering how long … because that's pretty much the only reason to check in - to see if runaway, khallow, and fusty have managed to kill it yet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @02:32PM
Hey, we're not kuro5hin yet.
It took me years to stop typing it absent-mindedly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @04:24PM
Wow, you've really built these people up in your mind into something way more evil than the libertarian boomers they are.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 29 2021, @04:43PM
Would your lack of certainty [*] about who else might be "watching the slow dumpster fire" indicate that you're the only one complaining? Perhaps even the person spamming this discussion with multiple accounts?
* It's odd how insisting one is "sure" demonstrates that one is not.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday December 30 2021, @04:34PM
We can't accept donations without declaring our accounts. And your solution is...? Let me guess, you are volunteering to join the staff and manage our accounts. That's right, isn't it? Thank you, that is a very generous offer.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday December 30 2021, @05:08PM
So the main reason for the unpopularity of the site are the personal attacks by 3 named individuals and your belief that many here are 'ageing farts and right-wing trolls'?
And your response is to make more personal attacks, and for good measure lets include those whose politics might differ from yours or happen to be older than yourself? You could have gotten that message across without naming anybody or making your political views a valid criticism of others. Are you suggesting that people who are older than you are not entitled to express an opinion? What age bracket would you say is acceptable? - careful, make sure it includes your own age, you are hardly a youthful person yourself.
But now you really have sunk down to their level. You are no better than those you are blaming, are you? Actually, by making your comment you are one of those contributing to the unpopularity of this site.
If you don't like this site why are you still here making such comments? Some would say that is trolling. In fact - I have.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:42PM
Since when is SN an IRS recognized charity that can issue tax receipts?
Being a PBC provides the volunteers with isolation from whatever other non-230 issue can befall an organization, like civil suits or mcasadevall claiming ownership.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @12:21AM (5 children)
I don't even know why I come here any more. Mostly out of habit I think.
(Score: 5, Touché) by nostyle on Wednesday December 29 2021, @01:19AM (4 children)
Yep, AC comes here every damn day!
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @02:09AM
Somebody hacked my account!
(Score: 4, Funny) by nostyle on Wednesday December 29 2021, @02:22AM (2 children)
What's worse... he argues with himself!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @03:20AM (1 child)
And you were only modded "Funny" because of your $400 donation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @03:43PM
+1insightful
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @04:39AM
You guys need to pull yourselfs up by the bootstraps and stop being losers. Get off welfare ya bums!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:04AM
Maybe if we started charging for aristarchus submissions, like all those "open access, for profit" academic journals out there. Shirley we could score the big bucks and mucho dinero!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Fuck You Niggers 3 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:24AM (2 children)
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 29 2021, @07:32AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 31 2021, @02:51AM
Ah! Sockpuppet decloaking off to starboard! FYN is the reason SN is what it is.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Fuck You Niggers 4 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:25AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribingagain.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Fuck You Niggers 5 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:30AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Fuck You Niggers 6 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:36AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Fuck You Niggers 7 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:40AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1) by Fuck You Niggers 8 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:45AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1) by Fuck You Niggers 2 on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:47AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Bytrarn on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:48AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Osama Hazuki on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:50AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: -1, Spam) by DeathMonkey Sucks Ass on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:53AM
Ban aristarchus first. He's such a vile sock puppeteer. Then I'll consider subscribing again.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of Azuma Hazuki and her vile and hateful personal attacks.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by turgid on Wednesday December 29 2021, @11:48AM (5 children)
See these spam/troll posts? Can you delete them? They really spoil the place. I can't see any value to keeping them around. I'm not usually one for censorship but they really do make the place unpleasant. They're quite clearly an attack on the site.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @01:10PM
Red pill time. It's not a crisis, just the loss of an illusion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @06:01PM
Maybe it's being spoiled by the font size, or the header color.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday December 30 2021, @09:56AM (2 children)
The short answer is - No, not easily.
If we actually delete them from the database then we are left with lots of dangling links to things such as comment IDs, story IDs etc. The database becomes corrupted. Your comment would also be invisible because it is linked to the thing you are asking us to delete!
We can, and do, change the comment score so that you can easily filter out such stories on your display. However, for some reason, many in our community want to browse at -1 and see everything including things that other members have already identified as being useless and irrelevant (such as Spam).
All other options require software changes and, as you already know, we no longer have a Perl programmer on the team.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday December 30 2021, @10:47AM (1 child)
I wish I could help but my Perl skills were 6 months about 15 years ago...
Here's another idea. You could have a special -2 or similar for posts marked spam, and let users filter on that. I like to browse at -1 since sometimes there's grain of truth in what someone else considers troll or flamebait. Also, it's good to know what the loonies are "thinking" sometimes. That they so readily volunteer their opinions is very useful.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Informative) by janrinok on Thursday December 30 2021, @03:04PM
I like the idea but my first response is that it would require a code change, albeit trivial. That would then necessitate a new build, test schedule, and release which none of the current staff have ever done. Let think on it....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @04:18PM (8 children)
This time it went pretty well.
What is the main reason that keeps you from volunteering to help with SoylentNews? [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @06:05PM (7 children)
There were issues with this site that were expressed when that poll was around that have not seen any improvement so far. I will therefore refrain from contributing my hard earned money at this time.
We used to have regular pollinations of stories from the Register, what happened with that?
There's still a decent inflow of tech stories that only get a few comments. There are some trite random health stories. But the stories that get the most engagement are Covid stories where people scream at each other and battle, with the mod points that every registered account gets daily, to silence their political enemy.
That is fucking unhealthy, even for the rest of the site, and should be curbed. Stoking enmity with a political story does not lead to increased civility or interest in discussing technical matters when you see the same people in a Linux related submission.
Suggestions on combating the mod armies have already been put forth. Granting mod points only to a random subset of accounts daily. Metamoderation. But something should be done.
The spam situation here can be annoying, but AFAICR it used to be worse on /. The spam mod is a good idea, but any abuse of it must be punished, and this needs to be made clear by management. Otherwise it will end up as another political weapon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @06:21PM
Absolutely agree. I would added more, but I said it in that poll last June.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by martyb on Thursday December 30 2021, @03:10AM (1 child)
Quite frankly. I was going through a difficult stretch in my personal life and it was all I could do to try and keep the story queue fed.
That said, I'm up to my earballs trying to do what I can with fundraising AND pushing out stories. I am also dealing with some health issues which have adversely impacted my vision and typing. I cannot promise I can get to all of your issues, but if you could list the top few, I will take a look at what I can do.
Right you are! I just checked our RSS/Atom feed from them... NADA. I stopped and restarted the feed. Here's hoping that does the trick!
Judging what stories will be popular is more an art than a science. That said, purely tech or science stories tend to be "fact reporting" and do not tend to generate much discussion. If you see a tech story that you would like discusses here, please submit it! Maybe even include some personal viewpoint about why you find it interesting.
There are some trite random health stories.
We try to provide a *mix* of stories. As above, it's difficult to predict interest. One person may think it's boring and another think it's mind-blowing.
Don't see something you like? Please submit stories yourself!
So what are you suggesting? We should not run COVID stories because of "bad" (however you may define "bad") behavior in the community? But those stories "the most engagement"... so we should run more of them? That sounds to me like DITDDIYD (Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't).
I agree. That sounds great. How do you propose that happens? And are you willing to contribute to coding and testing it?
We have identified and blocked users who have posted under multiple accounts, and continue to do so. As the mod points and metamods... that involves coding and since TMB left, we do not have a staff member focused on coding. Metamod is NOT going to happen -- NCommander ripped out gobs of code related to that just to get the site stable in the early days. Then TMB and PB spent months optimizing the code to run fasted which stepped on the same area of the code. Granting fewer mod points should be much more tractable, but we need staff to implement it. I probably could do it, with some help, but my spare time is pretty much entirely taken up with editing-related duties.
Agreed. I started on /. before they even created accounts! (Yes, it was worse on /.) Spam mods are reviewed and violations are dealt with. Rest assured, we are aware. Just because you don't see it, does NOT mean it isn't happening!
I apologize for the typos. I'm exhausted and should have gone to bed an hour or two ago.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by janrinok on Thursday December 30 2021, @09:45AM
Martyb has already mentioned that he has some medical issues - some of which are probably related to the amount of time he has spent in front of his computer screen and on his keyboard supporting this site. He is a prolific editor (well over 10000 stories personally edited) and he is also responsible for numerous other roles within this team. The next 2 editors (authors [soylentnews.org]) in the table have also got significant medical issues which currently affect their ability to contribute. There are 3 or 4 editors who contribute as and when they can but we all have our own personal lives to lead and, just as everyone else in our community, we are experiencing the same problems as everyone else. Every single active editor makes the task easier for all of the others. Even a couple of stories per week helps.
I know that we often ask for more volunteers but that isn't because we are trying to build an empire. The entire site (including wiki, IRC, etc) is probably maintained, organised, and managed by less than a dozen unpaid volunteers. That might sound like a lot but most of us are in specialist roles such that we cannot move from editing to coding to system ops. So I am not going to ask for more volunteers now - but if you want to join us then please do. Since TMB left there is nobody with sufficient skill to do any significant software maintenance or bug squashing.
So, being more positive, there are still things that you can do.
Submit stories that interest you - no matter how loosely they are related to our core topics. (/dev/random, Answers,Business, Career & Education, Code, Digital Liberty, Hardware, Mobile, OS, Rehash, Reviews, Science, Security, Slash, Software, Soylent, and Techonomics). Ideally edit the stories beforehand [soylentnews.org] or use one of the available bots (e.g. upstart). Providing a simple link puts a lot more work onto our plate and we would prefer something that has had some of the workload done for us. but I don't think that that is an unreasonable request. When the submissions list runs dry - it is the editors who have to go out looking for more stories. If members want to discuss politics, or shout at each other, or just to discuss something on a different topic, then they can do that in their journals. We will not be processing many such submissions ourselves because they are always US-centric, repetitive and achieve no change in anybody's views or opinions.
Moderate appropriately those who are simply trying to abuse the site and who do not share our own interests. We would love this site to be a place where we can have intelligent conversations on stories that are related to the topics for which the site was created. Let those who are disruptive know that we do not appreciate their activities by moderating them appropriately but, more importantly, moderate the comments of those who do participate in intelligent discussions positively.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday December 30 2021, @10:38AM (3 children)
As you are posting as AC I cannot refer to your comments in the poll.
Several of our former RSS sources have simply stopped putting out RSS feeds. RSS does not bring them advertising revenue. They much prefer to use 'intelligent' web pages that require you to opt in/out of their emails, will only show you story X after they have tried to convince you to read stories A, B and C, or insist that you register or subscribe to see future stories. I do not know if the Register has followed the same path but many of the more technical sites have.
We cannot force people to comment on tech stories. COVID stories are, in most cases, important. It is not just a US issue (although almost all of the screaming comes from community members in the US) but one that affects the whole world to some degree or other. There is often a good point in COVID stories that is worth a discussion but, as you point out, the extreme polarisation currently in the US is resulting in pointless name calling and mud slinging. Are you suggesting that we should only show stories that will have no dissenting viewpoints? Have you got a solution?
COVID isn't a political story. Most of the world considers it a medical and mental health issue. Are space exploration, Intel building new labs in Malaysia, or the security warnings that we issue considered to be political stories? On the other hand, every story has a political side to it but they do not generate the same extreme behaviour in the community. Have you got a solution?
I agree, something should be done - have you got a solution within our current capabilities and available skill set? How good are you at Perl programming?
We have stopped quite a few sock-puppets recently, with more to come - we just don't announce them on here. Most of those who have been affected choose to keep their heads down. But somebody claiming that an account is a sock-puppet and the admin staff being able to prove it are very different things. We have to watch and record activity of suspected sock-puppets over a period of time - but they all compromise themselves or make mistakes eventually.
It's also true that somebody on one side of the fence can identify with 'certainty' that an account on the other side of the fence is a sock-puppet, but they cannot see any sock-puppets on their side of the fence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 30 2021, @07:37PM (2 children)
My mother always told me not to talk to strangers, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 31 2021, @03:07AM (1 child)
My mother let me make all the sockpuppets I wanted, with buttons for eyes. janrinok's methods here do not inspire confidence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 31 2021, @03:37AM
Grab any thread at random, and see if that improves your confidence.
I had a beautiful doll when I was young, yet I apparently grew up to become a troll.
(Score: 2) by HammeredGlass on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:18PM (1 child)
Is that the result of crypto conversion to $?
(Score: 3, Informative) by khallow on Wednesday December 29 2021, @05:34PM
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 29 2021, @06:07PM (1 child)
What's up with the differing net payments for the same $20 gross via paypal? People paying with AMEX?
(Score: 4, Informative) by martyb on Thursday December 30 2021, @01:13AM
From what I can tell, it's probably a result of different transaction fees for currency conversion. Buy a subscription and pay with a card in $US -- that's one fee. Buy a subscription and pay with a card in “€” (U+20AC Euro Sign; for example) and that's a different fee.
Wit is intellect, dancing.