We have been made aware that there were some problems with our site's automatic notification of subscriptions expiring. We are looking into it. I was surprised to find that mine had run out and suspect that others may be similarly unaware.
Please take a moment to load the Subscription Page and verify your status. We appreciate your support and cannot run this site without it. This is a purely volunteer effort here -- none of the staff receive any financial remuneration for their efforts. Your contributions go entirely to keeping this site running.
Please accept my deep and heartfelt thanks to all of you who contribute to the site in other ways: those who helped get the site off the ground in the beginning whether they moved on or stayed. Those who submit stories, post and moderate comments, edit the stories, support our systems, maintain and update the software, and all-round do what they can to make this a community for all of us — we need all of you.
On behalf of all the staff here at SoylentNews, I thank you in advance for your support.
[Update — 2016-06-30 12:45:00 UTC] Many, many thanks to all of you who have updated their subscriptions!
Since this story originally posted, we've had 14 people renew; by my rough calculations, we are now at approximately $2688 towards our $3000 goal for funding this site for the first half of the year. As was noted in the comments, it is possible to give a gift subscription to another user on the site -- just enter their UID on the form. Also, one can change the amount from that offered to a larger value, if you wish. We have one member whose subscription ends in 2026!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 29 2016, @04:46PM
Should put a user-removable banner across the top of every page at regular intervals as expiration approaches. Like 1 month out, 1 week out, 1 day out and then after the subscription has expired.
(Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Wednesday June 29 2016, @05:49PM
banner across the top of every page at regular intervals as expiration approaches.
Says the AC!!!!!!
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:52PM
Just because I post AC doesn't mean I am not logged in.
I prefer my posts to stand on merit alone.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by frojack on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:58PM
I prefer my posts to stand on merit alone.
Bull. Your posts stand with the filthy rabble with whom you prefer to associate, and from whom you refuse to distinguish yourself.
You are the same bomb throwing name caller that posts inflammatory insults every day. And now you claim merit?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 29 2016, @07:39PM
> You are the same bomb throwing name caller that posts inflammatory insults every day.
Says the bomb-throwing name caller who seems to be super angry about a completely innocuous post. Transference? Projection?
Ironically, it was you personally who convinced me to go AC when you made exactly the opposite argument. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 29 2016, @09:40PM
Your post looks like something written by the rabble rowsers you decry.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday July 01 2016, @12:20AM
whooosh
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:25PM
[marquee]renew your subscription now - frojack is a Trump voter[/marquee]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @03:14PM
I am bomb-throwing, name-calling, ass-kicking Spartacus!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @06:38PM
No, I'm Spartacus, you insensitive clod!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @06:44PM
No, I am Startacus. And so is my wife.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NCommander on Wednesday June 29 2016, @10:27PM
A fair bit of people gift a subscription to my alt (mcasadevall/6) who want to pitch money our way but don't want to sign up. The FAQ notes that the default "gift" option (https://soylentnews.org/faq.pl?op=subscribe) goes to it, and I get an email from SN once in awhile when it happens. Originally, I wanted to add a link to allow people to more easily "gild" posts (to use the reddit terminology), but real life killed me, and I kinda dropped out of active management of SN :/.
(I lurk, I talk when need be, but I'm not super active except when necessary)
Still always moving
(Score: 2, Interesting) by nitehawk214 on Thursday June 30 2016, @01:59PM
Also put up a small message saying you are subscribed as a "feel good" for those that are.
Such as "people This page was generated by a Cadre of Overworked Elephants for the subscriber nitehawk214".
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 29 2016, @04:50PM
"Your subscription ends 2026-09-23 UTC. "
Nope, still good : )
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Wednesday June 29 2016, @05:38PM
Good catch! My suscription expired a couple of months ago and I just didn't notice... I have renewed :-)
Keep up the good work
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:24PM
I never got a notification when mine expired, but I didn't know I should be expecting one. I guess I should have mentioned it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Wednesday June 29 2016, @05:42PM
On behalf of all the myselves at SoylentNews, I thank YOU in advance for your great work! :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Wednesday June 29 2016, @05:52PM
Have you guys thought of setting up a Patreon account? That seems to be becoming a common thing on the YouTube channels I frequent.
Checked my sub and I'm still good til October, but I wish I could see my own subscription status right in the sidebar. Since many of us come to the site several times daily it might be more effective than an email to have a big fat button and/or graphic in the sidebar to show us whether we are subscribed/unsubscribed and whether our subscription is current or needs to be renewed.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:10PM
but I wish I could see my own subscription status right in the sidebar.
Your star is bright - then you're alright.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:35PM
That much is obvious, but you have to dig into the user preferences to see when your sub expires. Pretty sure I've got mine set to auto-renew now, but a lot of people don't. It's easy to forget to check for your own star. I went at least a month or two the first time my sub expired without noticing my star was gone.
The star, by the way, is almost invisible on my screen because it almost exactly matches the luminance(?) of the gray background it's on. This is on a well-calibrated MacBook Pro screen with fairly decent contrast. The star could really benefit from a darker outline like the happy/sad faces have.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gravis on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:35PM
Patreon takes a cut of the money, so it seems like something to avoid if you can.
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday June 29 2016, @06:37PM
It's trickier for a for-profit corporation to legally take donations than an individual and setting up a non-profit takes a lot more money and paperwork or we would have went that way to begin with.
Good idea on the sidebar thing though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Informative) by NCommander on Wednesday June 29 2016, @10:23PM
There are long and technical business reasons why we can't do this, mostly related to the fact that we're technically a for-profit B corporation (if you want to get into the legal mumbo jumbo, check the Soylent history going back about two years. I wrote quite a lot of this when we were trying to incorporate originally).
Still always moving
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday June 29 2016, @08:56PM
How much for a lifetime subscription? Maybe you could hold the funds and use them until it changes management, at which point I'd have the option to cancel and get my remainder back?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by cngn on Wednesday June 29 2016, @09:14PM
I'm sorta subscribed for a few years into the future...but, I have an offer I will fund $20 for 5 people who aren't subscribed but, would like to help this site.
Drop me your Nicks in a message and and I'll bung them in. I hope this isn't breaking rules cause I rarely read EULAs :) hence my not being a member almost anything on the net.
This site is worth it.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 30 2016, @08:29PM
Do we have an EULA? I must have just clicked Accept or Next or whatever.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1) by cngn on Thursday June 30 2016, @10:58PM
No takers huh....okay it's all good then.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 29 2016, @11:52PM
Let the site die. Nobody wants to see Monsanto/Zika conspiracy theories or anti vaxx shit.
Voat is everything tech wise that SoylentNews failed to deliver.
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Thursday June 30 2016, @12:18AM
Someone's DNS has been hijacked, I see.
"Reason given: This feature is not yet implemented" Nicey nice.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:01PM
When the hell did you ever see any of that here? I sure as hell haven't. Seen anti-Microsoft circlejerks (which I participated in) and old stories from time to time, but that's about it.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:20PM
You probably weren't looking at AC comments. Some of them would like to flood our site with their crap, and then make arguments like the one above.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:55PM
There is some of that here (pesticides causing microcephely or vaccines causing autism/conspiracy to just make money).
I figure there are some genuine ACs behind some of the posts (that just aren't immunologists) and often throw out a couple replies, but usually I only log-in for non-ACs (I don't like raising the average score of a thread with a troll).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @07:17AM
I clicked the buy now button on sn's subscribe page. This lead to a paypal page that was mostly white space. Hmmm. I looked in the page source. OK, there is supposed to be a button for logging in. Unfortunately the button is invisible. Probably a CSS problem. I only know enough about CSS to know that I hate it. Well, maybe I'll just delete the part at the top where it references some external style sheets. Damn, still invisible. Maybe I'll add some crap near the log in button and it will appear? No, that didn't work either.
Wait, I got it! I'll just add a bunch of div closing tags! Look at all the stuff that appeared! Amazing!
I click the button. Not much happens. I go in the page source again and search "password" and strategically place some more div closing tags. Now I have boxes to type my email and password into and everything!
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday June 30 2016, @01:59PM
Paypal should say something like "Choose a way to pay" with two options. One requiring you to login and the other that just collects your credit card into (no login required). The easiest one is SN's pay with card (stripe) option though.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 30 2016, @08:32PM
Easiest one to code as well.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:05PM
it is possible to give a gift subscription to another user on the site -- just enter their UID on the form.
Some advice for people feeling charitable: It is rude to put a subscription on someone else's account without at least telling them you are giving it to them. Better yet ask if they want it first. Even if you wouldn't mind it coming out of the blue yourself, not everyone will perceive it that way. Some people are insulted by unsolicited handouts.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:57PM
Good point. Maybe this feature should be disabled by default on all user profiles, but with a notification sent to you if someone tried to gift you but couldn't.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Thursday June 30 2016, @02:07PM
Has the bitcoin option been removed?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 30 2016, @08:33PM
Yeah, it's busted. It's the first thing I'm jumping on after we get this next update out though. No promises on when aside from Next.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Monday July 04 2016, @01:40PM
Well I'm happy to resubscribe. But bitcoin is the only way I'm doing it.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 04 2016, @03:03PM
Should be back up and running within the year. It's the first thing I'm working on as soon as this latest release is out. No timetable on when that'll be though, I still have to figure a few things out with comments before we can go live with it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.