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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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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday May 20 2017, @07:44PM (29 children)

    Hey, we do occasionally agree on things as well as disagree. Wouldn't dream of disputing me being an ass though. What I don't get is why some people seem to expect me to shut up and play nice just because I volunteer my time to make the site better. I mean, if I don't get to use the site, where's the incentive to code it?

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by kaszz on Saturday May 20 2017, @08:55PM (27 children)

    by kaszz (4211) on Saturday May 20 2017, @08:55PM (#512717) Journal

    Maybe because people have an unconscious expectation that all people that provide a service are hounded by a Human Resources (HR) team into docile passive-aggressive employees that take all shit and still smiles?

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Marand on Saturday May 20 2017, @11:43PM (2 children)

      by Marand (1081) on Saturday May 20 2017, @11:43PM (#512791) Journal

      I can't tell if you were going for funny or insightful, but you hit insightful either way. Anyone that's ever worked in retail or anything similar (hotel staff, customer service, etc.) has probably seen this shit from people; there's a significant subset of the population that thinks employees are servants and treats them as such, taking shit out on them when they have a bad day, making outrageous demands, and expecting the employee to take it all with a smile and a "yes sir|ma'am" because they can complain to corporate and get the lowly peon fired.

      Corporate offices don't want bad press, so that (already misunderstood) "the customer is always right" meme mutated into "the customer can treat other human beings like absolute shit without repercussion", and I guess now some people think that's how it works everywhere, even with volunteers providing shit for free.

      • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:51AM

        by kaszz (4211) on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:51AM (#512805) Journal

        When volunteers provides something for free and people using it treat the providers like shit. The might just get a free review of their behavior ;)

        No Flesh Resource department around to protect userflakes from such honesty :p

      • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:57AM

        by TheRaven (270) on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:57AM (#512951) Journal

        there's a significant subset of the population that thinks employees are servants and treats them as such

        You mean, politely and with respect, buying them presents for boxing day?

        --
        sudo mod me up
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:51AM (23 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:51AM (#512842)

      No, it's because people don't typically want to give money to people and companies they don't like. The first thing you have to do if you want somebody to buy your service is to actually like you. Sure, you might get away with it if there aren't other sites, but let's be honest, there are plenty of other places that people can post on.

      In this case, the donors are pretty much the customers. The non-donating contributors are also a part of the ecosystem that makes it worth donating to those that have the means to do so. Having TMB being an asshole to the people bothering to sign in while also setting the rules sends a powerful signal that the people operating the site can't be trusted and probably aren't very likable.

      Which, if they were funding the sight out of their own pockets would be fair enough, but they're trying to convince people to part with their hard-earned dollars to do it and that doesn't work. It doesn't matter how much they need the money, people aren't donating on that basis. They're donating on the basis that the site does something they want and that they trust the site operators to not blow it on hookers and blow.

      The fact that TMB was even arguing with me earlier just makes my point that much clearer. Unless that's changed since I last bothered to log in, none of those things are actually in the moderator guidelines. They may be rules, but they aren't in the list of rules that they give people that allegedly break the rules. What's more, arguing just reinforces my view that the site is run by immature jackasses that don't actually care about their image.

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:59AM

        You think I make the rules? I have three, count them, three bosses not counting the Board.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:00AM

        Oh and you're full of shit about the rules not being documented. The only one that was ever even late in being documented was mod-bombing.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 3, Touché) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:42AM (2 children)

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:42AM (#512862) Homepage

        " Having TMB being an asshole to the people bothering to sign in while also setting the rules sends a powerful signal that the people operating the site can't be trusted and probably aren't very likable. "

        Well, if SoylentNews is too shocking for you, perhaps you'd feel more at home in the comments section of ArsTechnica, a place where people say nice simple things and nobody is offended by anything, ever.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by khallow on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:42AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:42AM (#512883) Journal

          Well, if SoylentNews is too shocking for you, perhaps you'd feel more at home in the comments section of ArsTechnica, a place where people say nice simple things and nobody is offended by anything, ever.

          Yes, Ars Technica has been the only place to ever ban me for something I wrote. You should be safe there.

        • (Score: 4, Informative) by Magic Oddball on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:13PM

          by Magic Oddball (3847) on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:13PM (#513003) Journal

          That's how Ars used to be, but around the same time that they changed the site design to look more trendy, they stopped moderating the comment sections on articles with extremely rare exceptions and restricted the 'report comment' button to paid subscribers only.

      • (Score: 2) by edIII on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:50AM (3 children)

        by edIII (791) on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:50AM (#512866)

        TMB is not the entire site. Period.

        I'm not involved in the developer end of it, so I don't know about fiefdoms. Even still, I sincerely doubt it. Clearly on IRC, he is the most talkative guy there, but not dramatically higher than 2nd place. That being said, he is also clearly very involved in keeping the site running, updating, and evolving. I know there are others like NCommander, Martyb, etc. that contribute greatly to sight. TMB is just loud and very expressive of his opinions.

        TMB does good work, even when he is sick and has a cold.

        SN is NOT a safe space. TMB is not obligated to kiss your asses every time you sign in. Yes, TMB is free to be himself on the site at the same time he contributes to the site. He deserves that much at the very least.

        And this is coming from somebody that has called him a bloated carcass on a couch less than 24 hours ago! So if his detractors are also supporters, I think you are in a very small group of people dedicated to hating TMB.

        Maybe we should have a t-shirt in the store for you? "FUCK TMB" on it? Cuz at this point it seems like we can fund raise on it. Or if we have a gathering next time, we need one of those dunk tanks, a bunch of apples, and TMB in a thong getting ready to get wet :)

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:09AM

          by anubi (2828) on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:09AM (#512927) Journal

          I appreciate all the work you guys have done to keep this site running.

          I have learned a helluva lotta stuff here, and made some nice friends.

          Sometimes talking is nice, but something more is needed. I put some money where my mouth.. erm.. keyboard is.

          If we like this site, I urge those who can to put a few bux in the hat... This is one of the few places I can go, ask questions and get answers from the best in the business ( no, not the CEO crowd... no I mean the guys who actually DO it! ).

          And even rant and rave when someone brings up one of my nemeses, and not get kicked out of the joint for fuming about it.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
        • (Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:02AM

          by anubi (2828) on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:02AM (#512938) Journal

          I appreciate all the work TMB has done here, and I fail to see why all this animosity.

          This site is one of the few places one can speak his mind. If anything, TMB will spout off exactly what he thinks of it.

          What's wrong with that?

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
        • (Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @10:03AM

          Maybe we should have a t-shirt in the store for you? "FUCK TMB" on it?

          I'd buy one. Sounds like a fine suggestion to me.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:35AM (11 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:35AM (#512879) Journal

        Having TMB being an asshole to the people bothering to sign in while also setting the rules sends a powerful signal that the people operating the site can't be trusted and probably aren't very likable.

        I don't like you and I don't trust you, AC. Make yourself scarce, shithead.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:52AM (10 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:52AM (#512885) Journal
          I think you're on the right trail, c0lo. This smells like a classic case of concern trolling. All Mr. AC would have to do is leave the site, and then he doesn't have to care about TMB's supposed asshole behavior.
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:08AM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:08AM (#512926)

            I can't help but to observe that, obvious concern trolling aside, there must be a reason for the budget shortfall.

            My subscription expires next month iirc. Over the past few months, the world has become a much more unfriendly place for me.

            I admit, I was impressed with the regulars here the last time a topic relevant to my interests came up.

            I'm still on the fence about whether to renew. I probably will, I mean, sheesh, I use the site, I like the site, I might as well contribute to covering its expenses.

            But yet.... What kind of people am I enabling by contributing? Certainly, my subscription or lack thereof to some site on the internet is a molecule-sized drop in a 500 gallon tank. Enough molecules in a tank, though, and that's how we get Jeff Sessions as AG.

            The vast majority of my submissions have been accepted, I assume because I apply a lot more effort to make sure those are polished than I do my comments. Maybe I need to be making more political submissions instead of focusing on science, but maybe I do so well with submissions because I mostly stick to uncontroversial science that I know everybody here except the flat earth guy will appreciate. I still believe that the answer to speech I don't like is more speech. At least... I think I still believe that....

            Is this one of those times when I have to decide that I simply will have to deprive myself of, say, Chick-Fil-A's wonderful food (at least I assume it's wonderful) or Firefox's... er... Firefox's... value-added stress testing of my system RAM???... ok Chick-Fil-A was a better example but anyway, because of the people it will enable?

            I suppose this post also falls under concern trolling. Really I don't give a shit if this site tanks or not. It's nice while it's here... some days. Other days, I find I have to put it in my hosts file for my own sanity. This site won't change the world one way or another. There are other organizations competing for my donations. Would the money for my renewal be better spent for NORML or the Libertarian Party, two other organizations I regularly donate to, for example?

            Just thinking out loud. I'm pretty sure I will renew... pretty sure.

            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @10:14AM

              ...there must be a reason for the budget shortfall.

              Subscription Running Low notifications are hands down the bit of the site that breaks most often. Sometimes they go several months without us noticing they're not working. They are the bane of paulej72's existence.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:56PM (2 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:56PM (#512996) Journal
              I don't believe you.

              Is this one of those times when I have to decide that I simply will have to deprive myself of, say, Chick-Fil-A's wonderful food (at least I assume it's wonderful) or Firefox's... er... Firefox's... value-added stress testing of my system RAM???... ok Chick-Fil-A was a better example but anyway, because of the people it will enable?

              I think you need to find the exit here. The Chick-Fil-A boycott [wikipedia.org] was just a loony witch hunt and massively backfired because of that. No one was "enabled" by eating or not eating at Chick-Fil-A.

              And what will be the gain for suppressing TMB's speech in SN? Who are we "enabling"?

              I suppose this post also falls under concern trolling. Really I don't give a shit if this site tanks or not.

              Of course, it does. Start with a nasty "die SN" post to get defenders riled up and then pretend to get serious when someone calls you out. It's a standard concern troll tactic.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @07:51PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @07:51PM (#513133)

                Hahahaha! My dear, khallow, I did not expect you to believe me!

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday May 21 2017, @11:59PM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 21 2017, @11:59PM (#513209) Journal
                  Three more signs of concern trolling. Can't stop posting, never posts anything substantial, and accuses anonymously. I'll note at this time that not one abuse of TMB's position has ever been mentioned, bu merely insinuated without evidence.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:47PM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:47PM (#513059)

            It's not an either or situation moron. We can leave the site, sign into the site, donate a little, donate a lot or donate nothing at all. Those are all valid options.

            TMB making an ass of himself and abusing his position is going to bias people in favor of not donating, not creating a log in or leaving completely. And, despite what dickweeds like you think, it's not necessarily the trolls that are going to be the ones leaving.

            They're whining about people not donating enough to hit their goals and this is one of the reasons that people aren't donating or are donating less than they could. People may not be consciously aware of it, but people don't like giving away money and they especially don't like giving it to people and companies they don't like.

            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @06:02PM

              [Citation Needed]
              Name one time I've abused my position. Once will do.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 2) by martyb on Monday May 22 2017, @01:59AM (2 children)

              by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 22 2017, @01:59AM (#513259) Journal

              I've seen numerous comments here claiming an abuse of privilege by TMB wrt to comments on this site. Is that a fair assessment?

              If so, I would appreciate a link to the comment(s) where this happened and I will personally investigate the claim.

              --
              Wit is intellect, dancing.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:47AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:47AM (#512950)

        Whatever. Don't let the door hit you in this ass.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @03:31AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @03:31AM (#513297)

          Don't let this door hit you to those ass.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:55AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:55AM (#512806)

    On matters of technology, I challenge anyone to point to an instance where you were far off the mark.

    Now, on social/political matters, well...
    Hey, there's an example of Ralph Nader and Grover Norquist together on a dais, [soylentnews.org] agreeing on stuff. [google.com]

    Ralph wrote a book[1] [google.com] where he notes that there's a broad center where, despite claimed leanings, there is huge consensus on what's wrong and even considerable agreement on the solutions and how, if we put our energy there, we could get a lot fixed.

    [1] I'm frowning at Ralph's use of "Left" in describing a significant portion of USAians; "Liberal" or "Progressive" would be the accurate term.
    Extrapolate for his use of "Right" as well.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]