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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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  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by https on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:42AM (5 children)

    by https (5248) on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:42AM (#512863) Journal

    Two of those rules are in the Moderation Guidelines, two are not.

    This is fucking hilarious, because you are in a position to actually edit said guidelines before posting.

    I've told you before that you should stick to coding and just not comment on the site, but this might convince some of your fellow coders you can't be trusted with either.

    --
    Offended and laughing about it.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   -1  
       Flamebait=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Flamebait' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:21AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:21AM (#512875)

    I'm surprised people need explicit written rules before they realize it's wrong to dox private citizens or post illegal content. (Or more accurately, that they're surprised that there will consequences for doing such things simply because they were not told in advance not to be an ass.)

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:33AM (#512944)

    Two of those rules are in the Moderation Guidelines, two are not.

    They're in the Code of Conduct.

  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:59AM (2 children)

    That would be because the second two have nothing to do with moderation.

    Yes, we edited those particular guidelines a week before posting in preparation of making you look foolish. Or possibly as soon as it was brought to our attention that mod-bombing was not documented. Take your pick.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:41PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:41PM (#513056)

      Either way that kind of dickery is why you won't receive any money from me. Why bother to give money to people that don't really care about their image when there are other needy causes out there?

      Also, the fact that you had to have that pointed out to you is a huge problem for your credibility. There shouldn't be any rules ever that aren't on the list of rules that get enforced. If it's a rule that you're not enforcing, fair enough, but you shouldn't be enforcing rules before they're written down. If those had to be pointed out as missing, then what happens if you decide to add a new rule?

      What's more, you couldn't bother linking to the page which just makes it that much worse.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 21 2017, @05:54PM

        Oh it was announced, discussed, debated, argued about, and thoroughly well known; just not officially documented. But yes, we're terrible people for occasionally forgetting to update the site documentation that nobody ever reads. I should feel obliged to take my custom somewhere nicer and more reliable were I you.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.