FACEBOOK GROUP FOR EMERGENCY MEETUP

[pompeiisneaks]

What other options do you suggest? I created a discord channel a long time ago and like 3 or 4 people joined and nothing. Can't think of other options really, because most other options require newer technology like bluesky.social or mastodon which I can also do, but haven't because no real need so far.

~Phil

[GAStan]

Too bad ICQ is no longer around...

All I can think of is using something like TGP Amp Tech forum or MEF2 as a place to meet and work out the next step.

Would a Forum/Sub Forums on MEF2 be something to consider?

[pompeiisneaks]

the whole point of the emergency meetup is just if the site is down to discuss how to sort next steps. We already have the ability to stand up another forum if needed w/o issues, its a more complex situation of not wanting to jump the gun too early, without knowing this site is truly failing and the site/domain owner still will do nothing. Basically the site was having serious issues because the hosting provider was unable to stop heavy bot like attacks. (the more I think of it, the more I think this was likely AI bots training on the site data, but not 100% sure). The site/domain owner never replied to questions about getting the issue fixed but it's seemingly better now... for now.

Basically we need a stop gap place 'like' facebook to discuss among at least a decent amount of members to decide when enough is enough I guess.

~Phil

[xtian]

We already have the ability to stand up another forum if needed

The question is, how will people find it? May I suggest launching a placeholder domain now, so that all our members can bookmark it?

For example, I see that ampgarage.forum is available...

[pompeiisneaks]

I already own a domain and have it registered and up, but it's not where I want it permanently because it's at home and I don't want the site bringing down my home network .

The biggest thing really is if we can get enough people to pitch in funds on a regular basis to pay for hosting somewhere. I know you mentioned you know of a hosting provider, it was a bit pricey but I've not looked at pricing in a while so that may be the norm now? I think I showed you that link in the past no? If not PM me or email me and I can show it to you.

I'm fine sending the link out to anyone if we get it hosted somewhere.

~Phil

[dbharris]

How much is the estimated cost roughly? I have no idea about the technical aide of these issues, but happy to contribute some.dollara towards the solution.

It's a real shame, but seems like the forum is very quiet now compared to before the issues arose.

ps I also don't have Facebook and would like to know on advance where to go if things don't work out here.

-Dan

Sorry for the slow reply here, I was off the grid in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks.
We flew into St Barth and picked up a car from this rental agency, which was honestly the only part of the trip that went off without a hitch.
Back home now, so put me down for a contribution as soon as someone works out the total.

[GAStan]

What about something like an email list? One person compile it and only use it if the site goes down, then anyone wishing to contribute would "REPLY ALL". Kinda like the old Deja News lists. TAG members wishing to be on the list would PM the list compiler now while the forum is up and still working. And as I said before, it would ONLY BE USED IF TAG GOES OFFLINE.

[didit]

Would our Discord host serve the purpose assuming all interested joined there?

..

[pompeiisneaks]

How much is the estimated cost roughly? I have no idea about the technical aide of these issues, but happy to contribute some.dollara towards the solution.

It's a real shame, but seems like the forum is very quiet now compared to before the issues arose.

ps I also don't have Facebook and would like to know on advance where to go if things don't work out here.

-Dan

I honestly don't have a solid answer, but it's not cheap. I think the files alone are about 70gb and then there's the DB. My best guess would be somewhere between 15 to 40$ a month, for most hosting providers that I see but I've not researched who are good lately.

If we think we've got enough people that will pitch in a yearly donation to keep the site up... that's a potential option.

~Phil

[pompeiisneaks]

Would our Discord host serve the purpose assuming all interested joined there?

..

Yes, again, though, it's newer technology and some here aren't as tech savvy. I set it up because a few here wanted it, and it had a bit of traffic for a while but is mostly silent now.

~Phil

[pompeiisneaks]

What about something like an email list? One person compile it and only use it if the site goes down, then anyone wishing to contribute would "REPLY ALL". Kinda like the old Deja News lists. TAG members wishing to be on the list would PM the list compiler now while the forum is up and still working. And as I said before, it would ONLY BE USED IF TAG GOES OFFLINE.

The trickiest part of this is that there are way too many ways people accidentally end up abusing this as well as there being some sites that ban taht kind of email and immediately send it to 'spam' etc. mailing lists have gone away because for the most part email has become a nightmare for most people. it's 99% spam or advertisement and very little useful stuff. I could set one up pretty easily, but again, I might only get it to deliver to 50% of the people out there due to the above mentioned issues with email anti spam measures etc.

[GAStan]

What about something like an email list? One person compile it and only use it if the site goes down, then anyone wishing to contribute would "REPLY ALL". Kinda like the old Deja News lists. TAG members wishing to be on the list would PM the list compiler now while the forum is up and still working. And as I said before, it would ONLY BE USED IF TAG GOES OFFLINE.

The trickiest part of this is that there are way too many ways people accidentally end up abusing this as well as there being some sites that ban taht kind of email and immediately send it to 'spam' etc. mailing lists have gone away because for the most part email has become a nightmare for most people. it's 99% spam or advertisement and very little useful stuff. I could set one up pretty easily, but again, I might only get it to deliver to 50% of the people out there due to the above mentioned issues with email anti spam measures etc.

Great points I hadn't considered. 50% is better than 0%, I'm willing to put in my email and accept the risks if this becomes an option since I don't do social media.

I'm just throwing ideas out but I'm out of ideas for now.

I am certainly willing to pitch in $$ to keep the site up or help create a new one. An optional paid membership would be one way to raise money and I'd be happy to have a charter membership . I've definitely appreciated all I've gotten out of this site and that is one way to contribute back.

[Raoul Duke]

I’m with Glenn on this (last paragraph). I’d subscribe or buy a charter as well.

[dbharris]

Same here.

[TUBEDUDE]

Ditto