Site status update

[Dena]

Sitting here a bit depressed because I have been handling account deletions. Some were expected, a few were for other reason not related to the site status and a few were people I followed and helped for a long time. I understand they are on only getting one side of the story as some of the emails we sent out were blocked by spam filters. For some reason, even my personal email address blocked site email until I installed a white list entry for the site.

The site domain was posted and that may attract a few more members as time goes on. It might also result in more deletion. Anyway, to the stats. We started out with 6,800 in the public area and we are now down to about 2,300. Needless to say, the trash can is accumulating a bunch of somebodies work. We have had 11 members request account deletion and we filled those requests. The database backup is about 5MB and will probably remain pretty much the same because all those deleted posts are still in the deleted bin. When we clean that up, expect the data base to shrink.

We are on our own now so go forth and explore ideas. We have a place of our own that we can make of it what we want, so make it something special.

[Complete]

Hi Dena.
Be not distressed. You have accomplished something truly epic. You have in fact provided a Haven, a refuge from the angry agenda driven ideologues who insist on, no demand, strict adherence to their one size fits all/anything goes, dogma.
Hopefully you have learned from your mistakes in allowing the Mob to rule in the name of "democracy".
The fact that those unwilling or unable to accept the real world reality in which we all live, are deleting their accounts along with their self justifying posts, is a good thing.

The truly sad and indeed tragic thing about The Dump, (my term for the refuge),  a term l coined due to all the refuse being strewn about under the guise of humor or camaraderie, is that any, and l mean ANY attempt to diviate from what they consider "truth" or "right", is immediately attacked and demonized.
Sound familiar?

[Dena]

The truth is I did most everything right and I wrote it into the rules. Problem is nobody followed the rules because there was nothing to stop them. I am not really fond of being a dictator because I know the pitfalls of that however at the moment, I don't have a better idea for keeping the site on track. Maybe I will think of something latter but at the moment I have to do the best I can with what I have.

The status report for today is we lost one member. That's better but it was one I really hoped would stay.

[zirconia]

Dena...

I confess I'm not very well versed in politics. However, I do believe a benevolent dictatorship is the most efficient form of government. It only fails when the benevolence is not accompanied by intelligence... and when there is no appropriate successor.

Democracies may sound nicer and republics may be more stable. But as I see it both quickly get infested with featherbedders wishing to justify their existence by becoming mini-dictators who make nuisances of themselves.

This is your site, and at least I've chosen whom to trust.
LOL... really, what other choice could I reasonably make?

I don't know whether I can say this in a way that makes sense... but online we're not fettered by a need for citizenship. Everyone is free to leave or stay. Freedom means taking responsibility for oneself. Freedom from citizenship is also the freedom of birds... when choosing a nesting place they don't need passports or ask for anyone to provide for them. Or need absolute protection... just reasonable safety. And to not be labeled vermin.

Clubs are quite different, and require strict rules to ensure homogeneity... but they abound elsewhere, and I don't think that's what you wish to make. Even the name you chose would indicate otherwise.

So... as long as Haven remains small enough I think a general hunting restriction should suffice... with attention paid to prevent destruction of any hatchlings and cygnets.

Again... thank you...

[MaryT]

... I understand they are on only getting one side of the story as some of the emails we sent out were blocked by spam filters. For some reason, even my personal email address blocked site email until I installed a white list entry for the site.
...

You had a good reason to send out many identical emails but there is a down side.  If an email service provider recognises that many emails are identical, they will be regarded as bulk emails and presumed to be spam unless they come from an IP address that has already built a good reputation over time.  The following URL has some information on the subject:
What's the difference between junk email and bulk email?

[Dena]

The mass mailing wasn't very massive. It was only around 80 email because we did some cleanup of spammers and removed a few people we knew wouldn't welcome the information. While it's easy to do a mass mailing, I hope I never have to do one again and can instead use board postings to spread the word when needed. Another reason for not mailing is we found the limit of our account. We can sent unlimited emails however they are throttled between 100 and 120 an hour. Even that small mailing took 3/4 hour to sent. If the member list were a good deal larger, it could take days to sent that much mail.

My internet provider isn't well known so I am pretty sure that I was the only one receiving email from it. I have a couple of other suspects. When we obtained the domain, we wanted to blanket the options and discovered that we weren't the first to think it. It could be some religious group submitted a false report to block domain access. This happened to Susan years ago and she was able to get her domain unblocked. It could also be somebody had this domain it the past and abused it. The checks I have run so far haven't told me much about what is going on. The domain should be pretty clean but you never know where the problem is until you find it.

I am not very worried about it as there are other issues to deal with. We are thinking about opening the site up in about a week and a half so we need to figure out what to do with the members that haven't responded to the email. Secure link works if you use https but not if you use http. I know how to fix it but I need to work on it. The recent list bottom should have the same appearance as the bottom of the home page so you don't have to leave the recent list to know who is online. It requires a fairly simple code change but want to work it out on the test machine before installing it here. I would like to play with the badge maker and make up some more badges. We are thinking about a set to honor members who served in the military but we may think of more. Plenty to keep me busy.

[Christine]

Hi Everyone,                          30 April 2020

I better hurry with this post before it's tomorrow 01 May 2020. Yikes, it's almost Summer; speaking of which, I saw 127 degrees on my temp sensor at the front door. The sun was shining on it.

Thank You all for your support, Dena and I do appreciate it and appreciate your friendship; in fact we cherish it. It's unfortunate, that so many folks do not understand who created the Refuge Site. It was Dena; she created the software without any help from the staff over there. First off, there isn't a single staff member there that is technically competent to do so.

The other issue is no one there seems to understand or wants to understand US Copyright Law. It is very specific as to who owns the software and Data Base.

At any rate, Thanks again, Take care and God Bless You All.

Best Always, Love

Christine

[Kiera]

I saw 127 degrees on my temp sensor at the front door. The sun was shining on it.

       I miss Arizona Christine! Grandma had a house in Lake Havasu City for years that we frequented all the time. Usually flew into Vegas and drove rest of the way but thru Phoenix was always an option as well . . Still have grandpa's fish/ski boat in my Georgia backyard a fast, ultra low-profle 18' Mercedes with a 1983 Cobra Jet Crusader 229CI 3.8L V6. Used to blast up/down the Colorado River ever been to "Copper Canyon" on the 4th?

Copper Canyon is a famed Havasu hot spot for locals and visitors, and was the backdrop for MTV's Havasu Spring Break highlight.

      Used my "Trump Check" to get ahead of the mortgage (arrgh! rather than replace solar batteries) heard we're getting yet another is that true? The "members" will come, you'll attain "warp speed" soon enough, perhaps have a "grand opening" slowly by creating a new, guest view "Intro forum" that explains who you are (like TrueSelves has) rather than just the immediate must "register screen"?

(ps: Dena who is your hosting company? I've had www.surpasshosting.com since 2006 with nary a problem located in Florida cost has been 4 packs of cigs/month!)

Happy to be alive (and thx for "color change"!)
Kiera

[Dena]

All of you have been waiting patiently while it seems like we aren't doing much. That is somewhat true as we have been waiting for others to make up their mind about what they want to do.

The two weeks promised in the letter will end next Friday so this is the plan. Sometime Friday, we will remove any accounts that haven't been spoken for. If you're active on the site, we will assume that you want your information retained. Members who haven't been on the site after its creation will be removed.

This means we are going to lose a lot of posts. You should check and if you have posted to the thread of an inactive member and want to keep the post, make a copy of the information in the next week. Remember that removing the first post of a thread takes the entire thread unless we split it first. If you think a thread is useful with a little surgery, we will look into it and see what we can do to salvage it.

We decided on this approach so we can't be accused of taking and posting information that doesn't belong to us. All the information on the site will be with the permission of the owner and should somebody change their mind, we are still willing to remove their information.

After we finish the cleanup, we will open the site to the public and allow the spiders to view the content. The spiders have been knocking at the door however all they can see is the logon screen, my copyright and the Simple Machines copyright information.

Currently we have had 15 members on the site who haven't requested account deletion. The numbers might be small but we have to start somewhere.

I appreciate your support and trust in me. You're what will make this site possible and hopefully a success so get ready for opening day.

[Dena]

We have just finished the sweep of the data base and we are down to 1,000 posts and 15 members. Guests may now view the forum, registration is enabled and we can expect regular visits from the spiders. Christine is cleaning up a few URLs that point to the wrong place and we may still have a few tweaks that need to be made but for the moment, we are fully functional.

Enjoy the site and if there are any issues, let us know either by report or direct contact.

[Kiera]

Enjoy the site . . .

Looking GOOD Dena but afraid to post anything IRREVERENT
(not really just been busy with 'Happy Mother's Day' . . . and all those other life issues that so-called 'cis people' seem to 'ave!)

(ps: can send ya my "animated gifs" if SM has a way of incorporating them?)

(pss: OMG I worked with the Most Handsome, cutest guy ever yesterday! He's the eldest (only?) half-brother of my daughter-in-law and we both helped my son with a Sunday "side job" landscaping a neighbor's beautiful horse ranch just down the street . .
 . . arggh first time I really actually WORKED in years.

Well, both of us highly sore he's nearly as tall as I and, amazingly, just "only 13"? 
What was it that Bailey says 'bout gays only liking "younger and athletically fit"? )

[MaryT]

Congratulations and best wishes for the future!