Hardware Fund Donation Drive |
Hardware Fund Donation Drive |
Feb 18 2005, 02:13 PM
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#1
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The Ghost in our Machine Group: Retired Admins Posts: 166 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Unlisted Datastore Member No.: 52 |
The donation drive to raise money to purchase additional hardware for Dumpshock.com is now underway!
If you would like to donate via Paypal, please visit Dumpshock.com and click on the "Make a Donation" button at the bottom of the sidebar. If you would prefer to mail a check, please contact us at donations@dumpshock.com. Every little bit helps, and there is no minimum donation. If you can afford to help out, we'd really appreciate it, but it's completely voluntary and we understand that not everyone can or wants to donate. Background: As many of you know, the server which originally hosted Dumpshock.com went down in December of last year. Since then, we've moved some of the sites that were on the original server to our newer server. As a consequence of these moves, we've put considerably more load on the remaining server. We've reached the point now where we would either be forced to take a very long outage to bring down the remaining server and rebuild it, or purchase a new server. With this in mind, we decided to go the latter route and purchase an additional server for Dumpshock.com. We estimate the cost of a new server to be in the range of $1300-1500 US to purchase a server sufficiently powerful enough that we should not have to upgrade the system for a long time. I will be posting periodic updates to this thread as we near our goal. Thanks to everyone for their support over the years. |
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Feb 19 2005, 05:17 AM
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#2
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Project Terminus: Soul Hunters Group: Members Posts: 1,052 Joined: 6-November 03 From: Casselberry, Florida U.S.A. Member No.: 5,798 |
I got a question?
There are 5774 registered members on this site so seeing as they pay for the internet (seeing as free internet is somethings of a rareity nowadays) just how many DSer's can't afford a buck? I mean even if Paypal takes 10% that leaves 90 cents on the dollar to DS take 90 cents and multiply by 5774 registered members and you get 5196.60. Now 1300 to 1500 is a good price but heck at 3 grand a server they could almost buy 2 and a 3 grand server should be more than enough power and processing ability. Drop to 2 grand they could almost buy 3 servers or 2 and use left over money for bandwidth and maybe a nice dinner out for the people (I. E. Adam and who ever else sorry Adam is the only one I know of) and they can take their significant others along as well cause we DSer's take up so much of their time. Just a thought I had oh and yes I'll donate soon as I can payday coming up in a couple of days. But hey everyone just think about it 1 Dollar is not alot compared to what we all pay for internet service heck I pay 44.95 a month for mine. Oh yeah by the way if you don't have a Paypal accout they deposit money into your bank accout when you sign up so they know the got it right. Amazeingly enough it is between 50 cents and 1 dollar so if you don't have an account with Paypal guess what you won't even have to send the whole dollar yourself lol. (too bad they don't still do 5 dollars for referals) |
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Feb 19 2005, 08:31 PM
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#3
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Prime Runner Group: Retired Admins Posts: 3,929 Joined: 26-February 02 From: .ca Member No.: 51 |
That's assuming that those 5774 users are all still active on the site, and we know that they're not -- whether they've left because they don't play Shadowrun anymore, don't like the way the boards are run, simply don't have the time anymore, have changed usernames, etc.
For most donation drives and anything that requires the user to contribute money and/or time to improve a service, I typically assume that 1 in 100 active users will participate. I'd love to be proved wrong. ;-) And, FWIW, I have no desire to raise enough money to "skim" some for us -- we just want to be able to pay our costs and keep serving up millions of page hits a month without interruption. |
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Feb 20 2005, 02:37 AM
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#4
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
I'd love for you guys to be proved wrong myself.
By the by: Are you guys going to be doing what you did with the previous donation run (adding donators to the group "Dumpshocked")? I think that might provide a little bit of incentive (not that any of us are title elitists, no way :P). Oh, and, donated! Thanks for the great services. |
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Feb 20 2005, 04:40 AM
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#5
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Project Terminus: Soul Hunters Group: Members Posts: 1,052 Joined: 6-November 03 From: Casselberry, Florida U.S.A. Member No.: 5,798 |
Well you have a good point there Adam although the 5774 number I came up with is for the registered members.
Sammie the most recent person to sign up is member 7103 so I was thinking that the 5774 were the active members. Thus leaveing 1324 members who are no longer active for what ever reason. But then again I'm no genius when it comes to web sites and the people who visit them lol. But hey I'll cover my dollars worth as well some dollars for other people just to help out. |
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Feb 20 2005, 04:46 AM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 639 Joined: 22-April 02 Member No.: 2,638 |
Have you considered hiring a host, rather than hosting the servers yourselves? Depending on your monthly bandwidth totals, it might be considerably cheaper (say, $100-300/year). Check out GoDaddy.com, or Lunarpages.com (disclaimer: GoDaddy is my site's registrar, and Lunarpages is my host).
For example, the Deluxe plan at GoDaddy ($9.95/mo) gives you 2GB of storage and 100GB of bandwidth a month. That price also covers 500 email accounts, PHP scripting, and up to 10 MySQL databases. If you agree to a yearly contract, they'll knock off another 20%, bringing it down to $7.96/mo. Throw in your yearly domain registration fee, and you're looking at just over $100 a year. Oh, well.... just my 2 cents.... |
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Feb 21 2005, 03:55 PM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 582 Joined: 30-July 04 Member No.: 6,525 |
I get paid next week, and even a poor college student like myself can spare to send a couple bucks to such a worthy cause.
Idea: Is there anyway that you can post a counter dispalying how much money has been collected thus far. I've participated in several fund raising drives during my campus career and I've noticed that seeing a symbol of progress is often a great motivator for potential donors. Just my 2 :nuyen: Keep up the great work :) |
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Feb 22 2005, 04:13 PM
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#8
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The Ghost in our Machine Group: Retired Admins Posts: 166 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Unlisted Datastore Member No.: 52 |
Good idea, Bandit, I put up a little box on the homepage that shows the current fund raiser status with a little meter that fills up as people donate. This is not completely dynamic, I have to update the amount that has been donated every time someone donates, so don't be discouraged if it takes a little while for your donation to appear.
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Feb 22 2005, 08:23 PM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 870 Joined: 6-January 04 From: Idaho Member No.: 5,960 |
well if half those people are still active on the site you should have your server in no time. Donating now...
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Feb 22 2005, 08:42 PM
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#10
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
Ditto
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Feb 23 2005, 06:23 AM
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#11
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Jesus Freak Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,141 Joined: 23-April 04 From: Anaheim, CA Member No.: 6,274 |
Man... I just knew that some day, somehow, I'd be forced into getting a Paypal account.
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Feb 23 2005, 08:32 PM
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#12
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
Bah, I just made my bank write a check. Fark paypal
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Feb 24 2005, 12:43 AM
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#13
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Samurai Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 574 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lancashire,UK Member No.: 169 |
Just donated, hope you reach your target soon.
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Feb 26 2005, 03:01 PM
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#14
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Financial Adept Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 76 Joined: 4-October 03 From: Western NY Member No.: 5,682 |
Tossed in $5 =)
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Feb 26 2005, 03:43 PM
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#15
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The Ghost in our Machine Group: Retired Admins Posts: 166 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Unlisted Datastore Member No.: 52 |
13 donations so far, totalling $422.33. We're almost 1/3 of the way there, and there area few folks who I'm waiting to get checks from, so we're probably a little further along than that even. Thanks for the support to everyone that has helped so far, we really appreciate it.
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Feb 27 2005, 12:40 AM
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#16
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UMS O.G. Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 444 Joined: 18-May 04 Member No.: 6,335 |
I did my part last night. Got keep my favorite board alive.
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Feb 27 2005, 07:54 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 202 Joined: 15-September 04 From: East Providence, RI Member No.: 6,664 |
Just wondering if you've thought about having a give away for people that donate above a certain amount. EN World had a server drive recently, and while their membership is much higher, they raised a ton of cash. Some publishers donated some electronic materials to give away to donaters. Anyway, I don't know if that is possible, just a thought. $25 sent via PayPal. Good luck with the drive! |
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Feb 28 2005, 02:32 AM
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#18
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Mostly Harmless Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 937 Joined: 26-February 02 From: 44.662,-63.469 Member No.: 176 |
Thanks for hosting my site, guys. Seeing as how I'm not perpetually broke any more, I'm glad I could (finally) help out.
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Mar 1 2005, 02:22 AM
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#19
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Traumatizing players since 1992 Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,282 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Las Vegas, NV Member No.: 220 |
Donation sent! I'm all for supporting the 'Shock!
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Mar 1 2005, 03:03 AM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 881 Joined: 1-May 04 Member No.: 6,295 |
well, Might I suggest that it be a title type thing on their name. Like Imortal Elf is for the long time posters, something like that for people who donate. Just my two cents which really I shouldn't give on account that I'm affraid I have nothing to donate, and I wish I did, Dumpshock is great, and I wish I could help it out. |
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Mar 1 2005, 05:45 PM
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#21
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The Ghost in our Machine Group: Retired Admins Posts: 166 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Unlisted Datastore Member No.: 52 |
We do have a little "thank you" for forum members who donate, but we haven't advertised it. I guess since we did the same thing last time, the cat's out of the bag anyway.
Forum members who donate will be added to the "Dumpshocked" group instead of the default "Members" group and will be granted a short custom title. If you look at some of the people above who have donated you'll see that some of them have already been setup. It's just a cosmetic thing, but we like being able to publically thank people who have helped out. If you've donated and I haven't set you up in the Dumpshocked group and set your custom title for you, please let me know via PM and I'll straighten it out. |
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Mar 1 2005, 06:24 PM
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#22
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King of the Hobos Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,117 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 127 |
Likewise kicked in a bit of change.
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Mar 1 2005, 09:04 PM
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#23
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Man In The Machine Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,264 Joined: 26-February 02 From: I-495 S Member No.: 1,105 |
Fired off a few еее for ya. Figure thanks to DS I go to GenCon on the cheap, I can share the wealth.
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Mar 1 2005, 10:11 PM
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#24
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Harlequin Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 331 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 861 |
I donated
Though I have some questions (concerning the special title): How do you know it was me? If you go by email, I use a different one for PayPal. Should I post the title here or should I email/PM it and if the last one, then who should I contact? |
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Mar 2 2005, 03:11 AM
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#25
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Resident Legionnaire Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,136 Joined: 8-August 04 From: Usually Work Member No.: 6,550 |
I'm waiting until I get my meal check on friday and then I'm just gonna add a little "pay to the order of" action and send it off.
Soon 8) |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 29th March 2024 - 04:41 AM |
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