Help ATS Recover With Your Contribution

.

Given the value of ATS, has there been any serious thought about Subbable/Patreon style voluntary pay set up? Or some sort of home-grown solution?

By that, I mean other than the current situation which we should all contribute to.

I for one think it's a great IDEA so have given a small amount.

Sorry I can't give more but I hope it helps get Down the road.

Peace

I gave what I could in December and will do so again in January.

For all the fussing, my POV is this. Over the course of my life I've paid a lot of money to see movies that turned out to be garbage, gone on expensive dates that didn't end with a kiss, and purchased products that never did do what they actually said they would do.

I waste money on cable TV every month and barely watch it.

As it happens, I do spend a great deal of time here. Sometimes writing, sometimes moderating, sometimes lurking and sometimes just posting like everyone else does.

Given the amount of information I've gotten here and the countless hours I've spent? I could never donate enough to pay back a reasonable return on what I've received here in simple entertainment value.

$20.00 for a bad movie, or $20.00 here? Personal choice, of course, but to me it's a no brainer.

originally posted by: Hefficide

I gave what I could in December and will do so again in January.

For all the fussing, my POV is this. Over the course of my life I've paid a lot of money to see movies that turned out to be garbage, gone on expensive dates that didn't end with a kiss, and purchased products that never did do what they actually said they would do.

I waste money on cable TV every month and barely watch it.

As it happens, I do spend a great deal of time here. Sometimes writing, sometimes moderating, sometimes lurking and sometimes just posting like everyone else does.

Given the amount of information I've gotten here and the countless hours I've spent? I could never donate enough to pay back a reasonable return on what I've received here in simple entertainment value.

$20.00 for a bad movie, or $20.00 here? Personal choice, of course, but to me it's a no brainer.

I agree with everything you said but...

Cable? They still have that?

Haven't watched TV for over 10 yrs now. Don't miss it either.

As for the ATS thing, best money I can spend.

Peace

a reply to: jude11

Charter package deal... Their fastest internet, for now ( in my case at least ) is cheaper bundled with basic cable.

Wish I could do more, I promise to in the future. Keep up the great work everyone! This is still my hidden corner of peace.

I am on ATS pretty much all the time and will be contributing next month. The start of this fund raising endeavor came at a financially tough time for many with the holidays and all. It's doesn't seem rational to borrow from the bank at this time in this economy. Also, you don't have a solid enough base to know if you'll recoup the money so NOT a good idea. Have a goal strategy - step by step on what you want to achieve, a business plan, and start saving pennies.

Anyway, one thing I hope I don't see is how other sites, more like MSM sites and such, have a story posted and then there could be a gazillion comments following. I like how ATS is set up where we can interact on a more immediate basis on immediate threads. I also like how members can start their own threads. If ATS gets really big, and I believe it will, I hope it can keep a member site like it has now. I also think that although many members start their threads from MSM news stories, the MSM leaves out many details, have their own spin and cater to the government whims. All the members here play little gum shoes checking sources and facts, scouring the net and any other sources available and I believe that MSM is actually reading ATS to get their follow ups. Many times I have heard a headline, say on Fox with a certain spin, only to hear it the following day "updated with new information" and I can clearly tell the story evolved here and gave them their update.

So, good luck. It'll take a few months to start to see the results of everyone's efforts. Keep a stiff upper lip and stay true to your dreams and your members. ATS is definitely a leader on the net

Yeah, a tough time of year for many to be sure. So soon after an expensive holiday and before payday.

I have to think that people gave whatever they could afford the demeanour and decorum would rise significantly. People may treat the site and the people with more respect once they invest. Or am I being overly optimistic. Then again, the people that are going to try and contribute what they can are probably the "good guys" anyway.

reply to: Daedalus

SAVE FERRIS !!!

I see that a big part of the core membership is willing to give money alongside their thoughts that are also making (money for) ATS.

The OP certainly paints a grim picture for the future of ATS, and is basically saying that its survival depends on the donations of the membership. People obviously got this impression.

Now everybody is free to do what they want, and I don't even oppose the idea of asking for donations, but I do have a problem when such a request is made under false pretences.

This money will be used to repay the loan that's keeping us running

I think we can agree that this implies that wihout donations, the loan can't be payed back, and that ATS will go down.

I cannot believe that the situation is directly threatening to ATS' survival, for a number of reasons I will get into next.


Let's start with the loan.

How did ATS get a loan from a bank if they had no sufficient projected future income? I don't think they give out loans if the return of the money(with profit) depends on the outcome of a round of donations.

In this thread I have seen SO and Springer give some reasons for the high cost of maintaining ATS. I have also seen comments on how big ATS actually is and how much traffic it has.

At last count, we had just over 5.1 million distinct pages. On any given month, we deliver more than 1 million distinct URL's (unique content pages) to visitors… and Internet spiders typically access 2-3 million distinct URL's every month. A typical month sees over 15 million page views… from humans… add 5x that for non-human Internet spiders. Our RSS feeds are accessed over 10 million times a month. Our database of unique content is so large, and so much unique content is accessed all the time, attempting to cache (temporarily store common queries) database queries fills up the server's 16GB of ram in 10-12 hours. We store and serve (for free) over 3 terabytes of member uploaded images. Every day I get notices from our hosting provider that we're bing charged slightly more because we have exceeded our hosting plan bandwidth.

Are you really using the size of the site and the amount of traffic as an excuse why you need extra money?

Logged out I see at least 10 seperate ads scrolling down any given page. One always rolls out obscuring a third of the page making it impossible to click the site's navigation buttons. Don't get me started on the loud vids that launch themselves or the newest gem that pops up when you click a link, "before you leave look at this.....".

With that amount of traffic, and that amount of ads, how can ATS' future look that grim, just because there were some setbacks?

We've received 131 much appreciated donations, a few of which exceed $100 -- I never expected that. I stuck those higher contribution levels in there just for the fun labels. :p We're about 40% of the way to the loan amount.

I estimate that the average donation amount is around $30. I can't be far off. Times 131 is about $4,000.

So 100% is $10,000.


Do people really believe that the three amigos would let this site, their livelyhood, their lifework maybe, go to waste over 10G?

Really, a site with this much traffic and potential? A site that could get $350,000 from private investors is going down forever if they can't make payments of their $ 10,000, max $15,000 loan?

Our database of unique content is so large, and so much unique content is accessed all the time, attempting to cache (temporarily store common queries) database queries fills up the server's 16GB of ram in 10-12 hours. We store and serve (for free) over 3 terabytes of member uploaded images. Every day I get notices from our hosting provider that we're bing charged slightly more because we have exceeded our hosting plan bandwidth.

They would let it go down before they would try to save money by dumping uploaded images or old content if this is such a big problem. Really?

Our revenue will soon bounce back,

There is just no way that ATS is going to go down because of financial trouble and this should have been clear from the get go for any moderately intelligent person capable of logic and critical thinking, or even just reading.

But hey, that's one of the problems with ATS.

A core membership that for a large part is gullible, incapable of critical or even simple realistic thought and caught up in group think and worship of idols, led by their emotions.

This has become a social entertainment site and most people are just not critical and cynical enough to be conspiracy theorists.

Maybe you guys were right, and it is time to move on and find another hobby.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: proob4

I have to help them, I have to.

You probably missed it because it got deleted, but last night you inspired me to donate in your name when you mentioned you were going through a rough patch. You also inspired Windword to do the same thing.

Wait until you're on your feet. Your content contributions and spirit have already helped quite a bit.

This should be the last of worries at the moment, and you've already helped more than you probably realize.

To me this was one of the low points in the thread, and members' thought processes.

What a good Samaritan!

The guy is still at rock bottom and gained absolutely nothing. He wasn't supposed to give that money anyway. So who profited? ATS did.

You know what would've been impressive? You sending that money to him. Maybe would've inspired some others too.

a reply to: IsItSafe

You know what. You are what's wrong with this world... Create a (new) account just to come into someone else's house to complain about the color of the bathroom tiles? Your intentions are so transparent it isn't even funny.

Let me guess, you are at the front of the queue every time Apple launches a new iStuffyoudontneed? Willing to pay for thousands for something that costs $20 to make in China? Why don't you write long boring posts about those big companies that suck their customers dry instead of b*tching about a FREE and fair website that asks for help during a tough time? If ATS is so rich and such a successful business, why don't you start your own site and watch the $$$'s stream in, while you sit back arms folded with no concern or effort in the world?

You speak of "gullible, incapable of critical or even simple realistic thought" - but you make pretty wild assumptions with your "calculations"... Let's all just grab random numbers out of thin air and try to sound believable.
You are so clever, awesome, smart and so much better than all the other ATS members. Perhaps it's best that you find a different website that shares your gigantic intelligence that doesn't ask anything from you?

Or let me guess: You've been banned so many times from ATS that everyone stopped counting. Yet, you instist on coming back and creating more and more accounts to be banned. So who exactly is "gullible, incapable of critical or even simple realistic thought"?

Here's a thought. Don't donate money to ATS, and you'll feel much better. Or go away, and we'll all feel better.



Rant [/end].

a reply to: Gaspode

If the shoe fits. I didn't include everybody but you seem to think I was talking to you.

Your intentions are so transparent it isn't even funny.

Maybe it is because I am not trying to hide my intentions?

You speak of "gullible, incapable of critical or even simple realistic thought" - but you make pretty wild assumptions with your "calculations"... Let's all just grab random numbers out of thin air and try to sound believable.

Wild assumptions. What do you think is a realistic average?

Like with other critical posts I saw in this thread before, one small part is being nitpicked and or misrepresented, the rest of the post is completely ignored. The only way to deal with it for some, I guess.

You obviously weren't even able to indentify the exact premise of my post since basically your whole reply is irrelevant and non contextual.

originally posted by: IsItSafe

the rest of the post is completely ignored. The only way to deal with it for some, I guess.

You mean like how you picked phrases from my post and ignored the suggestion that you have been banned from ATS - and simply created yet another account to troll? Apparently your love-hate relationship with ATS is very tragic. Like a Greek tragedy. You should write about that.

Or - here's another thought. Perhaps no-one cares what you have to say.

You obviously weren't even able to indentify the exact premise of my post since basically your whole reply is irrelevant and non contextual.

Nope. Your exact premise is quite clear:



The point you're missing is that people love ATS that they are willing to give for a change.

But this isn't my fight after all. Just pointing out that your constant whining is tiresome.

a reply to: Gaspode

Off course I ignored your drivel since it had nothing to do with the comment you responded too.

And, indeed, you weren't able to identify my premise, what a surprise. You are displaying every single characteristic I described.

The only part of your reply worth debating was the line about the numbers I used to calculate the loan.

I asked you a question about it, but now you also ignore that. Very surprising.

Perhaps no-one cares what you have to say.

Yes, obviously....

a reply to: Gaspode

Since you claim that "perhaps no-one cares" what he or she has to say, I just wanted to inform you that I care. I also happen to agree with the poster.

Personally I would not donate to a site with the amount of intrusive ads that ATS have. The members are already posting and creating content for free on the board, they are providing the owners with the platform for views, clicks and ad income. If that is not enough for ATS to stay alive, so be it.

a reply to: IsItSafe

You seem to value transparency greatly and are very into numbers. I admire that!

I strive for honesty and transparency in my dealings as well.

You stated that you have no hidden intentions and I respect and believe that.

Please state your previous username(s) as it is clear to anyone reading here that you did not register for the first time today as indicated in your profile.

Transparency!

originally posted by: IsItSafe
a reply to: Gaspode

...
The only part of your reply worth debating was the line about the numbers I used to calculate the loan.

...

No amount of guesswork is going to make a difference, because
1. I don't have nearly enough facts.
2. it's not the point of the thread.

May I tell you a little story? OK, thanks, here goes.

Once upon a time there were three buddies. Together they built a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL from scratch. It was a beautiful car. Many people came from all over the world to not only admire the car, but also get a ride in the car. The 3 buddies were so proud of their car, and they were also so glad that so many other people loved their car. They let people drive along in the car, feel the leather and even change the radio station. And the 3 buddies didn't ask a single cent from anyone. (All they asked was that people didn't eat pies in the car, because it would ruin the upholstery.)

But then one day, a guy in a Hummer came along, and for no apparent reason started ramming the Mercedes. Again. And again. Until they had to pull over. But they got the car on the road again after spending so much of their own money, because they new all the people that waited to ride in the car were waiting for them. Problem was, the guy in the Hummer was still tailgating them. So the 3 buddies turned to their passengers and said:
"Sorry folks. We have a problem. There's this jackass with the Hummer... and... well, we want to do something about him, but we've used so much of our own money to keep the car running, that we wouldn't be able to keep the car in the pristine condition if the Hummer rammed us again.

So all the passengers checked behind the couches and in the ashtrays to find loose coins. a quarter here. 10 cents there. There was even a looney from a Canuck and a pound from a British guys. Amongst all the passengers of the beautiful car they had enough pocket change to buy a tank.

From then on the tank drove with the Mercedes everywhere it went. And the Hummer could no longer ram the beautiful car that everyone rode in for free (as long as they didn't spill their drinks on the upholstery).

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

a reply to: Gaspode

1. I don't have nearly enough facts.

How much did you donate?

2. it's not the point of the thread.

We were having discussion about my post. You responded to it.