Severe A2K Performance Problems

Merry Andrew wrote:

Yeah, I'm begining to agree with you, Sturgis. I made a sizeable donation to the site about a week ago and all I see is a downhill slide. Today has been a nightmare of frustration. I find I'm logging in every time I try to post a reply; it takes about five minutes to actually open a thread or post; error messages keep proliferating. Is there any relief at all in sight?

OK, I'm just gonna ask....

What (this is to anyone) is considered a sizeable donation?

I was about to donate last week, and stopped because I had absolutley no idea what was appropriate.

And don't say "whatever you feel you can give" Rolling Eyes

or similar.

I need some guidelines here, I get a lot of enjoyment out of A2K, and like others, am getting frustrated/steamed at the problems.

If making a donation will help, I'm right there, but what $10, $20, $50, $100, $200, etc....?

Also, if a donation is made one week/month, should we be making another one next week/month?

Help a sistah out...

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Subscription was $15 for three months, if I remember correctly.

Otherwise, you could donate with a similar amount of money as other sites ask for.

Or really how much you can afford, or what you think it is worth ... ... ... :wink:

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Few of us can afford what this site is worth to our sanity. Very Happy

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I think it's supposed to be one-time, and just towards the $200 needed for RAM.

So I donated $10 -- figured it was reasonable that 20 people would donate at about that range, which would bring it to $200.

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Craven de Kere wrote:

Merry Andrew wrote:
Is there any relief at all in sight?

I opened a sales ticket with the hosting company on the 20th of January and it went unanswered till the 30th (they just went through a merger that seems to have brought the side effect of drastically diminished support service) so no RAM has been added yet (I predict that it will be within the next 7 days but it is not something I control and depends in large part on their turnaround time).

I think that Craven spelled it all out very nicely. IMO, if something is worth having, it is worth waiting for. I get ticked off too, especially when I get a "brilliant" idea, want to respond instantly, and I get a "critical error" message. Hey, that's life!

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Wow, is that all that's needed, $200 for extra RAM?

Perhaps it would help to list the dollar amounts and the items that need to be purchased to get us up and running.

Otherwise, it feels like we're in the dark.

Also, I personally think it would be a good idea to update everyone on monies collected and how close the goal is.

I'll be donating something when I get home tonight.

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squinney wrote:

Few of us can afford what this site is worth to our sanity.

Figure if we spent the time we spent here, we spent instead on a shrink's couch. It would cost cost a bloomin' fortune!

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Chai wrote:

Wow, is that all that's needed, $200 for extra RAM?

I believe that was $200 per month, but I could be wrong... I'll try to find it.

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It was.

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Yep, it's per month, sorry.

Craven de Kere wrote:

In the long-term A2K's viability is tied to the next version I've been developing (admittedly, the development hasn't moved in 2 months).

In the short term performance can probably best be solved with a huge chunk of RAM.

If the server can load the whole database into RAM then there will likely be a LOT less in way of sluggishness and "cannot connect to the database" issues.

I've not added more RAM primarily because of the cost. Right now my discretionary spending is going toward the next version of A2K in the form of development. Moving to Costa Rica has also added a lot of costs (I have bought a car here for e.g.) and I was banking on doing it all with the next version of A2K (which will be less resource intensive as well as more efficiently monetized).

But it seems it's a pretty bothersome issue for end users so I'm going to put it to the users. The RAM to make the site run more smoothly will cost about 200 dollars a month. I don't want to run this site as contribution ware (i.e. accepting donations) but if the members want the ram I will do so.

P.S. - It may hit rough patches and even decline a bit, but I'm not going to let A2K die for lack of interest (mine) nor am I going to ever desist in my dreams of making it much better. And the rough patches are a simple matter of resources so I figure this is the easiest way to solve it.

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This month I could afford a bit extra. Next month, who knows?

Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.

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Chai, I know you didn't want to hear "whatever you feel you can give" but sizeable is relative to your wallet. I donated a sizeable amount as well - a few week's worth of additional RAM, but that's what I was willing to donate with the hope that it would make a difference. I have no idea where that amount fits within the range, and I don't care. The amount of time I spend here was worth it to me. If it works and a few months down the road we need to pony up again, then I'll see what my wallet can handle at that time and decide accordingly.

I'm sure it will all be put to good use and the extra RAM will hopefully be the answer, but I'm not donating the farm yet.

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Indeed. It is $200/month or $2400/year. And that is not for a one-time fix but rather is an ongoing, recurring, expense.

It does come down to what you can afford. I am confident that any contribution will be appreciated.

A month or so ago I exchanged emails with "an unidentified person who has knowledge of the workings of A2K." This was before Craven added the little "donate" button at the very bottom lower right. My concern was that some folks might be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with using PayPal, if that was the only option. As it turned out you can use either Paypal or a credit card. If you are not comfortable with either of those options, please pm me for a 3rd option.

I believe I heard from my source within A2K that they do not know and Craven does not want to know who gave how much.

So whatever you can afford is fine. -realjohnboy-

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I think (I hope!) the idea is that the new version of A2K would be up before the year is out, eliminating the need to support this one with extra RAM, so it wouldn't actually be $2,400 a year -- that may have been why I compartmentalized it as one-time. (It seems extremely unlikely that the new version will be up in only a month, but two? Three? Six?)

At any rate, I'll probably take it month by month, and keep donating as necessary rather than as a lump sum.

Via PayPal was super easy btw.

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Part of your donation will go to hamster clothing. It's cold, plus they could really use the formalwear.

http://ewancient.lysator.liu.se/pic/art/s/o/sonkem/martin.jpg

In all seriousness, it's $200/month for RAM, I am assuming that would be transferred over to the new site's use or split or something like that.

I do not know the total but assure you that it's all appreciated. We are very grateful to have such a loving, supportive membership. You guys are the best.

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wheeze......gasp......gasp....

water......

I'd been trying to connect to the "donate" link since 6:30pm yesterday....finally got through.......

Now, would you PLEASE RAM up!!!!????

JPB - I totally see your point of what someone's wallet can bear. However, up until yesterday, I though A2K was trying to raise like 10 or 20 thousand dollars to get up to speed.

Pulling out the Hewlitt Packard calculator I received back in 1972 upon my grade school graduation, I did some lightning fast cyphering and came up with the possibility that if 26 members put aside a mere .25 cents a day there would be enough to keep the speed up.

realjohnboy....no one is asking anyone to pitch in $2400. If every person who even semi-regularly (like a couple times a week) threw a nickel in a can each time they visited, there'd be enough to keep the RAM up I'd wager.

See, you won't get to where you want to go, if you don't know where you are.

C'mon everybody who I see here every day....toss a nickel or a dime in, or a quarter, and send it in. $200 is chicken feed when you figure the number of regulars, and the enjoyment/knowledge/stress relief gotten here.

Anyone on a fixed income is exempt if it's a hardship, but hey, if you've got gainful employment, pitch in a dollar or 2.

Damn, at $6.00 a pack, that's one less cigarette a day.

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I never joined as a subscriber when one could, but I thought about it often enough. I figure I've just back-paid my subscriber dues to when I joined and prepaid a few months more.

I think the lack of feedback on the progress of the upgrade was an issue. I'm glad we now have a time frame (within the week) for when we hope to see improvement.

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I was wondering if it would be appropriate to mention the Donate button on our own threads - my poetry threads for example - kinda like putting the busker hat out- but on behalf of a2k?

You never know -

or would it be bad form?

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go for it, Endymion.

We're all waiting with baited breath. The RAM has been ordered, but more can't hurt.

BTW, bruskers are some of my favorite folks.

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Let me just guess that the whole "I donated, you owe me performance" thing is a fair part of why Craven avoided donations for years - years - while scrambling moneywise himself.

It comes up right away, he was right.

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Severe A2K Performance Problems

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