Hello, everyone. As most of you know, Alex Pepple provides us with this site at the expense of his own time and money. The recent crash involved him in considerable cost for the replacement of software and hardware.

Alex has run the site for some time now without any call for financial assistance. For those of us who appreciate his work and are able to spare some cash, now would be a very good time to make a contribution.

At the top left of the screen you will find a "Sponsor Us" button. It will take you to a page which provides the information you need to contribute electronically or by snail mail. I understand that the payment options are now fully operative.

I don't want to suggest amounts. Obviously, the larger the better, but there is strength in numbers and, especially if lots of people respond in some measure, every little helps.

I encourage you to give serious consideration to this suggestion and to send Alex what you think is reasonable.

John

Is the snail mail address listed there the correct one? I had the impression Alex was now in Niagara Falls, Ontario, as the whois pages for all the Ablemuse sites seem to show.

How much did it cost to fix the recent problems?
How is the cost to be apportioned across Alex's various sites?

Is that pay pal thing in US dollers or will it do AU from here?

It converts it Joan.

Maryann, I've received e-mail confirmation from Alex that the sponsor button is working properly. In view of your post, I've asked him to reconfirm that the snail mail address is up-to-date. I'll post the information when he replies.

David, I don't have that data. I made the suggestion in the spirit of informal goodwill.

There's some relevant information in this archive thread: http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/ubbhtm...ML/001561.html

It seems improbable that a round of contributions will overpay Alex for his recent out-of-pocket expenses. And not much harm would be done if that occurred.

In addition to the recent expenses, Alex has conributed his time recently and in the past and has incurred past costs of running the site.

If, using the costs of alternative forms of workshop and education, you were to benchmark the value to members of 'Sphere participation, the number would be higher again, and far above any aggregate contribution expectation.

Any apportionment would depend on the number of contributors, which is an unknown.

I suggest we just give what we feel comfortable with and not worry too much about the calculations.

John

John,
It's self-evident that if we are to reimburse Alex we need to know the costs he incurred.
He did provide this information after the last major crash in 2005, when there was a considerable investment in hardware and software, supported by Erato members.
Regards,
David

John, thank you for posting this.

Maryann, the snail mail address is right.

David, remember, this is NOT a request for re-reimbursement and I don't want or expect anyone here to feel obligated to give anything ... as it has been the case with the Sphere since it's inception. If you decide to, only give what you feel you can manage. In fact, I've managed to keep the site going for years with no expectations. The thanks I've received for this have been more than I expected. Indeed, it's a good thing I don't need member contributions to keep the site up and running given how sparse they have been -- the last member donation I received happened close to two years ago.

Cheers,
...Alex

I'm not seeing the sponsor us button. Can someone just type in the snail mail address, please?
Dave

Hi, David. The button is at the top left of the main page. The address is:

Alex Pepple, Editor
Able Muse Review
467 Saratoga Avenue, #602
San Jose, CA 95129

John