[Alex Pepple]

Dear Eratosphereans,

Once again, it's time (or past time, going by the endless months of dry spell) to remind those can or are willing to, of the need to support Able Muse/Eratosphere per all the 'donate' links on the Sphere pages. It's especially important this time because I've been putting off upgrading the forum software, etc., which is now several releases out of date. However, it's now time for me to take the technical and financial adventure to get it done! The reasons for upgrading include--

1. Hardening the software to minimize breach by hackers. This has become epidemic these days in the form of denial of service attacks and brute force hacking attempts of passwords, especially from IP addresses originating from China and Russia! And some of you might have noticed this in the more frequent instances of the Sphere going offline due to database query overload with the server ... even though this might only last for a few minutes, when I catch it in time.
2. Improving the system and operational performance of the forum software itself--this will result in better user experience as well as more resistance to the denial of service attacks mentioned in 1) due to a higher point of failure of the software and supporting database.
3. Potential new features for members for more or improved creative tools and better member interactions.

. . . and the above is only for starters, sticking to things I can describe in layman terms. Indeed, it's likely that I might migrate the system to an entirely new software base. So, it's also likely that I might retain the services of paid consultant(s) for some of the more onerous development work, should that be financially feasible ... or else, I'll just slug at it solo--most likely taking lot longer to achieve the desired upgrade goals.

For more reasons to support Able Muse / Eratosphere, see the sticky here. Or, feel free to skip all that and go straight to the donation page here.

Thanks!
...Alex

[E. Shaun Russell]

I wonder -- is there a dollar figure you can post that might help guide financial submissions? I'm thinking of how Wikipedia posts a big banner on their site from time to time that mentions how much money they need to keep things operating optimally. A general idea of need might prompt more generosity.

[Ann Drysdale]

My own responses to Alex's appeals are, of necessity, small and I do not reply on the threads. If Alex were to "do a Wikipedia" and say that if everyone gave a certain amount we could surive into the next millennium or whatever, that might actually be counter-productive. I am sure there are folk who contribute far more than I do and might feel that they were being ostentatious. There is a contribution scale on the donations page that gives a pretty good idea of the possibilities and Alex's reminders, as they stand, are decorous and compelling.

[Alex Pepple]

Thanks, Shaun, and thanks Ann.

Essentially, what Ann said, Shaun: Indeed, I want to reiterate that the donations are voluntary, and it's only for those who can somehow manage it. In other words, no one should feel obliged to contribute, hence my de-emphasis on dollar amounts of need or necessary contribution.

One more thing I should mention about why I'm moving the server away from the current hosting company to the new one is because the current hosting resources there are almost exhausted (disk almost full to capacity, server memory too limited). I'd like to upgrade with the current host and stay with them, however, at their rather premium prices, that would be almost doubling the monthly amount they'll charge me. Hence, I no choice but to find a cheaper company to upgrade and migrate over to. Thus, while the overall amount after upgrade will still be higher than the rate at the current company, it will be less than the double amount I'd have had to pay if I'd stayed with the current company.

Cheers,
...Alex