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Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive
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Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive |
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Subject: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Charley Noble Date: 18 Jan 03 - 11:44 AM I thought I'd start this thread, inspired by recent Mudcat blackouts and reports of dead and dying equipment. I realize that any money donated to Mudcat is not tax deductible. However, I probably check in at Mudcat at least once a day and would really miss it if it disappeared forever. Therefore, I'm sending in a $50 check this week. Anyone else willing to make a public pledge? Details on how to make a donation may be accessed by clicking on that merry mudcat jumping out of the banjo head. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Joe Offer Date: 18 Jan 03 - 12:26 PM It costs about four hundred dollars a month to run Mudcat, but that's just normal operating expenses and doesn't include money for repairs. For a number of reasons, we don't have a formal organization that can keep books and write thank-you notes and all the niceties. If you send money in, Max will spend it as he sees fit - either on operating expenses or on repairs and upgrades. Nobody will have time to thank you for your contributions, but it's something you and everyone else will benefit from, and it is appreciated. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: GUEST Date: 18 Jan 03 - 04:21 PM Dire fundraising appeals keep being made, money keeps getting directed to Mudcat as a result of those appeals and (presumably) sale of the CDs, yet the service just keeps getting worse. Discuss? No, probably not. Just keep sending money, folks. I'm sure Max is putting it to good use "as he sees fit." |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Charley Noble Date: 19 Jan 03 - 12:26 PM Well, yes, there have been periodic appeals for funds and why should this be surprising? As Joe explains above, a certain minimum of money is needed just to maintain this system, with more needed to upgrade it. Contributions would probably be welcome even from anonymous "Guests," although I'd be surprised if any such people contributed more than complaints. Anyone else interested in contributing cash? Cheerily, Charley Noble, whose check is in the mail |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Tinker Date: 19 Jan 03 - 01:03 PM Charlie, one went out at the end of the year, but there will be another in the spring (assuming the bonus arrives on time)...Although it is home to Joe Clones and other mythical creatures, servers don't run on magic part on community is sharing the burden.... Tinker |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: open mike Date: 19 Jan 03 - 05:49 PM it looks as tough it is tax decuctable according to the banner ad for buy8ng c'd's: "Find recordings and items not available elsewhere, all while supporting and enhancing the Mudcat Cafe and Digital Tradition, both registered non-profit organizations." |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: GUEST Date: 19 Jan 03 - 05:54 PM No, openmike, contributions are not tax deductible. Max never did the paperwork. Nor has he ever done an accounting of how he spends the money. Personally, I think he treads on very thin legal ice, because he is making statements about his nonprofit status that aren't true. Which is usually considered to be fraudulent, but people here don't care. They just want their Mudcat fix, so they never question the legal and monetary set up here. When you send money to Max, it just goes into a big, black hole. |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Big Mick Date: 19 Jan 03 - 11:52 PM I agree that this place is far beneath you. If I were a person of your standing and status, I certainly wouldn't want to hang out with such ignorant folks as we are. If I were you, I would just leave these idiots and never show my face in this site again, Matriot. There is no sense in you wasting your time here. I will miss you...................like a boil. Mick |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Big Mick Date: 19 Jan 03 - 11:53 PM OH...........yeah................check on its way. Ignorant ass Mick who loves throwing his money down this dark hole. |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Charley Noble Date: 20 Jan 03 - 10:42 AM Big Mick- The "big black hole" reminds me of a New year's Eve celebration I and some Peace Corpws friends were celebrating in Addis Abeba back in 1966. There was folk music, Ethiopian beer, and curious stuff being smoked in the pipes being passed around. Our new British friend Colin was treating us to his rendition of Bert Jansch's guitar solo "Angie" which we'd never heard before and which seemed to go on forever. Some time in the early morning we were making our way out the compound gate when one of us remembered the hole, the large black hole freshly dug for the cess pool, and thoughtfully hollared out "Watch out for the hole!" and Colin actually shouted back "What hole-le-le-ohhhhh?" We all found this immensely amusing as we peered over the edge of the large black hole. Down some ten feet below was Colin still moving, no broken bones apparently; he'd been very relaxed as he fell but he'd torn his ear pretty badly. Someone called the Russian Hospital for an ambulance while someone else found a ladder and somehow we managed to help Colin out. I have this vivid memory of riding in the ambulance with Colin, sirens screaming, lights flashing, as we tore up and down the hills of the city. The Russian doctors did a fine job of sewing Colin's ear back on, right side up, no less and he spent about a week recovering at my house while we extracted more of his songs. What joy! Now who else has a pledge to send in? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Big Mick Date: 20 Jan 03 - 01:46 PM Charley, I will move to the humorous in my next post, but, on reflection I find I have one more point to make to this "person". I note, with interest, that you never criticize Max for throwing his personal money down a black hole in keeping this place going. Despite your crap, you keep coming back and using a site that he has maintained at great personal financial expense. That is why most of us could care less what he does with the money. The man is raising a new baby, taking care of this "old baby", and trying to make a living. He has had many more reasons to dump this site than maintain it, but he keeps it going. You are a blight on an otherwise beautiful landscape. If I were to go over and start attacking you in the Toronto thread, you would recoil and whine. You show your bigotry and twisted nature by using a site that you love to criticize (as opposed to just leaving), as well as criticizing those who try to contribute to keep it going. It all adds up to low self esteem, but that is another thread. Now.............Charley.......are we going to swap overseas stories to entertain the folks into contributing? Remind me to tell you about the off limits skivvy house and the binjo ditch sometime..........LOL. Mick |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Charley Noble Date: 20 Jan 03 - 01:52 PM Big Mick- "The off limits skivvy house and the binjo ditch"? Of course I'd like to hear it BUT don't tell the story until someone else makes a pledge! Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: NicoleC Date: 20 Jan 03 - 11:39 PM Okay, I'll post something positive. I've got a few auctions running on eBay right now. If any or all of the winning bidders tell me Mudcat sent 'em, I'll donate 5% of the proceeds to Mudcat: Toshiba Satellite Pro 2800 laptop computer Canon Rebel 2000 camera package Fancy Tamron camera lens for above (and other Canon autofocus cameras) Iomega External CD-RW drive Auctions close in about a week. Go drive up them bids! |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: katlaughing Date: 20 Jan 03 - 11:50 PM Goodonya, Nicole! |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Sorcha Date: 21 Jan 03 - 12:10 AM I paid for the whole 5 CD set. $60.00 USD, does that count? If it doesn't, I'm sorry. Broke just now. |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Max Date: 21 Jan 03 - 01:36 AM While the contributions are wonderful, we have almost never up to or over $500 per month. 2002 brought many o' computer deaths, so it is taking us some time to get back into a realistic performance and reliability state. Because of the size (2Gig Database with 1 million messages, fully threaded and indexed for searching) and our popularity (over 550,000 hits per week), we require at least one really good machine per function. That is, one database server, at least one web server (which is what keeps crashing), and one server to do dns and email. I also like to have a separate machine to serve help.mudcat.org for obvious reasons. I'm being selective here too, because I am not mentioning a media server to offer up all the audio and video content we have. How many is that? And we had Shorty, Loki, Matilda, Leon, Ragtime, Jah and Luxboo die late 2002. Hmmm. Black hole. I am not illegal in any way. We are a registered non-profit corporation in the state of Pennsylvania. This does not imply or infer tax deductible status, which is denoted as a 501(c)3 non-profit, which is a type of non-profit. I have never claimed to be 501(c)3, nor am I sure that we should strive for that for censorship and freedom concerns. I have been turned down for several things due to "questionable content". The last thing that I want is for this government (especially THIS current government) making opinions about our content. As for accounting, I have laid out our needs, bills and spending several times in this forum over the years. I have never, and have no plans to give an itemized report of any kind. It is much easier to have you argue me in principle than in an itemized form. If you have concerns, communicate with me and I will deal with your issues honestly, as I always have and always will. If you question my integrity, budgeting, spending, decisions… do not contribute. Otherwise, we can always use money. The Mudcat CD sales were great, and have added a new member to our server family, which is acting as a mirror now and will soon be available to everyone. We are testing tao.mudcat.org now from a hardware standpoint (dual CPU's, EIDE RAID 0) as well as with the latest version of Macromedia's Cold Fusion MX (6), Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and Windows 2000 Advanced Server. (oh that reminds me… Software costs money too). Go ahead and look it up. How much is Microsoft SQL Server 2000? How much is Cold Fusion MX? How about Windows 2000 Advanced Server? Microsoft… There's the black hole. |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Big Mick Date: 21 Jan 03 - 07:54 AM That's my guy. Max, I am sorry you even felt the need to respond. That asshole from the far north just doesn't get it. I know that this is all a big drain on you, and I also know that you are trying your damnest to keep it a freewheeling, unmoderated forum to preserve its unique identity. All that, and trying to pay your own bills. As far as I am concerned, the GUEST (and all others that make the statements like these) owe you three things. 1) An apology for casting aspersions. 2) A huge "Thank You" for keeping this place around because you know what it means to folks (what a load that is to have to carry). 3) A contribution in the largest amount they can afford. All the best, Mick |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Amos Date: 21 Jan 03 - 02:16 PM Max: Yaaay!!! I am delighted to hear that we able to get new hardware as a result of CD sales. This was the first Big Goal I always wanted to see happen from it. I know it is only part of the config we need, but, well begun. I likewise deplore the needling and mealy-mouthed sarcasm from whoever that was, but I am glad you sang out with the data, regardless of why you did it. It cures the mystery -- always a good thing. Thanks a million for keeping on keeping on, Max! Now, about this baby.... :>) A |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Charley Noble Date: 23 Jan 03 - 09:19 AM Now that the new server is up and running and almost everyone is pleased, why not make a pledge (if you haven't already) to the maintenance and improvement of this Mudcat service? My check went out the door yesterday and in a week or so it should make its way to West Chester, PA, wherever that is. And, Big Mick, you sort of promised us a story.;~) Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: MMario Date: 23 Jan 03 - 09:23 AM don't forget purchase of a MudCat CD is also a contribution! |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Amos Date: 23 Jan 03 - 10:36 AM Flood Dick! The second pressing is in. That means you can get 'em now if you haven't. Nothing like them for a true "I Love You" Valentine's day present. They go straiught to the heart and start warming. Better than chocolate!! (Liz, put that middle finger back down -- you know it isn't loaded!). A |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: katlaughing Date: 23 Jan 03 - 10:57 AM DOn't forget the auction. Don Meixner is generously donating another sterling silver bracelet just in time for V-day! Thanks, Don, sorry I didn't get it up, yesterday. Will do it right now.:-) |
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Subject: RE: Semi-Annual Breakdown Pledge Drive From: Sorcha Date: 23 Jan 03 - 11:14 AM There is also another Bronson in the auction--so far, only $100 bid on it...........you know it's worth more than that. |
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