What is this "donate" button on chat selector?

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Splat

Guest
#1
Hi all, I am only a new person about 1 week new.

Where I click on to the chat rooms, just above that I notice there is a "donate" bar which sometimes I accidentally click on (cause its so close to the chat room drop down boxes).

Does anyone know what that's about and what the donations go towards? I'm afraid the whole thing has gone completely over my head.

Why does the chat server cost so much? I googled some voice chat server on the net and I found some ones with very generous licensing. Ie $0.

Or is it something to do with bandwidth charges because of the constant audio and video streaming?

Also I thought this might also be a conflict of interest. How do you ban people who are one of your subscribers?

Anyone , just hoping you can clear up my confusion.

God Bless
Glenn (Splat)
 
1

1still_waters

Guest
#2
Hi all, I am only a new person about 1 week new.

Where I click on to the chat rooms, just above that I notice there is a "donate" bar which sometimes I accidentally click on (cause its so close to the chat room drop down boxes).

Does anyone know what that's about and what the donations go towards? I'm afraid the whole thing has gone completely over my head.

Why does the chat server cost so much? I googled some voice chat server on the net and I found some ones with very generous licensing. Ie $0.

Or is it something to do with bandwidth charges because of the constant audio and video streaming?

Also I thought this might also be a conflict of interest. How do you ban people who are one of your subscribers?

Anyone , just hoping you can clear up my confusion.

God Bless
Glenn (Splat)
The donation button is to help fund this site. It costs money for webspace, server, forum script fees and other costs. Since that button says server donation, it means the money goes to help fund the server bill each month:D

Why does the server cost so much? It just does. I don't know all the ins and outs. I just know it DOES. I'm assuming it has to do with bandwidth. This site isn't running some simple forum script. It takes more than just some place to dump a database so we can have a chat room. It takes some hustle n muscle to make it so we can all voice and webcam and chat. That's probably why it costs more than generic webspace does for a simple webpage.

And we don't give out our secrets about how folks are banned. :D
 
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Splat

Guest
#3
Would it be possible to see a break down of expenses? I've always been brought up to look into things before donating money. Especially with the number of scams that go on in my country. Not saying you're a scam or anything but have been brought up to look into things properly.

1Thessalonians 5:21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

Cheers
Glenn.
 

RoboOp

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 4, 2008
1,419
651
113
#4
Hi Splat

We run special software such as Flash Media Server (for voice and video chat -- and by the way, the software itself costs thousands of dollars, and we're way behind the current version. see http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediainteractive/ )

Anyway this software cannot be run on a shared hosting account.

Our current server bill is only about $250 per month. That's really not much at all for providing unlimited voice and video chat to our thousands of users.

But if anyone thinks that just $250 per month needs a lot of justification, then let me say that I think people should understand that actually (brace yourself), $250 per month is a measly sum and nothing compared to what we really need, which is thousands of dollars, for just funding all the labors behind this site (and programming modifications), and to be fully staffed. But anyway if the button says "Server bill", then that's what it's for, and it's only been $250 per month for that. There's no "breakdown" -- it's a monthly fee for a dedicated server, simple as that. And it's quite cheap, actually, for the specs and bandwidth allowance and firewall that is included, etc.

If you need more convincing than that, and are really serious about paying the bill, then send me chat mail and I'll forward the invoice to you, so you can pay it :)

The hosting company should be trying to charge it in a day or two actually (we just got the official invoice today), and we're not even halfway toward the amount (as of this moment).
 
Oct 31, 2009
8
0
0
#5
Hi Robo et al,

Just wondering, what is the structure of ownership?

Ie, is this site "owned" by an individual, a company, a not for profit association?
 
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oopsies

Guest
#6
Hi Robo et al,

Just wondering, what is the structure of ownership?

Ie, is this site "owned" by an individual, a company, a not for profit association?
i think it's owned by robocop - the guy with the giraffe
 
Oct 31, 2009
8
0
0
#7
i think it's owned by robocop - the guy with the giraffe
Hi Oopsies, yeah I was able to guess that much, but was curious to know if it's owned by him as an individual, or if he's the director of a company that owns it, or if he's the president of an organisation who owns it, etc etc.
 
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oopsies

Guest
#8
i'm pretty sure it's just him
 

RoboOp

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 4, 2008
1,419
651
113
#10
Hi davidal...

Currently a family, but we're in the process of registering as a non-profit. We've already reserved an organization name and Lord willing will have non-profit status by the end of this year. That's under Philippines law (since that's where we are, and where we plan to hire staff).
 
Oct 31, 2009
8
0
0
#11
Hi davidal...

Currently a family, but we're in the process of registering as a non-profit. We've already reserved an organization name and Lord willing will have non-profit status by the end of this year. That's under Philippines law (since that's where we are, and where we plan to hire staff).
Thanks...............