Author Topic: FA Updated (But Not Really)  (Read 862 times)

winserv03fan

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FA Updated (But Not Really)
« on: January 03, 2015, 05:12:58 pm »
Looks like Neer added a page to FA:
https://twitter.com/Dragoneer/status/551471730695622657
Quote
Working on the transparency docs. Trying to start 2015 out right. Here's the initial expenses: http://donations.furaffinity.net/
One of the things that stands out to me is:
Quote
Monthly Expense: OVH VPS Rental   $14.99/Month   Purpose: Off site hosting for personal email accounts
Cost History: $59.96 (Total)
Quote
Monthly Expense: Amazon SES   Varies   Purpose: Bulk emailing for password reset, new account sign ups, etc.
Cost History: $22.94 (Total)

Seriously? Do you really need two separate services including a VPS for email? And what exactly does "personal email" have to do with FA?

Also interesting, at the bottom of the page it reads:
Quote
NOTE: This does not include bandwidth/hosting expenses.
So again, they still haven't kept up their promise to have full accountability of the donated money. What a way to start the new year.

Conan

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2015, 06:44:34 pm »
I like how, once again, he posts something to his personal account. Because we all religiously follow his journals, right??

Also worth noting that the amounts on that page differ from the amounts mentioned previously. The donations page is actually missing a $252 charge for Pingdom that was mentioned in Chase's journal and there is a ~$500 discrepancy regarding the supporter gifts cost, which looks to be the omission of shipping charges.

Quote from: Compiled from journal

$18,932 (Gross Total Donations)

-$1,827.77 (GoFundMe Fees and Chargebacks)
-$2,500 (Taxes)
-$2,500 (Supporter Gifts and Shipping) [$2006.98
-$1,710 (Promised Donation to SoFurry)

=$10,394.23 (Net Total Donations)

-$25.00 (Cloudflare: 2014/10) [Monthly]
-14.99 (OVH VPS: 2014/10) [Monthly]
-252.72 (Pingdom: 2014/10) [Yearly]

-$25.00 (Cloudflare: 2014/11) [Monthly]
-$9.31 (Amazon SES: 2014/11) [Monthly]
-14.99 (OVH VPS: 2014/11) [Monthly]

-$25.00 (Cloudflare: 2014/12) [Monthly]
-$9.31 (Amazon SES: 2014/12) [Monthly]
-14.99 (OVH VPS: 2014/12) [Monthly]

=$10,002.92 (Donations Available)
=391.31 (Spent to Date)

I hope their accountant isn't working on a flat fee. That poor, poor accountant.

That additional $425+ a month is going to hurt, since I think they were very close to or above $3k/mo for hosting charges last I heard. Can't wait for another "problem" to arise in a few months and require more EMERGENCY DONATIONS.



JTfurry

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2015, 08:56:54 pm »
$15 a month for an email server and then plus more for external is stupid.

The site is hemorrhaging money from wasted hosting and stupid unneeded services....

Pi

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2015, 03:27:42 pm »
I like how, once again, he posts something to his personal account. Because we all religiously follow his journals, right??

well YOU sure seem to
"we did farts.  now we do sperm.  we are cutting edge." — Theo DeRaadt

Conan

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2015, 12:11:40 am »
More updates:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6395579

Quote
* Update RAM in Finn (DB Server) from 64GB to 128GB. We have ordered the parts, and are simply waiting for them to arrive so we can schedule downtime.
* Install new app server ("Phoenix Down"), a processing server with 32GB of RAM and 4X Samsung Pro SSDs.
More RAM. MORE. There's not a problem we can't fix without adding more RAM.

Quote
There has also been some concern/rumor that our DB server Jake has not been in use (and according to some, is sitting in a closet). We’d like to assure you that Jake IS installed in the colo and sitting comfortably next to Finn. We will admit that while the server is in use, it is underutilized at the moment. We are in the process of updating and converting the site to process on multiple servers.
Yeah because that's something that you totally need two years to do.

Quote
Our UI revisions were significantly delayed, but are still in progress. We should have updates for you within the next few weeks.
Quote
Phoenix development is still underway. Our goal is to show progress when we have something that users can see and actually use (let's be honest, we have a bad habit of going "Hey, look at this!" and then...)

Our Phoenix Github repository was recently moved, which has raised a lot of questions. The Github was removed at request of the Phoenix devs so they could focus on development. They found they were being bombarded with questions, suggestions and more and were spending too much time addressing those, not on progress. Hence the decision was made to pull the Github until we had substantial progress to show.

WE'RE WORKIN' ON IT!!!!!! WE MEAN IT THIS TIME, TOTALLY!!!

an hoopoe

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2015, 04:26:16 am »
Re recruiting new admins Dragoneer is fantasising about NDAs again. He was going on about those in 2007 when I was an admin:

Quote from: Dragoneer
We're working towards enforcing NDAs on all moderators and trying to keep them in a timezone where we can address them/have meetings directly. We've got a lot of international moderators as it is, but there are some issues trying to round everyone up for meetings/discussions when people come from around the globe.

We may relax this in time, but to start, we need a team we can build a close-knit relationship with.
^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6395579#cid:43792000

He also wants all new admins to be US citizens, not to be a student and declares further down in the comment chain that he may be "looking into the legal implications of bringing on more foreign staff than what we have now".  Given the access that Yak has, it seems to me that he's just blowing smoke and trying to distract people and look important with big words.

When someone raises the issue of the staff turnover Princess Piche blames it on "vengeful users"

Quote from: Dragoneer
There's many reasons for that, and one of them comes down to vengeful users. Being an admin can be stressful, and... well, to put it bluntly, when a user uploads a picture that's blatantly in violation of site rules, you remove it, then that user decides to try to go after your personal life, it's VERY easy to go "Why am I doing this again?". Many staff hit that point.
^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6395579#cid:43793312

Quote from: Dragoneer
[...] my 2015 goal: stop promising, start delivering. Focus on the product, make it AWESOME.
^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6395579#cid:43792008

Conan

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2015, 05:19:57 am »
Quote from: Dragoneer
[...] my 2015 goal: stop promising, start delivering. Focus on the product, make it AWESOME.

This was also his goal for 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, etc...

Gryphoneer

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2015, 07:15:30 am »
it seems to me that he's just blowing smoke and trying to distract people and look important with big words.

Or the arbitrary restrictions on eligibility serve to reduce the candidate pool in order to make it seem more plausible if any other members of his clique join the administration.

JigsawJones

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2015, 08:02:55 am »
it seems to me that he's just blowing smoke and trying to distract people and look important with big words.

Or the arbitrary restrictions on eligibility serve to reduce the candidate pool in order to make it seem more plausible if any other members of his clique join the administration.

The need to have them local for meetings bespeaks of cronies.

ColonThree

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2015, 11:02:43 am »
Quote
Hence the decision was made to pull the Github until we had substantial progress to show.

And so the great Phoenix retreated to a dark cave in the northernmost mountains, never to be seen again.
~Witty quote~

Rowedahelicon

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2015, 01:41:08 pm »
Quote
Hence the decision was made to pull the Github until we had substantial progress to show.

And so the great Phoenix retreated to a dark cave in the northernmost mountains, never to be seen again.

Totally not because they didn't want anyone to see that the only person who actually works on it is Charmander.

JTfurry

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2015, 01:45:31 pm »
Quote
Hence the decision was made to pull the Github until we had substantial progress to show.

And so the great Phoenix retreated to a dark cave in the northernmost mountains, never to be seen again.

Totally not because they didn't want anyone to see that the only person who actually works on it is Charmander.

I thought others tried to but we're not allowed to?

Rowedahelicon

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Re: FA Updated (But Not Really)
« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2015, 01:50:28 pm »
Quote
Hence the decision was made to pull the Github until we had substantial progress to show.

And so the great Phoenix retreated to a dark cave in the northernmost mountains, never to be seen again.

Totally not because they didn't want anyone to see that the only person who actually works on it is Charmander.

I thought others tried to but we're not allowed to?

The github had 4 names iirc, the only one posting comment changes was Charmander before it got taken down. Zaush wasn't even on the repository. You were allowed to if you were in the club obviously. I got in as their Css coder (I mentioned it earlier on a different account) but was never put in because Zaush was never around to formally put me in the team.