How ya gonna pay for that there server?

January 27, 2009 12:47 PM

The status blog says that new hardware is on the way. Is this putting a financial strain on MetaFilter? Should we take up a collection?

I don't know whether this is even needed, but I'm sure there are plenty of people here (myself included) who would be happy to chip in a bit on paypal to help pay for our shiny new hardware that keeps the bad guys out and the sites chugging along. I'm certainly not flush with cash, but I like to contribute what I can to make sure the things that matter to me can stick around.

posted by vytae to MetaFilter-related at 12:47 PM (83 comments total)

The cabal takes care of their own.
posted by Science! at 1:00 PM on January 27

They got the cash from AstroZombies 4 through 2103.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:09 PM on January 27

I think Metafilter, Inc. is a self-sustaining entity at this point. Although I suppose a couple mesothelioma FPPs wouldn't hurt.
posted by ryanrs at 1:13 PM on January 27 [3 favorites]

Ever since I saw those photos of Mathowie riding a solid-gold bike with diamond-tipped valve covers, I don't worry too much about the site.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:16 PM on January 27 [2 favorites]

I think when you push the account closure button you should have to pay another $5 to come back, a kind of "restocking" fee.
posted by nanojath at 1:17 PM on January 27 [11 favorites]

Rather than donating money I say we donate hardware. I have a Timex Sinclair 1000 and a broken Weed Eater. What's the FedEx number, or would you rather just send over the MetaFilter truck?
posted by dirtdirt at 1:26 PM on January 27 [7 favorites]

I have a set of ejection seat handles, a second stage compressor blade from a TF-30 jet engine and a used umbilical from a sidewinder missile.

Would any of these be useful?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:30 PM on January 27

I can't donate any money, but I can troll pretty well, and that's gotta be worth something.
posted by Damn That Television at 1:31 PM on January 27

These are the words of desperation of a Metafilter addict.
posted by spiderskull at 1:35 PM on January 27

I have a complete set of vacuum tubes from a mid-60's Saba radio, two short-wave radios, and a 'white elephant' flashlight. The flashlight is an especially excellent item. Takes four 'C' cells.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:35 PM on January 27

My roommate has two kidneys and I have a sharp knife.
posted by Dumsnill at 1:38 PM on January 27 [13 favorites]

I know a guy who's got two turntables and a microphone.
posted by katillathehun at 1:39 PM on January 27 [5 favorites]

Isn't Matt on vacation in Hawaii right now? I'd like to donate to a fund to get him the hell back to work.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 1:41 PM on January 27

What will help more than anything else right now is prayer. Let's join hands.
posted by grumblebee at 1:43 PM on January 27 [3 favorites]

I've got some wire. Actually, it's not my wire, it belongs to the office super, but it's been sitting in the wiring closet for a long time now and there's a lot of dust on it. Actually, they call it a wiring closet, but it's just this thing full of wire and some brick-ish plastic chunks. I don't think any of it's useful. The room hums a little, so I'm thinking that if anything it's probably dangerous to leave it cluttered like that and somebody must be able to find a better use for it than what it's being used for now.

So anyway what I'm saying is that there's a lot of wire here and I could probably forward some of it if somebody over at Matt's place was skillful enough to make a computer from it or a scarf or something like that as long as it's put to good use. And can I get a receipt? For taxes, I mean.
posted by ardgedee at 1:47 PM on January 27

PLEASE STOP LEAVING RECYCLABLE CARDBOARD OUTSIDE METAFILTER HQ. It's very nice of you to cut and bundle it like that, but it has no resale value and the trash company applies a surcharge if we go over our weekly weight limit.

I think when you push the account closure button you should have to pay another $5 to come back, a kind of "restocking" fee.

Resocking fee, surely.
posted by cortex at 1:48 PM on January 27 [10 favorites]

That's not my hand, grumblebee. :(
posted by ODiV at 1:48 PM on January 27

I know, OVDiV :)
posted by grumblebee at 1:50 PM on January 27 [4 favorites]

:O
posted by ODiV at 1:51 PM on January 27

odiv v ovid
posted by cortex at 2:01 PM on January 27

Voivod video
posted by ardgedee at 2:19 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

I have an enormous penis. Does that help?
posted by milarepa at 2:22 PM on January 27

I think the initial suggestion went unanswered though. I could buy a sock puppet if the $5 would help. It would buy someone a latte. Beyond that I am strapped.

Maybe we could have a bake sale?
posted by cjorgensen at 2:24 PM on January 27

The new server setup (a private rack with two bigger servers at the same colocation facility) is actually cheaper than what I pay for the existing setup, thanks to the way hosting colos discount their top-end hardware every six months or so.
posted by mathowie at 2:28 PM on January 27

I am not sure where it is, but I think I have a CB sideband radio with funny channels. The battery in the mic may be dead, but anything for the cause.
posted by Cranberry at 2:29 PM on January 27

The new server setup (a private rack with two bigger servers at the same colocation facility) is actually cheaper than what I pay for the existing setup, thanks to the way hosting colos discount their top-end hardware every six months or so.

So maybe a community rebate is in order instead ...?
posted by WPW at 2:31 PM on January 27 [5 favorites]

I don't know whether this is even needed, but I'm sure there are plenty of people here (myself included) who would be happy to chip in a bit on paypal to help pay for our shiny new hardware that keeps the bad guys out and the sites chugging along. I'm certainly not flush with cash, but I like to contribute what I can to make sure the things that matter to me can stick around.

Aww. This is so quaint, reads like something from 2002.
posted by gtr at 2:34 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

So maybe a community rebate is in order instead ...?

I vote that we start by refunding you. Not your user fee, you.
posted by scrump at 2:34 PM on January 27

The new server setup... is actually cheaper than what I pay for the existing setup

OBAMA'S MAGIC HAS BEGUN
posted by GuyZero at 2:34 PM on January 27 [17 favorites]

The new server setup... is actually cheaper than what I pay for the existing setup

Why didn't you upgrade years ago? /sarcasm
posted by cjorgensen at 2:37 PM on January 27

I have so much thermal paste it isn't even funny. Do you need thermal paste?
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:37 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

So maybe a community rebate is in order instead ...?

We can offer you some nice coupons on orange juice.
posted by cortex at 2:39 PM on January 27 [3 favorites]

"Maybe we could have a bake sale?"

I'm already having a bake sale. That is, I'm sellin' shit to get me baked.
posted by klangklangston at 2:40 PM on January 27 [2 favorites]

"We can offer you some nice coupons on orange juice."

Man, I thought you had to be a mod to get orange juice coupons.
posted by klangklangston at 2:40 PM on January 27

The new server setup... is actually cheaper than what I pay for the existing setup

Alrighty then, never mind!
posted by vytae at 2:41 PM on January 27

The new server setup (a private rack with two bigger servers at the same colocation facility) is actually cheaper than what I pay for the existing setup

refunds all around!!
posted by jessamyn at 2:41 PM on January 27 [2 favorites]

I think I'm owed a few years, jessamyn.
posted by ODiV at 2:44 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:45 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

OBAMA'S MAGIC HAS BEGUN

If you pray to St Obama and he answers your prayer, you need to take out a classified ad in the local paper to think him for his intervention.

Or start a metatalk thread.
posted by empath at 2:47 PM on January 27 [2 favorites]

Metafilter Networks-n-stuff seems to be doing fine, but I would gladly pitch in for pizza and beer for pb and the rest of the the staff who had to put it all back together. In any case, thanks for your efforts.
posted by theora55 at 2:48 PM on January 27

I vote that we start by refunding you. Not your user fee, you.

Sadly the warranty was voided years ago.
posted by WPW at 2:50 PM on January 27

"Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little."

Well, you can always feel better than Phil Collins.
posted by klangklangston at 2:50 PM on January 27 [7 favorites]

We can offer you some nice coupons on orange juice.

How about cameras? I'm pretty sure you have those.
posted by LionIndex at 2:59 PM on January 27

Remember when you enteredf in you credit card details before the site was "hacked"?
posted by Artw at 3:34 PM on January 27

I have an enormous penis. Does that help?
posted by milarepa at 7:22 AM on January 28 [+] [!]

Snap! I've one of those as well! I'm not doing much with it at the moment so I'd be happy to donate it. The jar is very pretty and the formaldehyde is only slightly cloudy and brown.
posted by ninazer0 at 3:38 PM on January 27 [2 favorites]

(In all seriousness, I didn't expect to feel anguish when the site went down but I did nonetheless. Let's face it - we're all addicts. We'll give anything to avoid going cold turkey again. Try to use that for Good, not Evil)
posted by ninazer0 at 3:40 PM on January 27

Thanks to metafilter being down, I had the time to rediscover that I, too, have an enormous penis.
posted by dirty lies at 3:57 PM on January 27 [2 favorites]

I have an enormous penis. Does that help?

Tourists, in my experience. Whenever someone looks lost, it's great for pointing the way. Opera house? It's thatta way.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:58 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

If we just work together and beat those rich kids at this year's Lake Meta talent show we can raise the money to get a new server before grumpy O'Haughey shuts us down!
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:59 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

We do not give money. We give time. Oceans of time, although sometimes a drop at the first. We give it all to Metafilter. This is how we create a God.


HAIL META!
posted by The Whelk at 5:22 PM on January 27

Not to complain, but the Mefi Twitter with supposed 'ideas' on how to survive while Mefi was down was totally effing worthless. Suggestions seemed to range from putting your head between your legs and crying to baking muffins. I needed INPUT and SNARK peopleit. You know what I learned during the great Mefi outage of 2009? That there's no place on the net like Mefi. I'd pay a few more bucks to make sure it sticks around forever, fer shure.

Also, I mean, I know it was only down for 3 days, but this is how my January has gone so far:

1. I get pulled over for talking on my cell phone on 1/1 only to find out that because I don't have an SR 22, my license has been suspended. I'm driving my mother-in-law's car. They tow it. It costs me 2 days and $800 total to get it (and my license) back.

2. My father-in-law DIES on 1/10. This is by far the worst and most painful thing I've ever had to face or go through.

3. While at his funeral on 1/16, someone KICKS IN THE FRONT DOOR OF MY APARTMENT and robs my wife and I. While it could have been worse, my 360 and all of my games and controllers along with my wife's laptop is stolen.

4. I have a tooth pulled on 1/20. It hurts. I get the superflu, some sort of mutant virus that destroys me completely. I'm out sick until yesterday. Upon arrival at work, I find I have a new supervisor who's really unimpressed that I've been out for the majority of the month, regardless of the reasons. I'm told that I need to straighten my act or I could lose my job. Mind you, before this, I've never had so much as a warning for anything.

5. On the edge of a nervous breakdown, I look to Mefi to console me. I probably should have telephoned my old therapist and asked for an immediate appointment, but no, no, I look to Matt and the gang to cheer me up ONLY TO FIND YOU ARE ALL GONE.

No amount of Fark or Boingboing or Digg or Reddit could cheer me up. *sigh* I needed to unload that. Thank you for listening, even if you didn't want to.
posted by Bageena at 5:50 PM on January 27 [16 favorites]

Ok, now you owe us therapy $ since you foisted that upon us. I'll be looking for my check in the mail.
posted by CwgrlUp at 5:58 PM on January 27

I've got an IBM BladeCenter HT with three PN41's and nine QS22's connected to a 512TB DS8000 fiber SAN. Would this be of any use?
posted by odinsdream at 6:06 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

I've got an IBM BladeCenter HT with three PN41's and nine QS22's connected to a 512TB DS8000 fiber SAN. Would this be of any use?
posted by odinsdream at 3:06 AM on January 28 [+] [!]


eponysterical
posted by Dumsnill at 6:09 PM on January 27

all of my games and controllers along with my wife's laptop is stolen.

are stolen. Geez.

Let's start charging $1.00 each for grammatical errors, and $.25 for lazy typos. That'd raise us some scratch.

Sorry about your month, dude. Sounds rough. Sure hope things get better. Obama and everything, you know.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:17 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

odinsdream, I can take those off your hands if they're causing problems for you. I'd totally do that for you, in the spirit of renewed metafilter friendship.
posted by Skorgu at 6:39 PM on January 27

Is this something I'd need money to understand?
posted by pompomtom at 6:55 PM on January 27

Devils Rancher, I'm fine with that payment plan as long as Mefi does it as a line of credit that I can make payments on. I'd need it. Grammer mine is bhad. are

Thank you. Obama.
posted by Bageena at 7:22 PM on January 27

Empty the fucking swear jar.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:28 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

I think there's a reason this page hasn't been updated in, uh 5 years or so, but there is a MeFi donation page.

Empty the fucking swear jar.

*Holds w-gp up by the ankles, shakes.*
posted by carsonb at 7:47 PM on January 27

I've got an ansible, a second-hand warp core reactor, some low-grade dilithium (natch), a flux capacitor, some spice, a thermal detonator, and this weird lens thing that's attached itself to my wrist. Can I help?
posted by A dead Quaker at 7:54 PM on January 27

A few years back, I hacked into the meta codebase and introduced a small change from integer to floating point in the signup fees.

Since then I've been secretly banking 0.0000001 cents per signup, in the event of a catastrophic event--

Count me in for almost one cent.
posted by Static Vagabond at 8:01 PM on January 27

Bageena, geez that's a rough month dude. (((Bageena)))
posted by schyler523 at 8:11 PM on January 27

I'll take the turntables, since Matt doesn't want them.

And a hug for Bageena!
posted by Phire at 8:55 PM on January 27

a private rack with two bigger servers

oh, my. *blushes*
posted by longsleeves at 8:57 PM on January 27

Let's start charging $1.00 each for grammatical errors, and $.25 for lazy typos. That'd raise us some scratch.

Oh. I could never afford that.
posted by The Whelk at 9:54 PM on January 27

Man, rough month, Bageena. Will a favorite help?

It's all I can do.
posted by Caduceus at 10:21 PM on January 27

Mine wasn't a sympathy favourite, Bageena, though I do sympathize.

Mine was in agreement re. the complete and abject worthlessness of the twitter suggestions.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:18 AM on January 28

MetaTalk: Thank you for listening, even if you didn't want to.

I'm glad we don't need to take a collection. Though I've got some extension cords and one of those things that when you turn it upside down, and then turn it over again, it moos like a cow. Always comes in handy.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:56 AM on January 28

You all are too good to me. =)
posted by Bageena at 8:07 AM on January 28

Voivod video

I adore Voivod, but in their cover of Astronomy Domine, they get some words wrong: "Oberon, we're on the run, Titania," should be, "Oberon, Miranda, and Titania." I will attribute this to a general Quebecois difficulty with dental fricatives working in tandem with an unfamiliarity with intrusive Rs.

With regard to donations (however unnecessary) for servers: Jessamyn may soon find herself acquiring a quantity of free meetup booze. It is unclear, however, whether this will translate into a reallocation of funds or merely a higher-than-anticipated blood-alcohol level.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:22 AM on January 28

They clearly do not say "we're on the run", so you got it wrong about how they got it wrong.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:05 PM on January 28

I think there's a reason this page hasn't been updated in, uh 5 years or so

If it ain't broke? Mathowiedoff schemes? Mefi running on pure* snark?

*100% emmision free.
posted by ersatz at 2:26 PM on January 28

I've got an AT&T StarLan10 and some old Wang works that I pulled from a cable plant about 10 years ago...oh wait, I sold the Wangware for scrap.
posted by mrmojoflying at 4:15 PM on January 28

I see on the status that they've got the new servers and will "retire the old setup." What does this mean? What happens to it? Will it be shot? Relegated to a dusty corner? Put out to pasture?
posted by Mister Cheese at 4:40 PM on January 28

Assisted living complex in Bradenton, actually.
posted by cortex at 4:45 PM on January 28

I could sneak you onto a top 30 supercomputing cluster with 10GB internet connectivity... :)
posted by zengargoyle at 5:17 PM on January 28

shiny new hardware that keeps the bad guys out

Hardware does not keep bad guys out.




The codes do.
posted by bkudria at 6:16 PM on January 28

... and Zero Cool, too.
posted by odinsdream at 6:51 PM on January 28

I adore Voivod, but in their cover of Astronomy Domine, they get some words wrong: "Oberon, we're on the run, Titania," should be, "Oberon, Miranda, and Titania." I will attribute this to a general Quebecois difficulty with dental fricatives working in tandem with an unfamiliarity with intrusive Rs.

I covered this years ago, before there were internets, and working solely from the live Ummagumma version, the best we could come up with was "Jupiter and Saturn, overrun your lantern and you're tired." I figured there were other minor moons involved, but eschewed a trip to the library in order to obtain certainty as to the various names of these celestial objects. No one ever called us out on it, either. Seriously, does anyone, alive or dead, in Pink Floyd even know what they said?

Hey, whoopie cat!
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:05 PM on January 28

Hardware does not keep bad guys out.

You just made the firewall cry.

I know, I know, that's not what they got. Anyway, it was easier to say it that way than cover how the new hardware is more capable of handling the load of running the new code that keeps the bad guys out. And clearly, I like to ascribe conscious will to hardware as much as possible. Makes it cuter and less intimidating.
posted by vytae at 9:02 PM on January 28

I'm so sorry for the crap month you have had Bageena ... hope things start to look up soon.
posted by Julnyes at 11:31 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]

All I have is a red guitar, three chords and the truth.
posted by Tacodog at 11:38 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]