Read The Previous April 7th Update Here
Well Gents, I'm loath to say it but I'm officially stumped and stuck. I was able to reconfigure the server, I was able to get the chat up on it's legs, and I was able to recreate the database. What I'm not able to do is get everything working together (more specifically the chat code won't play with the database), and it looks like the problem has to do with something called Sails.js. So if the chat is ever going to get back up and running, I will need professional help from someone who is a Full Stack Javascript Developer with knowledge of Sails.js.
I guess if there's one silver lining to all of this, it's the fact that the chat software and the supporting software that runs on the servers were in *much* need of upgrades, and this situation is going to force all those upgrades (and some necessary code refactoring) to happen.
I estimate that it shouldn't take more than 3 full work weeks to have all this and some other upgrades done. Hiring a Full Stack Javascript developer who knows what they're doing (and who is fluent in English and will sign an NDA) should be about $75/hr (google it, communists). That puts us in the ballpark of $7k - $10k. I will pay $2k of that. The rest I'm putting on the community and I've made a crowdfund page (see below).
For those of you out there who will gripe about this, let me make one thing crystal clear: I never ran this chat for me. My site existed well before the chat, and the only thing adding the chat ever did for me financially speaking was burn huge holes in my pocket. To be clear, I don't regret any of that and what I gave, I did so willingly. That said, it's your turn to help out. I cannot shoulder something this big on my own, and I refuse to say another word on it because quite frankly, I shouldn't have to justify anything here. Anyone who stops to think for even just a half a minute about what it took, takes, and will continue to take to safely, securely, and successfully run something this big...of this nature...in the way we do...will realize how legitimate (and little) what I'm asking really is. To anyone who can't or thinks they know better, GFY.
Anyway, with over 200,000 users who joined the chat since the day it opened, the amount of money we need to raise shouldn't be a problem.
What many of you unfortunately will have an imaginary (I'll explain that word in a minute) problem with is that I can only take donations in cryptocurrency. If you want to know why, read the TOS and AUP for PayPal specifically regarding anything that has to do with taking money for an adult chat site.
Now if you're still reading, let me explain why I said "imaginary" problem. It's because it couldn't be any easier nowadays to send someone money in the form of Bitcoin. I made detailed guides here. For all of you who wish I could accept PayPal donations, just use PayPal to buy and send Bitcoin: https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/crypto
It's 2023; there are no more valid excuses for why you can't send someone Bitcoin.
Read The Previous April 10th Update Here
As you can see, donations are slowly trickling in a bit each day. The good news is that there are unselfish people out there who are willing to donate. The bad news is that if others don't step up, we'll never get this funded and the chat will stay dead. BUT...
I have had several people who claim to have relevant knowledge/expertise/skills reach out to me and say they might be able to help. Whether or not they can remains to be seen. I've made a place though where these volunteers and I can discuss all this, and they can help vet one another for who's real and who's not, who can help and in what capacity, and if it's possible for them to work together with their combined knowledge to get all this back up and running and future-proof it.
If you have experience as a Fullstack Dev--especially one who knows sails--leave me your qualifications and contact info on the /about page and I'll send you an email.
Next, as you can see for yourself below, I've spent (wasted?) some time responding to degenerates, trolls, haters, and know-it-alls in order to be as open and transparent as possible in addressing the (mostly moronic) things they've leveled at me or asked in bad faith. I don't do it for them though because I'm well aware they won't change their tunes or opinions; rather I am responding for the sake of all of you good faith people out there who may have similar questions or concerns in good faith. I hope the answers I gave are helpful to you and infuriating to the degenerates who want more than anything to see all this (and me) fail.
That said, it's beginning to become a bit tedious, so unless the negative bad-faithers among you have new things to say to try and undermine, criticize, and/or insult me, I'm likely going to bin your comment straight to Sheol so it won't ever get to see the light of day. Remember, every time you open your mouth to try to wound me or undermine me, that's another chance for me to appear even more favorable/positive/honest to the very people you so desperately pray don't band together to help me get this back up and running. I won't hold my breath though because if you haven't come up with something negative that sticks in the last 4 days, odds are you won't now either. (God that Dr. 36 is such a smug, condescending bastard, isn't he?! Look at him even now, referring to himself in the third person. Surely he's doing that because of his ego and not just to make us seethe and cope. Surely he's a really bad, mean guy.)
To all of you who donated--you're awesome people. It takes courage, trust, selflessness (maybe some selfishness too though, amiright *wink*), and overall just being a giving person who wants to do their part in offering a brick to the tower we're building and be a part of something bigger. On behalf not of myself but rather the community who has used and wants to continue to use the chat--THANK YOU for donating.
If you have any comments, questions, concerns, or anything else, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. I hope we had something you all valued enough to help raise enough money to get this done. To go to the crowdfund page and help out, please click the button below.
April 16th Update
So, (finally) some good news! I've selected a team lead from the volunteer team (mentioned in the April 10th update above). He has the dev chat code running on his PC and we're in the process of troubleshooting some core issues. When we have those sorted out, we're going to delegate some tasks to the rest of the members of the team according to their area of expertise (ie Bob can work on X, Carl can work on Y, Dan can work on Z, etc.)
More good news--the donations are continuing to come in, slowly but surely. I can absolutely guarantee you that this money will get used one way or another whether it be to enlist professional help to assist the volunteer team with getting things up and running or to enlist professional help for us to complete some of the upgrades we've all been dreaming of. I'll be sure to give a transparent accounting of how we use it.
And more good news (or bad news, depending on how you look at it)--the way things are looking right now, this "setback" that so many of the haters and trolls and disgruntled previously-banned-degenerates out there have been hoping is our demise will very likely be one of the best things to have ever happened to us. To be fair to them, many of them don't know our history and weren't a part of how all of the setbacks, enemies, and attempts to conquer or ruin us only made us stronger. I anticipate this going the same way. The traitorous disparaging words many have spoken against us and our community will turn to ashes in their mouths, and from those ashes dear friends, our phoenix will rise.
Last but not least, thank you again to all of you who have offered your support in words and deed and donations. On the topic of donations, for all those who keep asking about donating via a way other than crypto, please read the comments and/or previous posts. If there was a safe, legal way for me to do so, I would. If you still insist there is, you're not right--you just don't know enough. Please look into things deeper than a cursory google search and telling me to use CCBill or something. That won't fly here unless you want a thousand more rules that come not from me but CCBill or whatever company you think I can just phone up to start processing CC payments in the name of donations.
In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying other sites and chats and making new friends and getting to experience what else is out there. We hope during this time that our enemies and degenerates will find "better" havens to play at so they never return here, thus freeing our community from the nonsense they generally try to engage in. Happy wanking, and I'll post another update soon! If you haven't yet donated, please consider doing so by using the button below.
