You must have not been reading the Cyburbia's future thread. We discussed the issue for quite some time. It was getting to the point that this place may have been closed or sold. Members who posted seemed to like this option. Like anything else, some folks will not be happy with any given decision. I am sorry you are one in this case. Keep in mind that this is Dan's creation, and if he goes so does Cyburbia.
“As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I don't know what your issue is with 2 people who probably make your "work experience" look like planning "kindergarten" but you sure are showing your a$$ here. Grow up.Originally posted by Tide
Tide: What's been taken away? No felt pressure on my part to donate; if you don't want to donate, don't.
The forum is still free.
s/Public Sector Planner
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
1) Please don't snark on other users publicly. Thanks.
2) Just to reassure everyone again, Cyburbia will NOT be going to a pay-to-post model. The Cyburbian Plus membership allows users to gain some extra features, access to an extra forum, and the privilege to post personal photos (SFW, of course) to a private section of the Gallery. Free Cyburbian members lose only a couple of things: custom user titles, and inline image and file attachments (they can still use hotlink using the BBcode URL and IMG tags), though).
3) Why increased monetization? I don't want to sing a sad tale of "Oh poor Dan" here, but I'm approaching the point of burnout. I've been doing this for nearly 14 years for very little financial renumeration, and considering the Web 2.0 article in April's Planning Magazine, not much recognition by the larger planning community. When my girlfriend, friends and family ask "why do you spend so much time working on Cyburbia, when you aren't getting anything out of it?", I don't quite know how to answer.
As it is now, Cyburbia is increasingly a liability in my life. It's a second job, only one where I'm getting paid (considering work/maintenance on weekends and after 5:00 PM on weekdays) just a bit more than the minimum wage in Mexico. There's a ton of behind-the-scenes work that is quite time-consuming; most of which I have to do outside of normal work hours because it would conflict with my day job. (I limit my daytime work on Cyburbia to moderation and emergencies.)
As a planner, my salary is far below the national and state average for someone with my position and experience, and I have very little disposable income to spare, even with a Dave Ramsey-inspired budget. I need to upgrade software, add some extra features, and eventually upgrade an increasingly creaky server. There's going to be some other upgrades to the site that will future-proof it for a few more years, but that will involve a LOT of tedious, time-consuming manual work.
Nobody has made an offer to buy Cyburbia, and I feel an obligation to keep it running in perpetuity. I'm not hungry for attention, and I don't consider myself greedy when it comes to money. I'll be honest, though; my selflessness has been stretched to its limit. If I'm going to keep the site running, it would be nice to get something out of it.
If you don't want to pay for Cyburbian Plus membership, don't worry about it. The rules will be enforced equally, whether you paid for a membership or not. If you have a problem, I'll treat it in the same manner as with a Plus member. It's all good.
Now, time to get to some of these "I can't log in!" emails.
All I have to say to that is if you have so much work experience then why don't you ever (and by ever, since you'll point out the 1 in 100 posts that are I mean nearly every) post helpful criticism anywhere on this board? If you are the zoning goddess who makes me look like a kindergardener then prove it and help advance your field.
To Dan; I'm sorry you feel that Cyburbia is a second job and taking up so much life. I appreciate this site for the information I have received over the years. We all have our priorities and I hope you can come to a happy medium somewhere. I still may decide to donate some day but currently it isn't in my plans but thank you for the assurance that we still will all be created equally whether I have a C+ next to my name or not.
@PortCityPlanner
#ProudlyAICP
Just upgraded. w00t.
Glad to help things along, Dan.
I am prefered member...
"Dear Prudence...won't you open up your eyes? "
Though, we'd prefer you keep that quiet.
I'm sorry. Is my bias showing?
Dang, if Prudence just became a preferred member then I guess I gotta cough up the dough.
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
"19 March 2008: Cyburbia has served the urban planning community since 1994 with very little funding or financial renumeration. Cyburbia receives no grants or honoraria, and advertising revenue is minuscule despite relatively high traffic."
Hey Dan, You might get more money if you ask for "remuneration" instead of "renumeration" although I'm sure the numbers look good too.
“Nonconformity is the highest evolutionary attainment of social animals.” ― Aldo Leopold
Dan, I'm in for $25. It's a deal! I'm sending a check via snailmail. It will be in the mail tomorrow.
D'oh!, as Homer Simpson would say.
So how many Plussers are there now? Perhaps a running tally on a main page? Our names in lights in the "online now" section?
(May I post my resume in the Peer Review area WHICH IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO PLUS MEMBERS?)
That would be interesting.
Not such a good idea, IMO.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
I have some reservations of my own about the "membership" approach to getting money from the members. But I have said for several years that Dan should accept the money his members have been trying to offer him. So from that perspective, I think this is a good thing. I don't know what a "perfect" solution would be but I think this solution beats the hell out of some of his previous thoughts on selling cyburbia, bringing in a "partner" and so on.
As for 9000+ inane posts: I have heard it said that my long-winded posts are about the equivalent of twice as many posts for anyone else. I think that means I have about 12000+ posts masquerading as as a mere 6000+. So if you want to knock someone, I think I make a better target. But maybe that's just my big, oversized ego talking.
Names shouldn't display any differently in the "online now" section. If you're seeing. Plus members can still set yourself to invisible mode, and should not be able to see whether other users that have set "online now" display to invisible are online.
Plus members are listed at the forum leaders page. This display may or may not be permanent; it depends on how others feel about it.
39 at this time.
I'm happy to come aboard. I know I've been MIA for awhile - but Cyburbia is just such an amazing resource, its absolutely worth the 7.5 cents per workday.
I paid 'cause I thought it was well worth it and I had the money. Don't think its worth it or don't have the money, don't pay.
Besides, a C+ is the best grade I've gotten in a while.
Amen! That pretty much sums it all up
Prediction is difficult, especially about the future. :-o
- Yogi Berra
I think that a paltry $20 does not even come close to the value and utility that I get from this site. I know, I don't contribute much. However, I read it often, and I acknowledge that this site has been a valuable resource to me. I am pleased to be able to help keep it going. I paid by PayPal tonight. Thanks, Dan.
I received the newsletter today. So I thought I'd post a background image. No success. I have no idea how the background thingy works. But I'm not a computer nerd, so that figures.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
I haven't done it myself, but I think it goes like this:
1) Upload an image to your album (http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/album.php - it's the integrated vBulletin album, not your Photopost album. Only Cyburbian Plus members have vBulletin albums.)
2) Customize profile: http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/profile.php?do=customize
Why you can't customize vBulletin blogs like that, I don't know.
The newsletter: I've been reluctant to send one out for many years, but considering how many sites send weekly newsletters without any complaints from their userbane, I thought I'd give it a shot. Besides, it's a reminder to users that haven't been around for a while that, yes Virginia, Cyburbia exists.
In attempting to load a pic from the gallery into background, I get this message...
If you can do mine, no problem...anything in my gallery would work...except a wedding pic.Main has invalid properties: Background image
Of course, I have no idea where the background image will end up or what it will look like. No big deal.
Also, no problem in sending me periodic email messages. I receive so little email, it's nice to get something every now and again...even if it's from you.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
Yippie yahoo! I got over my paypal anxiety!
We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes - Fr Gabriel Richard 1805
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