24 replies to this topic

[Phillyman]

Retromags Donation Drive 2012

Retromags is currently accepting donations to help keep this site running. We all know that the economy sucks out there, so anything you can contribute is appreciated. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am going to break down what we are currently trying to pay off.



Software/Support

Retromags runs on a paid version of Invision Power Board. We could have went with one of the free forum's that are out there. The reason we went with Invision is that it carries quite a few features that would be sorely missed. We also can submit requests for assistance if anything is not working correctly. Generally we pay $25 every six months for support on the forum, while the additional modules we use (downloads, gallery, blogs, etc) vary from $10-$15 for each 6 month block of support/updates we wish to receive.

$25 x2 - Forum Update/Support
$10 x2 - Downloads Update/Support
$10 x2 - Blogs Update/Support
$10 x2 - Gallery Update/Support
$15 x2 - Content Update/Support
=========================================
$140 - For updates/support over the next 12 months


Content Distribution

A few years ago we got an email from our hosting company. They informed us that we were using more than our fair share of the server's resources. Sure it says "UNLIMITED" bandwitdth and storage when you are looking for a web host. The simple truth is that each one of them has legal mumbo jumbo in their terms of service that basically negates that claim. So we were forced to stop providing magazines directly from our site. We went with MegaUpload and for a while things were good. Well you all know that MegaUpload is gone. So we are now faced with the daunting task of reuploading 1100+ magazines! Where do we put them? Well I am going to suggest MediaFire. I have read through the services they offer, and I believe that we should choose the "Professional" plan. Its not a free plan, but it does allow for us to upload single files greater than 200MB in size. They also will not remove files if they are inactive, and their are no limits on how many people can download.


$64.80 - Professional Media Fire Account
=========================================
$64.80 - For 1 Year of Providing 1100+ Magazines


Domain/Hosting

As with running any website, there are costs associated with renewing the domain name and web hosting. It's more costly to keep renewing these by the month or year, so I would like to get them paid off at the best price possible.

$89.55 - 1 Year of WebHosting
$147.56 - 9 Years of Domain Name Renewal/Private Registration
=========================================
$237.11 - To cover the domain for 9 years and hosting for the next 12 months



The total of all the items above comes out to $441.91 This will ensure that Retromags continues to function well into the future, and that we can resume providing you with these vintage magazines! Please click the button below to contribute. Also we will put putting up some prizes that will be randomly handed out to people who participate in this donation drive. For each $5 donated, your name will go into a drawing for prizes. The prizes are still being determined at the moment, and will be in the next reply under this one.

[Phillyman]

---Reserved----

[Bill Smith]

I'm glad that I can help. Sent $25 your way. Thanks to you, E-Day and other contributors for their hard work!

[Phillyman]

I'm glad that I can help. Sent $25 your way. Thanks to you, E-Day and other contributors for their hard work!

Thank you Bill Smith! Every little bit adds up

[Bandrik]

I love what you guys have done, and I've always wanted to give back. I tossed $10 into the pot to show my appreciation for everyone's hard work. It saved me from having to scan my massive Nintendo Power collection by myself. Hope you guys get enough support to stick around -- keep us posted. =D

[jdiver919]

I sent $25 to show my support.

[DJ Crimson]

Just donated $5.50. Thanks the great resource. Haven't logged on in quite a while so I'm glad to see that it's still up and running.

[perfinpuz]

Just donated $25.00. Any idea what newsgroup(s) you are going to post to?

[Phillyman]

Just donated $25.00. Any idea what newsgroup(s) you are going to post to?

Thanks for the donation

I am thinking of the following....

alt.binaries.e-book.magazines
alt.binaries.boneless

The first is the best fit for what we are uploading, the second is the biggest and most active group on Usenet.

[perfinpuz]

The group alt.binaries.pictures.vintage.magazines may also be an "on topic" choice, and it is not very busy.
boneless is great, but you need to use a newsgroup search tool like Binsearch to find something because so many items are posted. I could recommend posting .nzb files in the forum to make the files easier to get.

[Phillyman]

The group alt.binaries.pictures.vintage.magazines may also be an "on topic" choice, and it is not very busy.
boneless is great, but you need to use a newsgroup search tool like Binsearch to find something because so many items are posted. I could recommend posting .nzb files in the forum to make the files easier to get.

Yeah as I upload each magazine, I will post the NZB files in the Download section. This way there is no searching needed, just click and import into your favorite newsreader.

[Dan34]

I've always loved this site and what you guys have done. I've sent across a donation just now.

[nyijedi]

I discovered this site less than a week before the megaupload issue, and was so mad I didn't find it earlier. Just sent $20 your way. Thanks for keeping everything going.

[Phillyman]

Just a quick update on the donations. Retromags has met and exceeded the $441 we were shooting for. One member decided to donate the full $441 . The Donations have turned out soo well that not only are we able to pay off....

• The domain for 9 years
• The web hosting for 1 year
• The software updates for 1 year
• The MediaFire account for 1 year

We were actually able to secure web hosting for the next 3 years! I am going to leave the donations open, because we hit our goal before everyone even got emailed. Any additional funds can be directed towards Ebay auctions and/or put into a reserve to cover the software updates/MediaFire account for next year.

Again, thanks to everyone who has donated...or is about to donate.

[larrybird]

Just donated $10. I know you reached the total already, but put this in the rainy day fund to make sure this site stays up and awesome!

[esmoger]

threw in 10 bucks,.. im looking forward to building a collection of these old mags and only got to grab a few before megaupload went down.

[Bandrik]

Holy crap. Well, thanks Phillyman for the amazingly good news. Plus, major kudos for the fine gent (or lady) that dropped nearly five Benjamins. Talk about dedication. Glad to hear things are in good hands now.

[SQI]

Greetings from Serbia Just sent you 5$, wish I could do more for you guys.

[esmoger]

hey guys, so i notice i can no longer even download the 1 issue per day that was allowed before, and the page tells me only people who donate are able to download. kind of a slap in the face after i donated just a few days ago. i realize the direct downloads are a temporary thing until you get everything up on newsgroups or whatever, but what's the deal?

[Phillyman]

hey guys, so i notice i can no longer even download the 1 issue per day that was allowed before, and the page tells me only people who donate are able to download. kind of a slap in the face after i donated just a few days ago. i realize the direct downloads are a temporary thing until you get everything up on newsgroups or whatever, but what's the deal?

All of the downloads are currently down at the moment. We are currently going through all 1100 of them and fixing the links, as each section comes back online we will notify you guys in the News section.