Damn, I thought you were going to offer to fund my Spring project!!! :)
Joe (C)
Mark J Bradakis wrote:
>
> I'm going to abuse my status as list master, and foist upon you folks the
> first draft of this spring's Team.Net spring funding plea. That's spring as
> in season, not suspensions. Feel free to chuck it into the bit bucket.
>
> But if you have a minute, read through it and offer any comments, criticism
> or whatever you may have. Spelling, grammar, concept, it is all fair game.
> I'll adjust it a bit and in another day or two unleash it on the rest of the
> lists and we'll see what happens.
>
> Thanks,
> mjb.
> ----
>
> Ah, spring is in the air here in the Northern Hemisphere, along with various
> sorts of pollen. Where's my tissues?
>
> For those of you who've been on one of the many autox.team.net lists for more
> than a year or so, you know the story. Perhaps some of you who have recently
> joined don't realize there is a man behind the curtain. Wonder how much
> longer that "Wizard of Oz" reference will still be recognized?
>
> The server for the mailing lists, the www.team.net web pages, and the FTP
> archives were originally set up over a decade ago using various bits of
> hardware related to my systems administration job at the University of Utah.
> Things have grown since the days of just two lists, autox and british-cars,
> with a handful of subscribers on each. Now we are talking in the range of 85
> or so different lists, with a subscriber base of around 16,000. Neat.
>
> We are also talking about no longer being affiliated with the University of
> Utah, the services are now provided out of my home. So taking a cue from my
> favorite radio station here in Salt Lake City, KRCL ( www.krcl.org ) I've
> started semi-annual fund drives to raise a few bucks to cover my out of pocket
> costs. The radio station just finished their fund raiser, time once again
> for the Team.Net version. Certainly a different scale. KRCL needs about $65
> per hour to run, autox.team.net needs a little more than that *per month* to
> cover the costs of connecting to the world. And the radio station prattles
> on about the fund drive for over a week, this will be the only "commercial"
> you'll get from me until October.
>
> My request is simple - contribute some money. It doesn't have to be much,
> I've often said that a dollar a year for every list subscription would be
> funding heaven for me. And usually I get a few envelopes in the mail with
> no name, no return address, no nothing, except one United States dollar bill.
> I love it!
>
> More likely is that under 1% of list subscribers will send in donations of
> 5, 10, 20 or whatever dollars. A few commercial endeavors that have benefited
> from exposure on one or more of the various lists will sometimes chip in
> healthy contributions. In truth, I often think that the modest list
> expenses could be covered by selling "advertising" on the lists, something
> along the form of a trailer line like
>
> This Month's Mini-Baja list brought to you by Aunt Bertha's Muffins
> www.oven-brown-and-tasty.com
>
> One guy slapping away at the keyboard in the dead of night isn't going to
> attract the likes of Disney, AOL-Time-Warner, Viacom or one of the other
> massive conglomerates trying to dictate how you spend your entertainment
> dollars, so I come to you.
>
> If you just subscribed and have no idea what you are getting into, or just
> spent a zillion dollars airlifting in parts hoping to make that first big
> event of the season, if you sent in some bucks last time or are just plain
> broke, or if you despise everything I do and say but stay subscribed to some
> lists anyway, don't sweat it. It will all work out. Not everyone is that
> comfortable sending money off to a flakey, badly procrastinating fellow like
> myself. It may take me months to even get around to opening your letter,
> let alone sending off a thank you note.
>
> On the other hand, if you count yourself as one who wishes to contribute to
>the
> continuation of what I am up to, here's what I request. Send a check, payable
> in United States funds to the order of 'Fat Chance Garage' to
>
> Fat Chance Garage
> PO Box 58333
> Salt Lake City, Utah 84158
>
> Or you can send a note with Visa or Mastercard info (no American Express or
> Discover yet) to the above address. Or you can FAX the info (account number,
> expiration date, contribution amount) to me at 801-355-5438. Yes, I know
>about
> various on-line payment services such as PayPal, and may someday use one, but
> for now I have my reservations. Maybe next time.
>
> Now, here's a twist. In the past, I've admonished list subscribers located
> overseas from the United States to not worry about the hassles of currency
> conversion, overseas postage and such, relax, your net.friends here will cover
> it. The other day I had a chat with someone about the recent new designs for
> US of A paper money. And even with the facelift, the United States has some
> of the most boring paper money in the world. So here's an odd request, a
> personal favor to me, if you will. If you live somewhere in the world that
> has pictures and colors and neat stuff on your currency, I would appreciate it
> if you would consider putting a small denomination bill in the post to the
> address listed above. I'll put the currency on the side of the server or
> someplace visible, and when those times come along when I wonder why I bother
> doing what I do, I'll be reminded of the people around the world that enjoy
> the efforts of those that contribute to these lists.
>
> Thanks,
> mjb.
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