Re: Passing The Hat

1

A heads up.

The PayPal confirmation page lists some woman named R**** P**** as the Business Name. Wouldn't want her getting the Unfogged money and flying off to Rio.

Interestingly enough, the email confirmation doesn't have that info so your anonymity is safe there.

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2

Oh, bugger. Does anyone know how to hide that on the confirmation page? Unfortunately, it won't let me change my name and you can't create more than one account using the same banking information.

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3

You can hide it if you set it up as a business account, which if memory serves means they'll dock you a bit more on the credit card fees, but there's nothing to be done about it. Or if you've already done that, you have to email them and ask them to do the name change for you, which they'll do.

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4

I have a question: will fundraising be ongoing, e.g. a small reminder once a month or so (maybe you could assign a different poster to the task each month)?

I've given pretty much what I can at the moment. If this were the only funding request for six months, I could give some more now, but it'd much easier for me to give a smaller amount every month or so, resulting in a larger overall contribution over time.

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5

I hope you will leave this up for a few days, 'cause I get paid soon and then I will contribute.

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6

Yeah, what Mitch said. I'll pony up as promised the next time I'm in front of my home computer (probably tomorrow night).

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7

5 gets it exactly right.

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8

We're going to leave it up at the top for a bit (so be sure to scroll down for new posts).

I'm not sure if/how often this will recur. I don't think any of us want to be constantly hitting you all up for money. But I guess that will depend on how much we raise and how much we figure we need to get the site more stable, both variables TBD at this point.

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9

Okay, I pledged -- where's my Unfogged tote bag?

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10

Unfogged tote bag

Also: where's the periodic cheerleading ("We're 44% of the way towards our goal! Keep it up!")? Oh, and heartwarming tales of "driveway mineshaft moments"?

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11

perhaps when we hit the hundred-thousand-dollar mark, Becks will post a .wav file of a bell ringing and cheers.

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12

Not to mention the ill-advised attempts at guilt tripping. "You know how much you enjoy reading. Don't you think you should support the blog that provides you with so much?"

(I used to live somewhere where that was the primary fundraising pitch. My first year in grad school I called and pledged a fat $10 (all I could afford) and they refused to bill me, saying I could just drop the check by the station. It seemed pretty clear that $10 wasn't enough of a pledge to be polite over, so later when I had money, that memory plus the guilt-tripping pledge patter meant I refused to give 'em a dime.)

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13

Betty White: If you watch one second of PBS and don't contribute, you're a thief! A common thief!
Man at PBS: OK, take it easy, Betty.
Betty White: Sorry, but these thieves make me so damn mad! You know who you are! Thieves!

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14

As 5 & 7. Don't go away, paid Thursday.

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15

I was paid today, just need to deposit a check.

I promise to put it safely away in an Al Gore-style lockbox to keep Alameida from blowing it on liquor and whores.

Please. If that was blogged, with cliffhanger sentences and more being written only when partciular monetary thresholds were reached, the ROI would be massive.

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16

Yes, I would like to see a little red thermometer on the right-hand side of my screen, throbbing as it reaches the goal, if possible.

Donation made.

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17

What about little buttons for my tote, outing me as an affiliate of the Unfoggetariat wherever I roam?

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18

AWB is winning the sounds-dirty-but-isn't contest handily.

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19

I kicked in $20 today, will get you the remainder next week.

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20

I just want to see throbbing. This is the internets, money can make that happen, right?

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21

Also, a question: is there a 'target' for fundraising? Is there a 'suggested' donation? I threw in a few bucks, but I don't really have a sense of what's meaningful or overboard, and a polite 'give what you think is appropriate' ain't gonna pay y'all's bills, no offense to any polite folks (whoever they are).

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22

I think Becks said that the dedicated server cost almost $2,000/year.

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23

Yeah, but I'd want to know how things are coming along. I donated as much as I can for now, but if there was still great need two months from now, and I could be rewarded by the throbbing of a nearly-fully engorged red-hot thermometer graphic, I'd give again.

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24

What if Unfogged was offered corporate sponsorship? Like, they'd give the $2000, but it would have to be Maaco's Unfogged, and every time you bring up the site, you heard "honk! honk!" Would Unfogged SELL OUT?

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25

I was vaguely toying with the idea of T-shirts for a donation of a given size (Front: "Welcome to the Mineshaft", back: "WMYBSALB?") but I doubt it will actually happen.

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26

Who at the time thought Unf would be coining one of our most enduring catchphrases?

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27

Here's a t-shirt for you to wear.

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28

26: I can't explain it myself, Ben.

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29

No t-shirt, radio.

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30

Maroon print!

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31

Pretty weak, eb. Which is what I expected from someone west of the Mississippi.

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32

We are at or near the apex of such a little bitch.

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33

Well, originally I was going to say something like "it's not so much a fashionality statement as it is the transcendental condition of my interacting with clothing" or "wenn ein Löwe t-shirt lesen könnte, wir könnten ihn nicht verstehen", but decided that they would seem silly and pretentions.

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34

Also, I just received a dreaded 500 internal server error. I'm going to sleep. Back tomorrow night.

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35

Bah! FYI - Since we were having trouble with some processes spinning out of control (especially late at night) I asked the host to turn a CPU monitoring jobs on. This may cause some internal server errors but is better than the alternative, which is the server crashing, as it has been at some points in the last few days. I expect ISEs should be rarer than before (they were getting pretty rare after Ben static-ified the archives) but let us know if you get one so we can monitor the situation and please also continue to let me know if the site goes down by emailing me or leaving me a comment on my other blog.

Thanks for your patience.

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36

Becks -- when the server crashes does that affect the Unfogged mail server as well? Or will you get messages emailed to your Unfogged address as usual?

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37

The PayPal confirmation page lists some woman named R**** P**** as the Business Name.

You're Rebecca Pallmeyer?! I had no idea! You sure are cool for a judge.

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38

36 - I might not get mail sent to my unfogged account when it's down so you might try my becks at rdp dot mailshell dot com address.

Did you send me something? If so, I didn't get it.

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39

38 -- I did not send you something, or anything. Just checking for future reference.

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40

I'm sending all my love. Can you feel it?

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41

I too would like to give, but really don't know what's appropriate. And just saying it's $2k a year for a server doesn't really cut it, because I don't know if there are 10,000 people giving or only 10. And "give what you can" doesn't help much either, because I am sinfully wealthy.* So come on, stop being so polite, and just throw a "suggested donation" our way. Really. I'd like to give, but may not be able to overcome the psychic paralysis I'm experiencing trying to come up with a number all on my own.

*Not really.

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42

I hate asking people for money, which is why I've probably been overly quiet up to this point. I updated the main post with our fundraising results so far. We're trying to raise at least $1300, which we'll need for 6 months of dedicated hosting, and we're about 75% of the way there. Anything beyond that will go into the "war chest" for solving our technical problems and/or paying for further dedicated hosting down the line to prolong the length of time before we have to do another fundraiser.

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43

Awesome, thanks Becks. I'll donate tonight.

PS - if the "war chest" grows large enough you should commence hostile takeovers of other blogs. Build an empire!

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44

you should commence hostile takeovers of other blogs

How do you think LB knew Fafblog was returning?

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45

By the way, if any of you are worried about contributing because you fear your cover will be blown, rest assured that I am completely incompetent at deriving nicknames from real name + location + email (unless your nickname is derived/same as one of the latter).

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46

Yet somehow you figured out mine!

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47

Well, you've linked to your RL name before.

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48

I don't think you'll have much trouble with mine.

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49

Some of us, on the other hand, are sneaky, but not worried either way.

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50

47: I know. I kid.

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51

Heh.

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52

Becks is going to tell everyone that my real name is Claire Danes! Please, please don't tell, Becks!

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53

I will put in my $10 soon. I can't do it from home, since this connection is unsecured, but I will do it either tomorrow or Friday.

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54

Just come back with a new pseudonym: A So-Called White Bear. No one will suspect a thing.

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55

this lockbox idea sucks.

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56

I say, whores will come to you
Hoping just because I spoke the words that they're true
As if I read the future in the vomit on your shoes
Where there's no whores, there will be two

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57

Wow. First ever Indigo Girls / whores mashup?

Bridgeplate just blew my mind. Aaaand possibly ruined that song for me.

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58

Nah, you just need to give your mind's ear a good scrubbing. Of course I mean CHICKENMANNNNNNNNNN! Chickenman, take my hand! Repeat until pure.

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59

Indigo Girls songs are pre-ruined.

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60

Some yes, some no. They're no John Denver, I'll give you that much.

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61

But are any of us?

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62

To ask the question is to deny your own John-Denver-nature.

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63

Apropos of nothing, running around behind our backs again?

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64

one of the blogosphere's best commenter communities

"One of", mind you.

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65

Yup -- I'd appreciate comments at LGM a great deal. Assuming I can think of anything to post.

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66

65: First Emerson disappears, gets caught slutting around on Tapped, then slinks in the back door and we all pretend nothing happened. Now this. It's this sort of moral decay that made me a Reagan Republican in the 80s.

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67

It's this sort of moral decay that made me a Reagan Republican

Whose back door were you slinking through, then?

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68

"One of", mind you.

slol, gets it exactly right. Perhaps we could compromise with Lg&M by asking them to refer to us as the most wizard cocksucker commenters in the blogosphere--indeed, the only truly wizard cocksucker commenters.

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69

We could challenge other communities of commenters to... um... something competitive. To establish our hegemony.

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70

re: 69

Teh Golden Horde of Unfogged.

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71

69 -- volleyball? strip poker?

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72

you should commence hostile takeovers of other blogs

How do you think LB knew Fafblog was returning?

Boo-yah! This means we have dominion over Talking Points Memo, Tacitus, Obsidian Wings, and Atrios. Also, Unfogged has now subsumed CNN, the AP, and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (I suppose we can cut the Dean campaign loose). Soon, the entire internets will be cowering at our feet, begging us to temper our terrible vengeance with mercy.

Next target: Roger L. Simon. Oh yes, we too have "plans," you silly-hatted man. Now I must go rub my hands together and cackle.

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73

Now I must go rub my hands together and cackle.

First with the best evar euphemism for semen, and now you've done it for masturbation too.

Apostropher, you truly are the Greatest American Hero.

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74

So will Armsmasher need his own fundraiser?

MY over at TAPPED says his roommate got mugged last night. The break in and now this. I hope he doesn't have to replace his license again.

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75

So I take it this post is no longer sticky. Time for an update? Have we exceeded 76%? I can kick in the same amount next month if need be, and I'm pretty sure some others could as well.

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76

Still coughing. Really hoping to see a dentist at some point in the future, and perhaps not lose all my teeth. Not that I deserve, of course. Just coughing. Bye now.

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