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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254
It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
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It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254 |
I was having a conversation with a friend about setting up a server to host the archives. I have a few retired computers and numerous drives, as well as high speed unlimited internet. I don't see much difficulty in merging an active server with an archive server, privately managed.
I think the first order of business is identifying the data footprint of the current archives- how many terabytes? - and then finding a location for it.
I haven't managed anything as large as Reader Rant, ever, and haven't been a "techie" for - I checked - 22 years (when I managed a private website). I've been building a family website and it reminded me of how much I've forgotten and how much has changed since the turn of the century.
Here's a possible method. Pick a date - I recommend 3 years - and close those posts and archive them. Anything newer than that, we keep on the "active" server. That should be a fairly simple sort and we can archive the old stuff on a private server. And I'd be happy to help archive or contribute the hardware needed to do the archiving. An extra 13 terabytes is something highly doable.
"The Best of the Leon Russell Festivals" DVD
deepfreezefilms.com
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180 |
It's really a trip through memory lane to go back into the files. Our files go back to 2007 when Doug last archived us. It's hard to tell how much of it is actually accessible and how much has been corrupted. There are probably hundreds of threads with nothing but a dead link and no replies, threads that were merged with other threads and no longer exist.
I'll do whatever I can do from here but I'm pretty much dumb as a post when it comes to technical sh*t.
Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373
Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373 |
From a sentimental perspective, it would be nice to be able to review posts from the past from the various forums. I know I wrote one circa 2005/06 regarding PNAC. It was so good that I found it on another website with someone else’s name on it.  I still have PMs from Ranters long forgotten to most here. I keep the PMs for sentimental reasons. 
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373
Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373 |
Ps. We’ve has some awesome daily RTs in the past that would be quite nice to see again…if only to determine how well those thoughts/predictions have aged.  Being the oldest comment site on the net is historical actually. Perhaps partnering with a University is an option? 
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180 |
Despite all we may do, this little footnote in history will eventually come to an end.
Roadkill on the information highway.
I just want to keep it here for those of us who use it for as long as possible. I don't really care about preserving the files.
Enzo Ferrari once said..."What's behind you doesn't matter."
What matters to me is the road ahead.
Start contacting Universities, Rick, and see if you can drum up interest! Jeffery and Jon are soon going to be archiving everything worth saving.
If there are things you want to download from here for your personal files, this would be a good time. Because when it next comes time to move it's mostly getting deleted.
Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
As a general proposition, hosting a server is not a particularly complicated thing. As I noted, the main thing is knowing how big the data footprint is. The structure is already there, so internal links should translate directly. I don't think there would be a great deal of strain on any server. All we would need is a link that points to the archive, wherever we decide to house it. Yes, there would be dreck that would be transported with it, but that is the price of doing business.
I agree that the main effort should be in maintaining the community that is Reader Rant as an active enterprise (looking ahead) and not having a break is imperative in that effort.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254
It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
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It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254 |
As a general proposition, hosting a server is not a particularly complicated thing. As I noted, the main thing is knowing how big the data footprint is. The structure is already there, so internal links should translate directly. I don't think there would be a great deal of strain on any server. All we would need is a link that points to the archive, wherever we decide to house it. Yes, there would be dreck that would be transported with it, but that is the price of doing business.
I agree that the main effort should be in maintaining the community that is Reader Rant as an active enterprise (looking ahead) and not having a break is imperative in that effort. That sounds like a very workable idea...there can be an ARCHIVE section that points offsite from the main server. And it WOULD be cheap because the amount of use by members would be minimal, like wandering into a reference library reading room to check out an old encyclopedia once every other month. And yes, ancient discussion threads could be all locked so they are "read-only". Just fix a hard bar on anything posted prior to the Obama administration years, for example, anything prior to 2008 or 2012 gets archived. Does that sound reasonable?
"The Best of the Leon Russell Festivals" DVD
deepfreezefilms.com
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373
Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,433 Likes: 373 |
Would the entire Reader Rant database from inception be archived?
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180 |
Does that sound reasonable? It sounds positively brilliant and doable and everything we could have hoped for as a small but hopeful community trying to survive these difficult times. Perhaps one day the pre-2007 archives could be re-united with the rest. I missed those heady days but I understand they were exciting!
Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254
It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
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It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254 |
Does that sound reasonable? It sounds positively brilliant and doable and everything we could have hoped for as a small but hopeful community trying to survive these difficult times. Perhaps one day the pre-2007 archives could be re-united with the rest. I missed those heady days but I understand they were exciting! Maybe I am being too hopeful but as Doug said, the POSTS only occupy a half a terabyte and, since it IS archival, it's not like anyone's going to be chewing up massive bandwidth over it. It's good to have the archives as a reference, and if it's possible to get it "sub-hosted" on something like a "free" WiX basic platform in read only mode, it won't be painful to do. For the time being I do agree that there is a need to make a dividing line where the current hosting platform cuts off posts prior to....say perhaps 2008 or 2012 for the sake of a smaller footprint. I'm only saying that there's an incredible amount of wisdom packed into those archives, so please don't just bin-chunk them. I hope we can find a way to make that happen.
"The Best of the Leon Russell Festivals" DVD
deepfreezefilms.com
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