scsi |
| Thoughts on the Acquisition |
10:34 pm |
You all have have by now seen the ![[info]](http://piktures.deadjournal.com/community.gif) new_shit post regarding Warped acquiring DJ.
Back in 2000 (or thereabouts), I was hanging out on the Warped IRC server when someone jokingly made a comment to start up DeadJournal.
I originally started it as a joke. People used it to rant and rave, so I kept it up. Borrowed some money from my parents to buy a server. One thing lead to another and at its peak DJ had 13 servers running the site you see today. I was in school back then, so I had the time to manage the server, do code upgrades, etc. It took a good chunk of my time/money, but it made people happy.
This site had made and destroyed friendships, allowed me to meet my wife, made me friends all over the planet that I would have never ever known. It has brought people together, broken people apart, and allowed people to record a past shell of what they once were.
Fast forward 8 years to today. The site hasn't had a code upgrade in 2+ years. The LJ code is light-years ahead of what you see here. Journal sites such as this have been stomped on by Facebook, Myspace, and other sites with billions of cash and hundreds of servers. However this site still trudges on funded only by the die-hard population who keep their paid accounts current (thank you!)
What little time I have that's not spent dispensing medication to people (oh, I'm a pharmacist if you haven't gotten that point) is spent waking up at 2am to fix dead hard drives and replacing aging equipment with DJ money that drizzles in. DJ doesn't make enough money for me to hire a full time admin. Yes, it (mostly) pays for its own upkeep, however DJ was never intended to pay my bills. This is a site thats ran on the love and dedication of myself, the volunteers (hi support people!) and the people who spend the money to make sure that the bills get paid and new hard drives get bought.
I was between a rock and a hard place and running this site began to take a toll on not only myself, but the people around me. Increased responsibility at work, myself getting married and hoping to start a family soon, etc whittled what time I had to dedicate to DJ fade more and more. I thought about shutting it down, but I just couldn't do it after seeing people flooding back here years after their accounts have sat untouched due to LJ policy changes. Add on a colocation facility (where the servers are kept) being bought out by yet another company makes the stress even higher as I don't know if I'll get a phone call one day saying I have 48 hours to find DJ a new home.
About 4 months ago, after knowing Bill Coldwell for 10+ years, I asked him if he would like to continue running DeadJournal. Ironically it was on his IRC server that the whole idea was started in motion. Of course, he agreed. I'm not pulling a 6A takeover like LJ where I get 4.5 hochillion dollars as they butcher the site. I just needed someone who works in the internet business to take over the administration and to help me get some of the features up and running that we want to see here.
The past weekend Bill and I (after 2 months of planning) moved DJ to Amazons EC2 server cluster. Huge facility, stable company, stable home. Bill can bring up servers that would cost me a years worth of paid account revenue in a few clicks. I don't have time to keep up on whats latest and greatest in the server-hosting world. He does.
I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that I hope you dont get the impression that I'm leaving DJ or disappearing. I've put 8 years of my life and thousands of hours, tears, sweat, and long nights into this place. I can't mentally handle running this site alone and keep what little sanity I have left. I've known Bill for ages, he's an extremely talented and great guy and it makes me happy that he gets to deal with the 2am crap while leaving me to do the fun stuff as my time allows.
So here's to another 8+ years of DJ!
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Comments:
 cryo |
| Oct. 7th, 2008 - 05:41 am | | |
No, you're not getting a raise.
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| scsi |
| Oct. 7th, 2008 - 05:42 am | | |
BUT I SAID YOU WERE A GREAT GUY!
Obviously I lied. heh |
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| jhg |
| Oct. 7th, 2008 - 10:38 am | | | |
Good luck! |
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 rennahalcyon |
| Oct. 7th, 2008 - 12:20 pm | | |
Thanks for maintaining this place (which really can't be said enough) and for keeping DJ in the family, as it were. I've always liked DJ more than LJ, regardless of shiny features. Course, if there's a chance of getting both over here, that'd be even better. xD
It's the internet. It's really easy for people to walk away from things that have been around for years. Thank you for choosing not to do that, and thank you, Bill, for enabling this all to happen. |
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 jerronimo |
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"someome" | Oct. 7th, 2008 - 12:42 pm | | | |
hello from someone! |
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 xxxdaveyafixxx |
| Oct. 7th, 2008 - 05:23 pm | | | |
Woohoo! I am sure it'll continue kicking butt & Bill if you ever need help give me a shout (#warped) :) |
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| lonelywingz |
Scsi's why DJ rocks! | Oct. 7th, 2008 - 11:03 pm | | | |
Gracias! Danke! Grazie! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I'm so glad you didn't close this down. I prefer to blog here than on Facebook or MySpace, especially because I keep in touch with one of my best friends here rather than either of those two. I'm SO glad you kept this one, and I'm glad you've got some help. |
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 kiss_of_rage |
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Re: Scsi's why DJ rocks! | Oct. 8th, 2008 - 04:51 am | | |
I have sites everywhere all over the world because I like to try things out. I cannot stand Facebook or MySpace. They are disgusting (imho). I also have never given any money to anyone on the net for anything except for DeadJournal. My main Dj wasn't even really mine but adopted from another person who made it for a friend who never used it, hence the name.
I have like 4 friends here and seldom get any comments unlike my other sites, yet I have over 2,000 posts. I just like the ambience because it was homegrown and personal. I am glad if Frank is getting a rest. I always knew we were warped. ;)
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 taliszanna |
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Re: Scsi's why DJ rocks! | Oct. 8th, 2008 - 08:21 am | | | |
Your last line I think says it best! |
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![([CC] Sanctuary) /><a href=](http://www.deadjournal.com/userpic/1598878/250097) thefleshfailure |
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Re: Scsi's why DJ rocks! | Oct. 8th, 2008 - 10:11 am | | |
This entire comment?
My thoughts EXACTLY.
I do try and follow LJ, because some my friends are on there and there are some fandom-related communities that I watch... but I don't post there, and I definitely don't pay to use their service. DJ is my home, plain and simple. |
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 i_like_music |
| Oct. 7th, 2008 - 11:17 pm | | | |
(As someone else said) it can't be said enough - THANK YOU for all your work! I love DJ and look forward to another 8+ years with it:) |
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| kiss_of_rage |
| Oct. 8th, 2008 - 04:43 am | | | |
If it makes you happy, then I am happy. :) |
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 zaleska |
| Oct. 8th, 2008 - 05:48 am | | | |
Thanks so much for keeping the site going for all these years. |
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| taliszanna |
| Oct. 8th, 2008 - 08:20 am | | |
Honestly, who could ever criticise you for making this transition? You have given us this place and done it mostly for free for the better part of a decade. Not only that, but you've taken great care in who you handed your baby over to -- and us along with it. So thank you for that, Frank. I'm so glad to be returning to DeadJournal. ^_^)
And now I will go do a zombie dance of joy! |
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 verdelet |
| Oct. 8th, 2008 - 11:52 am | | | |
Fair dinkum, mate. I enjoy my time here, with the friends I have here, regardless of whereever else I may have blogs (lots of places.) Good job you've done while I've been here, and I'm looking forard to continuing to be here. |
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 lemora |
| Oct. 8th, 2008 - 09:14 pm | | | |
Thank you for all your hard work. And thanks for keeping the site running. I've never liked LJ, I prefer the darker tone of DJ. It's just the perfect place for people who do. I look forward to all the new changes you get to put into the site. Thanks. |
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 denial_land |
| Oct. 9th, 2008 - 02:07 am | | |
Wow.
So what does this mean now... really? Is it time to frantically back up my journal or is this better than ever? I totally understand your position, and I suppose this (or something really bad) was bound to happen, but still.. wow. |
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| scsi |
| Oct. 9th, 2008 - 04:16 am | | |
What it really means is that this is one of the best thing to happen to DJ in years.
Its not time to frantically back up your journal, and this really is better than ever. |
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 denial_land |
| Oct. 9th, 2008 - 12:05 pm | | | |
Yay, that's good then! Thanks for everything Frank. Honestly. <3 |
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 themattisgod |
| Oct. 10th, 2008 - 07:55 pm | | |
Congratulations dude, it's about time you got to share some of the stress.
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 anysia |
| Oct. 11th, 2008 - 07:08 am | | |
Hey I give you kudos for running and maintaining the site solo for so long.
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 ron_d |
| Oct. 13th, 2008 - 03:28 am | | | |
Eight years! You're a machine. Thanks for everything, Frank. |
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 glitteringlynx |
| Oct. 14th, 2008 - 03:58 am | | |
I've never been much involved over here, but I want to say kudos! One worry I did have was that this site may disappear one day. I'm glad that, though it almost came to that, the site is going to still operate and with upgrades to boot! Yay!
Long Undeath DeadJournal! |
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 blackwidow706 |
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random praise.. | Oct. 18th, 2008 - 04:57 am | | |
I'm a not only happy that you've dedicated yourself fully for so many years, but I'm also proud. When I joined DJ I was in highschool. This place was my outlet as well as my friends outlets. We communicated here much before the popularity of other overly advertised blog sites. Now I'm a mother and eventually wife (A thing I blog about now, lol.) and I look back on my first year of blogging here and can't believe how times moves. DJ isn't just a blog. It's my unedited light on a chapter of my life I wouldn't be able to explain without it. I started using DJ again I'd say about a month ago and it just feels SOooOOOooo good to be back.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say at 12:56 in the morning is thank you for all your hard work. Not only for me, but all the other people I know who use DJ as a memory keeper. |
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 elac |
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Hoo-ah! | Nov. 5th, 2008 - 01:19 pm | | | |
As I said in the new_shit posting, I say good for you Frank; and as an aside - while I know it wasn't your goal, I'm sorry you didn't get any frogskins out of the transaction; you certainly deserved it. I appreciate your hardwork, and wish you well in your future endeavours. |
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 angelzenith |
| Nov. 8th, 2008 - 06:01 pm | | |
You do what LJ claimed they attempted to do, only you actually do it and do it a gazillion times better. *cheers* (No, I don't mean that you're selling the eight years of blood & sweat & tears and disappearing, either.)
You rock. *toasts with a glass of water* |
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 hekate57 |
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Hi | Nov. 25th, 2008 - 12:36 pm | | |
There's something up with most mood icons. Hey, I'm just an end-user, but my end-use is slightly disrupted! Any ideas what's going on with that? Otherwise the changes have been transparent.
Thanks! |
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| omniwing |
| Dec. 11th, 2008 - 07:16 pm | | |
I've been using DeadJournal for many years now, and I just wanted to say thank you for not shutting it down. Its a great place, and I love it, and I'm really glad you found an alternative solution, a way to keep it up for a long while. Thanks again!
Omniwing, dedicated deadjournal user |
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