PLEASE READ We Need Your Support for Increased Security

[Bbear]

Done. Still sending the monthly though. I went ahead and upgraded to Gold. I think a 'Platinum ($100) and Diamond ($200) levels would be a good thing as well.

 

[Gun Smith]

Just became Golden!

 

[Forum Boss]

Thanks guys -- we are already seeing some impact of the security measures and manual vetting of each sign-up, but the battle is never ending.

Again, I caution guys -- if some new member with less than 30 days tenure sends you a PM to buy/sell stuff, do NOT buy. It's OK to try to get a true name, phone number, and street address. But do NOT pay the person a dime.

If you suspect a scammer send us the info and we will run the leads through multiple checking systems.

 

[Bc'z]

As promised, signed up for monthly donation .

 

[sdean]

This is getting like taxes. A few pay the way for the many. Jay at some point you will need to consider everyone paying. I will up mine one more time.

 

[338rumshooter]

Just went Gold, hope that helps. If you like this site, then kick down a little cash. It will benefit everyone. Thanks for the great site and your time, Alan

 

[PatMiles]

I realize this is an older thread but...
I'M IN!!!

BOSS: Pat -- this is a new thread. Starting morning of August 9, 2018. Thanks for your support.

We have just started the manual approval thing. It is hugely time consuming. Hopefully we will be able to hire a dedicated Guard at the Gate.

What was I thinking?

 

[pirate ammo]

What was I thinking?

must have been to early,,not enough caffine,,,

 

[PatMiles]

must have been to early,,not enough caffine,,,

More like... Onward through the fog!!

 

[Tommie]

3% of site members have upgraded. We need to raise that number.

Question @Forum Boss
Does upgraded mean moved from silver to gold or does this mean only 3% of the total membership are contributors?

Boss: 3% of the membership are either Silver ($20/yr) or Gold($50/yr) members. There are a few dozen other guys who have donated less than $20.

Observation:
Note the silence on this thread from the non-contributing members.

 

[Terry_M]

Question @Forum Boss
Does upgraded mean moved from silver to gold or does this mean only 3% of the total membership are contributors?

Observation:
Note the silence on this thread from the non-contributing members.

Many of the non-contributors only log in every few days or weeks. They may come around to this thread when they do log in. A couple years went by that I went straight to the search function and never even read the main forum page.

 

[dickn52]

Did mine yesterday. This needs a bump.

 

[Darryll]

Did mine yesterday. This needs a bump.

Just went gold!

 

[Tommie]

3% of the membership are either Silver ($20/yr) or Gold($50/yr) members. There are a few dozen other guys who have donated less than $20.

@Forum Boss That number is depressing. Can you give us some hope? Surely some percentage of the total membership roll is inactive.

 

[Murray Brook]

Upgrade done

 

[horsepower]

Thank you for bringing this sites needs to my attention.

Having hunted for years but only recently trying to up my long distance game, this site is becoming invaluable as a source of information. Being form Alberta, Canada I will likely never use the classified section due to "border import rules" but a contribution was necessary as there is such a deep resource of knowledge available to tap into here I understand how much that is worth.

Best of luck to those at Deep Creek this weekend.

Jonathan, a new non-contributing member.

 

[pirate ammo]

Forum bossman el jefe guy,,post this thread on every page and rattle some cages,,

 

[Boyd L.]

I’m in.

 

[Mark deluia]

I’m in.

I'm in also.

 

[dbduff]

Guys,
This is a pitch to get more members to upgrade their accounts. The reason is to raise funds to hire a Forum Watch-Dog.

Since the beginning of August, in an effort to cut down the spammers and scammers, I have personally checked and vetted EVERY new registration for the Forum. This involves running IP searches, checking the stated location, sending challenge emails, and other more sophisticated checks with ID-tracking security systems.

We have blocked many suspicious signups already, both foreign and domestic.

That's good. But what's not so good is the time involved. I've already spent one hour so far this morning. I may spend another hour today in two half-hour sessions.

Two hours every day of the year is 730 man-hours.
That is 18.25 forty-hour weeks of labor! (4.5 months of 40-hr weeks).

I am already working 3300+ hours a year.

This just isn't sustainable... and it takes me away from more important tasks. I would normally have a Bulletin story done by now. I haven't even started.

Accordingly we need to hire a person specifically tasked with vetting new members. That will take money.

Right now 3% of site members have upgraded. We need to raise that number.

If you want us to help protect you from scammers, we need the resources to fight back. Yes we already use sophisticated Firewall systems and other barriers, but the scammers can fake their locations. We already block 80% of the countries in the world.

I am also sending out individual communications to new sign-ups where a problem is likely but not certain -- I ask them tough questions. That takes time -- It takes 5 minutes to confirm a good ID. But something suspicious may take 15 minutes. 15 minutes of my time just to block one sign-up.

Sorry to be a trogladite, but how do I up grade?
D