I just bought this site

[theeighth]

Hi all, still getting my admin account setup with full permissions, but in the meantime wanted to say hi and introduce myself! My name is Ted and I own a few internet companies that mainly buy websites or help monetize them.

We recently made a deal with the previous owner and we now fully own this site. Before I go into any plans we have for this community (we'd like to grow it in a big way), I'd love to hear from all of you. Basically, what you like about it, what you would like updated/changed/improved, and essentially what we should add to our initial "to-do" work.

Thanks, look forward to chatting here about how to improve things for everyone!

[zetreque]

If this is for real, no one told me about it.

[Watson]

Well Ted, sorry to hear that. I can only imagine what monetizing means in this case. More commercials, or a monthly subscription fee. I hope this is just a tried troll, with nothing better to do.

[Watson]

Glad to hear that Z. What a dumb idea.

[TheVat]

Why no announcement from BioWizard?

Why are avatars gone?

[jocular]

Is this the joker?
http://www.tcnoise.com/viewforum.php?f=26

[zetreque]

Can I please get some clarity from another moderator? ANY moderator?

As far as I can tell, there is a tiny chance this is real, but weighted on the side of it being fake due to how it's going.

[zetreque]

Tagging all moderators to this thread.

BioWizard
Lomax
SciameriKen
neuro
BurtJordaan

[Admin1]

Hi All, just got my admin account working, sorry for the confusion. The deal literally just went through, so he may be making an announcement shortly.

If we got off on the wrong foot already I am sorry to hear it. Just so you know, I have no plans of packing the site full of ads or doing anything else disruptive. My sole intention is to participate and hopefully help the site grow.

[zetreque]

Hi All, just got my admin account working, sorry for the confusion. The deal literally just went through, so he may be making an announcement shortly.

If we got off on the wrong foot already I am sorry to hear it. Just so you know, I have no plans of packing the site full of ads or doing anything else disruptive. My sole intention is to participate and hopefully help the site grow.

If you are the new owner, I would very much appreciate you responding to the posts in or leaving a note in the moderator only section of this forum.

[Watson]

If that is truly the case, I will bid you all a fond good bye. I just don't trust the new guy, or his intentions.

[Admin1]

Hi All, just got my admin account working, sorry for the confusion. The deal literally just went through, so he may be making an announcement shortly.

If we got off on the wrong foot already I am sorry to hear it. Just so you know, I have no plans of packing the site full of ads or doing anything else disruptive. My sole intention is to participate and hopefully help the site grow.

If you are the new owner, I would very much appreciate you responding to the posts in or leaving a note in the moderator only section of this forum.

All set.

[Admin1]

If that is truly the case, I will bit you all a fond good bye. I just don't trust the new guy, or his intentions.

Would love to chat to alleviate any concerns. My intentions are pretty simple, join the community, and ideally help it grow.

[Watson]

Why not just join? It is the buy, own, instant Admin. Most people have to join, interact, share and become part of the community. You seem to be missing/avoiding the more important aspects of community. In fact, 'Re: I just bought this site" seems to suggest ignorance.

[Serpent]

I liked it the way it was.

[zetreque]

I liked it the way it was.

Me too and the reason I do not go to other website is due to the bloated graphics, ads, and scripts that slow things down. Not to mention how everything is turning into mobile iphone ugly where everything is spaced out where you can't see as much on the page and it takes more flips or clicks to get to things. I love how fast the pages load on this website. If that changes I will be unable to come here as often.

[Admin1]

Why not just join? It is the buy, own, instant Admin. Most people have to join, interact, share and become part of the community. You seem to be missing/avoiding the more important aspects of community. In fact, 'Re: I just bought this site" seems to suggest ignorance.

Not my intention at all. I thought it was a good way to introduce myself. Obviously I am new to the community so if announcing myself as the new owner of the site here should have been handled differently, then I wish I did it differently. That said, I have no instructions or introduction, so I thought might as well jump in.

[Admin1]

I liked it the way it was.

Me too and the reason I do not go to other website is due to the bloated graphics, ads, and scripts that slow things down. Not to mention how everything is turning into mobile iphone ugly where everything is spaced out where you can't see as much on the page and it takes more flips or clicks to get to things. I love how fast the pages load on this website. If that changes I will be unable to come here as often.

Understandable. I was thinking more like updating the theme into something more modern.

[mitchellmckain]

While this discussion was going on, I decided to check out the facts and use Whois.net to do so. I found that it is indeed quite possible to buy out a web domain out under from someone when their current registration is expired. Doesn't cost much either.

What I found out was that there was an update on the registration of this website three days ago. So it seems rather possible.

As to why? Well, I imagine it is an investment. Just that simple. You can buy a lot of these domain names with a possibility of turning a buck somewhere down the line, perhaps even just by reselling it. As to what it means for the forum. It may mean nothing right a away. It all depends on the enterprise of the owner and for that we will just have to wait and see. I am certainly not going to get very excited about it until there is a reason to.

For now the thing to do as far as I can tell is to welcome the new participant.

Welcome.

[zetreque]

I liked it the way it was.

Me too and the reason I do not go to other website is due to the bloated graphics, ads, and scripts that slow things down. Not to mention how everything is turning into mobile iphone ugly where everything is spaced out where you can't see as much on the page and it takes more flips or clicks to get to things. I love how fast the pages load on this website. If that changes I will be unable to come here as often.

Understandable. I was thinking more like updating the theme into something more modern.

Is there evidence that looking "modern" would do any benefit? I think the type of people that this website wants and likes is intellectuals and academics or people interested in such. If you want to grow the website, you have to be careful who you are looking to attract. I certainly would not be excited about a modern look attracting twitter one liners.

[Watson]

This is/was a scientific forum by a scientist, for those with a scientific interest. As a monetized investment I can not imagine how the two interests can co-exist harmoniously. In time if not sooner, the scientific intention and diligence will be lost or deliberately corrupted. We can all see how it has been handle thus far, only minutes into the transformation. Good job Ted.

[Admin1]

While this discussion was going on, I decided to check out the facts and use Whois.net to find out the facts. I found that it is indeed quite possible to buy out a web domain out under from someone when their current registration is expired. Doesn't cost much either.

What I found out was that there was an update on the registration of this website three days ago. So it seems rather possible.

As to why? Well, I imagine it is an investment. Just that simple. You can buy a lot of these domain names with a possibility of turning a buck somewhere down the line, perhaps even just by reselling it. As to what it means for the forum. It may mean nothing right a away. It all depends on the enterprise of the owner and for that we will just have to wait and see. I am certainly not going to get very excited about it until there is a reason to.

Hi, we buy websites that are generally neglected or have room to improve. Or, we help website owners tap into the vast array of networks out there for banner ads. In some cases that means buying something, putting ads on it and re-selling it. But I'm not sure how that would ever work for an active community like this.

We bought this site for a simple reason. The discussions are great, and there is a ton of room to help grow the community. Our initial idea is to modern the site and try to grow the user base. I have no reselling plans or plans to pack the site with obtrusive ads.

Before we do anything, I posted here to try and get some feedback from everyone about how we can improve the site before we think about anything else.

[mitchellmckain]

This is/was a scientific forum by a scientist, for those with a scientific interest. As a monetized investment I can not imagine how the two interests can co-exist harmoniously. In time if not sooner, the scientific intention and diligence will be lost or deliberately corrupted.

Could be, perhaps even likely, but not necessarily.

We can all see how it has been handle thus far, only minutes into the transformation. Good job Ted.

True.... But the thing about people is that it is possible for them to learn and we can only wait to see how fast.

[Watson]

Yes the site has lapsed in the past, and been unavailable for a period of time, until Bio paid the bill or whatever. I doubt he expected some sleaze ball could slide in and scoop it without some grace period to catch up on the payment. The godaddy does the same thing with .com domains if you miss the expire date.

[zetreque]

Before we do anything, I posted here to try and get some feedback from everyone about how we can improve the site before we think about anything else.

My only suggestion is to leave it exactly as it is but advertise it in a way that attracts intelligent people interested in academic scientific discussion.

The rest of what you said actually sounds to me like a great way to kill a website in the name of profit but time will tell.

I would like to point out that I have been a member on here for 10+ years. The amount of time a person has been a member should be at least accounted for when they give an opinion on this website. Same with number of posts, warnings, likes, etc.

[mitchellmckain]

We are a sharp intellectual community here quite addicted to truth speaking. So skepticism and criticism should be expected

Hi, we buy websites that are generally neglected or have room to improve. Or, we help website owners tap into the vast array of networks out there for banner ads. In some cases that means buying something, putting ads on it and re-selling it. But I'm not sure how that would ever work for an active community like this.

We bought this site for a simple reason. The discussions are great, and there is a ton of room to help grow the community. Our initial idea is to modern the site and try to grow the user base. I have no reselling plans or plans to pack the site with obtrusive ads.

Before we do anything, I posted here to try and get some feedback from everyone about how we can improve the site before we think about anything else.

Translation: The monetary value of the site will not be enhanced by alienating the community here.

[Watson]

I would like to point out that I have been a member on here for 10+ years. The amount of time a person has been a member should be at least accounted for when they give an opinion on this website. Same with number of posts, warnings, likes, etc.

If it mattered one bit I put my history in with yours, and many others I'm sure, but I think that is of no interest I'm sure.

[TheVat]

So, again, if this has our founder's blessing, why didn't we hear from him? Why no warning when avatars were shut off?

How do you define a growth in membership? Are you from a science background and/or in touch with a scientific community?

[mitchellmckain]

So, again, if this has our founder's blessing, why didn't we hear from him? Why no warning when avatars were shut off?

I can see that many avatars are gone but I still see mine. Not sure what this means.


Anyway this might mean nothing more than a new participant and someone else paying the fee so Biowizard doesn't have to. Seems to me the worse that can happens is that someone will have to take the time to buy a new domain and move everything over. But why bother if there is no reason to. Maybe it is a bit naive of me but it is not like a new participant is unwelcome. Yeah, I know, the question of power is there in the background... but ultimately I think it is an illusion. For now, why not just wait and see what happens.

[SciameriKen]

Tagging all moderators to this thread.

BioWizard
Lomax
SciameriKen
neuro
BurtJordaan

Hi Zet --

This is indeed confirmed. Congrats to both Biowizard and to the new owner of the website. I am very optimistic that ScienceChatForum will continue to grow under new leadership and maintain the quality that we have enjoyed through the years.

Greetings Ted, look forward to seeing your new vision for the site. Probably the greatest aspect of this site that I enjoy is the high level of expertise in the user base. The level of sophistication here is far beyond many of the other sites I have seen.

Cheers,
Ken