SXList.com to close. So long and thanks for all the fish!
James Newton
Posts: 329
SXList.com will be closing at the end of this month due to a lack of financial support and a need to focus on other things.
Copies of the site are available via a 2 CD set from
http://www.sxlist.com/dontripthissite.htm#cd
PLEASE! Do not rip the site as that will result in the site being shut down immediatly.
Anyone (both of you?) who is currently contributing on a monthly basis should cancel thier support via PayPal and request a refund of any donations since the last newsletter was published.
Before anyone speaks up with a donation $10 or even $100. Please know that the real cost of keeping the site up is about $150 per month when you include the bandwidth, up-keep, management, and other incidental costs. Unless you can commit to putting out some amount every single month. Please do not bother. If 10 people donated $15 per month, I would keep it up... maybe. But that isn't happening.
I was hopeing that I could write a newsletter and fund the site from that. But the response was underwhelming and I just don't have time to keep trying. I need to focus on more important things.
I have tried to offer related items for sale from the site, and to offer advertising, neither has generated any funding.
Some of the content·will be transferred to Parallax if they want to host it.·Most will still be available at piclist.com which I will continue to try to keep up for a while. I will be seeking support for piclist.com from Microchip and other PIC related businesses, and they will have every right to ask me to remove what ever content they wish so I can not assume that everything will stay.
I will stay on as a subscriber to the SX forum here at Parallax for a while and then drift off to other, more practical, interests.
I must say, I have enjoyed working with the SX chips, talking to all of you, and thinking about what a fast little controller can do. I'm sure the future is bright for the SX and its users.
Best wishes.
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
Copies of the site are available via a 2 CD set from
http://www.sxlist.com/dontripthissite.htm#cd
PLEASE! Do not rip the site as that will result in the site being shut down immediatly.
Anyone (both of you?) who is currently contributing on a monthly basis should cancel thier support via PayPal and request a refund of any donations since the last newsletter was published.
Before anyone speaks up with a donation $10 or even $100. Please know that the real cost of keeping the site up is about $150 per month when you include the bandwidth, up-keep, management, and other incidental costs. Unless you can commit to putting out some amount every single month. Please do not bother. If 10 people donated $15 per month, I would keep it up... maybe. But that isn't happening.
I was hopeing that I could write a newsletter and fund the site from that. But the response was underwhelming and I just don't have time to keep trying. I need to focus on more important things.
I have tried to offer related items for sale from the site, and to offer advertising, neither has generated any funding.
Some of the content·will be transferred to Parallax if they want to host it.·Most will still be available at piclist.com which I will continue to try to keep up for a while. I will be seeking support for piclist.com from Microchip and other PIC related businesses, and they will have every right to ask me to remove what ever content they wish so I can not assume that everything will stay.
I will stay on as a subscriber to the SX forum here at Parallax for a while and then drift off to other, more practical, interests.
I must say, I have enjoyed working with the SX chips, talking to all of you, and thinking about what a fast little controller can do. I'm sure the future is bright for the SX and its users.
Best wishes.
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
Comments
I'm sorry to hear you're going to let the site fade away. It was one of the earlier sites I visited when I got into SX microcontrollers and gave me some good insight on how to play with them.
On the server side of things... How much bandwidth are you talking about? If you're talking about 50 to 100's of Gig's of bandwidth your going to incur some costs however if bandwidth is not an issue then it's just a storage problem of where to put the reams of pages.
If you like, I'll dig around and see if I can find a more reasonable rate from some of my connections. Depending on the amount of content you have. 2.5Gigs and 300,000 pages seems like a lot to host. I've got a spare server or two with Gigs of space to spare but... I don't want to chew up my own bandwidth. Good URL too!
Andrew
Sorry to hear your plight; I think your site is doing a good job, and it will be a great dis-service if it should disappear, especially for the early stage learners of SX.
I will volunteer to fund you for the 12 months of 2006 at $150 per month (that is for $1,800 prepaid), provided some one else will match me, prepaid for the following year, 2007.......I don't want to be the only party at the table.
So how about it Ken Gracey, or Guenther, Al Williams, or anyone else making a living using the knowledge and benefits of these types of forums?
I'll be out of touch for the next week James, so please make your rounds, and see from who else will give you a committment.
Good Luck,
Peter (pjv)
We have funded the web site for the last couple of years. Rather than be subject to requests for more support, I'd rather be thanked for the support we have already provided. The problem with these arrangements is that they're easy to get into, but for some reason when it's time to end the arrangement we're made to feel like deserters.
I feel that we have contributed to sxlist.com. And although it is a fairly small amount of marketing money to support the web site, it's time to try to experiment with using those funds elsewhere to the benefit of the SX community.
I hope I have adequately expressed our position.
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
Since he has "come out" I can say that I am very greatfull for the support from Parallax and I do understand thier desire to break away. I was never totally comfortable with accepting that support due to the expectation on my part that they might ask me to not say things or remove any of the links from the SX pages to PIC related pages or other things like that. I'm happy to report that they never did. I was allowed to run the site as I saw fit. That is impressive and bloody rare.
I'm also sort of blown away by Peters offer. That is a HECK of a lot of money. I don't think its a wise investment, but I'm not in a position to look a gift horse in the mouth... So if someone wants to match his donation, or if several people want to split up the amount, I'll gratefully accept it. I did reciently recieve a donation of $100 from Ken Mathis so I guess we can say that matching funds would total $1,700 rather than $1,800. And then there is the monthly commitments of $5 and $7 from Shultz electronics and Larry Williams so that is a total of $144 over the next year. $1,588 anyone?
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
Ken,·now understanding your previous contributions, I'm totally in tune with your position, and wish I had not made references to specific individuals......I'm sorry about that. You have been very gracious indeed. It was not my intent to put anyone on the spot, but rather a nudge to highlight an opportunity to give back to the community, and unbeknownst to all of us, you were already there. Perhaps the same is true of others.
My offer stands, and if any one or any group will match my commitment with up-front payments, then I will issue that cheque for $1,800 and collectively we can help extend James' horizon by two years.
Like Ken, I too don't want to seem like a deserter after the two years are up, so I'm making it clear this is a one-time contribution. Hopefully in the mean time the community can be convinced to take over the funding role.
Good luck, James!
Peter (pjv)
Post Edited (pjv) : 8/27/2005 3:08:33 PM GMT
On this topic. $1,800.00 should provide a heck of a lot more than 1 year of hosting! How much bandwidth are we talking about here and are we still looking at 300,000 pages weighing 2.5Gigs?
Yes if you are using one of the so-called premium service providers at their overpriced rates then you wll go through that money mighty quick however even if you are hitting high bandwidths of up to 1000Gigs a month which I doubt, you will not be spending quite that much money.
For example if the site maxes out on bandwidth (I mean huge bandwidth) you could find a dedicated server package for $129/month with the following:
HD: 40Gig
Bandwidth: 1000Gig
With root access.
If you're under the 100Gig bandwidth area you can get in for under $100/Month and if you measure bandwidth in MBs then you can host for a couple of hundred dollars a year if that.
* I am not affiliated with the providers but I do a heck of a lot of web development and keep tabs on who's-who as much as I can.
So... Back to my question: How much bandwidth?
The most popular site our company has built and managed, a Mining resource corp trading TSX, AMEX and LSE (AIM) (That's Canada, US and Europe) barely tipped the scales to just over 4Gigs at it's peak. Our site which gets a measly 30 visits a day (500 - 600 hits a day) measures bandwidth in MBs.
Peter, that's a fantastic offer and kudos to Parallax and others for supporting the site.
Andrew
An example plan that should fit the bill up to 50Gig/Month Bandwidth:
www.site5.com/superhosting/
* Again, I'm not affiliated with these guys but I do have a few client sites running with them.
$6.95/Month no setup fee. 3Gigs of HD space.
James, this is an Apache server and I see your site is on an NT box but I don't see any reason why it can't be transfered. It all comes down to bandwidth now. That package supports up to 50Gigs. Do you have stats of your monthly BW?
Andrew
EDIT:
I also use these guys:
www.bluehost.com/
4Gigs + 100Gig Band Width. Just over $100/Year
Post Edited (awasson) : 8/27/2005 8:14:45 PM GMT
Let me put this another way. The CD set is $20 and that gives you all the content of the site. Buy the CD, register and domain, and put up a site yourself. If you want me to continue to run the sxlist.com site, it will cost $150/mo.
As to Apache, there are at least two very valuable CGI scripts that are windows exe type programs. And there are several more scripts that are .ASP pages written in VB Script. Even so, you can find some company to host the site with gobs of bandwidth for $50 a month or so. Have at.
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
I think I might just take you up on that. Will you transfer the domain name? I would of course take over the actual cost of continued registration etc... but if the site is to continue, it should continue at SXList.com.
The other side of my day job
Let me know about the domain name and once again do you have an idea of the bandwidth the site receives. If you want send me an email with that info.
Cheers,
Andrew
PS: One way or another I'd like to see the site continue. I don't see any way it will turn into a revenue earner but it is a good resource and it would be a shame for it to dissapear.
Once they arrive I'll look at what it's going to take to copy them to one of my servers. I usually develop sites on one of my Dev servers. I've got a Windows a FreeBSD and a Linux server just to keep me occupied and to match any of my clients wishes.
If someone comes along and matches Peter's generous offer then I think you'll have more than enough cash to keep going for a couple of years James, otherwise I'll take you up on your earlier comments and keep it going via the files from the CD's that I'll convert over to a live site.
It's what I do when I'm not restoring vintage 8 bit computes or playing with ASM on SX and it'll be a pleasure giving something back to the SX community.
Andrew
James,
It's a shame to see that are getting out of the SXlist 'buisness'. I have used that site as
a resource for some time, and having a that CD copy at home has been nice. In any case,
I do understand how you may want to get out from under it. So, at this time let me offer my gratitude for your time and resources on this project. Thank you!
P.S. Also, Thanks to parallax for supporting the site!
Andrew,
I·would·like to see the site continue.·At the·very least, it would be nice to see·code library survive. Please, keep us posted on how that goes.
-Dan
·
I agree. SXList is a really great resource. I've even managed to get completely sidetracked on the site reading about Flash Steam engines and other neat ideas. It's not just about SX chips that's for sure.
I'll definitely pick up the baton and run with it to keep it available as a resource if James can't keep it running. I can't promise to have all of the features currently on the site as I'll be working from files on a CD and not the back-end scripts that provide web enabled contributions and editing but I'll do my best.
James, it's a neat concept getting all of the info from the collective audience and you've done a great job with the site.
Andrew
I want to add my thank you for hosting such a tremendous collection of code examples. I've used your reference codes many times.
And I didn't rip your site!
David
I have purchased the CD (A week and a half ago) and I'm waiting for it to show up on my doorstep so I can look at preserving the SXList web resource and run with it myself. I think this might be perfect fit. I develop server code in my day job for a half dozen different configurations and server side languages then I play with microcontrollers in my off time. What better way to spend my free time but to merge both interests?
James, you've already stated that the site will no longer be managed by yourself. What of the domain name? It expires Sept 11 2006. Are you going to pass it on so we can manage the site under that domain name or do you have plans for the domain name?
Thanks,
Andrew
1. Feed family and all the other things I have to do in my main time. Then in my spare time:
2. Make (done!) and ship (soon..) the CDs that people have ordered. Including one to Parallax. And yours.
3. Figure out what content to move to piclist.com and what to trash.
4. Put up a notice on sxlist.com that the site is closing and link to other sources of the content (piclist.com, parallax.com, whatever else...)
5. In the mean time, see if the google ads will bring in enough to prevent me having to actually close it. Or if my "knight in shining armor" will appear.
6. Put the domain name up for sale and if no offers, then let the registration of the domain name run out. sx is close enought to sex that it might make some money.
Yes, I am all about the money, Think what you will. My wife and kids are more important.
It is my fondest wish that someone will put the content up on a site and do a good job of updating it, manageing it and promoting. For free. For the long term. Have at. If it looks like someone is doing a good job of that, and the domain name isn't selling, I will transfer it to them.
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
When you initially announced closure of the SXList you said it was because you couldn't afford to run it without sponsorship. It seemed like it was really over - a signed and sealed deal in your head. And now you have offers to take over the domain, but you're not making it easy for them to proceed. Why let the domain registration run out when you can transfer it today to somebody who can run it? It seems like what was initially an informational site, so how would anybody be able to buy it if it doesn't generate revenue? What everybody values about SXList is the code and examples, free information, etc. It's an informative web site, but not commercial. Selling it isn't practical in this case - transfer it before the interest dries up.
With all the excitement from the beginning of this thread I'd suggest you let somebody carry the torch on SXList, free of charge.
Just my 2 cents.
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
I'm a little offended by your comment. How exactly am I not makeing it easy? I'm providing copies of all the content. I'm bending over backwards to make sure the content is not lost. Anyone who wants to can put that content up just as soon as thier CD arrives. And I will ship the CDs just the second my order of CD jackets gets here... I forgot I was out of those. I'm sending you a CD without charging you for it out of respect for your years of sponsorship. How much more "free of change" do you want?
The domain name is a seperate issue. Perhaps I didn't make that clear. If I can sell it to someone, I will. Like I said, the NAME may have value to others. Years ago I was contacted with an offer to purchase sxlist.com for a guy who wanted to run an porno site. That interest may still hold.
You are confusing the site contents and the domain name. You can make the content available at parallax.com "free" of charge. You don't pay a hosting bill or a webmaster do you? <grin>
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
I think Ken may be referring to a few questions I asked not being addressed.
IE: If I take up that cause will you transfer the name at cost?
I deal with domain registrations daily and I can get you a name for about 6 or 7 bucks a year. I understand prices vary from registrar to registrar and can be up to $30 per year. I want to be fair and if the domain is transfered I'll pay whatever it cost. It has one more year before it needs to be re-registered. If I take over the care of the site I would like to keep the same domain name for consistency, bookmarks and history. I don't believe there is any further value in the name except that it refers to that website.
* You may be able to get an adult site to buy the domain however, I wonder how many kids have the domain bookmarked
Anyway, that's my concern. I'm happy to keep the site running. Actually I'll rebuild it with the CD. It would be easier if I could just FTP the whole kit and kaboodle but whatever, I'm not picky.
Have a good weekend
Andrew
That is another reason why I'm not willing to just let the site ride as is. Sure, I could just pay a few bucks a month for a minimal host and dump the content on it. But then it is a dead site. No growth. I haven't done as much with the site lately as I would like, because I have to feed people... and sleep... and other things like that. But I HAVE updated the site when something new and interesting comes up.
I had hoped that by makeing it a wiki, which I did, other people would volunteer to edit and add content to the pages. Some few did. Most didn't. The fact is that right now, for all your protestations about how you want to combine your hobby and your web ability, you have NEVER posted one single thing to the sxlist.com site much less volunteered to become a page editor. Must less donate anything to allow me to justify spending more time updating the site.
Forgive me for my cynical attitude, but when YOUR copy of the sxlist.com content becomes more than just a batch of copied pages with popup ads presenting the same old, slowly going out of date content to the world, THEN I will transfer the name to it. For free even.
If I haven't found a way to sell the name in the mean time.
P.S. My kids don't surf the net unless I'm sitting behind them reading or watching TV so I can check every so often what they are looking at.
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
I think Andrew can maintain the site for less.· Actually much less.· Like probably $10/month.· Oh yes. Plus his time, which he has so graciously offered for FREE.
When are you closing your site?· At the end of the month?· Which month? Or is there no real closing date now? When google-ads money runs out? Or when you can find some porn-site to buy your domain name?
Sites like yours are run best by people who are committed to the subject at hand, and are willing to dedicate their free time in return for nothing but Thanks and goodwill from the community who actually provide most of the content anyways.· YES, it's a thank-less job, but thank god we have people willing to do it!
These sites do not require FUNDING because they AREN'T COMMERCIAL ENTITIES.· Their primary mission in life is not to generate revenue from newsletters, advertising, commercial sponsorship(like Parallax), etc.
I'm sure you started with the best of intentions, and have provided countless hours of service.· And for that we thank you.· If you are unwilling to continue to contribute your time to this task, then do the right thing by passing the torch off to someone who is.
Andrew: Good job stepping up to the plate, and I look forward to when the content is under new management.
Keith
·
As far as the domain name, I can't blame him for just giving up to anyone that wants. He has had a lot of time invested in the site and offers to switch the dns record to anyone capable of running the site till the registration runs out. If a porn company would offer a few thousand for the name I would also be up for the highest bidder. All the content is available very cheap for any one that wants to host it. Why just turn over the name if the person taking control is not up to the job of maintaining it like he has?
Prove your money is where your mouth is and he has already said transfer is not a problem.
"And by that I meant at no cost. I will just point it to your IP and when it comes up for renewal you can have it. But not untill I see that someone is actually going to do the work. Any jerk can take a batch of HTML files and paste them into a web site. To shame me into transferring the name rather than selling it, it needs to be a site where the web"master" is doing something worth while."
I had a room mate about 8 years ago that I had to monitor like that as well
The unfortunate thing that I see about passing the name on to an adult site is the
possibility of a student (high school, or otherwise) or an engineer in a company
typing in SXList.com and ending up with adult content and getting 'smacked' for it.
Often times directly entered URL's in a new session are logged. Just a thought...
Also, what ever speed you set your timer at is annoyingly slow....·· ...I can browse pages faster by hand than you think I can...··· ...Just what is too fast anyway? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Good luck on all of your·ventures!
-Dan
James: When is the site's hosting going to laps? I want to do my best so as not to have the site go down when your account is terminated. Without the source material I won't be able to do any of the real work of putting the files into html, XML or Database.
Thanks,
Andrew
It's been almost a month since I purchased the CD set. Any idea when they'll arrive?
Andrew
I ordered mine on the 26th, and they got here this week. My guess is they'll be arriving soon.
-Randy
The bad news is that I'm not going away.
The good news is that neither is sxlist.com
Why? Several reasons, but the main one is that I found a new sponsor. They don't want to be publically identified, but they are contributing enough that I can not only keep the site up, but also justify some man hours keeping it updated and adding new content and features.
Another reason is that the few kind people from this community who have contributed·a few dollars each month, have continued to contribute, and several offers were made which were not of use, but were certainly appreciated. That includes Andrews offer to host the site, Peters offer to match funds for a years support and others.·I was touched and it made it very hard for me to walk away from it.
For now, it isn't going to laps. But please do put up a mirror or your own·version of the site anyway. It can't hurt right? Sorry for the delay in sending the CDs, but you should have recieved yours by now. If not, let me know and I'll send a replacement immediatly.
Thanks to everyone for your support and I'm actually very pleased to be able to justify staying with this...
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James Newton, Host of SXList.com
james at sxlist,com 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767
SX FAQ / Code / Tutorials / Documentation:
http://www.sxlist.com Pick faster!
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·1+1=10
Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 10/5/2005 7:41:17 PM GMT
Low and behold they arrived in yesterdays mail. Thanks very much.
I'll get to work on a mirror and let you know when it's done. I'm glad the site will be around for a while.
Cheers,
Andrew
PS: Paul, I thought 1 + 1 = 1 & 1 carryover?
So, um, thanks! [noparse]:)[/noparse]