Gang - after thread 14 got yanked last night, I started thinking about some alternatives.
What do you guys think about setting up our very own home for TM outside of FR?
There'd be a lot of benefit for us to do this that I was thinking about last night, but the main thing is that we could have a dedicated spot on the Web for The Threat Matrix, and organize things by topic instead of multiple incarnations of one huge thread. (Although we wouldn't HAVE to do it this way if we just wanted to keep "TM, thread 962", etc).
This would make it easier to find things than having to read through thousands of posts to find out, for example, if anything happened in a particular topic any of us were interested in.
I think we could do this easily (I'm a Web guy by trade, so have access to all of the freeware Bulletin Board software and know how to set it up. I also run several other large websites already on a volunteer basis). I don't think the bandwidth charges would amount to much, and may even be able to fund it myself. (I would consider doing this as I think TM is a VERY important resource and we need a place to discuss without being threatened by those trying to take it down, as well as having a place to post the various images, video clips, etc that people like SP2BF, Jill, Piper and others find).
If we did this, we could let people like our very own Piper be the Mods (if she wanted) or whoever wants to pitch in (I don't necessarily want the job but would be willing to setup the site).
Just a suggestion - I think the organization aspect (having multiple threads dealing with different stories, etc and our own space for images and AVIs) might be pretty nice. We could even have our own collection of links and graphics (like the awesome work contributed by TMers & their families here) on our "front page". It would also cut down on having to read through hundreds/thousands of posts each day, since everything could be (but wouldn't HAVE to be if we didn't want it) in it's own "Topic".
I've already setup a similar board for another project I'm involved in, and this would all be pretty easy to do.
What do you guys all think?
- J
Wow, that's really generous of you...
There are a couple of alternates already:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThreatMatrixFR/
http://www.recursiv.com/threatmatrix/index.php
I think we have grown so much it may be necessary.
Your offer and words are beyond kind!
I do worry about the cost though of having our own site, because we are so active? But it sure leaves many possibilities open...
I found this surfing the net and I think it best desribes what we feel here:
The Journey
by 911
Time waits for no one, sure as the tide pulls the ocean
Sure as the path that's been chosen, cannot be changed
I my life's destination, I searched for the explanation
some kind of reason, for my sorrow and pain
But in my isolation I learned to listen
To be thankful for the love that I'd been given
This is my Journey, Journey through life
With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried
As the road unwinds
This is my journey, and I've learned to fight
To make strong enough, to lift me up,
To bring my dreams alive
In desperation, I swore that never again
Would I hear all the laughter of my friends and my family
A million tears I've cried then began to dry
And in the silence of the night time, I came to realise
A sweet inspiration filled my horizon
Gave me the heart to go on and never would give in
This is my Journey, Journey through life
With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried
As the road unwinds
This is my journey, and I've learned to fight
To make strong enough, to lift me up,
To bring my dreams alive
I'm going to love each moment, of every day and every night
I'll look back to the past with the sweetest smile
For now I realise, I've been given the key to life
I've been kissed by the angel by my side
I think this depicts what we expree here in the dedication of TM
I think that would be a very good thing. You would also have a personal handle on troublemakers and the capability to zap them away?
I don't understand the mentality of those who become cyber-nasty when they know it detracts from what we are doing. Instead of taking their battles to personal mail, they do it with the specific intent to provoke and incite. That behavior has ruined Thread 14 and previous other threads.
Would we still be able to have JustPiper and Kinetic involved in shaping the site? The thought of losing our basis of operation is overwhelmingly frightening.
Re Independant TM: I would prefer to stay with FR, although I wouldn't mind if TM went from a thread to a forum. My loyalty to FR runs relatively long and deep. And because of my addiction to breaking news, I would have to keep two browsers open at all times, which is too much of a distraction.
No, please do not take the threat matrix thread elsewhere. I love the fact that there is a threat matrix thread here.