Where we go from here is up to you...

[KvHagedorn]

I looked into the currency exchange thing.. my banker was unsure of the fees involved. I had thought it might be possible to act as a clearing house, collecting money in foreign currencies and sending Ant a check in British Pounds, but apparently each bank charges a fee.. there would be three different entities charging a fee for this service if I were to deposit a check in AU$ or euros or what have you. And she remembered an instance of a $1500 check from Germany taking 90 days to clear and the fees for that being $75USD. Now, I don't know if that was a percentage, or if they charged a flat fee (say $20 minimum) to change money, but if it was a flat fee that would kinda suck. I would like to see someone from a large city in Britain do this.. The currency would only need to be exchanged once from the original to British Pounds. If one of you Brits would act as treasurer and exchange all monies there, it would be a great help. Preferably it should be someone in London, since they would be more familiar with exchanging foreign currencies there. Just a thought as to the practicalities involved.

[az]

Or, each currency region (USD, AUD, CDN, EUR) elects a treasurer, who then transfers the money over to the isle - maybe exchanging currencies, whereever it's cheaper.

AZ

[spazm_1999]

Re: Where we go from here is up to you...

Originally posted by Ant
I’ve come to a decision over the last few days prompted by the fact that our hosting package is now up for renewal. I’ve spent in excess of $1000 of my own money this last year keeping this site up and running and I’ve come to the conclusion that I can no longer justify (nor afford) this continued expenditure. So I am handing the future of this site over to you the users, I have a cheaper deal for hosting than last year but I now face the fact that I have $600 to pay (in advance as that provides us with a considerable discount).

... maybe I don't get things rights... but i've got a real hard time to believe that it can cost that much cash to run a forum. I mean... here in Quebec we're able to rent 2 shared redundant T1 for ~150$CAN/month. And there's not even a quota limit on the bandwith we use on the T1. So either the prices Ant pay's are astronomic... or we have an extemely great deal.

Maybe someone could explain me why it cost him so much cash?

Spazm

[William]

I'm in for as much as I can find at the time it needs to be sent (student budget; so very variable).

[Byock]

Maybe I can shed some light for ya, Spazm. Here in the western area of the US, we have 2 T1 lines, and pay $700 A LINE, for them, and that is a good discount!

$1000 us sounds about right to me. I wish I could get lines as cheap as you are, but that is impossible here.


The Chicken

[Dilitante1]

from KVH

You know, we could do a fund drive like public television does every year, the month before your payment comes due. Run a thread on it and keep everyone up to date on whether we've reached our goal yet.

I can see it now...."Tonight on MURC, No questions answered or any SOAP Box posting until we get 4 more donations. People dig deep. The MURC has helped all who have visited over the years. Would you be happy if someone walked in for advice at your PC shop daily to ask a question or 2 without contributing for YOUR time? I think not. Our donation channels are open with servers waiting to receive, so dont be the holdout, grab that mouse and click in YOUR support now. You want to see Lizzie's latest avatar pic? GRAB your mouse and click"

The idea is sound though.....

[spazm_1999]

Originally posted by Byock
Maybe I can shed some light for ya, Spazm. Here in the western area of the US, we have 2 T1 lines, and pay $700 A LINE, for them, and that is a good discount!

$1000 us sounds about right to me. I wish I could get lines as cheap as you are, but that is impossible here.


The Chicken

Thanks. I understand a lot better now.

Spazm

[Ali]

I would perfer to pay by CC, but that would cost a bit to set up. If you get a good response on the first 'fund drive', then it might be worth looking into.

Im more than willing to do a EFT (electronic Funds Transfer) for the first payment, but I would hate to pay the bank heaps of money each time I do it. Also CC is easier for most people.

I do like the idea of the 'Funds Meter' with the target goal etc.

Ads are good. Just no popups.

For those in Oceania, Im in NZ, and work at a finance company. Ill talk to the head accountant on Monday, and find out if we can do anything about setting up a trust fund (we look after about 30 of them at the moment). That could be a good way to bypass local taxes, and have reliable accees to funds for ANT.

I cant promise anything about the trust, but Ill look into it. Ill make ANT the sole trustee, and pay the fees myself.

Ali

[103er-Fan]

Re: Re: Where we go from here is up to you...

Originally posted by spazm_1999


... maybe I don't get things rights... but i've got a real hard time to believe that it can cost that much cash to run a forum. I mean... here in Quebec we're able to rent 2 shared redundant T1 for ~150$CAN/month. And there's not even a quota limit on the bandwith we use on the T1. So either the prices Ant pay's are astronomic... or we have an extemely great deal.

Maybe someone could explain me why it cost him so much cash?

Spazm

According to his profile Ant lives in the UK, and I know from a friend of me that broadband is expensive there... if it is available, and with broadband I mean cable or DSL, not somekind of Tx lines.

About the MURC situation:
Though I am pretty new to this site, I really like it. It has become my current startpage and I visit it a lot. The people here are nice, unlike in many other I have seen.
Unfortunatly I don't have a credit card yet, but I get one next month. The only problem is that I won't be able to donate much, maybe 5 or 10€ or something like.... maybe even a bit more, but I think that is better than nothing, isn't it?

[Wombat]

Don't forget hosting and location $$$.

Still. Ant's been silent lately. Where do I send the money?

[Sasq]

I beleive (don't quote me) Ant is just sorting out, where/how/tax type stuff at the moment.

As mentioned before I'm happy to act as a collection point for Australia and Japan. Anyone who is interested drop me an email - get it from the profile page - and I'll sort details with you.

Dan

[dbdg]

ADSL is expensive in the UK even 512

I pay £108 a month for my business line and what with all the other costs pay £300-400 a month to run my websites and that is with them being hosted in the US.

I am fine with any transfer method especially since I am in the UK

[Delany]

How do we do this?

I'm willing to throw some $$$ towards the cause (unfortunately, it is Australian Money, i know, don't laugh).

If the Oceania people can get the method of funds transfer sorted out, i will gladly chip in as i have been a lurker here since late 1996 and it's about time i gave something back to the site.


Phill...

[Pace]

I sent some money to Malaysia last year by bank transfer - they took a fair chunk. I know I can exchange currencies for free (student discounts ), so I could be the collector for all the currencies

Guess there's no point continuing this until Ant gets back to us people, though if you can research a way to send GBP into Ant's pocket or bank account without paying a commision fee of any sorts, then post that. Besides actually getting the money to Ant, the big problem seems to be most methods of transfer will incur a fee.

GBP = Great Brittish Pound, $, Pound Sterling (to end any confusion).

[ZokesPro]

600.00 GBP = 1,419.11 CAD

That is A LOT of cash for this canadian!!

See, I'm willing to give 40$, which is 16GBP.

Not much to you guys but it's a lot here.