IT Support

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Posts by IT Support

• 
  149

  Watchtower Observer site goes down

  by Norm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey folks,.

  an era in the ex-jw history is over.

  kent steinhaug's site http://watchtower.observer.org is being shut down.. it was the first of it's kind, and to this day probably still the largest anti wt site on the net.

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  IT Support

  Funds:

  To our previous list of donors, we add:

  • Previous total: $525
  • Quotes: $50
  • Simon: $100
  • New total: $675

  Everyone: We're going to need more than this once we start having to pay monthly hosting fees. Keep the pledges rolling in...

  I wrote to Kent:

  * Would you like us to each individually send our money to your Paypal account, or would you prefer if one of us collected all the funds and transferred it in one go?

  To which he replied:

  The best would be, of course, if it all came in one go.

  So would someone volunteer to be the 'honorary treasurer' of our project? Personally, I would do it if nobody else volunteered, but would prefer not to: I think it would be better done by someone more widely known among our 'community.'

  Simon: as you have also volunteered funds, would you agree to collect the funds from the rest of us, and then forward to Kent whatever he tells us Saxotech eventually charge him?

  Kenneson:

  I just tried to open a Pay Pal account, but it probably won't be verified with my bank until Tuesday or Wednesday since Monday is Martin Luther King's birthday observance. If my $25.00 is needed sooner than that someone let me know and I can get a check into the mail right away.

  Don't worry, that should be fine.

  Domain name:

  Deb [edit] purchased watchtower_observer.org and watchtower_observer.com last year for use if the site was moved, and now is the time to use one of them, I guess.

  Fine by me, assuming Deb (is she on JWD?) is still happy that we use them. Anyone not happy?

  Hosting:

  Quotes wrote:

  I know that Simon prefers MS (SQL Server/ASP) and they are great tools, but I've found that non-MS technology is cheaper for monthly hosting fees.

  I don't have a lot of experience in this area, but from the little I have, I agree with Quotes. Anyone care to express an opinion?

  Simon wrote:

  you can get a dedicated server for quite a low amount (around $79 - $99) but it may not ne necessary...

  I agree with Simon here. Any other opinions?

  Kent wrote:

  The ones who would like to host The Watchtower Observer need to be aware of a fact: As soon as the site is up running the Watchtower will start trying to get it down! So, anyone thinking about hosting it will need an ISP with balls. That's for sure.

  This will need to be near the top of our list when selecting a host. I suppose we ought to let them know that some people will find the site content controversial and will try to shut it down, and are they happy resisting such pressures...

  SNG wrote:

  what about hosting in China or Tonga or someplace not likely to care about letters from the WT?

  Great idea! Doubtless the Chinese would welcome an anti-JW site...!

  SNG, would you mind making some initial enquiries?

  Back-end systems:

  Quotes made some great suggestions regarding using open source CMSs. I guess the main issues might be software stability, support, and ongoing development; ease and accuracy of importing XML data; customisability; and ease of content maintenance by non-techie users. Anything else?

  Quotes, do any of the CMSs have any special hardware or software requirements that would limit the choice of hosts?

  Would anyone else like to look at the systems Quotes referred to and comment on their appropriateness or otherwise for what we might want?

  Does everyone agree that using an off-the-shelf CMS is faster, easier and cheaper than hand-crafting a new site on SQL Server, etc?
• 
  66

  OK, I HAVE to meet with the judicial committee. Advice?

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey guys,.

  " you say, "no you don't, you mind-controlled idiot.

  tell 'em to fark off.

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  IT Support

  AlmostAthiest,

  The committee chairman called me tonight and set me up for a meeting next Saturday (1/22) at the Kingdumb Hell.

  How about saying, 'Fine, and I'll be bringing my attorney along with me.'
• 
  149

  Watchtower Observer site goes down

  by Norm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey folks,.

  an era in the ex-jw history is over.

  kent steinhaug's site http://watchtower.observer.org is being shut down.. it was the first of it's kind, and to this day probably still the largest anti wt site on the net.

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• 

  IT Support

  Kent,

  I don't have any PayPal or anything else, but I'm sure there is a way to fix this.

  If you don't mind opening a Paypal account, that would be the easiest way to transfer the money to you. So far as I can see , there is no problem opening one from Norway.

  Just go to www.paypal.com and click on the Sign Up button.

  As long as I do get money to save the data, I will contact Saxotech and order an export of them as soon as everything is in order.

  Brilliant, thank you Kent.

  Some further questions:

  • Would you like us to each individually send our money to your Paypal account, or would you prefer if one of us collected all the funds and transferred it in one go?
  • What media would Saxotech use to deliver the data? (If DVD, it would possibly limit who would be able to duplicate the data.)

  I believe "watchtowerobserver" is free as a domain. I need the old, since I also use it for business (observer.org).

  Sounds good to me.

  Also, the site is "famous". Thousansds of pages links to the Observer, and I believe it's possible to make lots of people redirect their links. As long as the name of the site is the same, people know what to search for, and the amount of info in the site assures the searchengines to index it rather quickly.

  Makes sense.
• 
  149

  Watchtower Observer site goes down

  by Norm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey folks,.

  an era in the ex-jw history is over.

  kent steinhaug's site http://watchtower.observer.org is being shut down.. it was the first of it's kind, and to this day probably still the largest anti wt site on the net.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  IT Support

  Thanks, everyone, for 'chipping in.' So far, so good!

  I guess as I started this, I ought to see it through, unless anyone else wishes to offer, in which case they're welcome!

  So, how do we progress this?

  To summarise who's pledged what, so far:

  • IT Support: $50
  • Winston Smith :>D: $50
  • AlanF : $50
  • Elsewhere : $50
  • Kenneson : $25
  • pepheuga : $50
  • johnny cip : $50
  • confusedjw : $50
  • seattleniceguy : $50
  • anuva : $50
  • dh : $50

  Total so far: $525

  (I hope I haven't missed anyone.)

  As a number of you have already suggested, I agree that using Paypal would be simplest to collect these initial pledges. If you have a credit or debit card, it's quick and easy to open an account.

  Kent, do you also have a Paypal account, and we can each forward our pledge directly to you? O r would you prefer if someone else collects the funds then sends it all to you in one go? I'm happy to do this if nobody objects. (I promise not to abscond with the funds. ) Whichever, everyone who has pledged money can pm Kent or me with your Paypal account name, and either one of us will then send you a Paypal invoice to pay.

  However, Kent, if you don't mind, as you already know the guys and they know you, it would probably be easier if you dealt with obtaining the data from Saxotech.

  I assume the data from Saxotech will be compiled on a number of CDs or possibly DVDs. Perhaps, Kent, you could check? I suggest Kent then forwards them to one person who, in turn, will make copies and send them to each contributor. Any volunteers for this?

  However, I think one thing should be said before we get too carried away with what we've accomplished so far. The way I see it, there are two sides to this project:

  1. Obtaining the data from Saxotech: everyone who has contributed towards the cost should be entitled, if they wish, to a copy of the data. We could just leave it at that and do nothing more. The money pledged so far ought to cover this cost.

  2. Set up an 'alternative' Watchtower Observer web site: there have been very generous offers of technical assistance to do this (see below), but there will still be ongoing costs.

  Are we prepared to meet these costs, rather than have them all fall on perhaps one or two individuals? If we're not prepared to meet them, we should perhaps just stop here and be grateful that we've been able to rescue all the data Kent has so tireless compiled over the years. (Kent, speaking personally, words cannot adequately describe the debt I owe you for setting up your site.)

  If we're prepared to meet these ongoing costs, I would suggest we should have a reasonable idea in advance of what they will be and among whom they will be shared. Does this sound reasonable so far?

  So, please keep the pledges rolling in, we'll definitely need more money:

  • Kent said the cost would be "about $500" so it may be more. Of course, it may be less, but then, this is an IT company we're dealing with!
  • Hosting fees and bandwidth charges,
• We may need a 'fighting fund' if we need to pay for legal advice.

Offers of technical help:

• nicolaou: "I'd be more than happy to host all those B.O.E letters and other documentation at a new portal site I'm working on"
• Pole: "I can then convert it to SQL or plain HTML for free."
• Euphemism : "I'm a professional developer (primarily .NET at the moment, but I've done PHP/mySQL in the past) and would be happy to provide tech help."
• seattleniceguy : "I could aid in several other facets of the re-development effort, as well, such as design and development of the new site."

What we need to do:

• Find a host willing to host our 'controversial' site and with the backbone to resist WT's legal rotweilers. For a reasonable price! Anyone willing to investigate?
• Decide what web standards and tools should be used and in what format the data should be held, bearing in mind it should simple to maintain. (Future maintainers may not have the technical expertise of the developers!) Can two or three of us who have experience in this get together to hammer out the practicalities?
• Decide what to call the site. Perhaps Kent will be willing to sell the 'Watchtower Observer' domain name, perhaps he might want to keep it for sentimental reasons. Or rather than simply 'clone' Kent's site, perhaps a new site ought to have a new 'look and feel,' including a new name. Any suggestions?
• Carry out the data conversion. Any volunteers?
• Build the site. Any volunteers?

Have I forgotten anything?

Watchtower has declared war on the truth. They are desperate to deny access to the information that proves their dishonesty. They are a multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporation against a few private individuals. Can we give them a bloody nose? Will we?