open posting to 21MDB (and to Jake)

This is an open posting to 21MillionDollarBaby. I encourage everyone to respond to my comments, no matter what you think… perhaps I'm off base, but this is what I think. Perhaps as a result of these comments, some users will change their opinion of me, but that's the way life is. And to be honest, the last thing I want to do is run my life the way people think I should. And to Jake, I'm a bit sorry to bring you into this but you really shouldn't hit the reply button on anonymous emails, and those replies go right back to the email robot, which then come to me.

To 21MillionDollarBaby:
Since your arrival here at this site, you have been almost completely negative. Rather than making suggestions about how to improve things, you complained about the way things were. And when I was able to take some time to explain my actions you questioned it over and over and over. Well, I'm really, really tired of it. To be honest, right now it is taking all my strength to write this message rather than simply terminating your account altogether.

I want to address some points you have brought up, and do it publically for all to see. But first, some notes about the site.

1. I spend an average of 20 hours a week on this site; answering emails (mostly of newbies), adding features, checking hits, maintaining the server, etc. The average programmer makes $35/hr so that's $700 it's costing me. However, that's if I was working for a company. As a consultant, I can make at least $90/hr. That means, I'm losing out on $1800.
2. I get 20-40 emails per day about this site
3. This site is hosted on a internet connection that costs me $2400 per year.
4. The domains each cost me $50 per year.
5. The machine that this site runs on cost me $2000.
6. The current look and feel of the site cost $1500.
7. My income from running this site is ZERO, nothing, zilch.

You still think you have rights? Okay, no problem. Let me address your comments.

21MDB said: dr changed the user levels AGAIN! I think we have a right to know what they are. And I WANT to know what they are.

No, this is my site. And as such, I don't have to disclose anything. Plus. if I disclosed exactly what the user requirements were, people just like you would do exactly what they needed to in order to get a better level.

21MDB said: why HE doesn't have a 'user level'? Site Admin is NOT a level. He can be SA AND have a level.

Site Admin is my user level. Deal with it. And no, the way the system is programmed, that's the only way it can be. Site admin is just a level, just like Newbie, or User or Tracker. And since a lot of new users don't understand the site and want to ask questions, it's important that they know that I am the site admin, which they can see when they view my user information.

21MDB said: Just another example of how he's not even part of his own site. Are we a bunch of guineas or what?

I (along with my brother) entered in the only bills for almost two years. I think I'm a pretty active part of the site. Just because I don't have a user level and just because I don't write useless replies to every message like you do, doesn't mean I am not active. As for being guinea pigs, I don't see how that is even relative.

21MDB said: I'm not even gonna bother talking to him anymore.

Perfect, now instead of acting like mature adults, let's act like a child. Okay, fine, if we are going to play that game, how do you like your new user level (permanent newbie). This childish thing is fun isn't it?

JakeTheDrifter wrote: Like I said in my previous message, dr doesn't answer my emails.

I don't answer a lot of emails. As I said above, I get a lot of email, so I have to prioritize it. So if I have an email from a new user who is having trouble or a whining email about user levels, which do I reply to first? The newbie of course. If I have a mail from someone who can't register and an email asking me to manually enter in their older bills, which gets answered first? The registration question of course. I am NOT simply deleting the emails that I haven't replied to.

Jake wrote: we will find a way to cheat his stupid little system

Ah, yes, let's go back to being childish. You know what? If it's so stupid, then why do you insist on getting so wrapped up in your user level? Because it's fun, not stupid, right? Well, if you want to be childish too, you can join 21MDB at her new level. Wow, this is so fun and so theopeutic (or is it just a quick fix, Seretonin? g)

Jake wrote: But, you know what, 21? You are kicking dr's ass on his own site. Now that must really burn his mangy little butt!

In case you haven't noticed, there are many people ahead of me in many categories. I honestly could care less. Other people a year or so ago once thought something similar, that I was changing the scoring to keep everyone else down. But no, that isn't the case. I change things because the site is growing, The way thing used to be when there were 10 regular users no longer works when there are several hundred.

I honestly cannot believe that I was forced to write this posting. What I do here, I do for fun for me and fun for all users. I do not make money from this site and it is not a commercial venture by any means. And as such, I shouldn't have to justify my actions over and over when I make changes. Having to justify myself, just makes me angry and wonder why it is that I even bother running this site at all. But I will not let bad eggs ruin things for everyone else and shut down this site because of them. However, I will take action against anyone who tries to cheat, makes unnecessary work for me, creates havoc on the site, or anything else that is counter-productive to the collective. Most of you do not fall under this catergory, but to the few who do, past, present or future, you have been warned. I do not have the time or the patience anymore for this.

Now with all that bad stuff now out of the way, I want to encourage everyone to continue making suggestions and helping out as you have been. At least half of the changes that have happened on this site are as a result of suggestions from users.

Thanks,
-dr

DR
As for 21 complaining about the user levels being changed I noted that she read your response and thanked you for the explanation and also said she almost spoiled her own fun. I for one understand how busy you are and how much time you must spend maintaining this site, and you certainly do not need to hear only complains about how things are..
I took some of the comments you replied to as banter and am sorry to see that you have taken them seriously (although I probably would have done the same in your position) as it is very difficult to take those comments when you work so hard at maintaining a very fun site that we all enjoy and tend to take too much for granted.
I hope that all who read this understand that sometimes banter can be taken as harrassment by the recipient and that it hurts and I believe dr Is only responding in the fashion he has because he works so hard to make this site a success and fun for all those who visit it..SO lets all give dr a break and behave in a more responsible manner…
I also hope that all who read this will continue to support dr in his administration of this site…AS well as giving him the respect he deserves for supplying this site for all of the users..

I think that was very well said, dr!!. Please don't get discouraged. I, for one, and I know lots more agree, this is a wonderful site. I think your posting may help.

I haven't read any of dr's message to me and Jake. I saw how long it was and nearly fell off my chair. Ok. Now, I've read it. I have NEVER cheated, am not NOW cheating, nor will I EVER cheat. dr, you don't even know what you're talking about. I'm glad you got this off your chest. Honestly, I am. And the information you supplied is very helpful. One thing that has become VERY clear is that ANONYMOUS email is not so anonymous. Won't be using THAT any more. There's gotta be a name for reading other people's email. All I have to say is that you are so totally wrong. But if it makes you happy to think it, so be it.

Wow, even dr has his limits. For me, its a great site to hook up with others across the country, this site is purely Canadian. We should be able to discuss matters that affect us as Canadians. Some of the matters that affect us most won't be discussed ad nauseum on CNN.

I fully appreciate dr's continued efforts, his time and expertise that went into creating and maintaining this site. Constructive criticism is one thing, constant bitching is another and doesn't help the general morale.

I'm not here as often as I used to because I got busy with other things, but if I had time I'd try and catch up with the 1000+ messages and enter some more bills. I still love this site for all it is and those I met here.

21 bite your tongue, there are a lot more things out there to worry about.

–Anglofrog

21MDB:

As I said, Jake replied to the anonymous email directly (using an email program), rather than sending you an anonymous email back via the site. As such, it ended up in my email box. Usually what I do in this case is forward the mail on to the correct user since it happens on a semi-regular basis… so I scanned down to see who the recipient was supposed to be and what did I see but your name, with your whining comments about me at the top. Did I purposely read your mail? Absolutely not. You're giving yourself too much credit if you think I have enough time to read email sent via the anonymous email system to see what you are up to. I don't have enough time to respond to all the email I get as it is… what makes you think I would waste my time reading anonymous emails? Jeez.

Also, you may wish to read my entire message over again, as I still don't think you are getting it.
-dr

I don't see what all the hub-bub is all about! Being that I'm not a competitive person, I really don't care what my score is or where I rank. The competition part is only a secondary part of the fun of this site. I would be in favour of eliminating the individual and team compatitions. (YEAH! RIGHT! That's easy for the team captain of the basement team to say :-) But keep the hits and the stats. Just nobody knows what anybody elses score might be unless we start e-mailing each other.

I agree with user levels. This is necessary to prevent abuse. But lets focus on what the driving force of this site is. TRACKING OUR MONEY. A hit is only an instrument to this end.

All I have to say is that this site if for tracking bills, not being the first overall or being a Tracker or what-not. So don't pout if you aren't a tracker, or a User, because that is not what we are here. All this info like that is here as extra stats because some users suggested that we have it. If you need to find out the old formula so bad, get out your calculator and find it out yourself, or decode the Java.

Good post Dr.

MmmBeer

When I first came to this site I treated it kind of like it was an MSN chat, but now I realise that Dr is incharge and what he says goes. No use whining. If i think a change would be good I may suggest it. I agree with white owl. Im never going to catch up to Idjit and Pooga so im not hardcore into the competition thing I just think it's really cool to see where my bills go. Also very Rewarding to see the Hit notification. As for posting messages I do think that 21 does too much of. I usually dont read them.
-my 2 cents
Nice post Dr
wes_bos

Have fun.

I read most of the posting for 21 and Jake. I hate this kind of ugliness any comments on anyones efforts could be constructive. They should never be personal. I'm not saying anthing else. I only hope I'm not misunderstood.

Thanks dr for giving everyone else YOUR wrong impression. Now that 21 and Jake are witches bent on destruction and mayhem MAY I SAY that the email comments were PERSONAL AND PRIVATE and not meant for anyone else but 21 and Jake. Go ahead everybody!!! Think what you want to. Now that the pie is cut differently, it's clear who our friends are. And we value and treasure them. What I don't understand, is why does dr keep harping at us? Can he not just ignore us? EVERYTHING he has accused us of doing, other people have done. Without retribution. There is a real DOUBLE STANDARD on this site. I think you really might want to consider a name change. www.dr's-moneysite.com maybe?

Perhaps, it's because everyone else is calm and rational when they disagree with me. Other people post messages making suggestions saying thing like "it would be nice if…" not "it's my right to…" And when people have done bad things in the past, they apologize and everyone moves on. For example, when one user's brother (also a user) decided it would be funny to add a bunch of fake hits and I bumped him down to permanant newbie, he emailed me an apologized. I do not have anything against you or anyone else for that matter; ask anyone around here… I am the most patient and forgiving person. However, when push comes to shove and it happens time and time again, then I get angry. And if one of the site evangelist were to post messages with the same tone and agressiveness as your messages, they would receive the smae treatment.

Once again, you still don't get it. Instead of posting your message above, a better start would have been something like this:

Hi everyone. I thought about it and maybe I was overreacting. But I want to explain my side of the story. I was angry when I wrote those comments about dr, and didn't mean it. I really like this site and like tracking money. But I also like the thrill of competing to be in the top 10 and in getting a higher user level. So I was a bit mad when I discovered that I had been bumped down a level again. So, I'm sorry if anyone took my tone the wrong way. I just thought we should all know how the user levels work. Also, I'm sorry if some people find my comments of actions around here inappropriate. I realize that there are other users of this site and we all must play together. So let's just forget this whole thing and start over, okay?

Of course, I'm just making that up and perhaps your reasons are different, but you get the jist. Sometimes you have to realize when to butt heads, when to take some sort of active/passive action and when to just accept the way things are. This is one of those times where you should simply accept things the way they are, so we can all get along and continue building this CMT community.

I will NOT back down on this one, I promise you that. In the old BBS days, someone like you would simply have their access revolked completely, but I have been overly nice, continually giving you the chance to shape up. So either stop with your aggessive tonne or go elsewhere. Because you're right, you are probably pretty clear on who your "friends" are… but I can guarantee you that at this rate you will be counting them on one hand, if that.
-dr

Ummmmmm…..ok.
Hi everyone. We've thought about it and think maybe dr is overreacting. We want to explain our side of the story. We weren't angry when we wrote those comments about dr but we did mean them. We're sorry we got busted. We really like this site and like tracking money. But we also like the thrill of competing with each other. The Top Ten and User Levels are simply markers for us. Incidental. Irrelevant. We will have just as much fun being Permanent Newbies. We're not mad that we got bumped down. We aren't here to cause trouble, we aren't nasty, and we're sorry we have seemed that way. 21 has spent her entire LIFETIME being misunderstood. "Don't take that tone with me, young lady." It's her communication style and can't be helped when she refuses to take her medication. is it an oversight dr that you've forgotten to mention the many times that 21 has been friendly, warm, invitational, and funny? That's the REAL 21.

Anyway, we apologize for the times when our comments have been inappropriate. 21 thinks Jake is uproariously funny. Jake thinks 21 should shutup, take her pills, wear her stockings, and go for a walk.

We prostrate ourselves before the HitGod and pray that in his mercy and compassion he will see that we meant no harm. We humbly ask to be put back in his good graces once again.

Thank you to everyone who has simply been tolerating us.
Thank you to those who have enjoyed us and found us funny.
And we apologize to those we have offended.

21 and Jake

welcome back

Now can we have some friendly banter again! I realy did like that little compitition 21 and jake were having and I for one would like to see this thing dropped. So please kiss and make up people and lets get back to tracking now that everything has been made clear!!

ditto pappa!!! on my knees begging for peace here.

Hi everyone,

I have read dr's message and would like to clarify a few things that were said as well as apologize to dr (for my comments) and to 21 (for hitting "reply" and causing this whole mess in the first place).

JakeTheDrifter wrote: Like I said in my previous message, dr doesn't answer my emails.

I don't answer a lot of emails. As I said above, I get a lot of email, so I have to prioritize it. So if I have an email from a new user who is having trouble or a whining email about user levels, which do I reply to first? The newbie of course. If I have a mail from someone who can't register and an email asking me to manually enter in their older bills, which gets answered first? The registration question of course. I am NOT simply deleting the emails that I haven't replied to.</B></I>

1) I have never whined about user levels or anything else, for that matter. And, I have, through the forums, made some possitive suggestions for possible enhacements to the site.
2) dr, I did send you an email asking why one of my hits was sent to heaven. I was not disagreeing with you; I just wanted to know why as the reason for it going to heaven was not obvious to me. You replied to me that you were too busy. So, I posted my question in the Hits Forum, asking the other users if they could figure out why it was sent to heaven. Some theories were offered up, but no one really knew for sure. By posting to the Hits Forum, I then asked you for clarification and what your ruling is for these types of hits, hoping you would reply and then everyone would benefit from your reply. You did not reply. Perhaps this was one of the times when you were too busy to read the forums and just x'ed out the posts. Nevertheless, I was frustrated by this.
3) I have asked you to manually enter 2 older bills for me. I shall continue waiting.
4) I did not accuse you of deleting emails.

Jake wrote: we will find a way to cheat his stupid little system</B>

What I said in my email was, "Figures we will find a way to cheat his stupid little system."

dr, by omitting that one word, you make it appear that I am a cheater, or plan to be one. If you are going to quote my stupid comments, please get them right. I have never cheated, nor do I plan to as this would defeat the purpose of tracking bills. I admit I am competitive (to each his own!) and enjoy competition but there is no competition if you cheat.

Ah, yes, let's go back to being childish. You know what? If it's so stupid, then why do you insist on getting so wrapped up in your user level? Because it's fun, not stupid, right? Well, if you want to be childish too, you can join 21MDB at her new level. Wow, this is so fun and so theopeutic (or is it just a quick fix, Seretonin? g)</B>

Yes, I admit what I said was childish. I have earned my new user level! :-)

Jake wrote: But, you know what, 21? You are kicking dr's ass on his own site. Now that must really burn his mangy little butt!</B>

dr, I apologize for my stupid comments. I am truly embarrassed and apologize to everyone else who had to read this.

Jake

My reply would only be similar to the comments I made a few weeks ago regarding the HTML…I enjoy frank discussion, dark humour, the pet photos, etc. It's the mindless, timewasting, entries I despise.
Everyone must remember this site would not exist without his hard work, and if he makes a few rules to control certain content, so be it. When it comes to these forums, he is like a newspaper editor…if he doesn't approve of what you enter for whatever reason, it is his right and duty to edit or deny the posting.

Well said, DR. *»>