Ackey

It's been a long time, and things have notably changed, though they don't exactly seem flush with cash, since those days - in the past it was a tense relationship and those who've been here a long time will remember we were actually "official" for a while but that didn't last.

Thank you for both before and in future, as we've said many times we're incredibly grateful to anyone willing and able to contribute something, no matter how much.

Genuine answer is Yes, No and Maybe. It depends on the day you ask really - posts like the above with cap in hand are the times when we're at "no" - today we're back to "yes" thanks to some generous donations above. Sometime soon we'll drift back to "maybe" again and come back out, cap in hand...

We're currently talking about our options, one of which could prove to be simply stating the cost per average user and, as you say, charging to that model. There's pros and cons to that, not least of all we've always tried to keep this place completely free-to-air. For now anyone who can chuck a quid in, it'll help...

Afternoon Everyone, It's the time we've all come to know and love loathe; we're almost out of cash! If anyone's in a position to make a donation then now's the time - we'll not be able to make the end of 2018 with the money we have in the donation pot. Further, it's becoming increasingly clear that as a Moderation team we are not really capable of supporting the site through the current model; this site is expensive to maintain and run, and coming to you all cap-in-hand every few months is both demoralising and time consuming. What this means is that once again we may have to look at the models in play and how we can better support the site. We want to be open; we have had people offer to buy the site lock-stock from us and take on the cost from there. That's not agreeable to us, as we've invested too much emotionally to do that. If someone wanted to establish their own supporters forum and make efforts to migrate users we'd welcome that and support it in any possible way. Equally if we've anyone looking to partner in a 'back seat' way, such as promotional material on the site for a funding period, we'd welcome that too. We're all-ears, folks. OWTB! Ackey

When I heard of O4U's passing yesterday I came straight here. The board was, as always, awash with people arguing about petty things. People winding each other up. Arguments over agreements. Slander, even. I walked away. Last night I had some beers with a few other Latics fans and we made a toast to O4U, talked about what a great contributor to life he was; positive, intelligent, humble, accommodating, considered, learned, many more things which it seems would make him feel very uncomfortable to have said of him. We missed having him there in our group, despite it being a place he'd never been. Today I came back. There's still all of the same factionalism and bitterness towards each other here, from people no less capable of being like O4U than Dave himself was. Why not stop and think when you next comment if it's the kind of thing O4U would have said. Have you taken a moment to reflect on it, are you making a positive contribution to the world, to OWTB. Or, are you thoughtlessly reacting only to make yourself heard, to make the person you are speaking to feel worse, not better. You'll be missed O4U, as we are deeply and sincerely worse off without you.

For someone who can't be older than 14 I would say he did exceptional. He looked a very calm head for a kid making his debut, in a team which was a bit all over at times. If that's what he builds on, and isn't just an adrenaline fueled anomaly, he could prove a good find. He's absolutely tiny, mind. Need to get him on whatever bulk-up plan they put Tarky on! Elsewhere I thought we looked entirely like a team capable of going down. Not sure that means we will or not, I've seen only two games this year and thus far too little to comment. But based on the limited exposure to Charlton away and Oxford away, it makes me think staying up would be more down to other's failings than our own successes.

You put way more effort in to that reply than the joke deserved. Fair play.

Does that not make it a rhetorical question?

I think speaks for himself on this thread. Fuck me.

You managed to get four downvotes!!

I hate to say it, but if the issues are on your device not OWTB it's hard for me to help you out... simply because the depth of variables at that point is insane. The best thing to do is: Airplane Mode On/Off (leave on for about 10-15 seconds) Turn Device Off/On (leave off for 30 seconds) Reboot Router (simply remove power cord, wait 30 seconds, replace it) If you still have issues I am happy to reply to people, but can't promise that'll be quick! For those interested, it sounds most like a DNS cache issue. In simple terms (ish); each provider (mobile company, ISP of internet at home, ISP of internet at work, many more besides) store a list of places on the internet and the site that points to them. So, OWTB.co.uk points to a server which host the site. When it expired it defaults to the providers, who use it for spammy links. We then renew it and it points back to our stuff..... but in the mean time, the mobile providers and ISPs we all use have stored a cache version which says OWTB points to the spammy page, not us. Further, your local devices store a cache of their own (kinda) too... again, just making it more complicated. If you really want to get in to it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System Finally; Sorry! We do try and keep these things from happening, but there's only three of us and as we've said so many times these things are picked up in our spare time (I'm on holiday right now!) and so do get missed now and again. Cheers, Ack

If you are still having issues on a specific device you may need to reboot it - to clear the DNS Cache, too.

Domain now renewed and should be fine for everyone. If you still have device-specific issues that's likely a cache problem. On laptop/PC you can try holding "CTRL" and then pressing "F5" which should force it through. If it's still an issue google "clear browser cache [browser name]" and follow those steps. The site, as evidenced by these posts, is fine now.

We did indeed. We had to cancel the auto-renew previously and quite openly admit this one slipped thru. It's all sorted now.

Trying to steal my fucking money you shit!! @Stevie_J is in charge of the money, so I will let him confirm the accurate link for everyone...

Cheers mate!

In theory it's not that much and it helps keep the noise down in the 'main' board - which in turn should help too, as less clicks is less costs. But, we've never tested it any other way - so it could be one of those things we have to give a go. As above from Steve, thanks to those who have contributed and/or continue to do so.

A bit of both... if we get a few donations in the next couple of weeks the pot may be topped up enough to keep going. If not, we pay next months bill and then by March we're looking at an empty kitting and will not have enough to pay the bills. Previously we've either got lucky with incoming donations in time or Steve/Matt have covered the difference until we do. At this point I don't honestly know what will come of March - it may be that we cut back significantly on functionality / boards in the hope that dramatically reduces costs. Or it may be that we have to accept defeat.

Post updated.

I can't speak to what the resource levels are like internally at Latics these days, but with Big Gordy not around (irrespective of his change in role) and the constantly shrinking budget I'd be astounded if there's more than when I was there. Which for context, in terms of non-voluntary and full time employees, was... Me. Mike, Roy and others all chipped in with time and a hell of a lot of effort, but were not there Monday to Friday. For what it's worth, seeing as I've not ranted about it for a long while, I was on well-below minimum wage when you accounted for the hours worked. Again, I am sure the current folks are just as stretched, and most days were 7 until 5 without any real break, midweek games that would be 7 until 11, obviously I worked all Saturdays and at least a few hours each Sunday, editing highlights on a laptop slow as hell. Still got slagged off for missing a letter or dropping a comma out of place, of course. Oh, and the part of the site in question is indeed outsourced. You could chase them in my day, to correct it, but that was often like talking to yourself. Alan H was usually the one to have success with that, as it was the kind of thing which infuriated him and he had more senior contacts at the vendor. Hope that helps cut the new folks some slack.

I found that Chonburi (sp?) shirt you gave me 8 (!!!) years ago the other day, when home for Christmas and sorting out a pile of stuff at my folks' place... had a nice little moment of reflection!

And yet, true. We mentioned it above, the bills are still coming in and the money really isn't. So, we can let people troll (really meek trolling, at that) and expedite the demise. Or you can act civilised towards people trying to do a nice thing. Fundamentally only Steve is an active poster on OWTB these days; Ric and Matt've pretty much gone. Myself and Zorrro are fleeting members at best, so it's not us who'll miss out.