Cpvr

It really does. I feel like an old fart during the day.:ROFLMAO:

It is quite odd. I feel bad for her. It's a quite "nulled" situation.

Dealing with spam is one the worst things that we have to deal with as forum owners, especially when they're able to run rampant. Have you implemented better spam protection systems after this? What methods have you taken to help you against spam?

Same here. I think it all depends on how much your server fees are. If you're paying hundreds of dollars of month in infrasture, then it's time to figure out things fast. As long as the server costs remain low, then simple things to make money are still important as it's okay to try and put some type of money back into your pocket. Especially if you'd like to reinvest and build up your community, in terms of launching advertising campaigns or driving in members through other means. I think it's always a good idea to try out A/B testing to see what works and doesn't. If ads aren't performing well, then don't use them. If you can use a few affiliate links here on there, then it's perfectly fine to do so. Having things that can help us sustain the long term growth of our online communities is important. As long as they're not off putting or worst, very annoying. Donations methods are key as they enable our members to support us in a way that we're not begging or anything, it's an option for them to do so if they'd like to do it.

I don’t use discord on my forum, but I do have affiliate discord that I recently partnered up with. They’re a much smaller community and have different channels that we don’t cover on our boards. They also share our topics on a weekly segment, which enables us to reach a wider audience. I don’t see myself ever creating a discord channel for my forum itself. I believe it’ll be the killer of the community itself. It is not a replacement for a forum. It’s a branch off for support systems and that’s it.

More seo updates regarding the AI overviews:

Hey [mention=10]KrissyCakes09[/mention] welcome to the community! Happy early birthday.🎉

Wordpress has recently made the decision to fire 16% of their employees. It's a possibility that they're current lawsuit with Wp engine may have something to do with, or they're just laying off employees to save some money. But without further ado, here's the news post from their official blog: Earlier today, CEO Matt Mullenweg shared with Automattic employees the following message. I have had to make difficult decisions to protect Automattic’s long-term future. This post will outline why the changes are happening and the next steps in our organizational restructuring. I wish to be transparent and acknowledge immediately that this will be difficult news to hear. We will do everything to ensure that all Automatticians, those staying and those leaving, are supported. [HEADING=1]Why We’re Making Changes[/HEADING] We have reached an important crossroads. While our revenue continues to grow, Automattic operates in a highly competitive market, and technology is evolving at unprecedented levels. To support our customers and products, we must improve our productivity, profitability, and capacity to invest. As difficult as this decision has been, we are restructuring the company to: Become more agile and responsive. Break down silos that have created inefficiencies. Focus on product quality, doing fewer things better. Ensure a viable financial model for long-term success. [HEADING=1]What This Means[/HEADING] This restructuring will result in an approximately 16% workforce reduction. HR will email those impacted to inform them they will leave Automattic with financial and support benefits. [HEADING=1]Supporting Those Affected[/HEADING] This process is complex with Automatticians in 90 countries, but we’re committed to communicating clearly and compassionately. Colleagues who will be leaving will receive: A comprehensive package covering severance pay and benefits. Retention of company laptops. Job placement resources. They also have our enduring gratitude for their time with the company. [HEADING=1]Looking Forward[/HEADING] Automattic has multiple products with world-touching potential in WordPress and beyond. I’m confident we will come out of this situation in a better position, poised to create a vibrant, profitable, well-designed company that will continue our mission to democratize the internet. I would ask that you take a moment to thank and appreciate the efforts of your teammates who have left the company, reflect on how you will move forward as an individual and Automattician, and join me in the vital work we have in front of us. I recognize this is a difficult time. In the coming weeks, we’ll share more about our path forward and how we’ll work together to strengthen our company. We understand that you may wish to access support and discuss this with those close to you. I’d like to remind you that Automattic partners with Workplace Options, which provides emotional and practical well-being support if you seek advice from an external provider. [links to resources for employees, redacted] As always, your HR Wranglers are here to talk with you and support you. Source: https://automattic.com/2025/04/02/restructuring-announcement/ What are your thoughts? Do you think the lawsuit has anything to do with their employees behind laid off or not really?

Leading AI companies OpenAI and Google have rejected the U.K. government’s preferred solution to the thorny issue of AI and copyright. Their positions, set out in responses to a consultation which closed in February, will pile further pressure on the government over the proposals, which have already sparked protests from creatives and lawmakers. The submissions were requested by the U.K. parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, after representatives of both companies declined to give evidence to MPs on their respective positions. The government’s “preferred option” in the consultation proposed amending copyright law to allow AI companies to train their models on public content for commercial purposes without permission from rights holders, unless rights holders “reserve their rights” by opting out. The changes would be coupled with greater transparency requirements on AI firms, according to the government’s proposal. POLITICO has reported that ministers plan to commit to publishing reviews into technical solutions for how these conditions could be met in a bid to quell criticism of the plans. But in its response to the consultation, OpenAI said experience from other jurisdictions including the EU shows that opt-out models face “significant implementation challenges,” while transparency obligations could see developers “deprioritize the market.” “The U.K. has a rare opportunity to cement itself as the AI capital of Europe by making choices that avoid policy uncertainty, foster innovation, and drive economic growth,” the company said, calling for a broad copyright exemption. In its response, Google said rights holders can already effectively exercise “choice and control” to prevent web crawlers from scraping content online, but suggested those who opt out of AI training would not necessarily have a right to remuneration if they still appeared in a model’s training data. “We believe training on the open web must be free,” the company said. It also warned that “excessive transparency requirements... could hinder AI development and impact the UK’s competitiveness in this space.” Last month, Google and OpenAI both urged the White House to oppose efforts by foreign governments to impose burdensome copyright and transparency obligations in submissions to a U.S. AI Action Plan. The U.K. government has received over 11,000 responses to its consultation. A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology previously told POLITICO no final decisions have been made. “We are carefully considering the consultation responses and continue to engage with tech companies, the creative industries, and Parliament to inform our approach,” they said. “We have always been clear that no changes will be made until we are absolutely confident we have a practical plan that delivers on each of our objectives.” Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/openai-google-reject-uks-ai-copyright-plan/

Lmao. Meta would never sell facebook to Musk.😂 Their platforms are worth a lot more his companies. I think Zuckerburk might have more money than Musk one some days. Meta would die rapidly if Musk “bought it”.

I’m currently listening to in the end by ching. [MEDIA=spotify]track:0L0U6Mk1aAGnv1vkVnBH8g[/MEDIA]

I have a notes folder and a section on my staff forum where I keep forum topic ideas, but generally, I just wing it. I only go back to those ideas when I’m experience a writer’s block.

Mozilla has launched their very own email service, which they hope will have the ability to give Gmail a run for its money. This announcement was recently made their blog: Today we’re pleased to announce what many in our open source contributor community already know. The Thunderbird team is working on an email service called “Thundermail” as well as file sharing, calendar scheduling and other helpful cloud-based services that as a bundle we have been calling “Thunderbird Pro.” First, a point of clarification: Thunderbird, the email app, is and always will be free. We will never place features that can be delivered through the Thunderbird app behind a paywall. If something can be done directly on your device, it should be. However, there are things that can’t be done on your computer or phone that many people have come to expect from their email suites. This is what we are setting out to solve with our cloud-based services. All of these new services are (or soon will be) open source software under true open source licenses. That’s how Thunderbird does things and we believe it is our super power. It is also a major reason we exist: to create open source communication and productivity software that respects our users. Because you can see how it works, you can know that it is doing the right thing. The Why for offering these services is simple. Thunderbird loses users each day to rich ecosystems that are both products and services, such as Gmail and Office365. These ecosystems have both hard vendor lock-ins (through interoperability issues with 3rd-party clients) and soft lock-ins (through convenience and integration between their clients and services). It is our goal to eventually have a similar offering so that a 100% open source, freedom-respecting alternative ecosystem is available for those who want it. We don’t even care if you use our services with Thunderbird apps, go use them with any mail client. No lock-in, no restrictions – all open standards. That is freedom. [HEADING=1]What Are The Services?[/HEADING] [HEADING=2]Thunderbird Appointment[/HEADING] Appointment is a scheduling tool that allows you to send a link to someone, allowing them to pick a time on your calendar to meet. The repository for Appointmenthas been public for a while and has seen pretty remarkable development so far. It is currently in a closed Beta and we are letting more users in each day. Appointment has been developed to make meeting with others easier. We weren’t happy with the existing tools as they were either proprietary or too bloated, so we started building Appointment. [HEADING=2]Thunderbird Send[/HEADING] Send is an end-to-end encrypted file sharing service that allows you to upload large files to the service and share links to download those files with others. Many Thunderbird users have expressed interest in the ability to share large files in a privacy-respecting way – and it was a problem we were eager to solve. Thunderbird Send is the rebirth of Firefox Send – well, kind of. At this point, we have a bit of aShip of Theseus situation – having rebuilt much of the project to allow for a more direct method of sharing files (from user-to-user without the need to share a link). We opened up the repo to the public earlier this week. So we encourage everyone interested to go and check it out. Thunderbird Send is currently in Alpha testing, and will move to a closed Beta very soon. [HEADING=2]Thunderbird Assist[/HEADING] Assist is an experiment, developed in partnership with Flower AI, a flexible open-source framework for scalable, privacy-preserving federated learning, that will enable users to take advantage of AI features. The hope is that processing can be done on devices that can support the models, and for devices that are not powerful enough to run the language models locally, we are making use of Flower Confidential Remote Compute in order to ensure private remote processing (very similar to Apple’s Private Cloud Compute). Given some users’ sensitivity to this, these types of features will always be optional and something that users will have to opt into. As a reminder, Thunderbird will never train AI with your data. The repo for Assist is not public yet, but it will be soon. [HEADING=2]Thundermail[/HEADING] Thundermail is an email service (with calendars and contacts as well). We want to provide email accounts to those who love Thunderbird, and we believe that we are capable of providing a better service than the other providers out there. Email that aligns with our values of privacy, freedom and respect of our users. No ads, no selling or training AI on your data – just your email and it is your email. With Thundermail, it is our goal to create a next generation email experience that is completely, 100% open source and built by all of us, our contributors and users. Unlike the other services, there will not be a single repository where this work is done. But we will try and share relevant places to contribute in future posts like this. The email domain for Thundermail will be Thundermail.com or tb.pro. Additionally, you will be able to bring your own domain on day 1 of the service. [HEADING=1]Final Thoughts[/HEADING] [HEADING=2]Don’t services cost money to run?[/HEADING] You may be thinking: “this all sounds expensive, how will Thunderbird be able to pay for it?” And that’s a great question! Services such as Send are actually quite expensive (storage is costly). So here is the plan: at the beginning, there will be paid subscription plans at a few different tiers. Once we have a sufficiently strong base of paying users to sustainably support our services, we plan to introduce a limited free tier to the public. You see this with other providers: limitations are standard as free email and file sharing are prone to abuse. It’s also important to highlight again that Thunderbird Pro will be a completely separate offering from the Thunderbird you already use. While Thunderbird and the additional new services may work together and complement each other for those who opt in, they will never replace, compromise, or interfere with the core features or free availability of Thunderbird. Nothing about your current Thunderbird experience will change unless you choose to opt in and sign up with Thunderbird Pro. None of these features will be automatically integrated into Thunderbird desktop or mobile or activated without your knowledge. [HEADING=2]The Realization of a Dream[/HEADING] This has been a long time coming. It is my conviction that all of this should have been a part of the Thunderbird universe a decade ago. But it’s better late than never. Just like our Android client has expanded what Thunderbird is (as will our iOS client), so too will these services. Thunderbird is unique in the world. Our focus on open source, open standards, privacy and respect for our users is something that should be expressed in multiple forms. The absence of Thunderbird web services means that our users must make compromises that are often uncomfortable ones. This is how we correct that. I hope that all of you will check out this work and share your thoughts and test these things out. What’s exciting is that you can run Send or Appointment today, on your own server. Everything that we do will be out in the open and you can come and help us build it! Together we can create amazing experiences that enhance how we manage our email, calendars, contacts and beyond. Thank you for being on this journey with us. Source: https://blog.thunderbird.net/2025/04/thundermail-and-thunderbird-pro-services/

It was actually a cornerstone feature for helping forums get off the ground back then. You could order posting packages through a credit system, and writers would jump in to start new threads or reply to existing ones, it was super useful for building early momentum. It also gave freelance writers a way to earn a bit of extra cash on the side, so it worked both ways. That was probably around 9-12 years ago. Postloop was really the first of its kind and ended up inspiring platforms like TheForumWheel. Both left a pretty lasting impact, people still talk about them, and a lot of forum owners genuinely miss what they brought to the table. These reddit posts discuss the impact that Postloop had: https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/s/I22WgqvXBs https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/s/9OiTZ8guvw https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/s/F1NYajt069 https://xenforo.com/community/threads/postloop-review.117300/

I do agree, but I think it’s more so being revived as a sister site to Reddit. It’ll be more looked as a competitor though, especially since Digg was first and actually inspired Reddit. I don’t think Reddit would actually exist in its current form if it wasn’t for the success of Digg. The key thing here is the founder of Digg wasn’t involved in the inner workings of Reddit, so I totally see why he wants to revive his own platform instead of working on Reddit. I also came across this last night while browsing Reddit: [ATTACH type=full]1466[/ATTACH]

Some people like their house a bit warm where others may like a bit cold, however, what’s the perfect and ideal temperature for you? Is there a set temperature that you like to keep your house or room at no matter what?

The value is in there algorithm and user base, so I think if users aren’t able to see the same traction that they were able to obtain prior to a new owner taking over, they’ll more than likely leave the platform. It’s also a huge money maker, so it’s a perfect opportunity for any company to obtain it that’s looking to double or triple their investment. It’s similar to when Google purchased Youtube. There’s a shift already taking place. I’ve seen many tiktok users starting to leave to other social media platforms as I’ve been watching the movement head on, especially on Facebook, Instagram Reels and Youtube shorts. The shift in culture will break the beloved platform and that’s not going to be a good thing. Top users have been seeing their views drop when they used to receive a lot, as they’re receiving 50-75% less per view. Honestly, the algorithm has been changed already. It’s going to be interesting to watch how fast other platforms manage to obtain some of their users, but there will be some users that will stick around till the end.

Hey there! [mention=625]Kaynil[/mention] welcome to Administrata!😁

Setting up a subreddit on Reddit can be a beneficial way to build visibility and traction. It can also help you generate backlinks and increase your brand’s exposure—one of the key factors search engines consider when ranking websites today. That said, you shouldn’t use it to replace your actual community. Instead, think of it as a tool to promote your forum topics and help your community grow in that aspect. So, where do you stand on this issue? Do you think it’s a good idea to set up a subreddit for your online community, or are you against it?

I don’t see China selling the exact algorithm either. It’s a pure political ploy at this point. They’re more than likely going to sell them a stripped down version of it, if it does happen. Amazon, Walmart, Oracle are all interested in buying it, however, Amazon has been an affiliate/partner of Tiktok since last year. Oracle has been powering Tiktok’s servers on the cloud for the past couple of years.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will again postpone enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 75 days. The delay comes after Trump’s tariff announcement derailed a deal that had been set to transfer control of the app’s US operations to American ownership, a source familiar with the deal told CNN. “My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump on Friday signed an executive order formalizing the delay in enforcement, a source familiar with the order told CNN. The announcement comes just one day before the ban was set to go into effect, after Trump delayed by an initial 75 days it when he took office in January. Former President Joe Biden signed a law last year that required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest the app or face a US ban, over national security concerns. The law was set to go into effect in January, but Trump said he would delay its enforcement in hopes of reaching a deal to keep the app “alive.” Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance — who was tapped with leading the TikTok dealmaking effort — repeatedly said in recent days that they expected there would be a deal by the April 5 deadline. A deal was finalized on Wednesday and Trump was expected to formally sign off on it in an executive order later this week, the source familiar with the deal said. The order would have kicked off a 120-day period to finish financing and paperwork for the deal, which would have seen a number of venture capital, private equity funds and tech giants invest in a company that would control TikTok’s US operations. TikTok’s China-based owner, ByteDance, would have retained a 20% stake in the spinoff company. For the deal to comply with the law, ByteDance can own no more than 20% of the platform. It also states that the app’s US operations cannot coordinate with ByteDance on the app’s algorithm or data sharing practices. New and existing US TikTok investors, ByteDance and the Trump administration had all agreed to the deal, the source said, but that changed after Trump announced his additional 34% tariff on China. Representatives for ByteDance informed the White House on Thursday morning that China was pulling out of the deal until negotiations were held regarding the tariffs. Trump and the White House team overseeing the deal ultimately decided on Friday to delay enforcement of the ban by another 75 days as it was unclear where the talks would go from here. Trump did not offer any details on theprogress of the potential deal in his Friday post, but indicated more time is needed to finalize it. Trump’s promise to further delay enforcing the ban will likely mean that TikTok’s 170 million American users can continue to use the popular short-form video app for the foreseeable future. But the delay in reaching a formal deal raises questions about the app’s long-term future, given the escalating trade war between the United States and China. The Chinese government has offered little public indication that it would be willing to approve a sale. “We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs,” Trump said in his post, adding, “We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’” “We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal,” he said. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A ByteDance spokesperson said Friday that the TikTok parent company “has been in discussion with the US government regarding a potential solution for TikTok US,” a rare acknowledgement from the company that it is engaged in talks with the White House. “An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law,” the ByteDance spokesperson said in a statement. Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/04/tech/tiktok-deal-ban-extended-trump/index.html

Bing has rolled out “Copilot” onto their search engine. Bing hopes that implementing Copilot will improve their search engine for a lot of people in the near future. Search engines have always been a gateway for acting on our desire for answers. Yet, an overwhelming amount of information against the background of an increasingly fast-paced world can constrain this very ambition. When we set out to build the next evolution of search, we sought to solve this by asking ourselves one simple question, “What if there was a better way?” That’s why today we’re excited to introduce Copilot Search in Bing. Copilot Search seamlessly blends the best of traditional and generative search together to help you find what you need – and meet you where you’re at in your discovery journey. All while supporting and building a healthy web ecosystem. With intelligently curated information from Copilot Search, Bing is your AI-powered search and answer engine. Copilot Search is rolling out today to everyone*. To get started, go to aka.ms/CopilotSearchinBingand start exploring. You can also access Copilot Search via bing.com either through the navigation bar or simply click on the suggested, related topics right under relevant answers in Bing. Source: https://blogs.bing.com/search/April-2025/Introducing-Copilot-Search-in-Bing

European Union regulators are preparing major penalties against X, including a fine that could exceed $1 billion, according to a New York Times report yesterday. The European Commission determined last year that Elon Musk's social network violated the Digital Services Act. Regulators are now in the process of determining what punishment to impose. "The penalties are set to include a fine and demands for product changes," the NYT report said, attributing the information to "four people with knowledge of the plans." The penalty is expected to be issued this summer and would be the first one under the new EU law. "European authorities have been weighing how large a fine to issue X as they consider the risks of further antagonizing [President] Trump amid wider trans-Atlantic disputes over trade, tariffs and the war in Ukraine," the NYT report said. "The fine could surpass $1 billion, one person said, as regulators seek to make an example of X to deter other companies from violating the law, the Digital Services Act." X's global government affairs account criticized European regulators in a post last night. "If the reports that the European Commission is considering enforcement actions against X are accurate, it represents an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech," X said. "X has gone above and beyond to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act, and we will use every option at our disposal to defend our business, keep our users safe, and protect freedom of speech in Europe." [HEADING=1]Penalty math could include Musk’s other firms[/HEADING] The Digital Services Act allows fines of up to 6 percent of a company's total worldwide annual turnover. EU regulators suggested last year that they could calculate fines by including revenue from Musk's other companies, including SpaceX. Yesterday's NYT report says this method is still under consideration: The NYT report said it's possible the EU and X could reach "a settlement if the company agrees to changes that satisfy regulators' concerns." But there is also a separate EU investigation in which regulators "are building a case that X's hands-off approach to policing user-generated content has made it a hub of illegal hate speech, disinformation and other material that is viewed as undercutting democracy across the 27-nation bloc," the report said. This second investigation reportedly could lead to additional penalties. The EU announced a formal investigation into X in December 2023, saying it would "assess whether X may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers." A July 2024 ruling that X violated the law cited Musk's overhaul of the verification system created when the company was called Twitter, and other changes. X "designs and operates its interface for the 'verified accounts' with the 'Blue checkmark' in a way that does not correspond to industry practice and deceives users," the EU regulator said at the time. "Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a 'verified' status, it negatively affects users' ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with. There is evidence of motivated malicious actors abusing the 'verified account' to deceive users." The EU further said that "X does not comply with the required transparency on advertising," and "fails to provide access to its public data to researchers in line with the conditions set out in the DSA." Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/eu-may-make-an-example-of-x-by-issuing-1-billion-fine-to-musks-social-network/

You can block Google’s crawlers from accessing your content via robots.txt, which will prevent them from scraping and summarizing your intellectual property. However, keep in mind that blocking crawlers this way will also prevent your entire site from being indexed and appearing in search results, which could affect your site’s visibility. The choice and options are there. It does suck, but we have to adapt to survive in this new era of search or we’ll luck out. https://www.intrepidonline.com/blog/seo/sge-google-block-not-block/ Edit: they’re now working on implementing more links to sites via their ai overviews!

I’m currently listening to its too late by Lexnour. [MEDIA=spotify]track:4rzrh2FLe4dZByJIJjDf3W[/MEDIA]