Here we go!

[paulette conlan]

Viva Retouch Pro! Donating to this cause was a pleasure. I have probably gotten more out of this graphics site than any other on the web.
Paulette

[Roger Roberts]

Count me in. I've learned more here than any place on the net or any magazine. The check is in the (snail) mail. Keep up the good work Doug.

[Doug Nelson]

I have to say (again) how much this support, both moral and fiscal, means. At last count we had 15 donations so far this month, most from the past few days. So far they total a little over $120. Even though that $120 will really help us in our search for a better webserver, the most important thing to me is that you guys rolled up your sleeves and pitched in. That is just so cool.

[rondon]

all right all ready !.... post a challenge ...

[Ed_L]

Hang on a minute. It ain't over yet!! We go through the 25th.

Ed

[rondon]

well... just a thought.... but if the submission policy doesn't already allow it... couldn't the restorations be chosen from actual difficult restoration clients ?
I'm sure the clients would like to watch the results come in...
and as it turns out ... the chosen restorer contibutes... I'd have no problem with that...
I don't see an ethics problem... and announcing the chosen submission by the client would for sure make some members day...
and .. make students scrutinize the procedure used more closely...
as I say... a thought

[rondon]

let me add this.. maybe a forth challenge... fast track ... just for the purpose I mentioned... I've seen some awful nice work come out of the challenges doug.... and can't imagine any one minding....

[Doug Nelson]

I thought I'd give everyone an update.

First of all, thanks so much to all the generous souls that gave whatever they could to support our little corner of the web.

Your donations generated enough revenue for us to upgrade to a much more reliable server. In fact, I've done considerable research on this matter, and we'll soon be moving to the most reliable server company I could find, bar none.

As part of the deal we'll be getting a slight increase in space, to boot. Having reliability and more space would have been ideal, but when forced to choose one I feel reliability is much more important.

We'll make our move in late July or early August (when our contract with our current server expires).

Of course, now this is an annual obligation (though our price is locked in and will not increase). So don't get complacent and think it's over because we met our goal. Plus there's all sorts of additional cool stuff I have in mind

And thanks again, to everyone. I'd go all gushy and tell you what this outpouring of support means to me personally, but I'd just embarrass everyone, especially myself.

[jeaniesa]

This is great news Doug! I think you made the right decision to prioritize reliability over space at this point. Thanks for the update!
Jeanie

[DJ Dubovsky]

Doug,
Do you know how the forum transfer to this new server? Same as last time as one long list for each thread that we have to seperate manually? Or will it be able to stay as it is formatted now?
DJ

[Doug Nelson]

Ah, those were the days

No, everything will be the same as now. You'll sign off one day on the old server and sign on the next on the new server. No one should even notice a difference (exept for the lack of errors and downtime).

Wait, I tell a lie. I might use the opportunity to install some new features, so those will be noticed

[DJ Dubovsky]

Cool. I was just thinking of the massive amount of work it would be to do that again with the forum the size it is. The last time made me look like a real "thread hog" with all the posts I generated helping to clean up things. I still top the list in thread posts.
DJ

[Ed_L]

I kept telling you that we had a great bunch here. That's good news. Thanks for the update.

Ed