Let's recall that ticalc.org pushes serious traffic. Looking at the last 7 days of traffic (and this isn't a particularly busy time of year for us), the run rate is for 160 gigabytes per month. Its not like we're serving up 700mb ISOs or anything even remotely large; that 160gb translates to a _lot_ of requests for a lot of small files. You can see more at the statistics link under the "about" link up top.

A contingent of the staff met in California recently, and discussed this in addition to a bunch of other topics. The general tenor of the conversation was that while we'd greatly prefer to remain one of the few ad-free sites on the net, it probably wasn't tenable in the long term. Having a revenue stream means more regular hardware upgrades, more redundant hosting, and in the end a more reliable service for the users.

I'm personally amazed ticalc.org has come as far as it has without any source of funding. Its also important to recall that at this stage the ads are an experiment; we must gather data to see what the earning potential is in order to determine how many of what style and size of ads will get run where. I'd love to see a system where the ads turn off automatically once we've funded the site for the coming month or quarter, but we won't know if we can do that until we let them run for a while.

I hope that helps. I'm just an old staffer and reunion coordinator :).

--
Phil Genera

I think It might be a good idea, whether it helps or not, to clear out file that are maybe 2 yrs.+ old that have no or few downloads.

Files that have few downloads are not the problem, as they don't take any bandwidth. They only take up disk space, and it's not clear to me that that is a problem right now.

You know, if I ever become rich and famous, I will definitely be delivering a sizable check to ticalc.org, so that it will never have to host ads again. For all that ticalc.org has done for me, that would be the least I could do. (Presently, I'm in college, so obviously there's no extra money to be had. . .)

How about using bit torrent?
Each directory could have a batch torrent updated weekly that covers all the files. Or if there are too many it could cover sections like a-g h-m n-z.

I think you'd get many more people volunteering as seeders than you'd get making donations.

I doubt that covers the usage pattern of the average ticalc.org downloader. Are there really that many people who download an entire directory instead of browsing for the good stuff? And if so, what's wrong with those people?

The site adds a lot of value to the zip files, such as screenshots, reviews, and zip viewer.

--
Phil Genera

>>Are there really that many people who download an entire directory instead of browsing for the good stuff?

I have no idea. There might be people that do that for the ebook or image directories.

Actually the ebook directories aren't that big compared to other directories...

Well, given that our files are so small, the traffic to the tracker would probably be at least as bad as the actual download traffic. Plus, much of the bandwidth goes to things other than the download - actually the majority goes to things other than downloads.

I'd guess that people wouldn't leave their torrent clients open to keep it seeded. Which would then mean that people downloading the archive files would be pulling all from the ticalc.org server, actually making the problem worse.

Note that in the past ticalc.org did have an "allfiles.zip" which was a collection of every file in each directory, but this was removed as it was simply being abused too much (trust me: you really don't need a copy of every BASIC game in existence.)

>I'd guess that people wouldn't leave their torrent clients open to keep it seeded.

Well I would.
I'd much rather seed a torrent than make a donation.

It think the ads are ok, but make them follow the whole layout of the site, actually expand them, because the small box between the article and posts breaks the flow, make them full width, also, you could put a box for ads down in the white space at the very bottom, near the contact us and disclaimer links.

Other than that, I want to thank you Magnus, it has been what, ten years of operation with out need for ads?

I agree; good job!

I think this GOOD news, actually. I think it will make the site look more professional.

However, !-NO-! flash ads where you have to zap the fly, shoot the bunny, you have one 10 grand, etc. that are blinking constantly. I hate those and they are uber distracting! that would be nice.

I think Flash should be banned off the web altogether.

Good idea! I hate the slow-as-molasses sites that are done completely with Flash and don't work well.

From reading the other comments, though, it seems like they'd be sticking to text ads here.

I believe all staffers agreed that text-only ads were a must. We hate flash ones as much as you do. ;-)

not to mention that the flash ads would probably increase the required bandwidth and make pages load slower

Except that ads don't load off of the server of the web site you are visiting; they are loaded off the advertising company's web server.

Of course, that doesn't give an excuse for anyone to use flash ads.

ok, than if nothing else, it runs up my throughput clock and, possibly causing me to have to pay more to increase my allowed download per month.

Aww... There are some good uses for flash. In fact, I think I found the only one. ^link^

Who doesn't like circles?

And what about internet games? most of those use flash.

Or do you think that games should be banned too?

You're right, that *is* the one good use for flash. I had a lot of fun playing with those circles. OK, so all flash sites but that one are banned, and flash games are replaced with Java applets... ;-)

NO!! At least flash adds don't use much system resources. Java ads are worse than flash since they clog the cpu really bad!!

lmao I agree. Macromedia is a Microsoft lover anyway-- I use Linux and the most current version of flash those lazy guys have out for it is version 7 and it's buggy. They are up to version 9 for windows. Half the flash stuff out there right now doesn't even work with version 7. I hate Microsoft and those who help support their monopoly.

They have a Version 9 Beta for i386 Linux. That's no excuse, though. There is also a Free (not just "free") Flash player called GNU Gnash (see Web Page link).

I really don't like Macromedia (now part of Adobe). I didn't even like Adobe before they bought Macromedia, and that hasn't changed. One thing I really hate are sites that say you need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view a PDF, when that's simply not true. I can view PDF's in gv, xpdf, gpdf, or even KGhostView! Plus, they load in a couple of seconds vs. half a minute or more for Acrocrap Reader. Silly people with their silly misconceptions about PDF.

Anyway, that's enough ranting for now...

But Adobe Reader has a better interface. It also sounds less virus-like than something like "gv"

Besides, who uses Linsux anyway? The only use is to fix a problem like a corrupt disk. It's not very usefull since most hardware is designed for windows. I have at least half a dozen devices that /require/ windows. One of which is a Dell Truemobile 1300 wifi card.

(Part 1/2)
Acrocrap in Linux uses a really old-looking widget set that no other *nix program uses, and it takes 100% CPU when viewing a document. Even on Windows it uses 100% CPU while grabbing the page to scroll. It's also proprietary software; I (nor anyone else besides Adobe) can't improve it when it breaks. That plus its annoying ads drive me away from Adobe and to gv or other programs like xpdf.

gv is Ghostview, a GUI for the Ghostscript program, which is a free PostScript and PDF interpreter for many platforms, including Windows. Unlike Acrobat Reader, it can render PostScript (PS) and Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files. EPS files are very common in Windows; Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, and many others use it. Also, Ghostscript can output to many formats, like raster formats (BMP, PNG, PPM, etc.) and printer languages (HP PCL, etc.). Following the *nix philosophy, it can also be used in scripts to do many things, like make lots of thumbnails of PDF or PS files for a web page. Try doing that in Acrobat Reader!

FYI, many Windows PDF creator programs use Ghostscript. I have a nice free (as in GPL) program (see Web Page link) that acts like a printer in Windows, so it "prints" directly to PDF from any application. *nix apps print to PS, which converts to PDF easily, so *nix doesn't need a similar utility.

(Part 2/2)
(I hope this doesn't show up twice...)

I use Knoppix Linux on my desktop regularly. It works fine. My Brother laser printer works, video works as well as (or better than) in Windows, and I can run a lean web server with virtual hosting (thttpd), the secure shell server, and other stuff easily and SECURELY. To do this in Windows, I had to download and install a few different programs, even to do just secure shell (which is a very common and useful thing to have). I fail to see how having to get additional software to perform these basic tasks in Windows is an advantage.

I really don't pity you for buying Windows-only hardware. That's your own fault (and the fault of the hardware makers, who don't release open specs for the hardware). Besides, some hardware is a pain to setup in Windows but "just works" in Linux (like some cameras, sound cards, or video cards). The reverse is true sometimes too. So, what other devices do you have that "require" Windows anyway? Have you even tried to use them in a modern (post-2001) and easy-to-use flavor of GNU/Linux?

I shall list hardware/software that I use frequently here:

Windows stuff:
1. RadioShack PRO-97 Radio Scanner Programming Cable
2. RadioShack multimeter PC interface
3. Sandisk U3 Falsh Drive (the mass-storage driver loads on others but no advanced features and nothing will work if security is enabled)
4. Dell TrueMobile MPCI wireless card
5. APC power management
6. Verizon NationalAccess for LG VX3300
7. Verizon Phonebook manager LG VX3300
8. remote-access for my father's company (when we're traveling, I'm the one with the laptop)
9. RadioShack Weather Radio
10. Sony HandyCam Digital8
11. :CueCat barcode reader
12. OBD2 automotive diagnostic scanner tool
13. WinTV TV-Tuner
14. AlphaSmart USB Manager
15. "iPen" writing instrument
16. 3rd Plan-It model railroad design software

I'm not sure about these:
1. PalmOS Hotsync with MS Outlook Support
2. home painting software from Lowes
3. home painting software from Home Depot
4. Britannica 2001 CD
5. American Heritage Dictionary CD
6. Nikon Coolpix software (I use the panorama maker a lot)

I don't know about most of those, but I know for sure that the :CueCat works well under Linux, and there are many decoder programs for it that aren't spyware like the CRQ software included with it.

The :CueCat is pretty cool, as you probably already know. I can scan lots of bar codes and submit my findings to the Internet UPC Database (see Web Page).

Have you heard anything about the legal notices that Digital Convergeance has sent to people who have "hacked" the :CueCat? It's pretty funny: DC claimed that users did not own the device and had no right to reverse engineer or modify it. How silly of them to think that.

Rather bad that the devices aren't cross-compatible, I'd love to get a mac; my dell sucks. Does anyone know if macs can be set up to /always/ boot windows or will it default to mac-os?

Yea, uninstalled CRQ from that computer, never installed it on my laptop, just the keyboard wedge so I can scan stuff. The Digital Convergance server is still offline as far as I know, last I saw it just came up with a "We have a dream..." page and didn't even mention the problems. Also, there's CueCatastrophe.com (I think that was it) that has info about what happened.

Did they tell them in advance that the devices were not their property? I heard one time that if you get something in the mail, addressed to you (that is, not misdelivered) it becomes yours, to do with as you choose. I doubt that they'll go after RadioShack for throwing millions of them in dumpsters...if they don't go after RadioShack, what gives them the right to go after anyone else?

I hadn't heard about the legal notices about modifications, could you point me that direction? I always love a great laugh.

When I received my :CueCat from Radio Shack, I didn't sign any contract nor was I told that the device is not my property. They just asked for some demographic information and gave the :CueCat and some CD's (coasters) to me. I'm guessing those :CueCat "hackers" received theirs the same way. If they got it in the mail, then it is their property; if DC claims otherwise, then that could constitute mail fraud!

See Web Page for some details about a legal notice that one guy received.

I forget where I read it but one site said they were distributed through radioshack and some bulk-mailings with the catalogue companies who used the :Cue codes.

Either way, unsess someone says otherwise -- on the front end, it becomes my property when they give it to me...to do with as I see fit...use, smash, cut, modify, etc.

Now, modifying it and then claiming it was your own work would be a differnt story...then I would say it would be a copyright problem but that's not the case here and I'm not a legal expert.

>Either way, unsess someone says otherwise -- on the front end, it becomes my property when they give it to me...to do with as I see fit...use, smash, cut, modify, etc.

Agreed. It's not like you're borrowing it from someone.

Interesting. And here's from Wikipedia (note second sentance):

"For a time, RadioShack published catalogs containing these barcodes, and even distributed CueCat devices at no charge. CueCats were also [emphasis added]BULK MAILED (unsolicited) to certain mailing lists, such as subscribers of technology magazines, notably Wired magazine."

Yes, I believe you can set it to always boot Windows. Fairly soon here, Parallels will be good enough that it will run all those devices you have, in Mac OS X (well, technically in Windows, virtualized in Mac OS X).

Thinking about it, there would be 2 things I can't use:
Meter kit log
Serial link I built for TI's

Why? The 9-pin RS232 connector that has been replaced by USB -- which is partially why I don't want a new computer because I don't want to have to get USB<-->Serial and USB<-->LPT adapters.

"Besides, who uses Linsux anyway?"

noob! I bet you haven't even tried it, so how can you say that. About the Dell Truemobile 1300 wifi card, I take it you have never heard of the programs ndiswrapper or madwifi before. I have a wifi card that's "designed for windows" and I'm using it as I post this. And last time I checked, the KDE desktop environment's graphics makes XP's interface look bland. Go check it out: www.pclinuxos.com

Well, I hope you enjoy your world of winsux, loaded with viruses, malware, spyware, slowness, and expensive software.

NO, I AM NOT A "NOOB"!

I HAVE tried: Insert(UBCD), Knoppix, and Linux, all of which are useless for everyday work. The only time I actually found a use is to repartition my hard drive without loosing data.

When I got this computer, I scoured the net and found many other people who could not find a linux driver for the 1300 card. There are drivers for every other Dell wifi card but not that one. The solution, they said, was to request the next lower model which would work.

I know of someone who used linux at home and ended up switching to windows for school work because of the required software (C++ for DOS; now Java programming) as well as ending up with a surround-sound card that only worked under windows -- and because it included software in the box, the store wouldn't take it back due to "possible licence issues"

I still stand by my statment, Linux is WORTHLESS for evereday use.

Why would he have to use C++ for DOS? GCC supports C++ very well, and it supports Java pretty well too (I used it for my Java class).

one reason: we had to turn in the files for a grade

The executables? If so, that's very odd. Every programming teacher I've had required just the source files.

we had to submit both -- to show that we wrote it and show it preformed the task correctly.

I don't get it either but if it means the difference between an 'A' and an 'F' I'll submit the stuff.

oops, hit post too soon:

on tests, we had to write out code to be graded but for other assignments...and projects we had to run on a projector to show the class.

>I still stand by my statment, Linux is WORTHLESS for evereday use.

That counts as flamebait in my book. If Linux isn't right for *you*, then say that, but don't say that it's worthless for anything but recovering data, which obviously isn't true. I personally use Linux 99% of the time (for "everyday use"), and it has always worked great for me. Try telling that to the growing number of companies which successfully use Linux on their desktops and the people who have happily used Linux for "everyday use" for years.

Good point. I hardly ever boot into Linux, but I can if I need/want to.

And just look at the French government: most (about half, if I remember correctly) is using Linux or is about to switch to Linux.

I think the German government is doing the same thing. It's bad enough for an entire company to get locked in to a single software supplier, but for a government it's even worse, so switching to Linux is a good move (..or FreeBSD, or OpenBSD, or NetBSD, etc).

And I have my UBCD so I can fix my hard drive when windows crashes. that's the only time I use any linux "flavor" -- the only reason I do is because that lets me modify NTFS whereas DOS I can only read it, not resize it. Then, I can install windows, run backups, erase everything, and reinstall everything from *clean* backups.

>I HAVE tried: Insert(UBCD), Knoppix, and Linux

Oh, and what do you mean by "Linux"? They're all Linux distros - did you mean that you tried another Linux distro too? No offense at all, but it doesn't quite sound like you know what you're talking about.

>all of which are useless for everyday work

Maybe for YOU. A hammer and nails would be useless for a lot of people too, ones who didn't need to attach a piece of wood. Don't assume that just because you don't have a use for something *nobody* does.

By linux, I mean one time when my drive crashed, I borrowed his install CD and loaded it on my computer -- not running off cd's, ram, or other temporary storage. I would consider all of the other "flavors" stripped down linux derivitives but not quite the full operating system (my opinion on that)

Granted, you have the second one but I can't see any reason someone would want to use it. I'd prefer (a)MacOS (b)Windows or (c)DOS

>By linux, I mean one time when my drive crashed, I borrowed his install CD and loaded it on my computer

I still don't see what you mean - there's no "Linux install CD", only the install CDs for different distros.

>Granted, you have the second one but I can't see any reason someone would want to use it.

Thank you, that was my point. Windows is what's right for you, and Linux is what's right for me and many others. Don't go flaming things just because you personally don't have a use for them.

Ok, I will lay it out in effort to explain better.

When my HD crashed, I erased it

Borrowed the install cd that a friend *made himself* when he had computer trouble

installed linux to my hard drive (as opposed to running it off the CD/RAM like I did for Insert or Knoppix)

Tried running it for a while -- from my hard drive (no external media)

Perhapes it's not the 'proper' name but it's the best way to phrase it I could think of.

Oh, a custom distro then.

much better phrased than I could say.

AND I TAKE GREAT OFFENSE TO THAT...

sorry I've been playing too many games. I didn't mean to seriously offend you.

you're forgiven.

>But Adobe Reader has a better interface.

How do you know? Have you tried GPDF or Evince, the GNOME PDF readers, which have perfectly fine interfaces?

>It also sounds less virus-like than something like "gv"

Oh, yeah, like that's a logical argument... You're just grasping at whatever you can to make it look bad.

I guess the bottom line is it's the name everyone sees. To use an analogy, Adobe is to PDF as Windows is to PC's

If I had a list of all of the programs, I'd say that the only one that looks lagitimate would be Adobe's stuff by the name.

And when I say "all the programs" I mean the ones mentioned so far on this page.

actually I suspect that the server for this site is running linux. The proof: I have noticed that win starts counting at 1 but linux starts at 0. For example: my ethernet card is called eth0 and my wireless is called eth1. Also, in the boot loader, the first option is 0, the second option is 1, the third option is 2, etc. I noticed in the url for this page it ends in "...html?p=1" (and this is page 2). On the first page of this discussion it says "...html?p=0"

That's not a reliable way of telling which OS a site runs on. That's just the numbering system (starting at 0, I mean) that the programmer chose when they wrote the CGI for this site.

You can look at the "Server" line in the server response to an HTTP request. In the case of this site, the response is this:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 06:53:12 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Vary: Accept-Encoding,User-Agent
Content-Type: text/html

ticalc.org runs on Apache 2.0, but it doesn't say which OS. I think it runs on Linux (I've seen it mentioned elsewhere), but I can't say for sure.

I don't really remember, but I thought I heard once it runs Slackware?

I'd say it runs on a web server...lol...

:P

That's correct. ^link^

(Part 2/2)
I use Knoppix Linux on my desktop regularly. It works fine. My Brother laser printer works, video works as well as (or better than) in Windows, and I can run a lean web server with virtual hosting (thttpd), the secure shell server, and other stuff easily and SECURELY. To do this in Windows, I had to download and install a few different programs, even to do just secure shell (which is a very common and useful thing to have). I fail to see how having to get additional software to perform these basic tasks in Windows is an advantage.

I really don't pity you for buying Windows-only hardware. That's your own fault (and the fault of the hardware makers, who don't release open specs for the hardware). Besides, some hardware is a pain to setup in Windows but "just works" in Linux (like some cameras, sound cards, or video cards). The reverse is true sometimes too. So, what other devices do you have that "require" Windows anyway? Have you even tried to use them in a modern (post-2001) and easy-to-use flavor of GNU/Linux?

Aww, crap! I replied to the wrong comment. Darn my fast clicking action!

Admins: please remove this comment and its parent.

I should also point out that in Windows too, you don't need Acrobat Reader. I dual-boot with XP (for my family), and when I went to install the official reader, it was 27 MB, which would've taken hours over my dial-up. Besides, I was getting tired of the >30 seconds loading time and the horrible bloat, so I found a fast and lightweight third-party reader and it works great.

I just tried the flash 9 beta for linux- it is still very buggy- it crashed my browser.

I won't go near Macromedia's Flash interpreter for Linux if I can help it. I'll probably end up installing Gnash if I want to view Flash objects badly enough.