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now i've a strong, strong heart
by mg at 01:29 PM on December 11, 2003
Recently I received an email requesting to purchase the domain name “Badsamaritan.com.” My first reaction was, “Never!”
The site was started back in October 2000. On the 1161 days the site has been around, I’ve written something on more of them than not. My 671 posts have contained in excess of 330,000 words (about half as many as in the Bible) and have generated more than 6000 comments (God doesn’t allow comments on his site, he must still be using Blogger). I’ve invested an enormous amount of myself here.
And it isn’t just about the numbers. I’ve found a place to dump any and all the weird thoughts in my head, and actually found people out there who think the same way I do. I’ve reached an audience, and been exposed to people I’d never have had the pleasure of “meeting” any other way. After three years of this, there is still a feeling of joy and excitement every time I check the site.
But, in those three years since this site has been online I’ve dumped nearly $1,000 in hosting and domain name services. I don’t even want to fathom how many man-hours I’ve put into this site. Even the long stretches I’ve not written anything or left comments for others, I’ve done what is necessary to keep the site running. The deus ex machina here is me.
When I think about all the money, time and creative energy I’ve spent here, and how, at best, the other pursuits I could have invested myself in, I’m not sure how to feel. Now I’m presented with the opportunity to give up the site, make a little cash, and suddenly be left with a wealth of free time; it’d be silly not to stop and ponder. What do you all think?
On a completely unrelated note, there is no better way to show your appreciation for someone and to help validate the impact they’ve made on your life by buying them something for Christmas.
comments (34)
How much $? What would they use it for. Never mind. I vote no.
by anna at December 11, 2003 1:38 PM
if it's a buttload of cash, i say take the money and run. all you need to do is come up with another clever name, register it, and move everything over there. unless you have the badsam address hard-coded in all your files...that might be a bit of a bitch to tackle...
by JC at December 11, 2003 2:11 PM
and if you don't want to think of another name, why not take badsamaritan dot net or org? all i'm saying is that you have to do a cost-benefit analysis here. ;-p
by JC at December 11, 2003 2:30 PM
Yeah, how much? If it's a lot, sell, then register badsamaritan.nu or .tv or .whatever. Come up with a new name and export entries over to a new site. This is a group blog. Is a 'www.badsamaritan.com' name that important to what we do here?
If they don't offer you much, hold on to it. I think this domain name will only get more valuable as time goes on.
In any case, keep the tagline. That's gold.
Or, maybe it's a sign to change things up here. Focus the content a little more or expand. It may take more work, but it might pay off with text ads or hosting fees for subdomains.
by MrBlank at December 11, 2003 2:33 PM
Hard coding can be changed site-wide instantly with a perl edit-in-place command. While it's hard to quantify the worth of something like what you describe - one can try arbitrary estimations. Considering what would be an "equivalent joy" to developing a site and having lots of relationships and a giant buffer of what some sociologists would call "weak interactions" which although individually small are still capable of having large impact on one's life (i.e. consider how most people find jobs), and I might think that it is fairly similar to consulting on a project. Consulting work I've done reminds me of web work I've done. Consultants get to jump into a situation, do lots of work that they enjoy, meet people, and get paid at least $100/hr. Thus just taking your 671 posts into account, if each were to take an hour (give or take, with th error making up for all other costs), the cost to compensate you for the work behind this domain would be $67,100.
Stupid estimates aside, what is the worth assigned to the joy in one's life? Someone can spend time creating a sight like this or they can choose to watch 447 episodes of Married with Children and Jerry Springer. You chose the former, and walked away with skillz to boot. Don't feel alone when it comes to putting out for web services from which you gain karma but not moolah. I've paid ~$5,000 for my own web services over the last 7 years for sites hat I've made, but if I didn't spend it there, it would have been squandered away in some far less useful fashion. Switch if you want, but don't for a second try to consider that anythign you've done here is not worth it. Some people spend more time reading this site than they do talking to their spouse everyday. How much is that worth?
by chris at December 11, 2003 2:42 PM
glad chris weighed in first, because i can't really add to that. i of course side with the inimitable anna on this matter, with one caveat: jc's plan B of taking the money, and moving this operation by night & name (baltimore colts style) is an interesting one.
i'm a purist though, and unless it pays for a tastefully done, all natural penis enlargement or perhaps a used helicopter, i say stick.
by lajo at December 11, 2003 4:01 PM
I dunno. What is the price in traffic and of course, comments? For some reason, right now, there are Jessica Lynch-search-like number of people here. 73 when I checked in.
I also have a question for the other writers, which at this point is quite a lot of y'all. Does it flip you out when someone comments out of the blue on an old, old post? I just got a glowing review of my triumph over the police when I got that bogus ticket. And while I do appreciate it, it just seems odd that folks rummage through the archives.
by anna at December 11, 2003 4:41 PM
People aren't running through that archives (probably) but arriving here via search requests. The site has an admirably high Google page rank, which means that it shows up on all kinds of search requests. Someone was looking for something in particular, and your police story ranked highly. The person actually read it and felt compelled to comment.
The current high numbers (should reach around 4,000 visits and 30,000 page views today!) is for a couple reasons. A radio show (two in fact) mentioned an old post (betty white nude) on the air, and linked it from their websites. This is another thing we'd lose. People find these things on search engines and then post them up on message boards, reaching audiences never otherwise who'd end up here. Some old posts that are extremely popular that way - the do you take too many quizzes quiz (20,000 people have taken it), the end spam letter, the pissed off cover letter, and a number of others I can't recall at the moment.
A move to a new location would END that, because we'd have to build up the importance of the new site and all the old links in from these places wouldn't reach us. That may be a good thing (fewer child porn and I eat poo searchers), but there'd also be no one stumbling across posts like yours and having it resonate with them.
by mg at December 11, 2003 4:51 PM
Thanks for 'splaining it to my tech-dumb ass. Believe it or not, I actually rooted through every single post before I uttered a word here. But seriously, that sounds like a lot to lose. Ultimately it's cost-benefit analysis for you.
by anna at December 11, 2003 5:19 PM
You have a good point, MG. That's not somethin I thought about before. My vote is not to sell. I like this place.
by MrBlank at December 11, 2003 10:40 PM
Sell! Sell! Sell! No brainer.
by Eviltom at December 12, 2003 12:10 AM
Sell it and I'll kill you. Not really, but it's a fun way to say "no, dammit."
by Kevin at December 12, 2003 2:46 AM
I would be okay if you sold it. You and the site would live. I lost a killer ranking in Yahoo (back when it mattered) when I graduated from college. The site eventually came back, or more accurately, I eventually recovered from the shock.
by jean at December 12, 2003 3:51 AM
Caution: I am funding my son's college by playing the stock/bond markets. Fearful of the recent spate of terrorism, I sold a large amt of stock a few weeks ago. Today the Dow broke 10,000 for the 1st time in years.
Oh, and I peeked at my Christmas presents. Looks like broadband access may be in my future. Hopefully that will end my double-comment bugaboo.
by anna at December 12, 2003 8:38 AM
My first instinct is with Anna and Lajo, no, but I'm notoriously opposed to change. As I get a little older I find change to be a scary monster.
How much cash are we talking here, enough to make it worthwhile? If it will raise your quality of living I'd be inclined to say do it. Thanks for asking opinions but what it comes down to is that this is your baby and since you're the one keeping it running with out of pocket cash, it's yours to decide the future of. I still say no though for selfish reasons.
by Ezy at December 12, 2003 10:24 AM
i'll send you four dollars if you keep it running.
i'll send you nine dollars if you make me part owner.
by lajo at December 12, 2003 12:05 PM
I'll send you ten if I can be Lockheed for a day. Anyone know where Lock has run off to now?
by Ezy at December 12, 2003 12:30 PM
I'm in Hawaii, banging the natives. I have a whole lifetime to be faithful, later on.
by lockheed at December 12, 2003 7:57 PM
You bang syphilitic natives, you get what you deserve. Hawaii, feh.
by Adam at December 13, 2003 2:55 AM
You bang syphilitic natives, you get what you deserve. Hawaii, feh.
by Adam at December 13, 2003 2:57 AM
Noooo! Say it aint so! Thats my way of saying dont sell.
by Jun at December 13, 2003 10:51 AM
Thank you for the advice. MG hasn't heard back from the people who wanted to purchase the domain, but I'm pretty sure if it is a good deal of cash, he'll take it. He likes money. So much so, that although he pretty much was certain he didn't want to sell the site, he posted about it any way as a subtle attempt to encourage people to buy him stuff from his wishlist for Christmas. Apparently all the people here are either too cheap to care, and therefore ignoring the subtle nudging, or didn't notice it and are therefore just plain daft. Daft.
by deus ex machina at December 13, 2003 1:48 PM
I'm not too cheap but my Internet service sucks ass. I tried to "add to cart" but "the page could not be displayed." I'll try "autofix." Email me a ground address. Don't expect the $350 camera.
by anna at December 13, 2003 4:34 PM
I'm not too cheap but my Internet service sucks ass. I tried to "add to cart" but "the page could not be displayed." I'll try "autofix." Email me a ground address. Don't expect the $350 camera.
by anna at December 13, 2003 4:35 PM
Weird... the site worked for me just fine. I was able to order the anal vibrator that mg had on his list.
by Eviltom at December 14, 2003 9:16 PM
Is the Astoria address where stuff is supposed to go to? MG, I tried to buy you something around the time you moved but it went to your old address. Now I don't know which one's in my account.
Somewhere in a dark room, Jeff Bezos cackles.
by jean at December 14, 2003 9:46 PM
Oh yeah, and whoever was in charge of packages there was incredibly honest and returned it to Amazon. So don't worry, I got my money back.
by jean at December 14, 2003 9:46 PM
My address is updated on Amazon, so if you were to order anything it would get to me. If'n anyone would like my postal address, not just to send me presents, maybe you'd just like to send me a Christmas card (that'd be nice) place send some mail to my email address and we can chat.
by mg at December 15, 2003 1:45 PM
I have only just discovered your site, and feel I have found people who are very interesting. You say things that I think, but can't write down because I have bad articulation. Anyway, do as you will, but I am just happy I could read a little bit. But IO think you should keep it,
by asiah at December 15, 2003 7:56 PM
Asiah, it's too bad you have bad articulation. It must be tough being dumb.
by Eviltom at December 15, 2003 10:39 PM
Eviltom!!!! >:[
by Shannon at December 16, 2003 12:56 PM
Asiah, please don't listen to Eviltom. Someone pees in his Wheaties every single morning!
by Linz at December 16, 2003 4:14 PM
Hi Shannon! Hi Linz!
In fact, I pee in my own Wheaties every morning. I also pee in my pants. I have the bladder control of an 89 year old.
by Eviltom at December 16, 2003 6:48 PM
Wow! That's fascinating.
by Linz at December 17, 2003 8:36 AM