# Board improvement. (YES, I did read the FAQ)=donations? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 22, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746 "2003-05-22T04:56:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arfur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Arfur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arfur)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/1 "2003-05-22T04:56:31Z")
Ok, I got the bit about the speed of the server thingy… (I am not really too skilled in 'puters) Avitars, obviously we don’t have them. Speed up the board=more posters… How about “donations”? Kick in 10 bucks or whatever, get an avitar and a faster board? Would “The Reader” go for it? I’m pretty sure ya’ll kicked the idea around before. Just hadda mention it. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/2 "2003-05-22T05:06:26Z")
I know this is going to come as a shock to you, but you are not the first to mention this idea. Glad to see you’re interested enough to want to throw some money our way. This place can be addictive, and along with the jonesin’ comes the desire to ensure your supply. 🙂 Yeah, we need to come up with something to make this a paying proposition to our corporate owners. So far it’s been mostly a fascinating and fun experiment in internet life. If/when they decide otherwise, we’ll let you know, believe you me. Until that great getting up morning arrives, enjoy. And hey, hit the button ONCE, please. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Arfur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Arfur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arfur)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/3 "2003-05-22T05:06:32Z")
please ignore my screw ups… /me new didn’t know that when I get the “server busy” message, this means it still may have gone through… /me shrinks humbily into corner ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/4 "2003-05-22T05:07:27Z")
This has been discussed in the past, and the upshot is that many posters would be happy to kick in a bit of cash for faster boards, however, _how_ to implement this in a manner which is fair to all posters has not been agreed upon. The main problem is how to increase the speed for posters who donate but not for those who don’t. The fact is, it’s not really feasible. It’s certainly possible to make features available to the donaters, but arguably, that’s unlikely to result in any great number of donations. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/5 "2003-05-22T13:03:17Z")
The READER can’t accept “donations.” As a for-profit organization, any “donations” would be treated as taxable income, and the READER’s accounting system isn’t set up to handle such. As TUBADIVA says, various approaches are being discussed, including those mentioned by **Q.E.D.** ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/6 "2003-05-22T20:24:21Z")
Charge for sigs! ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/7 "2003-05-22T22:41:41Z")
Hell, we’re gonna charge [for using the letter “r”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=185322)! Well, as soon as we get that beta patch up and running. ---
**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/8 "2003-05-23T02:15:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*Hell, we’re gonna charge [for using the letter “r”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=185322)! Well, as soon as we get that beta patch up and running. \*\* You can’t do that it isn’t a vowel. 😃 Wheel Of Fo tune ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/9 "2003-05-24T05:18:01Z")
I can’t afford to pay $250 per vowel! ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/10 "2003-05-25T19:16:55Z")
Ya know something? I smell a sock puppet. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/11 "2003-05-26T17:53:01Z")
I’ve asked a few times before if it would be feasible for people to help the board by subscribing to the print version of the newspaper, and tick “do not send paper”? Or that there is a higher-rate (sort of an anti-discount) subscription rate for dopers who wish it? Or that there is a “premium rate” pricing scheme for the Straighdope merchandise for those who wish to avail of it? If that is something that would be a feasible proposition, please pass it on. ---
**Author:** ![djwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@djwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djwalker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/12 "2003-05-26T20:31:11Z")
On [Bigsoccer.com](http://Bigsoccer.com), they offer “Premium Membership” for 30 bones a year. They use the money to speed up servers, and those that pay are on the faster servers, plus they have perks like personal forums, avatars, sigs and other cool stuff. It was worth $2.50 a month for me, as I use it often. Could work here. Just a thought. Dave ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/13 "2003-05-26T20:42:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \*\*Ya know something? I smell a sock puppet. \*\* Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll put my shoes back on now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-improvement-yes-i-did-read-the-faq-donations/176746/14 "2003-05-27T01:19:07Z")
The sock puppet that **Loneraven** smelt was eliminated and its posts were sent to Oblivion.