# i am new and i am already complaining **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 18, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182 "2003-10-18T10:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MasterChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@MasterChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MasterChief)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/1 "2003-10-18T10:46:52Z")
What is wrong with the server, this site is so slow to browse with. It need 20 seconds to jump to another thread. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/2 "2003-10-18T11:08:03Z")
There are a lot of people using an already overtaxed server, **MasterChief**. There are slow periods, and there are zip-along periods. Have patience – the hamster can only scamper so fast, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![MasterChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@MasterChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MasterChief)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/3 "2003-10-18T13:06:38Z")
come on, all the people here claim to be highly educated and cultivated and intelligent. can’t they find a way to fix this server? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/4 "2003-10-18T13:30:29Z")
It’s been fixed. Scores of times. The truly amazing thing is that a MB like this exists at all. The Dope really is special. So, we just put up with the periodic ham§ster revolts. Welcome aboard, **MasterChief**. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/5 "2003-10-18T16:58:38Z")
My understanding is that every time they fix it to work faster, we all start posting more, while more new members join, and soon we’ve overloaded it again. Apparently, we Dopers can type almost infinite quantities, limited only by how fast the hamster can run in his little wheel. I’ve been here for a year or two, though, and believe it or not, it really is much better now than it once was. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/6 "2003-10-18T17:03:43Z")
There was a HUGE upgrade about a year ago. Then us addicts came in and maxed out the resources…again. Demand outpaces supply. The fact is, this board generates no revenue whatsoever for the _Chicago Reader_, which is what **NoClueBoy** was refering to when he said it was amazing this place exists at all. Be patient, though. This place is worth the wait. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/7 "2003-10-18T17:20:16Z")
Some days, 20 seconds is FAST. I just browse elsewhere in another window while I wait, or do another bit of work here at my desk and check back later. No big whoop. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/8 "2003-10-18T17:20:51Z")
Works fine for me. Seriously. It’s been really speedy the last few months. ---
**Author:** ![MasterChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@MasterChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MasterChief)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/9 "2003-10-18T17:44:51Z")
ok, i got the point. I’ll try and read some interesting stuff now, maybe the general question part… ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/10 "2003-10-18T18:05:21Z")
Stick around; you’ll become _really_ good at Freecell. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Simple\_Dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Dreamer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/11 "2003-10-18T20:14:44Z")
Or Snood… ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/12 "2003-10-18T21:24:21Z")
Or surfing for Deutsch Sheiße Porn, er…I mean, Spider Solitaire… ---
**Author:** ![MasterChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@MasterChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MasterChief)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/13 "2003-10-19T08:27:26Z")
i hate card games, and why do u want me to surf porn sites if i can have porn myself??? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/14 "2003-10-19T09:00:21Z")
I sense a whooshing sound … They’re suggesting ways to kill time until the hamster scampers and the server cruises, **MasterChief**. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/15 "2003-10-19T09:34:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MasterChief \* > \*\*come on, all the people here claim to be highly educated and cultivated and intelligent. can’t they find a way to fix this server? \*\* No we don’t. Not by a long shot. Only some of us. Professors and burger flippers, this bunch. Frequent flyer lounges and soup kitchens. Which is why I like this crowd. Take me for example: I didn’t finish high school, so I’m not highly educated. I drink beer, scratch my butt, and use gutter language, so I ain’t cultivated. I’m reasonably intelligent I suppose, but there are armies of folks on here who’d leave me for dead in the grey matter dept. And that is one of the reasons I’m here - to have ignorance fought. As has been said, this board doesn’t provide its owners with any income at all. It doesn’t even do much for its owners by way of advertising the _Chicago Reader_, because the thousands of hits daily are largely the same people coming back day after day, year after year. Oh yes, and most of us don’t live in Chicago anyway. I don’t even have access to a syndicated Straight Dope column in my city. So, yeah. This board self regulates on a sort of feedback loop. If you love the board enough to put up with the slowness, you’ll stick around. If you don’t, you’ll wander off elsewhere in cyberspace. If too many new people decide they like the board enough to put up with the slowness, and they make it even slower, then some others who were close to giving up on it before would definitely walk away. So it gets a little less slow again. Over the three years I’ve been here, with a few dips and spikes, the board’s speed hasn’t changed much. The speed you see now is a direct result of how much time and money the CR people are willing to put into it, and how much inconvenience the doping public is willing to put up with. We are blessed that this weird ol’ place is here at all. You’ll get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayfield_St.Cloud)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/16 "2003-10-19T09:47:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*Stick around; you’ll become _really_ good at Freecell. \*\* I sense the presence of a fellow addict. I figure if I keep reading the SDMB long enough, I’ll finally manage to win 100 straight without a loss. ---
**Author:** ![MasterChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@MasterChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MasterChief)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/17 "2003-10-19T09:51:20Z")
TheLoadedDog, why don’t they place some advertisement else than chicago reader ? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/18 "2003-10-19T10:00:09Z")
**MasterChief** , they trialed the use of third-party banner advertisements at one point, but it was before my time here. It doesn’t work, because advertisers want hundreds of thousands of internet users hitting the pages once or twice, not the same mere few thousand coming back regularly. It’d be as futile as advertising on an interior wall of somebody’s home. I don’t think many businesses were interested in advertising here, and the ads that did run actually cost the Chicago Reader more in web management costs than they returned in advertising revenue. ---
**Author:** ![MasterChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@MasterChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MasterChief)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/19 "2003-10-19T10:35:27Z")
ok so why is the chicago reader actually running this Board?? what is their benefit, why would they care? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182/20 "2003-10-19T10:44:10Z")
Because the _Reader_ are Very Nice Guys, who recognize the pure altruistic value of keeping such a great community alive. Also, we know where they all live, and will TP their yards, spray paint their houses, and feed their dogs bargain brand dog food if they take it away. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-new-and-i-am-already-complaining/208182.md?page=2)