TEOTWAWKI ATS Watch Party Thread

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: theshadowknows

Forgive me for asking a possibly dumb question, but how much does it cost to renew the domain?

Also, in your quoted section, who is "you" and "your"...is this a legal entity, or is it anyone? In other words, if someone else wanted to pay the renewal fee, could they do it?

I ask this only because, remember the domain and the backend are two separate things. If the domain stays operational, then unless someone shuts down the backend, the site will still operate (in theory).

The short answer, no.

Only the registered owner of a domain can renew it.

In this case, AboveTopSecret LLC.

If they do not renew, then Dogpile will auction off the domain.

In this particular case because of the length of the domain name time and the traffic, Dogpile stands to make a couple million off the deal.

The backend in the case of this website appears to be also hosted by Dogpile as a virtual server attached to the domain.

They will run out at the same time.

I may be wrong (I have been before!) but I did a little digging on this place when I was thinking about purchasing it.

That's all the information I could find.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That is, if it's not unrealistically expensive.

A quick look on godaddy and business plans go for around $50 a month. I don't know exactly what traffic and server demands the total cost of ATS is. Might be more than the average business?

a reply to: Lumenari

Thanks! I suspected the "you" and "your" was a little more complicated than that. Back when we were trying to work through the buy out options we weren't looking at it from the angle I just asked about. And, I didn't know you were interested else we would have involved you. Not that it matters at this point, but just saying.

originally posted by: kwaka
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That is, if it's not unrealistically expensive.

A quick look on godaddy and business plans go for around $50 a month. I don't know exactly what traffic and server demands the total cost of ATS is. Might be more than the average business?

The huge problem on this site is that the original site was personally coded and to "fix" it means paying a whole bunch of people to redo 2004 html. The backend is just an SQL database, after all. But they allowed images. Image storage is an issue if they actually attached that to the virtual server then every time a person saves an image and posts it, it costs bandwidth. And every time someone uploads the same image in a browser, it costs bandwidth. Every time someone has an avatar on, it costs bandwidth. Every time someone logs in looking on this site in PC mode, it costs bandwidth. It's a nightmare for 2024 that didn't exist in 2004.

a reply to: theshadowknows

Thank you! I did not know that! Does it show the newest threads and who authored them?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You actually told me that you were interested in bringing me in.

I was flattered, but at the time I was just thinking of buying it.

I don't do well with partners.

Water under the bridge...

Edit - I think I'll just defer to Shadow.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I guess it would depend on how the site is hosted, and if the data is directly accessible. If it's not, I'd say there's a good chance of everything being unrecoverable short of a personal backup anyone might have.

I don't want to say too much yet, because we aren't even sure what's what ourselves, but I've spoken with who I suspect is the real owner and I feel like I'm getting the run around. Just lies, bull#, and more questions than answers. I'm still not sure whether or not this is intentional.

I can't say I haven't made every possible effort at this point. I've run out of ideas.

a reply to: Lumenari

It's based on defunct forum software from 2003, XMB, yeah. The database tables are likely mostly the same with the exception of additions by SO, and they can be converted into a modern forum database.

One of the reasons I chose MyBB for Deny Ignorance is because it's the only surviving fork of the XMB project and I wanted users to have familiarity. Same bones.

I'd also like to add that MykeNukem has accumulated several terabytes of raw site data, and we plan on eventually parsing it into the site. That'll be way down the line though, as the ATS trademark is still active, and Deny Ignorance is a separate entity at this point in time. Not to mention the cost of hosting all of that, like you pointed out. At the very least though we can still import the posts and threads. Sadly, the media may not be doable in the short term.

IMO, the INTEL Community (CIA, NSA), Dept of State, the DOJ, and Top Democrats and Non-MAGA Republicans in Politics/Gov, all want to see the contents of AboveTopSecret.com vanquished from public access. The owner(s) could be under a combo Gag and Cease-and-Desist order.

The collection of knowledge here that the above entities want kept hidden, is far and above what is publicly accessible on any other social media platform.

If the contents are retained and moved to a new web-based forum in the near-future, ATS will continue to be the best place on the internet for researching and sharing information of all types. Particularly if the Search Engine is more robust than what ATS currently has.

a reply to: Lumenari

It's a nightmare for 2024 that didn't exist in 2004.

Helps explain some of how DI works at this time. If ATS is a dead duck, something like the live page will help. A longer new topics page will also be good when got some catching up to do.

originally posted by: nugget1
If ATS dies I'll probably move on to Deny Ignorance. The only thing that holds me back is the way they list threads, by the last person to reply instead of the original author or latest thread. I don't think I'd ever get used to that, but who knows?

Maybe I'll just get new glasses and start reading some of the books I've been neglecting.

ATS has been a staple in my life since it's first inception, but I just sat back and read for many years before joining. It was Sled 735's thread 'Has Anyone Had More Than One Type of Paranormal Experience?' that finally got me to join. I still think of and miss her every time I visit ATS.

Good luck to us all going forward!

I've been over there. I like th familiarity of this site but the other site I am becoming use to with time.

originally posted by: Cre8chaos79

originally posted by: nugget1
If ATS dies I'll probably move on to Deny Ignorance. The only thing that holds me back is the way they list threads, by the last person to reply instead of the original author or latest thread. I don't think I'd ever get used to that, but who knows?

Maybe I'll just get new glasses and start reading some of the books I've been neglecting.

ATS has been a staple in my life since it's first inception, but I just sat back and read for many years before joining. It was Sled 735's thread 'Has Anyone Had More Than One Type of Paranormal Experience?' that finally got me to join. I still think of and miss her every time I visit ATS.

Good luck to us all going forward!

I've been over there. I like th familiarity of this site but the other site I am becoming use to with time.

I tried every day for close to a month, but at my age change doesn't come easy. Truth be told, I didn't join ATS for so many years because I couldn't figure out how to! I'm a little more comfortable with computers now and figuring out how to do things, but every change becomes a struggle.
I just may be forced to learn some new tricks.

originally posted by: theshadowknows
a reply to: Lumenari
I'd also like to add that MykeNukem has accumulated several terabytes of raw site data, and we plan on eventually parsing it into the site. That'll be way down the line though, as the ATS trademark is still active, and Deny Ignorance is a separate entity at this point in time. Not to mention the cost of hosting all of that, like you pointed out. At the very least though we can still import the posts and threads. Sadly, the media may not be doable in the short term.

I'm not a lawyer, so by all means don't take my word for it... but

The posts remain under the poster's copyright. Independent of what happens to ATS the site or even the legal entity, the rights ATS has dissolve entirely independently of the original copyright still held by the poster.

If the data is imported in such a way that you can't strike individual posts by user name then as soon as a DMCA is made you're going to have to lose whole threads.

I'm not saying not to do it, but be aware that it's quite possible that there are former members that would be happy to carry on a grudge by filing complaints. I'm sure ATS has had the same kind of issues, but their ToS give them a defense against claims. Easier to set it up so that you can pull the entirety of a member's posts on the back end. It may make importing them harder, I'm not experienced in that, but I know it's usually easier to plan than get caught off guard.

It seems unlikely the owner will be providing a complete copy of the database, even to purchase. If the entity dissolves they'll no longer have any claim. If Myke has a couple tb he's got to have quite a bit of the site. I don't know how much the extraction method may bloat the data or what that ratio might be, but if I remember correctly the site db is only 40gb. The image files are on a separate 1.5tb. It was posted way back before the sale in one of the main threads about it. I don't even know if those threads are still up.

I've gone through a lot of threads that I'd put off for a long time. I've read what I could knowing it could be gone, but I'm glad somebody has an insurance.plan.

Myke may end up doing life in Canadian supermax for downloading all that retroactive hate speech and vaccine misinformation. Godspeed to him up there in Orwell's Canada. Everybody better dust off their "Free Mykenukem" memes.

originally posted by: Encia22
It looks like this party will go on for quite some time; 19 to 26 days, at least.

I wasn't sure if the lights would go out on May 18 or May 23.
I'm thinking May 23.
That's when the godaddy site says that this site should stop working.
It's a five day grace period from when the domain name is due.

The DI countdown clock (an estimate) says 8 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: Encia22
It looks like this party will go on for quite some time; 19 to 26 days, at least.

I wasn't sure if the lights would go out on May 18 or May 23.
I'm thinking May 23.
That's when the godaddy site says that this site should stop working.
It's a five day grace period from when the domain name is due.

The DI countdown clock (an estimate) says 8 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes.

According to the GoDaddy timeline TSK posted, the grace period is way longer...

Days after domain expiration What happens and what you can do
+1 day We'll try to auto-renew it, or you can manually renew for the standard renewal price.
+5 days We'll try to auto-renew again - but if that doesn't work, your domain gets parked: your site and email stop working. But you can still manually renew for the standard renewal price.
+12 days We'll try to auto-renew your domain one more time. You can still manually renew for the standard renewal price.
+19 days Domain goes on hold: it's still in your account but inactive. Manually renew with applicable redemption fee.
+26 days Domain goes to auction. You can still manually renew for the standard price plus the applicable redemption fee.
+30 days If no active bids in the auction, the domain stays in your account but now it's expired. You can manually renew for the standard price plus the applicable redemption fee. Once there's a bid, the domain is removed from your account and you can't renew it any more...

It goes up to 72 days, but an auction purchase would see the owner lose the domain between 26 and 30 days from the expiry date.

For the cheap cost of renewal, the site owner would have to be an idiot to lose it. As I've said on numerous occasions, the real value of ATS to the owner is in the domain name. The site itself has sentimental value to us, but appears to mean nothing to who bought it. If the site shuts down it would probably be due to hosting costs, not the expiry of the domain.

the site owner would have to be an idiot to lose it.

Maybe they are dead? Maybe they are still scratching their head on what to do with a bunch of open source spooks? I know it would do my head in if I bought this site.

While this ship is still sailing... DI is a plan B should it sink. Rogue nation is another if looking something to swim too. When dealing with the covid censors, telegram done good too.

It was Julian Assange that helped bring me here. If that topic is taboo, keep looking. Until then, keep punchin until that 404 hits.

originally posted by: Encia22
According to the GoDaddy timeline TSK posted, the grace period is way longer...

Look at what it says for day 5 - "your site and email stop working".

That tells me 5 days after May 18, which is May 23, ATS will stop working.

The domain name is still theirs for a few weeks while attempts are made
to get the owner to pay up. But the site stops working.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Yep, I saw that, but if the site were to go dark after the 23rd, we won't know for quite some time after that if it could come back online or not, which would cause the most anxiety. We wouldn't be able to say it's gone forever...

originally posted by: Encia22
Yep, I saw that, but if the site were to go dark after the 23rd, we won't know for quite some time after that if it could come back online or not, which would cause the most anxiety. We wouldn't be able to say it's gone forever...

It would be like ... the living dead. Zombie. Dead but alive in a way. ha ha