Hi all,
I know a lot of you have plenty of questions of how we got here and what it all means for the future. As far as what all of this means for our community (and if we are being honest, other related communities) from where we came and how it will look like a week, a month, or a year from now, we do not unfortunately have any answers.
But I would like to address a few things that are happening at the moment and hopefully it means that the lot of you that are finding out about all of this are on board and can help us grow to become the fun community we all enjoy being a part of. I hope I speak for all that we are ready to move onward and beyond the drama.
There is currently a plan being executed to make this happen.
This domain, name, and even forum software are completely temporary. That includes everything from the user interface down to the features. This was something that was created two years ago out of necessity and we are just using it as a means to get by. What will it all look like down the line? That's all up in the air right now as the few of us are putting our heads and skillset together to hammer that all out.
I can, however, provide a short glimpse of what you can expect here shortly:
As always, feel free to offer suggestions. The most important thing, however, is to be active and commit to helping us grow.
Thanks all!
I know a lot of you have plenty of questions of how we got here and what it all means for the future. As far as what all of this means for our community (and if we are being honest, other related communities) from where we came and how it will look like a week, a month, or a year from now, we do not unfortunately have any answers.
But I would like to address a few things that are happening at the moment and hopefully it means that the lot of you that are finding out about all of this are on board and can help us grow to become the fun community we all enjoy being a part of. I hope I speak for all that we are ready to move onward and beyond the drama.
There is currently a plan being executed to make this happen.
This domain, name, and even forum software are completely temporary. That includes everything from the user interface down to the features. This was something that was created two years ago out of necessity and we are just using it as a means to get by. What will it all look like down the line? That's all up in the air right now as the few of us are putting our heads and skillset together to hammer that all out.
I can, however, provide a short glimpse of what you can expect here shortly:
- This current message board is essentially V0.5
- We have not decided on a name/domain. The target audience for this community will expand beyond just basketball and the NBA. How far beyond is not yet determined
- I started the process last night of developing our own custom forum software in a framework called Django with PostgreSQL as our database. This will be V1.0
- V1.0 is being executed based on a development plan that Sharp (essentially, our backend and sysadmin guru) and I talked about a few months back
- V2.0 will be written somewhere down the line in a language called Erlang to allow for growth and have the best available server performance (death to 500 errors? Yes, death to 500 errors)
- I'll be designing the UI on the fly, so V1.0 will be very rough but it will be a much cleaner and improved user experience over what everyone is used to
- Featureset hasn't been nailed down yet, but early on the most important thing we want is a good core experience over anything
As always, feel free to offer suggestions. The most important thing, however, is to be active and commit to helping us grow.
Thanks all!
If you want a domain for us, that's cool. Otherwise, I can also offer up my forums. It's a fine place if nobody wants to sink any money into keep the community going. I'm already paid up on hosting for a few years to come and it's built out on Simple Machines Forum, which allows for tons of dumb plugins. Just throwing it out there in case it's needed.
If you want a domain for us, that's cool. Otherwise, I can also offer up my forums. It's a fine place if nobody wants to sink any money into keep the community going. I'm already paid up on hosting for a few years to come and it's built out on Simple Machines Forum, which allows for tons of dumb plugins. Just throwing it out there in case it's needed.Thanks Jeff!
Right now I think we are shooting for a two-phase custom solution to gameplan for scaling. Unfortunately readymade software isn't in sync with what we have in mind /geeks.
Also GAF-HOP was thinking of doing a forum as well… maybe we could combine forces?
We could most certainly accommodate them if they wish. We, I, have nothing against them signing up.
Also GAF-HOP was thinking of doing a forum as well… maybe we could combine forces?
We could most certainly accommodate them if they wish. We, I, have nothing against them signing up.
going to have to think about that copyright issue then.. lol
Also GAF-HOP was thinking of doing a forum as well… maybe we could combine forces?
We could most certainly accommodate them if they wish. We, I, have nothing against them signing up.
going to have to think about that copyright issue then.. lol
I've been thinking about it at night (I've not been sleeping much and i'm single, ok)... and I wonder if i could somehow farm out the copyright issue and foist the responsibility onto a site like soundcloud.
I use soundcloud a lot personally, and it's pretty great. And I'm sure that an extension could be found / added that would allow people to embed playable links from soundcloud.
That way, we're not hosting the music, and have plausible deniability on the copyright issues, as soundcloud are meant to be doing that. And they do do it. The same way linking to a youtube video is foisted back onto youtube...
Can I be a mod?
All in time. at the moment, it's a group of people who have been semi working on a project for about 8 months.
Most the time it is just links... no hosting..
Look at the HIP-HOP thread to see what I am talking about
Look at the HIP-HOP thread to see what I am talking about
Also GAF-HOP was thinking of doing a forum as well… maybe we could combine forces?
I was hoping this would be the case from the get-go. This isn't just a sports forum, but more lifestyle & entertainment, with a slight focus on sports to begin with.
What is the copyright issue?
Giri's ToS
Simple do’s and don’ts that should have been flaming obvious but apparently aren’t.
1. I do not care if you post sp00t/hot chicks. I’m not running ad’s so that’s not a concern for me. But nothing that requires age verification. To narrow that down for you, if it came from a porno, that’s a no. If you can see pink/chocolate bits, that’s a no. That’s both pics and gifs
2. No copyrighted shit. Just don’t need the hassle and the reasoning should be obvious. So no torrents, mp3’s etc etc.
3. Lets just not go full retard, ok?
What is the copyright issue?
Giri's ToSSimple do’s and don’ts that should have been flaming obvious but apparently aren’t.
1. I do not care if you post sp00t/hot chicks. I’m not running ad’s so that’s not a concern for me. But nothing that requires age verification. To narrow that down for you, if it came from a porno, that’s a no. If you can see pink/chocolate bits, that’s a no. That’s both pics and gifs
2. No copyrighted shit. Just don’t need the hassle and the reasoning should be obvious. So no torrents, mp3’s etc etc.
3. Lets just not go full retard, ok?
Yeah, I saw that I guess I just meant that you guys feel that will become an issue with the merging of communities then
Yeah, I saw that I guess I just meant that you guys feel that will become an issue with the merging of communities thenIt will all depend on some stuff.
The main thing being, as the host of the temp site, i don't want to have a copyright lawsuit on my doorstop.
Yeah, I saw that I guess I just meant that you guys feel that will become an issue with the merging of communities thenIt will all depend on some stuff.
The main thing being, as the host of the temp site, i don't want to have a copyright lawsuit on my doorstop.
Ha! Yes, that would be a good reason.
Soundcloud has a developer API.
Since we are writing our own custom software, I can add in a feature down the line that lets users upload their songs directly from these forums to the API. Might be a bit involved, but if that's something the HIP-HOP heads want, I'll make it work.
I think we just don't want people sharing download links to shit they don't own. If an artist uploads something to Soundcloud? That's fine by me!
Since we are writing our own custom software, I can add in a feature down the line that lets users upload their songs directly from these forums to the API. Might be a bit involved, but if that's something the HIP-HOP heads want, I'll make it work.
I think we just don't want people sharing download links to shit they don't own. If an artist uploads something to Soundcloud? That's fine by me!
Soundcloud has a developer API.
Since we are writing our own custom software, I can add in a feature down the line that lets users upload their songs directly from these forums to the API. Might be a bit involved, but if that's something the HIP-HOP heads want, I'll make it work.
I think we just don't want people sharing download links to shit they don't own. If an artist uploads something to Soundcloud? That's fine by me!
Well I make mixes as a DJ and don't own those songs per se... but I host them on a different site
Soundcloud has a developer API.
Since we are writing our own custom software, I can add in a feature down the line that lets users upload their songs directly from these forums to the API. Might be a bit involved, but if that's something the HIP-HOP heads want, I'll make it work.
I think we just don't want people sharing download links to shit they don't own. If an artist uploads something to Soundcloud? That's fine by me!
Well I make mixes as a DJ and don't own those songs per se… but I host them on a different site
Oh I see what you're saying.
I'd imagine we would be okay under that? I personally have no problem with you hosting those, but again I'm not sure of the legality. Let's do some research on it.
Also GAF-HOP was thinking of doing a forum as well… maybe we could combine forces?
I would suggest something that could accommodate any communities who get shut down and aren't going to put us on a watchlist.
Also GAF-HOP was thinking of doing a forum as well… maybe we could combine forces?
I would suggest something that could accommodate any communities who get shut down and aren't going to put us on a watchlist.
As long as we keep it peaceful, and don't slander anybody we should be ok
Glad we've got a place to crash indefinitely. Forgot about the little clubhouse!
Maybe we can get the other sports groups to post in here and help it grow too...I know there were a few members from here that were a part of MLB-GAF that probably wouldn't mind being free themselves.
Maybe we can get the other sports groups to post in here and help it grow too...I know there were a few members from here that were a part of MLB-GAF that probably wouldn't mind being free themselves.
Glad we've got a place to crash indefinitely. Forgot about the little clubhouse!
Maybe we can get the other sports groups to post in here and help it grow too…I know there were a few members from here that were a part of MLB-GAF that probably wouldn't mind being free themselves.
That's the goal. I agree with the others in saying as long as there are no legal concerns, we should try to have this or whatever forum we end up calling home being host to whichever communities would like to migrate over.
As long as we don't become one of those anti-gaf websites like thebore. Those people obsessing over gaf are creepy as fuck.
As long as we don't become one of those anti-gaf websites like thebore. Those people obsessing over gaf are creepy as fuck.
Please.
That being said unfortunate what happened. Good luck to you guys.
As long as we don't become one of those anti-gaf websites like thebore. Those people obsessing over gaf are creepy as fuck.
Please.
That being said unfortunate what happened. Good luck to you guys.
When a large contingent of the members were former gaffers it's to be expected I guess, but it's still pathetic.
I probably should have been more clear. There is one thread on there that runs as a meta-commentary on GAF The rest of that board has its own very unique identify that has nothing to do with GAF. But like I said good luck to whatever this board becomes and also finding its own identity.
As long as we don't become one of those anti-gaf websites like thebore. Those people obsessing over gaf are creepy as fuck.That'll be part of our mission statement.
I probably should have been more clear. There is one thread on there that runs as a meta-commentary on GAF The rest of that board has its own very unique identify that has nothing to do with GAF. But like I said good luck to whatever this board becomes and also finding its own identity.
That's only 1 of the few things I don't like about thebore. I have no desire to go on the internet and call people 'fegs' like I'm in middleschool again.
As long as we don't become one of those anti-gaf websites like thebore. Those people obsessing over gaf are creepy as fuck.
Please.
That being said unfortunate what happened. Good luck to you guys.
When a large contingent of the members were former gaffers it's to be expected I guess, but it's still pathetic.
Going OT but that thread has a small bunch of posters that cry about GAF and the majority don't really post in there except to laugh at the GAF spergs. Most of the complainers don't venture outside the GAF thread anyway.
I probably should have been more clear. There is one thread on there that runs as a meta-commentary on GAF The rest of that board has its own very unique identify that has nothing to do with GAF. But like I said good luck to whatever this board becomes and also finding its own identity.
That's only 1 of the few things I don't like about thebore. I have no desire to go on the internet and call people 'fegs' like I'm in middleschool again.
Well we arent GAF and we arent the Bore! That's why we here
Any estimates on when the permanent board will be up?
I believe reilo and sharp have most of the core done. Now just need to make it usable.
both obviously have real life jobs, but a week or two seems to be a realistic timeline.
Question for you all: do you mind the 50 page threads? There are some easy tricks I can use to make page load speed faster if I do that.
Question for you all: do you mind the 50 page threads? There are some easy tricks I can use to make page load speed faster if I do that.
I never minded it, but some people really like their 100 page threads..
If I had to guess, I'd bet 100 page threads on GAF are just two 50 page threads sent at the same time (internally I mean). So we could still do multiples of 50 very easily. I was more asking if people wanted the option to change it to an arbitrary number (like, I don't know, 10, or 376, or whatever).Question for you all: do you mind the 50 page threads? There are some easy tricks I can use to make page load speed faster if I do that.
I never minded it, but some people really like their 100 page threads..
oh yeah multiples of 50 is fine, not sure why anybody would set arbitrary numbers in the first place...
Here's some more in-depth technical discussion of where we are.
I've seeded a very barebones "core" set of tables (I'm still working out the models) with 160,000 seed posts. At the moment, insert (new post) is taking at or below 1 ms per post, which is fantastic. That will rise when we start doing full text indexing, but I am hoping with enough tweaking we keep it nice and performant.
Page rendering, without really doing much tuning besides slapping on a basic index (and writing a cache table) is at 3-5 ms for page 300 of a 50 posts-per-page thread. Which isn't *bad* but it's a long way off from what it could be. A lot of that is because right now we're using OFFSET, which effectively means that we have to scan through 15000 posts to get to that one. By switching to fixed-size pages (possibly bigger than 50) I can use much better techniques for getting to the right posts. I'm also incorporating some more advanced Postgres features (partial indexes, index-only scans, and deferrable triggers) to ensure that pages stay aligned when someone deletes or updates a post.
After we're satisfied enough with the backend, reilo and I are going to work on front-end caching as well. We plan to use Postgres's pub-sub notification system, in combination with a message queueing system (probably RabbitMQ), to invalidate cached forum data only when, and exactly when, an update occurs. What this means for you in practice is that almost every time you hit the forums, most of the content is going to be coming to you from a cached copy on the webserver, not the database. That frees up the database for other tasks and is the trick to scaling this out to multiple servers. If we get the pubsub right we can even cache user data that way, which is usually very hard to do in forum software (I've looked) because of security concerns.
That's just a brief overview of some of the stuff I'm doing. reilo can tell you more about the fronted and what we're planning for the user experience :)
I've seeded a very barebones "core" set of tables (I'm still working out the models) with 160,000 seed posts. At the moment, insert (new post) is taking at or below 1 ms per post, which is fantastic. That will rise when we start doing full text indexing, but I am hoping with enough tweaking we keep it nice and performant.
Page rendering, without really doing much tuning besides slapping on a basic index (and writing a cache table) is at 3-5 ms for page 300 of a 50 posts-per-page thread. Which isn't *bad* but it's a long way off from what it could be. A lot of that is because right now we're using OFFSET, which effectively means that we have to scan through 15000 posts to get to that one. By switching to fixed-size pages (possibly bigger than 50) I can use much better techniques for getting to the right posts. I'm also incorporating some more advanced Postgres features (partial indexes, index-only scans, and deferrable triggers) to ensure that pages stay aligned when someone deletes or updates a post.
After we're satisfied enough with the backend, reilo and I are going to work on front-end caching as well. We plan to use Postgres's pub-sub notification system, in combination with a message queueing system (probably RabbitMQ), to invalidate cached forum data only when, and exactly when, an update occurs. What this means for you in practice is that almost every time you hit the forums, most of the content is going to be coming to you from a cached copy on the webserver, not the database. That frees up the database for other tasks and is the trick to scaling this out to multiple servers. If we get the pubsub right we can even cache user data that way, which is usually very hard to do in forum software (I've looked) because of security concerns.
That's just a brief overview of some of the stuff I'm doing. reilo can tell you more about the fronted and what we're planning for the user experience :)
Here's some more in-depth technical discussion of where we are.
I've seeded a very barebones "core" set of tables (I'm still working out the models) with 160,000 seed posts. At the moment, insert (new post) is taking at or below 1 ms per post, which is fantastic. That will rise when we start doing full text indexing, but I am hoping with enough tweaking we keep it nice and performant.
Page rendering, without really doing much tuning besides slapping on a basic index (and writing a cache table) is at 3-5 ms for page 300 of a 50 posts-per-page thread. Which isn't *bad* but it's a long way off from what it could be. A lot of that is because right now we're using OFFSET, which effectively means that we have to scan through 15000 posts to get to that one. By switching to fixed-size pages (possibly bigger than 50) I can use much better techniques for getting to the right posts. I'm also incorporating some more advanced Postgres features (partial indexes, index-only scans, and deferrable triggers) to ensure that pages stay aligned when someone deletes or updates a post.
After we're satisfied enough with the backend, reilo and I are going to work on front-end caching as well. We plan to use Postgres's pub-sub notification system, in combination with a message queueing system (probably RabbitMQ), to invalidate cached forum data only when, and exactly when, an update occurs. What this means for you in practice is that almost every time you hit the forums, most of the content is going to be coming to you from a cached copy on the webserver, not the database. That frees up the database for other tasks and is the trick to scaling this out to multiple servers. If we get the pubsub right we can even cache user data that way, which is usually very hard to do in forum software (I've looked) because of security concerns.
That's just a brief overview of some of the stuff I'm doing. reilo can tell you more about the fronted and what we're planning for the user experience :)
The IT side of me found this to be pretty cool. How much effort/time has it taken you to get to this point?
reilo and I started talking about it ages ago, it came up pretty much every time GAF went down :P I think serious technical planning started about five months ago when some other people became interested. I don't remember exactly, but we definitely planned out the core structure (tags and a hybrid threaded/flat model) at that stage. We also discussed a much more ambitious variant that would use Erlang, coded to the metal, with state of the art algorithms custom-designed for forum hosting. It was (and still is to some extent) as much about doing something neat as it was about making the forum. Basically, our goal was to demonstrate how a highly performant forum could run even on very modest hardware. We had a number of people interested, but I don't think anyone thought it was *urgent.*Here's some more in-depth technical discussion of where we are.
I've seeded a very barebones "core" set of tables (I'm still working out the models) with 160,000 seed posts. At the moment, insert (new post) is taking at or below 1 ms per post, which is fantastic. That will rise when we start doing full text indexing, but I am hoping with enough tweaking we keep it nice and performant.
Page rendering, without really doing much tuning besides slapping on a basic index (and writing a cache table) is at 3-5 ms for page 300 of a 50 posts-per-page thread. Which isn't *bad* but it's a long way off from what it could be. A lot of that is because right now we're using OFFSET, which effectively means that we have to scan through 15000 posts to get to that one. By switching to fixed-size pages (possibly bigger than 50) I can use much better techniques for getting to the right posts. I'm also incorporating some more advanced Postgres features (partial indexes, index-only scans, and deferrable triggers) to ensure that pages stay aligned when someone deletes or updates a post.
After we're satisfied enough with the backend, reilo and I are going to work on front-end caching as well. We plan to use Postgres's pub-sub notification system, in combination with a message queueing system (probably RabbitMQ), to invalidate cached forum data only when, and exactly when, an update occurs. What this means for you in practice is that almost every time you hit the forums, most of the content is going to be coming to you from a cached copy on the webserver, not the database. That frees up the database for other tasks and is the trick to scaling this out to multiple servers. If we get the pubsub right we can even cache user data that way, which is usually very hard to do in forum software (I've looked) because of security concerns.
That's just a brief overview of some of the stuff I'm doing. reilo can tell you more about the fronted and what we're planning for the user experience :)
The IT side of me found this to be pretty cool. How much effort/time has it taken you to get to this point?
I'm working at a startup right now and I've been extremely busy (I am actually probably going to have to only work on this weekends from here on in), so I put that project on hold. I hadn't even really been paying attention to NBA-Age for awhile. Then a couple of days ago, I returned to my inbox and saw what happened :) So our new goal is to get something good, but practical, out there. reilo made the executive decision to scrap the original plan for now, and instead we're using a pretty excellent web framework for Python called Django. Not being tied to legacy software like PHP or MySQL is already paying dividends in terms of code flexibility and referential integrity, and we're being extra-careful to keep the core data structures we use pretty simple. Most of the information is bound up in relationships between posts, tags, and users, with a number of other relations existing primarily for performant caching. We're being super careful about things like concurrency locks and normalized data, so while I'm confident we'll screw up some of the frontend code I think it should be "safe" to start posting pretty early.
I don't want to say too much more about the technology side since it's far from finalized, but I think we may be open sourcing it when we're done, so if anyone else wants to help out or is interested, please let reilo or myself know (preferably reilo since he owns the repository). And please let us know any features you want to have, even if they seem ridiculously impractical--the difference between "who quoted me" being a huge performance drag on GAF and a native feature in our forum is that we're making different design choices up front. So now is by far the best time to let us know what you're thinking.
I probably should have been more clear. There is one thread on there that runs as a meta-commentary on GAF The rest of that board has its own very unique identify that has nothing to do with GAF. But like I said good luck to whatever this board becomes and also finding its own identity.
That's only 1 of the few things I don't like about thebore. I have no desire to go on the internet and call people 'fegs' like I'm in middleschool again.
You know, I was ready to spread some goodwill and PM some people on GAF-HOP and the bore to help grow this community a little, but what do I find here? A judgmental indictment of us. Sure, our GAF thread is in bad taste, but cmon. Let's look at the facts.
1) NBA-GAF is a community that has been locked and unlocked, with people unbanned and banned off and on exactly because of things like namecalling. So reading this is kind of funny.
2) It was exactly things like PM bitching and behind the back namecalling, and dogpiling because of one troll that tanked your community AND got Blackace demodded (for defending you). You let one guy go snitching to the teachers and they put you in time out. That's the definition of middle school.
3) This forum has barely over a 1k posts and you got shit like this already:
Wrong. Buahahaha.
I registered here with the rest of you fools the last time, bruh. Contrary to popular belief, I like NBA-Age, but Reilo and Blackace were definitely bitchmade assholes who got what they deserved. Reilo is a douchetard who was probably allowed to troll more than the rest of us combined by that coward Blackace. Can't say I haven't said it a long ass time either. BA banned me for calling him a douchbag once. Guess what? I WAS RIGHT! Motherfucker and his endless excuses when I tried talking to him about it in a civil manner via pm. Can't say I didn't tell you, prick.
Anyway, that's all I gotta say about that. Don't like those two. Been banned by both for telling them both just that. Now I can laugh and say I was right. See y'all when the thread returns. Hey Reilo…eat all the dicks is Portland you haven't eaten already, you bitch. PEACE.
Think the horse you're riding on is a little high?
I'm not exactly sure that using Pimp as a shining example of the rest of us is fair
But do whatever you want, you seem to have your own ideas already anyways
But do whatever you want, you seem to have your own ideas already anyways
you've reduced this forum to nothing more than mere schoolground antics, so i ask you who's on the high horse now champ?I probably should have been more clear. There is one thread on there that runs as a meta-commentary on GAF The rest of that board has its own very unique identify that has nothing to do with GAF. But like I said good luck to whatever this board becomes and also finding its own identity.
That's only 1 of the few things I don't like about thebore. I have no desire to go on the internet and call people 'fegs' like I'm in middleschool again.
You know, I was ready to spread some goodwill and PM some people on GAF-HOP and the bore to help grow this community a little, but what do I find here? A judgmental indictment of us. Sure, our GAF thread is in bad taste, but cmon. Let's look at the facts.
1) NBA-GAF is a community that has been locked and unlocked, with people unbanned and banned off and on exactly because of things like namecalling. So reading this is kind of funny.
2) It was exactly things like PM bitching and behind the back namecalling, and dogpiling because of one troll that tanked your community AND got Blackace demodded (for defending you). You let one guy go snitching to the teachers and they put you in time out. That's the definition of middle school.
3) This forum has barely over a 1k posts and you got shit like this already:Wrong. Buahahaha.
I registered here with the rest of you fools the last time, bruh. Contrary to popular belief, I like NBA-Age, but Reilo and Blackace were definitely bitchmade assholes who got what they deserved. Reilo is a douchetard who was probably allowed to troll more than the rest of us combined by that coward Blackace. Can't say I haven't said it a long ass time either. BA banned me for calling him a douchbag once. Guess what? I WAS RIGHT! Motherfucker and his endless excuses when I tried talking to him about it in a civil manner via pm. Can't say I didn't tell you, prick.
Anyway, that's all I gotta say about that. Don't like those two. Been banned by both for telling them both just that. Now I can laugh and say I was right. See y'all when the thread returns. Hey Reilo…eat all the dicks is Portland you haven't eaten already, you bitch. PEACE.
Think the horse you're riding on is a little high?
pimp will always say dumb shit. MVP if he ever comes here will troll the shit out of everyone and people still bite hook line and sinker,
then you have hunter.
my point is that there will always be bickering, namecalling, bitching, complaining, trolling. but that that's some of the characterstics that makes nba-gaf unique.
if you're so sensitive about all these, maybe its best you stay under the protection of EL, you delicate flower you.
but seriously though, hunter's one crazy ass motherfucker. get that stank ass mofo in here already.