My son works in Chicago. Looong way from me.

My son works in Chicago. Looong way from me. — Wayfarer

I will go back and say Hello from you, even give him a hug for you. Oh heck, throw in a Giordano's Pizza and it's a done deal! 8-)
All I need is your credit card number, expiration date, the three digit code on the back, mailing address and zip code and I can make all the arrangements from here. (Y)

It's OK - he's coming home for Christmas, it's not that far off. But thanks!

I have a feeling something fishy is going on at the other place.

My guess is that the hosting fees haven't been paid, and the service provider has pulled the plug.

I think you could be right. Or maybe the site wasn't making Mr Porat enough money so he decided it's not worth his time anymore.

It's quite possible Porat tired of trying to sell cleaning products to the crowd over there and has offloaded the site. If so, I hope he's offloaded it to someone who actually cares about philosophy. It's always been clear to me that he never did. Alternatively, he's doing some kind of a revamp. Anyway, in lieu of PF's return, I declare us the undisputed centre of the online philosophy universe. ;)

(Y) :B (Y)

Anytime! 8-)

I have the feeling PF is going to die, unless someone steps in. My hunch about 'Vayge Media' is that they don't have a clue what they're doing or why they bought it in the first place, and that they haven't got any kind of succession (or resurrection) plan. (But then, my wife says I'm always inclined to pessimism. :( )

Anyway I will rake over the coals and try and think of some thread topics to contribute here.

They bought the PF for $ 20k!!!

I doubt they've recouped their investment since the transaction and the slow upkeep doesn't bode well for site activity in the future. Is there some ulterior business model at work that doesn't involve ad revenue?

[insert something positive here]

Dang, I hope it comes back up at least once. I want the synopsis I made of Pierre Hadot's book.

There is a way to get some data from the site. Try this http://web.archive.org/web/20160314195451/http://forums.philosophyforums.com/general-philosophy/
Unfortunately, it looks like the last save was on March 14, 2016 (even though the site suggests that there was a save done on June 24, 2016).

I wonder if the issues could be due to power outages. There have been some in some states due to recent storms.

I never understood the PF business model, but what the hell do I know? The old PF stayed afloat through a bunch of volunteers, donations, and even donated server use. When they went to the for profit model with ad use, I didn't see how they could expect the free labor and donations to continue. My thinking was that if they are going to get money through ads, all the mods and admins should expect to get paid as well. In fact, it wasn't the ads per se that made me leave as much as it was the idea that my postings in some small part were leading to profits to an organization that I had some serious misgivings about.

I think it's impossible that we not continue to grow over here, so I'm not worried about our surviving unless we just give up one day.

Call me a conspiracy nut; but, I was always under the impression that PF was a gold mine for creating an ever more intelligent chat bot. Put the database through some computer deep learning neural network and BAM! would have one formidable Banno'esk philosopher to contend with that would outdo the best philosopher in two or three sentences any day.

If you're going to name someone as a great example poster, at least pick Postmodern Beatnik.

I'd agree with that; but only if the qualifying criterion for "great example poster" is possessing a true mastery of deploying empty pedantry.

Is there any way to contact those who never tried migrating over to this PF? It doesn't look like old PF is going to be up and running any time soon, maybe we should try to invite them over here so we can start discussion again.

I can post some fliers around my neighborhood.

Just FYI : we have a Facebook page as does PF :-} And I got a note from the PF Facebook page that they are aware of the site being down, are working to repair it and hope that this has not been an inconvenience to anyone.
Feel free to follow us on FB and be in the know! 8-)

I tried Facebook, hated it. Too much drama.

Been down for a long time. In any case, thanks again for this site.

What I'm feeling sorry are all the very good discussions that actually had very good links. And actually very good insights from others to philosophical questions I was interested in. When the old threads databank worked I used to go back to some old threads to get information.

Yeah, I do hope they manage to get it back up. There were a number of posters I liked reading that didn't make the cross over.

Hopefully it comes back up for a bit so that we can encourage a final exodus.The only problem with this place is that, being a forum made up of posters of extremely high intellect, there just aren't enough libertarians for me to debate.

Not that this really matters much at this point, but I sent out over 200 "sort of invites" to PF members informing them of this, as I called it then "a safety boat"... uhh... in the event that PF sank. (my inner Cassandra is bitching at me right now, but I told her to shut it)

Indeed my reward for this effort was being put "under review" on PF. This entailed not being able to post anything without a long waiting period to have my posts (perhaps) posted, little or no access to my messages and the killer was this... having my "sponsor status" revoked. Ironic, as I believe I was one of the largest sponsors ever. What really griped my liver was that not even banned members had their "sponsor status" revoked. (my feeling was basically "fuck you very much!")

Anyway...

Information regarding this alternative has indeed been sent to many PF members.

Granted it has been a long time since I have been there (I never looked back) and I think I might have been alone in this effort to inform others about this alternative.

This site is a bit slower in terms of posts, but volume is no guarantee of overall quality.

As for me...

I'm simply waiting for the USA elections to end and a few other loose ends in the world to tie-up, before I plan to become more active in philosophy. I'm not too sure if I care to even return to philosophy, as the theoretical leaves me a bit cold. Currently I have far more practical applications to bother with the rhetoric of the theoretical.

Until then (whenever that happens to be) this is a non-sequitur for you darthbarracuda:



Meow!

GREG

Mr. Mayor was at the front of a hopeful coup that would undermine the the monetary investment in the PF.

I wonder what kind of historical parallels this might dredge up.

The act of a single person destroys the value of a business by some non-illegal means.

I wonder what kind of historical parallels this might dredge up. — Nils Loc

Trade Unions.

Philosophers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose.

Foals is much appreciated, thank you.