Pledge drive. Goal: FREE THE BLOG, by raising $1500.

[Steve E.]

Dear Lathe Trolls,

I've crafted a long-winded report below, telling you about all the groovy stuff I've been working on, for the benefit of the site and by extension, for you. It also thanks you for all you bring to the forum, which is....most things. yep!

I think you should take the time to skim it and get excited!

But here's the short version. This is a fundraising drive. The innovations listed below have taken me months of work, and there is more work to be done. With your help, I can make this a site that will better serve each of you, in terms of helping you find and repair equipment, acting as a knowledge resource, and connecting clients to our members' cool, unusual shops and art projects around the world. And, most importantly, it will be even more fun. At least, more fun for those who share our strange idea of fun.

Below I talk about the Blog, and what I foresee for it. I would like to "Free The Blog," which is to say to give established users the opportunity to post in it and create their own sub-blogs onsite. That will be the prize of this drive: Once I've raised $1500, I will give 12 months of blog permissions (from the day I hit that goal) to everyone who asks for them, as long as they have, in their time here, made 10 chat forum posts, spread out over at least a month. (I hope that's not too complicated! That's a minor sort of newbie protection. And even that is probably negotiable. shsh.)

Some of you may not give a damn about the blog. That's OK. I don't have any other prize to offer as of now. (I'm open to offline suggestions and perhaps easily convinced.) But any contributions --both fancy ones and tiny ones-- will keep this site going, and that's the real point and the real goal. (Please note: Contributions here are not tax-deductible, in the USA, at this point in time.)

Has this site brought help and enjoyment to your life this year?

Please click the orange "Contribute" button at top, and help this site survive and thrive.

****

Here's the long-winded report:

****
I've been working, almost full time of late, to make the Lathe Trolls forum more enjoyable and more useful. I'll be rolling out a series of carefully-considered changes in the next few weeks. Since I tend to hate changes unless they are pleasant ones, please know that it is my hope that I've made good choices, and I welcome any and all feedback.

The big changes are:

1) A new visual style. I'm about to convert the board to a "responsive" style that will allow it to be viewed on cellphones and tablets. And, in my opinion, it will look nicer and be easier to use. But for the time being, members will still be able to access the old style if they prefer it. (Again....because I know how upsetting change can be). I'm still a few time-consuming tweaks away from it working decently on smartphones on all pages. (If you are a member, you can preview the style by going to your User Control Panel>[Options]>Board Preferences>My Board Style>Artodia Deluxe .)

2) Banner ads, by our users, for their potential clients. I've been running Google ads on the site for the past year; it has been absurd and barely profitable to do so. This is a niche site, and the obvious clients do not place ads with Google ads. (A thread mentioning 45 rpm singles will summon an ad reading "Are you 45 and single?") It is my hope and desire that by offering paid ad placement to our business-oriented members, I can both help our community find its clients, help such clients find their record-makers, AND sustainably fund the time and effort I spend upkeeping, archivally protecting, moderating and improving the site. A win for all! (It is my hope that such ads will be tastefully-placed, unobtrusive and even attractive; I invite ongoing feedback on the subject.) I am not yet offering ad accounts. Any ads you see right now are for testing purposes.

3) A blog. After weeks of testing software options and much code-hacking, the blog made its debut on Monday. I have not yet given permissions to general site membership. Soon, this will be a blog in which established members can make their own entries, by requesting subscription permissions (or something like that). It is my hope that this will help promote the site and attract not only record-makers, but those who love records. The readers needn't all become members...but many may want to have their own records made by our members. The member's entries will also act as individual blogs, accessible through their avatars (and maybe their signatures....we shall see what is possible.) I foresee this as a way for users to promote their projects and allow less conversational musings. See the button up top, or click this link: https://lathetrolls.com/blog

4) New video and audio content. Last year I shot some test pieces on topics I hoped would be of interest to our members, and I have been editing and rolling them out as of late. With funding and sponsorship, I am hoping that the site can begin to offer, and even commission, short documentaries and extensive interviews with the pros and the retired sages in the world of record cutting. There is an incredible amount of data, lifetime experience/knowledge and history that is in danger of being lost -- much as a large amount of valuable equipment WAS lost in the CD era and earlier-- and if this site can do anything to reverse further entropy, I hope it will.

There are other things I'd love to test out, though they are time-consuming:
a) Integrating the under-utilized wiki that our man Piaptk has put great effort into.
b) Capacity for live chats (debatable as to whether would be useful, but worth finding out).
c) and...what else? brain freeze. that's enough for today. ideas are welcome.

At the end of 2012, I took advantage of my newly-unemployed-freelancer status to perform a harrowing move of the site, from a rarely-backed-up free server in India to a local place where I could administer it, hands-on. I also converted the database from its 10-year old phpBB2 software to something current, which was a confounding process. I installed Google Analytics. From mid-January 2013 to now, the board logged over a quarter of a million page views, from ~13,787 unique visitors, 63% of whom returned. It's no Gizmodo, but it appears to be filling a need. The site has grown beyond anything I could have imagined when, in June 2005, I created 8 newbie threads in hopes of getting questions answered about my Wilcox Gay Recordio. Its focus has shifted --sometimes even in spite of resistance and slowness from me-- because of what its members have needed it to be, and their immense contributions of time, their knowledge, their questions, their suggestions, their care, and their general creativity and passion about record cutting. It now serves as a knowledge-base, a library, a service-list, a training ground, a social network, a job-site, a career starter, an informal marketplace, a testing ground, a brainstorming/problem-solving room, and an sanity-providing entertainment source for certain rare birds.

A special shout-out goes to both the official moderators, whose usernames you can see on the board index, and to the other engaged members who have kept me posted on the little daily dramas that can occur around here. You've all helped shape this board and kept it, I think, ever-improving.

The financial contributions from members --which for the most part began a year ago this month-- have been crucial, no matter their size, as the board has gotten busy enough to require much more attention from me. They are the reason the board has managed to exist, prosper creatively, and not collapse in on itself.

If the board has enriched your life or your pockets, please contribute today, and help keep this cool site and community going.

Thank you all.

Yours,

Steve E.
Forum Admin and Janitor.

[Steve E.]

As stated in the prior drive:

Please note: Your financial support to this site is NOT a tax-deductible charitable contribution.
However, from what I've surmised, repeat donors will someday get a preferred cloud in heaven, and all donors have the likelihood of immediate karmic awards in the present duration.

[Steve E.]

Last night I wrote a post heralding the upcoming switch to a new style. Then, on my test site, I cracked a problem I've been having laying out the blog in that responsive style. It finally worked! Not perfect, but good enough.

I went to bed, content, at 3 am.

I woke up to a computer that will not start. Black screen, no starting up fanfare. I'm writing this using my cellphone. I approved a new member today using this cellphone. (thank goodness for the responsive style.)

Fortunately, I back everything up regularly. But this is a major bummer. I can hear the drive spinning regularly, but apparently it is corrupted. I cannot afford to fix it. Although this should be changing soon, at the moment, I have no reserves.

Speaking of drives, this fundraising drive is failing, too. I've raised about $75.

I know I'm not so "sexy" about these drives. I'm probably a bit clueless about incentives. Unlike public broadcasting in the United States, I'm not offering a copy of "Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park" for every $100 donation or anything. I'm keeping faith that the usefulness of the board is its own reward.

If you've enjoyed the board for a while, and feel it has improved your life, but have never contributed, now would be a fantastic time to help keep it going.

if you have contributed in the past, but still rely on the board for your income, entertainment, art, or hobbying....this would be a great time to pony up.

That is all.

[diamone]

That is all.

Now take the record and filmslide out please.

In honor of the impatient German guy who seriously overpaid on eBay for a unrestored and in fairly raggedy shape Silvertone/GI 78-RPM disc recorder/playback unit - I offer $50 in PayPal to the first person who can come up with the source for that phrase.

No I didn't post it on any of my other blogs in any of the other similar sites on which I troll.
So you'll have to work for it (WINK)

I'll give you a hint though.
The manufacturer is two words - one from sci-fi and one from music.
The product name is similar to a famous Minneapolis sound studio.

[Steve E.]

A fundraising QUIZ. I love it.

[Steve E.]

Borg-Warner System 80.

A little bird from Inventor's Magnet School gave me a big hint, I must admit.

http://www.magazine-advertisements.com/borg-warner-system-80.html

and....

http://www.sound80.com/

[diamone]

Daggum it. I forgot to say No Googling Allowed.

Well I was trying to post the image inline but all I got was a link.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.noplacelikeom.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F03%2Ftumblr_m73j4f3TZX1qcucu6o1_500.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.noplacelikeom.com%2Fblog%2F&h=585&w=500&tbnid=lcCN1syyLRj4vM%3A&zoom=1&docid=d6OV7AK4W2u6nM&ei=b8E8U8i7NKPV2QXkuoGwDA&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ved=0CFgQhBwwAQ&iact=rc&dur=694&page=1&start=0&ndsp=7

OK Genius just for that you can be my Flunkie and tell me what RPM the discs run.

Your first five guesses don't count.
Five?
Yeh five. The normal four plus one more you know about.

NO FAIR GOOGLING.

[diamone]

Come on. Do better than my junior college History of Recording Arts and Sciences boys who have their midterms in place of their lab on Friday.

This question is extra credit - along with questions about all kinds of other things we never covered in class.

They can choose any 100 questions out of the thousand on the test - but they can only get ten wrong of those. There's ten of these - choose any five - get three right and you get your A and we don't score the rest of the midterm unless you're curious how you did.

The three top-scoring A's are my Flunkies for Summer School (Accelerated Class).

[Steve E.]

I can't even imagine how anyone would have come up with that information without Googling. I have no idea how you came up with it in the first place. Libraries? It wasn't one stop shopping either, over here.

My guess #1 is 45/2 = 22.5.

[diamone]

A lot of this information you couldn't get if you DID Google it. i do it on purpose so the boys in my class who give me their phones at the beginning of the test and have second phones they smuggle in - can't cheat during the time period.

OK so I'll give you half-credit for ingenuity because while not the speed for BWS80, it IS the speed for the discs from a similar system - used WIDELY in museums i.e. dioramae and informational kiosks - around the same period.

So you like involved searches for quasi-useless information do yah?

Like I said - keep this up and you won't have to worry about being unemployed - you'll be able to take over my History of Recorded Entertainment classes at the junior college here.

Since you're not in my class, I'll capitalize important words. The boys in my class get this on their first-six-weeks quiz without the capitalization.

Since there's so much correlation between disc and tape - you should be able to read between the lines for hints. Or remember what Len (and whoever else - Gutsky, Grundy, etc) told you over the years.
No fair Googling yet - this is stuff you should know.

So let's see.

What's a famous NYC DISCOTHEQUE in the 70's?
How did record companies get their SINGLES in there?
They had to Give Something Up. Right. (payola scandals)

That's the same as the number of a certain BRASS instrument prominently notated in a famous Meredith Willson musical.

Minus the number of FLUTES (and a piccolo - what does that count as compared to a full flute?) needed to record the most famous song from the only musical whose book was written by the same author as James Bond?

Another way to say it is - it's the model number to the famous Westrex 35MM magnetic 3-track or 4-track film recorder used by Bob and Wilma Fine in the 50's and early 60's.

And - from here on out til I tell you you can't - you can go ahead and Google it if you think you can find out anything.

Still on the subject of decoding the speed to a BWS80 disc.

Instead of my first job being programming binary load-lifters, my first job in 1968 was taping TB-style TALKING BOOKS FOR THE BLIND -

No that's too easy you'd know that already.

Onto a medium that more or less contained a similar formulation as barn paint and nicknamed after a series of records that contained animation on the label from the same post-war period.

My uncle had amassed a collection encompassing thousands of both - and the Regional Library started hounding him that they wanted their discs back so he wanted to record them.

His talking book player from the Library of Congress had to have a new idler wheel put in - and we didn't have one - so to make the resulting tapes sound close-enough-to-being-right - we had to have a little ingenuity.

His recorder was German and therefore in addition to the American drive shaft - came with a German drive shaft that was designed not necessarily for the German voltage but more for the GERMAN POWER FREQUENCY. So we replaced the American drive shaft with the German one and proceeded to tape all these discs. The resulting speed was almost right - less than the difference between German 45's played on a US system.

Years later I had to use the same ingenuity in being able to play back a magnetic film soundtrack on a STANDARD magnetic film player that had been originally recorded to sync with a TODD-AO picture - and then record that onto a 2-track master-quality tape so that they could make CD's from it before they had the money to restore the player that ran at the right speed.

Now for the speed and format of the R&D version. of the BWS80. Which you'll have to figure out if it's measured in RPM, IPS a combination of the two or something else and what kind of modulation it employed and why neither of those worked to satisfactory parameters.

As far as how I found out everything about it - from having to remaster the few lessons we had onto the computer in the mid-80's before LASERDISC educational discs came around (and never for the BWS80) where I had to pitch the turntable a little bit to get the right angle as well as the right speed.

So no it's not any kind of half-speed or quarter-speed or anything like that related to any speed you have ever heard of.

But I'll give you another question that should answer the first question.

In the failed R&D test version, why were the engineers so enamored of previous-format engineers that they were turning GREY forever wanting their AUTOGRAPH? Duh.

OK NO FAIR GOOGLING from here on out.

And why were the questions at the beginning of the lesson short in the test version and the last ones long? And why did the experiments in that vein fail and remain unused for another 20 years?

And what format would they eventually be used in?

HINT: The format initials are the same as what all the following people have in common:

the artist who recorded an album whose title resembles the first half of a yodel :

a certain heavy metal guitarist who has something to do with the original producer of the hit disco version of a famous sci-fi movie theme,

a certain Mousketeer who's isolated vocal track from a wireless mic was recorded at a concert and blasted out all over YouTube to prove she couldn't sing -

a guy who shot to the top of the charts in the 80's singing about being patriotic. Dooooooo---dodododo-doooooooo -

people who are evil are said to have this color of major organ -

who are related to a band who made many a TRIP to the top of the rock and roll charts in the 70's and 80s

with another similar band who turned Christian after singing about being dirt blowing around in the breeze -

a band who had a Pixar Animation film franchise named after them -

and people who hit the top of the charts in the 60's singing about what color and style bedsheets they slept in.

So I'll give you a couple easier ones about the BWS80.
How many repetitions of each question were there?
And what distinguished one question from the next on the disc?
(HINT: It's not a band like on an LP. What am I in third grade? (WINK)

And why did that format not work?

ANOTHER HINT: Think about the odd mechanical operation of the disc itself and what it has in common with real-early electrical transcriptions.

Wow I might have to entertain you in the same fashion for a year if you get all THAT right.

[Steve E.]

By the time I work my way through all those hints, I'd have lost a day to fixing the image-size problem I'm trying to crack over here. I'd be working for you for sub min-wage!

[diamone]

It's better than the four boys whose A's just got them Flunkie Status this summer - and lab-assistant at any number of summer school-related recording and television activities that moist guys would PAY to get let into the studio and WATCH nevermind WORK.

These guys'll pretty much be working for their Daily Drink and Bread - in this case pop and pizza.

Only one has a job this summer - and that's only so he can keep his grant next year. Everybody else is just as starry eyed as I was when I was eight or nine the first time I got let into a radio station and allowed to play records live on the air (didn't get to talk though) and are happy they don't have to pay to do it.

But I got the next best thing - I still have a reel of tape of an air check where the DJ says ``I'm Danny Randolph with the big red nose and that's my little pint-sized producer filling in for his Uncle Nick who has a doctor appointment today.''

Or my abduction into the projectionist trade a year later.

Well - now - whenever you get bored or restless you can pick a hint or two and research it.

After you fix your imagery.

[Steve E.]

Indeed! and I thank you for that.

[Steve E.]

A big THANK YOU to those who have contributed thus far. I have yet to thank a few of you by email. This will happen soon. You who have contributed money are very much helping this forum survive. (You who contribute to threads, of course, make the forum worth keeping.)

This particular fundraising drive has been a bit of a disappointment, in terms of the number of members who have ponied up. I have a few theories:

1) I am not promoting it aggressively enough, or cheerleading in the correct modern virtual manner. I don't have an automatic "tallying" function that would get people excited about how much is raised.

2) People contributed 6 months or a year ago.

3) Everyone is broke.

4) Some of us are cheap and lazy.

5) People are holding out to buy banner ads. That's a decent reason.

6) "Freeing the Blog" is not an exciting enough incentive for people.

Well, heck. I think this blog could be amazing. So I have started adding blogging permissions to a few members, so we can start to see what the potential of this thing can be. In general, these are people who have contributed to the most recent fundraising drive, though I have also added some people to whom I owe other favors, or whom are waiting patiently for something or other from me.

I'll add some more bloggers soon, too. This is all being done manually, and I am out of time today. It's a bit random.

You will know you are a Blogger if you see "My Blog" in the menu items when you log in.
Right now I have the settings such that I must approve all blog entries. This is because I am trying to set a tone for these entries; I'm thinking of the blog as a sort of virtual magazine for the site.. It may be a bit more controlled in blogland than in chatland, at least at first.

Let's try this out.

If you think you have a convincing argument as to why I should add you as a blogger ASAP, PM me. As I said, I have not yet added everyone who contributed to this drive. (In certain cases, I can't figure out your usernames!)

Requests accompanied by a paypal bribe will be given special consideration.

[ArchaicRecords]

I just came in here, it looks like, 7 months later. What is the tally so far? Are you still raising the $1500? Did you think of doing a crowdsourcing fundraiser? Those who donate a certain amount should be entitled to a one-off record (dubplate/lacquer/polycarbonate/etc.).