Donation discussion?
 

We recently learned that [URL="https://www.mersenneforum.org/member.php?u=1085"]James Heinrich[/URL] pays for the [URL="https://www.mersenne.ca/"]mersenne.ca[/URL] server out of his own pocket. We had (wrongly) assumed that his site ran off of a Raspberry Pi with a real big SD card and that his network was free because Canada has socialized medicine and all that.

We use his site daily and we are sure you all use it as well.

We think it would be reasonable to fold his expenses into the [URL="https://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=13922"]forum donations fund[/URL].

We think his expenses are roughly CDN $997 a month so that is something like $40 USD a month.

What do you all think?

:mike:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;563573]

We think his expenses are roughly CDN $997 a month so that is something like $40 USD a month.

What do you all think?[/QUOTE]I think your arithmetic is wrong. Assuming you meant CDN $997 a [i]year[/i], that is about $63 US and some change a month.

Still -- not a bad idea, not bad at all...

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;563573]We recently learned that [URL="https://www.mersenneforum.org/member.php?u=1085"]James Heinrich[/URL] pays for the [URL="https://www.mersenne.ca/"]mersenne.ca[/URL] server out of his own pocket.
We think it would be reasonable to fold his expenses into the [URL="https://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=13922"]forum donations fund[/URL].

We think his expenses are roughly CDN $997 a month so that is something like $40 USD a month.

What do you all think?

:mike:[/QUOTE]

I think that is a good idea.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;563577]I think your arithmetic is wrong.[/QUOTE]Humour lost on this one is.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;563591]Humour lost on this one is.[/QUOTE]

You want humor from me, don't ask me what I [i]think[/i].

Maybe I should have been shocked -- [i]shocked![/i] -- that the exchange rate was now something like 25 CDN per USD. Would you have considered [i]that[/i] humorous?

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;563595]Maybe I should have been shocked -- [I]shocked![/I] -- that the exchange rate was now something like 25 CDN per USD. Would you have considered [I]that[/I] humorous?[/QUOTE]
Actually, I don't know if I would laugh or I would cry. Currencies are relative. What can you buy with one, or with the other? Methink it would mailny mean almost all people around the world speak Chinese, and their children are taught in Chinese in schools, on all 8 continents (hey! including Zealandia). There may be some conflicts too, at the border between Romania and China... :razz:

(thinking about who owns the most of the US debt, and what the effect of a so-strong greenback will be in time because I can't imagine the maple leaf being so weak :razz: the part about Russia disappearance is an old joke from the communist era).

They don't call it the Canuckistan Kopek for nothing.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;563573]We recently learned that [We had (wrongly) assumed that his site ran off of a Raspberry Pi with a real big SD card and that his network was free because Canada has socialized medicine and all that.
[/QUOTE]

Happy to pitch in a month or so of expenses, James is friendly and replies quickly!

The actual cost per month is roughly $25 (USD) rather than the $40 we originally posted.

:mike:

I send a $50 paypal donation. James is amazing and if Canada isn't subsidizing Mersenne.ca I'm happy to help out.

Somehow there is this misconception out there that socialism is not really a scam and governments can and actually do payout more money to people than they collect from them. But in a math forum there Is no room for such nonsense.
All for helping out of I can.

Governments do pay out more than they take in- that's fully independent of socialism, and is known as a budget deficit. Standard practice in countries that control their own currency, and not all that controversial.

Also, do I need to learn how to set up PayPal to donate, or is there a 20th-century option?

[QUOTE=VBCurtis;565021]Also, do I need to learn how to set up PayPal to donate, or is there a 20th-century option?[/QUOTE]We can also accept $ via the USPS as long as it isn't in a ticking box.

:mike:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;582111]We can also accept $ via the USPS as long as it isn't in a ticking box.[/QUOTE]I have a roll of pennies. I will send it postage due, COD. I have a couple dozen rolls. I can send one every week or so.
:two cents:

[QUOTE=VBCurtis;565021]...
Also, do I need to learn how to set up PayPal to donate, or is there a 20th-century option?[/QUOTE]No need to have a Paypal account to pay through them. You'll need a credit or debit card though.

Jacob

[QUOTE=a1call;565019]Somehow there is this misconception out there that socialism is not really a scam and governments can and actually do payout more money to people than they collect from them. But in a math forum there Is no room for such nonsense.
All for helping out of I can.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm hyper-inflation? I mean....

[QUOTE=firejuggler;582133]Hmmm hyper-inflation? I mean....[/QUOTE]

It is much simpler than that. It is simply magic. It is very similar to a magician pulling a coin out of your ear, except in this case you'll have to pay through the nose 1st.:smile:

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;582116]I have a roll of pennies. I will send it postage due, COD. I have a couple dozen rolls. I can send one every week or so.
:two cents:[/QUOTE]+1

:tu:

[QUOTE=a1call;565019]Somehow there is this misconception out there that socialism is not really a scam and governments can and actually do payout more money to people than they collect from them. But in a math forum there Is no room for such nonsense.
All for helping out of I can.[/QUOTE]
Funny to find those conceptions on a USA based forum. Did it escape you that for years, even decades, the USA, its government, its economy as a whole, are living thanks to the credit they receive from the rest of the world. The USA spending deficit attains vertiginous heights. China and all countries accepting payments in US dollars are subsidising the USA.

As for socialism, if you define it as a scam, I would suggest you look the word up, you could start at Wikipedia. (And no, China is not socialist or communist : its regime accepts private ownership of the means of production for instance. Its just yet another kleptocratic, oligarchic, dictatorship.)

Jacob

[QUOTE=S485122;582177]As for socialism, if you define it as a scam, I would suggest you look the word up, you could start at Wikipedia.[/QUOTE]

Or think about it the next time you're driving anywhere without paying a toll.