IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Change in Command for 1SKS and BladeForums.com

Congratulations Spark, and good luck with the forums and 1sks in the future. Mike, thank you for getting such a great thing started.
 
The forums will remain FREE. What Spark is referring to above is not infering a charge for the use of the forum. There will be other changes in the works but the members will never be charged a membership fee to post and read here.

I will demote myself to moderator of the boards I am already on and I may open another forum or two down the road.

I will make a post in the next few days about where my future is going and how it will effect the knife community we have here and as a whole. Can't let to many cats out of the bag yet
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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
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I have a post that I wrote up after the last 'bad server thing', and saved but never posted, saying pretty much the same thing.

The short version:
I can't believe Mike & Spark have done what they do for so long for so little. Whether it was a business decision or a love of the hobby that has kept it free for so long, we thank you. Growth costs. Always. Hardware, software, labor, etc. I think there are several dozen, or several hundred of us who would be very willing to kick in a buck a month or so to keep this place running. With 10,000 members, you're not going to get all 10k to sign up, but it's the old 80-20 rule anyway. Perhaps those who buck up get some special recognition.

I'm just sorry now I didn't post this earlier, because then Spark, who I know to be a gentleman, would not be on the receiving end of the heat for suggesting it.

We're with ya Spark.
 
To both Spark and Mike: congratulations, and thank you. I haven't been here that long but this forum has been THE most enjoyable corner of my online neighbourhood. As a card-carrying cynic, I can say that the way people treat each other in this forum has greatly restored my faith in the human spirit.

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Holger :c{{{<
AKTI Member No: A001324
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www.cockroachfarm.com
 
Spark,

Congratulations. We have just been through the whole "adding servers in house and buying more T1s" that you are about to go through, so Good Luck! I wish you the best of luck in the future and in all of your business ventures.

I really appreciated the note in the 1sks.com topic in the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

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Jason Cadden
Webmaster
Smoky Mountain Knife Works, Inc.
 
Spark,

Congratulations!! From the bottom of my heart I wish you the best of luck.

Mike,

Thanks for everything that you have done for the knife community. Knives are a very important part of our lives. For some the passion runs so strong that it is our main love in this life. Your contributions have truly changed the lives of thousands of people, and in the long run, the world. Thanks again for all that you and Kevin have done. I am glad that you are staying aboard. Good luck with your new path.

And Spark, regardless of what mike says
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if for some reason this site does have to become a pay site, you have my full support, now and forever.

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive"
 
congrats spark.
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a heartfelt thankyou to both mike and spark.

bf has truely changed my "knife life".

i'm in, no matter what.
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russ aka BladeZealot{former screen name: russ, dec.'99}
a cat almost always blinks when hit in the head with a ball-peen hammer.

the only thing better than a good knife, is a good woman.
 
Just great...we now have a leader that wears a pink tutu
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Congrats, Spark! I have confidence that you will keep this place running in top shape like it has been. Mike - glad to hear you'll still be hanging around.

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Proud member: AKTI, NCCKG, NCKK, and SCAK


Living life on the edge
 
Congratulations Spark
although we've never met, I have a clear mental picture of you sitting at "ground zero" in the BF computer center, surrounded by the spools of bailing wire and great rolls of duct tape you use to keep this place up and running. Onward and upward!
 
I subscribe to a few magazine, mainly because I like the information that they provide and want to support the magazine. I don't do it for the cost savings and I especially don't do it for the "convenience" of having my magazine torn to shreds by the Post Office.

I like that Mike has mentioned keeping the site free, and I'm sure the following has crossed your mind, but let me throw it out publicly:

How about a voluntary subscription (aka Donation), say $20 - $25 dollars.

  • *I know that I visit the forums daily, more then I read the magazines I get
    *I get more information here then in any knife magazine
    *In trades and sales I know I would feel more comfortable with an unknown party if I knew they thought enough of the service here to be a subscriber of it and support it

No special T-shirts or "members only" forums, just the pride in knowing your doing your part to keep the forums progressing and expanding.

Good luck and thanks for listening

John
 
I would have no problems at all coughing up a monthly or yearly fee to play here. Well worth it imho.

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Brian
The first knife was probably used to cut stuff.
 
Spark:

Congrats. Though I haven't been around long, you can expect my support in whatever has to happen to make this forum better. Good luck, and thanks for taking on this responsibility.



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William Callahan

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without
hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd
never expect it."
-Jack Handey

I'm one of those wierdos who likes Zytel.
 
You know, two years ago, I would have completely rejected the notion of charging Membership Fees for an Internet Forum. The Internet is basically free except for your initial investment in a computer and monthly ISP Svc. Fee.

I don't change my opinions in a transient fashion, they are usually chiseled in granite and someone has to come by and hit me in the head with a hammer before my opinion even shifts a few degrees.

However, I have noticed over the last few months that the quality of posts have went down in some areas while the people who are trolling for sport has risen...I think that is sad and I have no idea how to prevent that except to say, if the Membership for a year is $10.00, let me know when to send the Money Order.

That's not to say that trolls and idiots will not have $10.00 to spare, but, will they take the time to go somewhere and get a Money Order, address an envelope and stamp it, to send it off?

As of my visit now, we have 10,752 Members and I cannot help but think that if we had a 25% reduction in Membership in one month due to a yearly subscription fee of simply $10.00, that 25% would probably be the dregs. And that would be a good thing.

The flip side, the negative to that is, once a guy who loves to post nonsense or simply provoke people has paid his $10.00, it will be virtually impossible to get rid of them then.

I think I would require some solid policy on that. If I am going to pay for it, I would like to enjoy it. And I have not been enjoying it as much as I used to as of late.

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"You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol than you are a musician because you own a guitar." ~Jeff Cooper
And the same goes for a knife...
And, I'm a Usual Suspect.

Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline. It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine. ~Stipe
 
Good luck, Sparky!! You know, it has been so long ago that while I am absolutely certain that it was me who started the pink tutu gag, I cannot recall the circumstances.

Whatever they were, they were auspicious, as you still look as good in your tutu as you did at the beginning (and no, it doesn't make you look fat [it makes your ASS look fat])
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.

Keep your caffeine intake up, and watch out for Mike sneaking around behind you.
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PS: For Chrissakes, take some of this money these people are offering you, OK?? Heck, I will even send you some.
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Walt
 
I've got an extra kidney I could donate.

David Rock

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AKTI Member # A000846
Stop when you get to bone.
 
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