Full Throttle

Putting up a new post to restart the Disqus count--and to discuss traffic.

Considering that even I'm having difficulty accessing the site for maintenance I will be switching hosting services sooner rather than later, as Bluehost is throttling our traffic; they cannot guarantee that switching to their "pro" level of service will resolve it, either.

Many readers have suggested putting up ads to pay for this site's operating costs, or to use a donate button on the main page. However I don't want to give the impression of commercialization to the site, and a prominent donate button is sometimes perceived in the same way. Upgrading the hosting service is not in my personal budget, though, to be frank.

Another blogger contacted me recently and made several suggestions about payment services that will not only allow readers to donate anonymously, but will also allow the site to receive payments anonymously. Considering the e-mails I've received lately, I think anonymity is sometimes useful.

I will be creating a separate financial disclosures page that will outline the costs associated with running this site, and will include a donation button. It will not be referenced on the main page, but it will potentially be under the About menu. All funds received in excess of the operating costs will be donated to a charity chosen by consensus. Statements showing the monthly funds received as well as the donations to charity will be posted on this page, as well as any other information that readers feel will benefit the goal of full disclosure.

Any suggestions or feedback about this would be greatly appreciated.

---------------------------------

I requested this on the previous post as well, but it would be great if we could cut back on the mean-spirited speculation. I understand the reasoning and justification behind it, but it does us no favors. We have had many first time commenters recently.

Please flag any comments you feel violate the TOU; there have been too many comments lately for me to review and I rely heavily on the flagging.

Thanks.