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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Updating Sports Shooter Web Site?
John Middlebrook, Photographer
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Basel | Switzerland | Switzerland | Posted: 3:07 AM on 06.15.10 |
->> I know, another can of worms but I am curious as to why this site has not changed or been updated in the 4 years I have been a member? We have no social networking linkage, no real usage of our Facebook Group or have a Fan page, no Twitter account. I don't even believe that I can RSS the news and classified pages and would love to read them in other readers. Is it a matter of $$, resources, time?
We have amazing photographers on this forum as well as brilliant and talented developers and marketing people. I would love to help on an initiative like this. Any chance this is in the works, either short term or long term? |
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Eric Jones, Photographer
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Greenville | NC | USA | Posted: 6:11 AM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> AMEN!!! |
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Mike Brice, Photographer
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SLC | UT | USA | Posted: 8:27 AM on 06.15.10 |
->> I think they are too busy adding great feature to PhotoShelter.
I know the latest upgrades answered a lot of my requests. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 8:30 AM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> John, I have no idea what kind of work it would take to do the things you wish but I have to say I'm pretty sure most of the people that run this site have always basically done this as kind of a hobby. the membership fee hasn't changed since the site's inception. I've never understood why some people think everything has to revolve around twitter and facebook now. social networking? what's the message board? I mean seriously, how much social networking do you need? twitter? personally I pretty much consider it a waste of time. all of these things are pretty much egocentric. Although I'm on FB all the time I don't really care if someone just got a pedicure for their pet iguana via "twits" (I know they're tweets but I like to call twitter people twits) ....personally I like sportsshooter the way it is....$25 a year. In this day and age when everyone wants more and more money why should we get some pretty useless apps which will probably drive up the membership fee. |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 8:43 AM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> AMEN, Chuck. |
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Jeff Kowalsky, Photographer
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West Bloomfield | MI | United States | Posted: 8:52 AM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> I would like to see a feature that would add an uploader that worked with Photomechanic. That re-sized the images and transferred the captions. |
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Bryan Hulse, Photographer
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Nashville | Tn | USA | Posted: 9:17 AM on 06.15.10 |
->> Having started and run a large member based website for many years, I can appreciate the fact that SS.com is simple, and all about the content.
It takes countless hours to maintain and monitor a site, not to mention all the out of pocket expenses for hosting and traffic (although those costs are significantly less these days).
I'll bet if someone wanted to donate a lot of money and countless hours of work and headaches to upgrade SS.com, they would be welcome to do so. But it would be a little ironic don't you think? Since many posts on SS.com are about giving away work for free? |
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John Middlebrook, Photographer
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Basel | Switzerland | Switzerland | Posted: 9:21 AM on 06.15.10 |
->> A few things that come to mind for me:
-Could use a little more modern look and feel
-RSS, syndication. I almost never go to a single web site anymore, I read it in RSS aggregators, on my iPad, iPhone, on the go. I have missed many classified ad opportunities solely because I do not have the time to check SS.com regularly.
-Sorry Chuck, Twitter. I get all of the news I want there, all based around searches that interest me. SportsShooter is the antithesis of an ego-centric web site
-News articles are available for aspiring photogs, if I see something of interest, article, board post, classified, I should be able to click and post to other sites. ShareThis is free and can be implemented in very short order
-Photo Galleries are so limited in size, maybe the PhotoShelter upgrade addresses this but just saying. I would love to not have to crop my images to such odd and and small dimensions
I know what it takes to design, manage and run web sites and totally appreciate what SS.com offers, I am just asking a question or two. It would be no different than me asking why you have not upgraded your camera equipment in the last 6 years. |
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Adam Vogler, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Kansas City | Mo. | USA | Posted: 11:07 AM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> I'd like the admins to keep doing the same stellar job that they have been doing since before they made the mistake of gracing me with membership. Don't care about added features, don't care about cost. Whatever they see fit to do is fine by me. Easily the best photo related money I have ever spent. Kudos and a BIG thanks to all who take time out of their extremely busy lives to provide us with this resource. |
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Tyler Smith, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Clemson | SC | | Posted: 11:17 AM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> Why fix something if it isn't broken? I think the use of twitter and facebook for SS wouldn't really do too much. Yes, there would be a news update feed, but is it really that difficult to just use the site the way it is now? I agree with Chuck. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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->> I have been a member since the day before the site officially opened and aside from the message boards the site has not changed...but like Chuck Liddy said ...SportsShooter is not a full time job for those who operate it.
This site is just fine and does its job as intended ... in fact it is MUCH more than was ever intended. |
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Dianna Russell, Photographer
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Springfield | MO | USA | Posted: 5:45 PM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> Amen Chuck, Adam and Fish. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 6:03 PM on 06.15.10 |
->> Works great for me!
I've seen so many useless and frustrating redesigns take place... Twitter does twitter already, facebook does facebook, sportsshooter.com does not need to reinvent the wheel. To share you can copy and paste the address to whatever.
The only thing I can think of that might actually be useful would be to increase images sizes to keep up with the increase in screen resolutions over time. |
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Nick Morris, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 6:10 PM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> I click on it, it opens. I read it, it informs me. I upload and compete, I lose. Seems to work fine for me! |
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Sam Santilli, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Philippi | WV | USA | Posted: 8:02 PM on 06.15.10 |
->> KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid
Nick, not are not a competitor, not a looser! |
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Bradly J. Boner, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Jackson | WY | USA | Posted: 8:13 PM on 06.15.10 |
->> I personally think RSS feeds for things like the Special Feature, Contest and newsletters would be cool, and I doubt it would take much to implement (though I don't know for sure). It would also be cool to have RSS feeds for member pages, so people could subscribe and know when specific members have updated (I know you can receive email notifications already), though I admit I don't know how difficult it would be to generate the coding for each individual member - for all I know it could take a complete overhaul of the system.
On a side note, while I know that SportsShooter.com probably started as a hobby, I think it has grown into a pretty successful side business. SS.com now has almost 2,900 listed members. Let's just say half of those are current on their membership dues. At 25 bucks a pop, well, do the math.
I don't think it's too much to ask that as the site grows that some more features be gradually implemented. |
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Robert Longhitano, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 8:24 PM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> it's pretty simple. If you don't like the site hit the "contact us" button. If you don't like what you hear don't renew. Not sure why you had to drag this issue to the message board. |
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Keith Coward, Photographer
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 9:04 PM on 06.15.10 |
| ->> Yep, they're getting bloody RICH! $72,500 (2900 members x $25 IS 72500 right?) Where do they spend it all...Gated communities and country clubs...i just knew it. |
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Curtis Clegg, Photographer
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Sycamore | IL | USA | Posted: 9:05 PM on 06.15.10 |
->> While we are submitting suggestions for the site, can I just mention my ever-burning desire for emoticons? Smileys, frownies, laughies, confused guy, and sad face? And of course, a grin for good measure.
Dpreview added emoticons to their forums a little over a year ago so I say it's time to start catching up to Phil and the gang.
< /sarcasm> |
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Jim Colburn, Photo Editor, Photographer
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McAllen | TX | USA | Posted: 11:59 PM on 06.15.10 |
->> "I am curious as to why this site has not changed or been updated in the 4 years I have been a member?"
It works. |
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Chris Parent, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Baton Rouge | LA | United States | Posted: 12:04 AM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> I'm not worried about a major site overhaul or such, I'm just hoping newsletters and such start reappearing. I miss the monthly stories and articles. It's odd to go this long with out reading a new newsletter. |
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Sean Gates, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Hempstead & Cooperstown | NY | US | Posted: 1:48 AM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> Adam took the words right out of my mouth. I can safely say that joining Sportsshooter.com was one of the best decisions that I have made. It has greatly added to my continuing education in photography and allowed me to make connections with people that would have otherwise never happend. I continually find new articles and sections of the site that keep me coming back for more, not to mention the constant updates from both admins and members. So why fix it if its not broken? |
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John Middlebrook, Photographer
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Basel | Switzerland | Switzerland | Posted: 3:40 AM on 06.16.10 |
->> Robert, please! "Not sure why you had to drag this issue to the message board". I pay membership just like all of you and I just asked a question, that is it, simple. Definition of a Bulletin Board, "A place where you can drag questions to".
I also never said that the "hobbiests" are not doing a good job, I just wanted to see if anything was in the works. |
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Matthew Cavanah, Photographer
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Columbia | MO | US | Posted: 11:10 AM on 06.16.10 |
->> John, I think your question had a valid point, you just probably should have led with "is there anything in the works?" instead of "I am curious as to why this site has not changed or been updated in the 4 years?"
Things to keep in mind though:
--The $72,500/year from dues would most likely be split between the six staff members. Comes out to just over $12,000/year. Not exactly a full time salary to commit themselves fully to the site.
--They also launched sportsshooteracademy.com-one would guess part of the academy tuitions go to the maintenance of this site, but I bet a large chunk of that money goes to getting beds, meals, and travel for the academy staff, and rental of the hotel space.
--There is also a twitter account in operation. It's tied to the Academy. I'd give the exact account name, but Twitter is currently blocked at the paper I'm at.
--And like others have said, this is just a hobby for Bert and the gang.
Bert and everyone else behind SportsShooter do an awesome job. They put in countless hours just to keep up with member updates so they can keep "Currently Cool" fresh. Add that to all the contests, workshops, moderation, working on retail deals for members, and answering emails it sums up to a pretty huge "hobby" that these guys lovingly do in addition to all of their other works and projects in their lives. They sacrifice and commit themselves a lot to this space, and if any members out there have never told them "Thank you" they should do so now. |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 11:37 AM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> I heard a while back they were looking at a redesign. I don't know what stage it is in or if they decided to just keep it the way it is. |
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Brian Davies, Photographer
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Eugene | OR | USA | Posted: 12:08 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> I remember Sports Shooter back when it was just a bunch of photojournalists who wanted a place to share inspiring work and engage in the broader philosophical conversations about the business that were taking place amongst the founders around crowded restaurant tables after MLB games.
Sports Shooter took advantage of the web to open the discussion to a much wider audience. Brad and Grover and Bert and a handful of other talented and respected photographers invited us all to participate, listen and share.
Prior to Sports Shooter, absorbing the collective wisdom of such folks was simply impossible. For the cost of one of those restaurant meals, you're at the table for a year. No questions asked. And it's always been amazing to me how many people take that as an invitation to gobble up all the food and talk with their mouth full.
By all means, go out and create the social-networking-live-streaming-24-hour-chatting-twittering-multimedia-universe that many of you wish for. It might just thin the ranks enough here to once again make this site the most relevant place on the web to share ideas about photojournalism. |
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Mike Strasinger, Photographer
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Nashville | TN | USA | Posted: 12:16 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> If it ain't broke, don't fix it. |
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 1:52 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> Matthew,
The Columbia Daily Tribune blocks Twitter for its editorial staff? That has to be one of the most egregious examples of "not getting it" that I can imagine.
Not only should it not be blocked, but the paper should have a specific plan that has every staffer tweeting as a part of their job.
As H. Ross Perot reportedly said, "Now that's just sad."
--Mark
Twitter: @MarkLoundy |
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Randy Sartin, Photographer
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Knoxville | TN | USA | Posted: 1:56 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> There are a few other forums that I belong to, some paid and some free, and they each have their own type of use for me. But of the paid ones SS is by far the best bang for the $$$, it's simple, easy to use, and the search function works! |
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John Green, Photographer, Photo Editor
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BAY AREA | CA | | Posted: 5:37 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> They really do need to a re-design of this site |
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Matthew Ginn, Photographer
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Portland | OR | USA | Posted: 6:12 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> @John,
Why? |
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Kevin Johnston, Photographer
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Oden | MI | USA | Posted: 6:30 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> BRING BACK THE PHOTODUDE! |
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Robert Hanashiro, Photographer
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Los Angeles | CA | | Posted: 4:16 PM on 06.17.10 |
->> I am a lot of things ... but a hobbyist is one thing I am not.
'Nuff Said! |
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Eric Jones, Photographer
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Greenville | NC | USA | Posted: 4:45 PM on 06.17.10 |
| ->> How many times have we updated our own website within the past few years? I've updated and changed the layout and colors several times to keep up with everyone else and keep mine fresh with new images and try to make it look more professional each time. (Not saying SS is not professional because it is). We all talk about re-branding our websites every other year and I will probably change it next year. We are not talking about "fixing the site", I've seen that a lot through this thread and of course it's not broken, but it would be nice to see a new design/layout. I'm sure they are busy and may not have time, then that's all good, nothing wrong with asking. The site is very simple and has an easy flow that I like but again I'm always up for a new design change as I'm sure the other thousands of people in ss land probably agree but have not chimed in. Be nice to have a little poll going to see where everyone stands. Have a great day everyone, I start my vacation tomorrow in Charleston for a week. |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 7:03 PM on 06.17.10 |
->> Eric,
If you're rebranding every year you have a problem in that you didn't do it right the first time.
Don't you think that jsut as soon as the owners of SS change the site 50 people will post and let them know how much they hate the new site, the redesign, the new this, the new that, blah bah blah. |
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Nina Zhito, Photographer
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bay area | CA | | Posted: 7:19 PM on 06.17.10 |
| ->> hmmmm, it works for me, but i am no power-user! from my perspective, there have been meaningful changes where it counts, in terms of content and community growth over the years -- the academies, photoshelter, etc. like the rest of us, i struggle to keep up with an awful lot, and figuring out how more tech goodies of dubious utility might live up to their promise in yet another feature-rich and complex environment ranks pretty dang low on my list of things i would enjoy doing in my spare time, in the comfy feet-on-the-table virtual living room that is our sportsshooter. which i appreciate (just about) daily. |
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Michael Durisseau, Photographer, Assistant
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Santa Fe/Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 7:37 PM on 06.17.10 |
| ->> No need for changes...as long as the site works, I'm good with it. I know what it takes to make changes, especially with some other jobs that one might have. |
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Eric Jones, Photographer
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Greenville | NC | USA | Posted: 8:34 PM on 06.17.10 |
->> LOL...I'm only changing every two years but this will be the first in rebranding my site. I see photographers changing their design all the time so I do what I believe will bring me more customers.
Everyone has their opinion so I'm ok if the site stays the same 20 years for now. |
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Aleksi Lepisto, Photographer
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Sacramento | CA | United States | Posted: 10:27 PM on 06.17.10 |
->> I just wish there was more content going into the Special Features area...but a redesign isn't needed.
I guess we all have to remember that this isn't really a media website, more like someone keeping a room clean for everyone to come argue with each other. |
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Radu Rosca, Photographer
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Tirgu Mures | MS | Romania | Posted: 2:55 AM on 06.18.10 |
->> I also think RSS would be great for this site. Like many others i use them in my google reader and it's a great way to stay in touch getting updates in real time.
As for the money part. You have to take in consideration that out of the 2900 members, not all of them are still active. If 30% (i am not sure of this number but you can check the memberlist and see how many of them haven't made any updates in more then 400 days) renewed their subscription, then the income of $70,000+ goes significantly down.
Bottom line is that i like this site as it is. Simple, fast and with great members. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 9:06 AM on 06.18.10 |
->> I'm a newcomer. I don't have much to offer here. But my one suggestion would be a message board broken down into categories. For instance you could have threads grouped by "Professional Photographer Discussions," "Equipment Discussions" and "Random Stuff Apropos Of Nothing."
Basically something like an invision power board setup: http://www.invisionpower.com/products/board/ |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Indiana | IN | USA | Posted: 4:06 PM on 06.18.10 |
->> In a world of constant change, SS.com has remained the same. You can find what you want, where it was the last time you looked and not be bothered by the trends that seem to be popular with the masses.
I have Yahoo Messenger, that's good enough. Twitter is for for the birds. How damned much communicating, links and other apps does a person need? The way some people carry on with this stuff, it's a wonder they ever find time to sleep.
I have a Facebook account that I use to contact old friends, high school chums, if you will. But I like SS because it has been a constant and it has remained the same with the exception of a few subtle changes here and there. I don't always agree with everyone here and they don't always agree with me. But I know what to expect. And in a world of never-ending change, it's good an old friend stands apart and remains the same. |
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Ronnie Montgomery, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 4:50 PM on 06.18.10 |
| ->> Coming out with a new Sports Shooter would be like coming out with new Coke. The classics never go out of style. |
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John Middlebrook, Photographer
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Basel | Switzerland | Switzerland | Posted: 4:09 AM on 06.19.10 |
| ->> Kahuna, with all due respect, I was quoting the other five posts calling this site a "hobby" site, not referencing you. |
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G.J. McCarthy, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | US | Posted: 9:41 AM on 06.19.10 |
| ->> The just wish the site had more sex and violence, like on TV. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 11:10 PM on 06.19.10 |
->> RSS
I hacked an RSS feed together for message board and classified listings awhile ago. If you're interested in using it, feel free:
http://www.daveharpe.com/ss/
The two feeds update every 15 minutes and show the last 25 items.
It's all done on the server side, so it's not using SS bandwidth other than one page view every fifteen minutes. If you use it, it will use a little bandwidth on my host, so be gentle... :-)
Totally unsupported...could go away at anytime...but it's been working for me for over a year.
Dave |
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Lane Hickenbottom, Photographer
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Omaha | NE | usa | Posted: 12:10 PM on 06.20.10 |
->> To my recollection, there has been at least one change over the years and I don't like it. I swear the message board search function used to tell the number of times your search term appeared in each thread.
For example, if you did a search for "iPad" it would tell you that this thread had exactly one reference to "iPad".
I agree that this site works. But with a few little tweeks here and there (more robust search for example) it would work better. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Fresno | ca | usa | Posted: 10:38 AM on 06.21.10 |
| ->> Amen; if it ain't broke don't fix it. I am all over FB, but I still don't get Twitter... and I always wonder why people feel the need to re-design websites when there's no need. Like DPReview; I liked it the way it was. Leave well enough alone. My wife used to always rearrange the furniture in the living room. Drove me crazy. I do wish the gallery update process were a little easier, but it's not the end of the world. |
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Curtis Clegg, Photographer
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Sycamore | IL | USA | Posted: 11:15 AM on 06.21.10 |
| ->> Is this thread dead yet? |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 11:32 AM on 06.21.10 |
| ->> tap out! |
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