It's my impression that some of the finest techie minds in the world can be found on the membership rolls of FR.
I really wish John could/would avail himself of some of them, even given the pitfalls inherent with 'committees'.
There IS a workable solution out there somewhere !
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Speaking of membership rolls, and assuming a current membership of, say, 100,000:
$1/month for posting privileges, plus whatever the CC companies charge for a transaction fee .. so say total user cost of $2 per month, yields $1,200,000 per year for FR to become THE fastest site on earth.
And even if only half the membership agreed to that pittance, $600,000/yr is still about double the site's current income, and should keep us cutting edge and vey zippy.
Lurking would, as always, remain free of charge (other than the guilt cost incurred via freeloading ;-)
I’m a monthly donor, have been for a very long time, so I hope I’m not too over the line in offering an observation.
There is only one person on the face of the planet who has access to and expertise in FR’s “guts,” most of which I understand is proprietary and custom. Unless a substantial increase in the salary and/or benefits of that one and only person would somehow provide the impetus, time, and expertise required to fix this, more money won’t solve it.