Hi guys
we tried this a while back and failed miserably because of the strict South African Forex Laws. After months and months of jumping through hoops, filling in forms, being inspected, extraction of DNA and blood samples, we think we are ready to try it again.
Direct link to donations page: https://www.sas1946.com/contributeWe will now (As of 28 May 2010,) be accepting all donations through PayPal. For South Africans, getting this working was a great trick, usually only reserved for bigger companies with runners and lawyers and financial departments. But after much slogging, I got it all done.
All the guys who contribute will be named and thanked here. No stealing of your bucks will happen here. We will not pull any TV evangelical BS on you like "I need $10000 by the end of the week or my children will be executed", or blackmailing you with threats of shutting down the site and such crap. Neither are we going to buy a big fat commercial server and expect you all to pick up the tab. The site will go on regardless, and while the expenses are not life threatening, I do pay them, and some help would be cool.
Please include in the PayPal transaction notes, your SAS screenname also, so I can know who to thank!Q: How much money does SAS need to run?
A: We cannot say exactly. We would (and did for a long time) pay for it ourselves, so, technically nothing
There are 3 hosts we use, one big account that runs the forum sever, and two smaller ones elsewhere that we use to store files. After last year's attacks we have learned to keep our stuff dispersed. So there may be others we cannot mention just yet. To this you can add unknown costs, for example, we are constantly outgrowing ourselves, and having to upgrade bandwidth or space on servers. We are also trying to save so there is some leeway for us to make better decisions when doing these upgrades. And then there are bank-charges which is a small but noticeable part, for us operating from South Africa, with it's strict forex and paypal laws.
In April we took out a Mediafire Pro Account, the only way I was able to host the UP3 static downloads ,the FBDSM and the DBW updates, before passing them on to mirrors. This has proven immensely popular, and up to mid July, we have had more than 25000 files downloaded from there, totaling an amazing 5 Terabytes of data. Unfortunately this has come at a cost, and so I am adding $40 to the total target (even though it routinely costs 3 or 4 times that per month.)
Note for Aug 2013: We have been able , after a year's saving , to get the host provider of our choice and move our domains and accounts, and build up a good savings cushion to protect the site for the foreseeable future. This means also that we can now drastically revise the monthly targets for the costs of running the site. Thanx to all who helped us reach that!
Note for Dec 2015: Re-hosting of images from Imageshack indicated a need for more storage space on the server, which was possible to do using donations and savings. This also require the increasing of the monthly target by a few bucks from March 2016 onward.
Note for May 2016:All the images we rehosted and also the continuing growth of the forum, along with the demise of some other forums of IL2, necessitated the move from the cloud to a more stable and faster physical server that allows more data transfer, space, and less performance drop when doing the daily backups.
Note for Mar 2018: After lower data usage reports we are able to slowly let go of some additional data extras from our hosting package, which lowers our monthly target by about $20, and will see if we can save more as we go.
Note for Jan 2019: After lower costs passed on by our provider to us, and lower data usage reports we are able to slowly let go of some additional data extras from our hosting package, which lowers our monthly target by about $20.
Note for Dec 2019: We are doing well, we have done 2 consecutive years of lowering the running costs of this place, but as with all things, things do tend to get more expensive as we go, and since we are getting some good donations in, we are raising the monthly target just a bit, and starting to build perhaps a little bit of savings for the future.
Note for May 2020: Simply because of the awesome support we have gotten from donators, and in anticipation of things getting more expensive going forward, we have added $30 to the monthly totals, to build up some reserve for the future.
Note for Mar 2021: We have not adjusted the targets for a while , and so a tiny adjustment of $5 is in order.
S!
CirX
Many many thank to the guys who have made a contribution. I have to tell you it is greatly appreciated and very helpful.
As promised , here is a complete list of the SAS's benefactors so far
If I get your Screen-name wrong, just yell. If you have made a donation and I missed it, please post in this thread about it.
If your name is here, cheers mate!
Monthly Target: $100Oct 2023: $65/$100TTC Redfield, Matz, Ikolincak, RasterOp98
Sep 2023: Target Reachedgilles64, Jolly Green, larschance, OLD-DAD, BartheF
Aug 2023: Target ReachedMatz, Ikolincak, Pied, gilles64
Jul 2023: Target ReachedOLD_DAD, Matz, Ikolincak, Pied, ElDimon, RasterOp98
Jun 2023: Target ReachedIKolincak, RasterOp98, walter_solito, Matz, pied, bomberkiller, OLD_DAD
May 2023: Target Reachedjg1234, Frankiek, IKolincak, pied, Matz
Apr 2023: Target Reachedlarschance, OLD_DAD, Epervier, IKolincak
June 2009 until March 2023: Target Reached-bb-, 1941UH, Ace (J Sanches), Airbourne, alanbee, alexandre4442, ALEXBAKER, Alfie Noakes, Alfonso Perez-Almazan Reverte, Alibongo, and Poltava, andi, Andrew Jordan, Anonymous, Anthony Langley, Anthony Owen, aureleo, Baco, Bakshi, BaronFel181, Barra1 and Sid, BartheFr, Beachy, Bearcat, Becky Mellinger, BeoWolf, bigans, Bigmug, Biltongbru, BlackAce7727, Blaubär, bomberkiller, boogabooga, bougnat22, Bowie57, brad phantom, brickhacker, Bruce Mitchell, busdriver, Bwf, Catahoulak9, cgagan, chair1, Check, chrisgibon, cjd-2010, clanger, Cloyd, coatesy75, crazyflak, CWMV, d-rexs, D.Rasta, daman204, DaMasTa, Dandolo513, Daniel Clancy, Daniel Richebon, Daniele Quaglia, Danyfly, Darky1958, Darrell R, David Pisani, David Prosser, DavidMk7, decipher, Denis Pichii, Dick Hoogenraad, Dinga, Dmitriy L, doc42, Docholiday, Doctor Drago, DonA, Donaghy, Douglas Badder, DougW60, dreukrag, dumpti, Dykefish, ede99, Edward59, EHood, el bradipo, ElGueroFlaco, El_Marta, emmett, Epervier, Eremenko Aleksandr, Eric Weigand, Euge, exF14RIO, F.Savage, fabo28, fap_volador, fatty finn, FIGHTS ON, Flanker1985, Flanker35M, flapper1, Flieger, Flying H, FlyingShark, Georges44, ggrewe, Ghost129er, gianlucabagatti, GJE52, gmkump, GOERGES44, gprr, Gubi, gunny0134, Gurner, Gustav Lindström, Hans Svensson, Hans-Joachim Marseille, Hanseat, Hapless Dolt, he162a, Henkypenky, HerrWulf, Highlander_262, hildefonso, Ian goode, IKolincak, Ivan le rouge, JackS, Jacob Shapiro, James Paton, Jazzmaster, Jean-Christophe ARLANDIS, Jean-Yves Mead, Jeff White, jfloren, jg1234, JG7_X_Man, Jimbo947, Jimdandy and the guys from the 51st fighter Intecptor Squardron, jlan5031, Jochem Hraback and SAS~Le0ne, John Booth, JOLA, Jolly Green, Jonners, Jonzynator, juanmalapuente, kaasukahva, karin k, Karl Ulrich Gartelmann, kingle92, kirk1965, Klaus Sohn(urmel), Klrster, Korrigan, Kraut1, kumpel, larschance, Lauterbachlad, Le0ne, levine59, livernyc, lizard, loftyc, Londo16, LuseKofte, macgiver, magrathea, Maico, majortom, makhera, Marcos Beltran, marcost, Mark Jackson, Mark Turner, Markus Maurer, Mars1986, Marsouin, Matthew Goad, Matthew Smith, Matz, mdripley, merco911, Messcaster, Michael Kehr, mik88, Mooncat, mot0rhead, MrMojok, mstr454, nynek, okyone, Oldsalt, oldschoolie, OLD_DAD, OMDave, ordway, PanamaMan, Panter, Paul Saunders, Paulo Hirth, Peter Ferguson, Peter Gray, Phantom, philippe peeters, Phlegethon, Pierre Maka (sorry I could not trace the username), Pierre1946, Pilotpimpf, pippin, pjhmaka, polo199, Printenduevel, purgatorio, RasterOp98, rdop, RedSpade, REDVO, resistor, Richard Bretnall, Richard Mater, richm, Rockdoon, Rogue, RooMan296, RUBADUR, RVNFAC (David), Ryun Papson, S.H, Sailor, salamine, salvadi, SAS~BombsAway, SAS~Epervier, SAS~GJE52, SaS~JackS, SAS~Le0ne, SAS~Mission_bug, SAS~Sani, Savoy_11, scorpion, SCORPION 28, Shakaali, Shardana, Shessi, shoresroad, Sid, Sikshoota, Sillius_Sodus, sjcnospam, ski1961, SkyHigh, skylla, snailsave11, Snailsaviour, sniperton, snoopy, spacemishka, Spad42, Spinner, Spinnetti, Squashman, Stefan Oltersdorf, Stefano, Steve Schumaker, steven-essex, Storebror, stukkaturner, tacheles07, Tallboy, tanda01, Taraboulba, tartenmuche, Taypay, tbauchot, tcsank, TeamFlyingAce162, Terenas, Thomas Farrelly, Thomas Schäfer, Thorsten Buß(Tom), thunderwarrior, Timex62, timonsommer, tkrainey, TM-Bluntman, Toasted Toad, tom2, Tony Bell, Trainer, Triad773, TTC Redfield, Tute, Type83Fighter, ubben77, UberDemon, Urmel, Uufflakke, v1710, vegetarian, VF19_Congo, VH Rock, viking4570, Volski, Vortex, Vowaffen, vtrelut, Walshy71, walter solito, wedge1047, wern moldy, Whitecat, Whizkid, willyp, winterhawk1, Wolf Urine, woofiedog, wurgerfan, Xavier Uzomah, yak55mdvr, Zoran395, ~°x°~
