Steves Pages news...

[alexcue]

Chris, I was guilty of not ever going to the front page and reading the "news" I went straight to page 7b.
Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out. It was great talking to you and I consider a donation not only to you currently but to the memory of Steve and all his hard work. Once again. Thank you and it was a pleasure talking to you!
Alex

 

[Ex]

Thanks so much for the kind works Alex! It's feedback like this that keep me on the right track!
Chris

 

[243winxb]

Steve's Pages has become a subscription site. . I've set subscription at $12 per year

Good to know. Ty.

How to get access here.

1. Email me your phone number and I will add it to the subscriber sheet here and call you (a) so that we may have a brief conversation (required) and (b) you will get my phone number. Do NOT make a payment prior to our conversation.

2. There are PayPal links throughout the site. Make your payment (one year minimum requirement) for access (subject to the above conditions). There are almost 12,000 pages at StevesPages and I have worked hard to insure that all the PayPal links have been changed to reflect my account ([email protected]), but there is a chance that I've missed one. I recommend using the PayPal link at the top of the home page (www.stevespages.com ) as I know for sure that one is right. PayPal also has a new deal where they offer a monthly, recurring payment... Do not do that one as they take 55 cents on the dollar for that. A single $12 payment is the minimum entry subscription.

3. When you have paid for the subscription, email me here at my StevesPages address and let me know that you have made a payment. I will then check at PayPal, generate your username and password and email them back to you. You will then have immediate access. I don't hang out at or keep PayPal open so the email is the fastest way. I check email frequently through the day.

http://stevespages.com

 

[carbine85]

So how do you go about signing up? I used to be able to login in. I don't see anywhere to do that.
I haven't visited Steve's pages in 2-3 years

 

[Ex]

Carbine85, please see the front page of stevespages... there you will find my email address and some short instructions. I'm on travel this weekend and will be back Tues.

 

[Fyodor]

I'm very grateful that you keep the page alive.

But turning it into a profit center in my eyes doesn't fulfill Steve's wishes. You wrote before, the page did cost you 40-50$ a year. Now you're selling subscriptions for 12$ a year, so 4-5 subscribers would pay for the whole site. You stated you had some 40-50 subscribers already, so you're making about 500$ per year from that site. That turns the idea of the whole thing upside down. I've used the page before, but paying 12$ for one manual (never needed more than one per year) means I can also buy a printed copy.

You turned it into a very exclusive club, while locking out everybody it was created for in the beginning: the recreational shooter who got an old gun inherited or from a yard sale, but no manual.

I'm really sorry to hear that. This very useful resource was turned into a closed library for researchers and gunsmiths. All of the traffic reduction you experience is going off the people Steve made this site for.

Sorry to see his legacy go down that way.

 

[Ex]

Fyodor, thou knowest not of what thou speakest of!!!, but a long shot your math and/or figures are WAY askew and you are missing much data. How about the freaking $1000 I had to spend? Am I ever to break even on that? Or should I just put that in YOUR pocket?

"A very exclusive club" Again, that's $1 a month. You probably shoot $100 in .223 ammo on the weekends.

"I've used the page before, but paying 12$ for one manual (never needed more than one per year) means I can also buy a printed copy."
You don't have a printer? Or maybe you'd just rather give $12 to Amazon as they do no profiteering. You obviously don't want to support StevesPages.

Personally, I think Steve would be happy as now the site WILL continue! And if you knew ONE THIN iota about security (which is the MAIN reason the site MUST be closed, or would you rather that hostile foreign countries be able to work engineered attacks to steal all the data (most of which you have no idea what's there or this conversation would not exist)) you would not have your current opinion. And how about I leave it open so the previous attack can continue and renew over and over so then I get his with excess bandwidth charges continually, each month? Access MUST be controlled. This is not the same world it was just a few years ago. Perhaps you hadn't noticed...

I see you also don't support this website. So it's all good for ya as long as someone else pays for it. Meh... no surprise.

I could go on for hours but will waste no more time explaining something to you that seemingly would go over you head anyway.

 

[lonniemike]

Thanks Chris, I emailed info to you already and am waiting/wanting to talk. AlltheBest

 

[Fyodor]

Sorry for my late reply, I was in vacation, and didn't have internet access.

I'm sorry that you react so upset. Insulting me doesn't really help getting your points across, though.

The maths I used was from the information you gave. Combined with my own experience (I run a website for my business and one for our national shooting organization and a forum with over 40,000 users) it didn't seem to be too far off. Also considering the websites and forums I know or run myself that live from donations alone, with a much smaller user base, I really wonder why that shouldn't have worked there, too. Again, just my own experience suggests it should work. I live on a different continent, maybe that makes such a big difference. I meant no insult.

12 dollar per year doesn't seem to be a lot. But it sums up when you have to pay it everywhere. And I don't see why I should give you money for someone else's work. You saved the pages from being deleted. But you didn't create them, most of the work was already done when you got it. Most of the work you reported you did afterwards was because of your own choice to block everybody from using the page. My opinion might change, if things were more transparent. Like telling how much you need and how much you receive, like others do, e.g. for donation funded forums. That way the users would at least see if they are still supporting Steve's pages, or your next vacation. Calling me ignorant while not providing the numbers didn't help.

I actually don't care whoever makes profit from the documents I need, I just try to not waste money. Steve put the page up for everyone to use and to participate. Both will come to an end, if it is only an elite club of the same few people who have access. Also this was my experience, when the audience is too small, it doesn't work any more.

Restricting access on an arbitrary basis is not far off from deleting the site. In reality it's gone. And you're locking out half of the world, even if they are not enemy. I don't think you want to get up in the middle of the night to call some guy who only speaks French, Spanish or Czech. These are not your enemy. The enemy you are afraid of already infiltrated the free democratic nations on the world. If you call a guy in London and he speaks perfect British English, seems to be nice and calm, he might be OK. But he might also be the next ISIS convert who plans world domination, als all he's missing the manual of the Daisy V/L. You can't see inside the heads. Or do you really think, the Taliban rely on an AK manual from Steve's Pages? The stuff for the weapons they use can be found everywhere. Steve's pages are more like a library with historic value. Blocking hostile countries works perfectly with geoblocking, by the way. I know of no other site that actually calls every single user... this is not security, it's an elite club.

It's sad to see this page disappear for the general audience for which it was meant.

I know you won't accept, but I still make you an offer: I put up an exact copy, keeping it open to the public, and having it pay for itself via donations. If I'm in the red numbers after one year, I'll pay you the 1000$.

 

[Ex]

<"I know you won't accept, but I still make you an offer: I put up an exact copy, keeping it open to the public, and having it pay for itself via donations. If I'm in the red numbers after one year, I'll pay you the 1000$.">
All I can say is you must not have been paying attention as it's already been said that the site in TWENTY years NEVER paid for itself or even came close for Steve or in the the years I ran it JUST LIKE STEVE.

<"Or do you really think, the Taliban rely on an AK manual from Steve's Pages?">
Again you are attempting to make points on a topic where you are SORELY lacking in info. An AK manual is only part of it and is actually very inconsequential. You obviously don't know all the content here, as most don't. I've had too many conversations with people who in 10 years of using StevesPages have never even looked at the front page or any other than the one page they always use.

In your case I will not waste my time trying to sway you one way or the other, and I will also not waste any further time trying to "enlighten" you as to all the angles involved.

 

[Fyodor]

It's sad how you always point out what I don't know, without giving the slightest information. How should I know, when you don't tell?

By the way, I tried to get in contact with you several times to get access to the page, and was even willing to pay for it. I sent about four emails within the last few months. You didn't answer even one of them, so then I started searching the web for info and found this post. I'm not against paying for website access in general, I don't belong to the generation that thinks everything on the web should be free. I just have a different opinion about Steve's will and mostly the way you grant or deny access. A "pay once" or "pay per download" plan would be much closer to what I think Steve wanted, or a lower price for the subscription. Most people just need one or two documents, and the price you ask for it too much for that. Especially in combination with the request not to download too much.

Beside the argument we had, I am still interested in a one year subscription.

But since you prefer to offer this database to a personal selection only, I'm sure you would reject me anyway for not agreeing with you, and not because I'm "hostile" (which I'm definitely not). Still, since emails obviously didn't work, please consider this my formal application. Address and phone number can only be provided via PM.

 

[Ex]

<It's sad how you always point out what I don't know, without giving the slightest information.>
Sorry for not wanting to write a 40 page essay to bring you up to speed. I have not received any emails from you or I would have replied. Do you understand just how much work it would be to setup a "pay per download" system?

You have approached me with negativity since your first post in this thread and made bold statements about how wrong I am for protecting (only after the attack that happened and cost me hundreds of hours) content which is most certainly sensitive.

<But since you prefer to offer this database to a personal selection only, I'm sure you would reject me anyway for not agreeing with you>
Again with the negativity. I had the system completely free and open until the aforementioned problems. In fact, I do have a couple folks from Germany and three from France that have access, so enough with the "personal selection" and other deliberately derogatory remarks.

PMing you

 

[Walkalong]

PMing you

That would be best.

Closed, for now at least.