Jim Alfredson

Thanks, everyone. I just tried checking this forum and it was SUPER slow still. The server hosting company just upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 8GB which was supposed to mitigate this problem but it still persists. That's frustrating. I am, however, still proud of myself for figuring out how to turn on the PHP extensions that the forum needed after the server company updated to PHP 8.1.

I had the server company upgrade us to PHP 8.1 to prepare for the new Invision software version 5 that's coming soon and the board went down because they didn't install the correct extensions. I actually figured out how to do it myself! We'll be upgrading the server with more RAM to handle the extremely large database soon. It will cost another $10 a month but I think it'll be worth it. We've been having some serious slow downs recently.

The SSL certificate expired on Feb 3 but I didn't see an email about it because it went to my SPAM folder for some reason. I don't know why it's not on auto-renew. I'll figure that out. All good now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The issue was people deleting all of their posts, which of course completely ruins the continuity of discussions. This has happened at least three times in the past and has made a lot of work for myself and the mods to restore the posts. I can increase the time allotment but I do think it's a reasonable response to the problem.

I have no idea if I even still have the source files that I made these mp3s from all those years ago. So creating 'hi-res' versions might be tough. I am working on a Christmas album with a fantastic singer for next year, though. I wanted to get it done this year but it didn't happen. We have a gig tomorrow to try out some of these tunes and see what we need to work on. It'll basically be organ trio + tenor + singer.

We are set for this year but it's not too early to start thinking about next year! I'll look into the subscription model. The MusicPlayer forums just started doing that because they are having trouble keeping the doors open as well. They are doing $5 a month or $50 per year in order to have posting privileges.

I'm sorry to hear this. What a life and career. The first time I met Dr. Lonnie Smith, he was playing with Lou Donaldson at The Firefly Club in Ann Arbor, MI. As a 20 something year old kid, I didn't really understand how the bass pedals were used in jazz organ playing and Dr. Lonnie set me straight. I worked up the courage to go talk to him after the gig and he sat me right down on the bench and showed me the technique. I got to meet Lou then, too. He was a sweet, gentle man with a wicked sense of humor, which is reflected in his music. I love so many of those Blue Note organ records he did. Alligator Boogaloo. Mr Shing-a-Ling, Good Gracious!, Midnight Creeper, Natural Soul, etc. What a legend.

I need to call the server company and see if I can pay for the entire year rather than monthly. As of now, we've raised $1300 + Dan's $130 that paid to get the lights turned back on, so $1430 in total. That's awesome! You guys are great. If I can get it just paid for the entire year, then we don't need to worry about it again until next February. I'll look into some subscription models. I think this software supports it.

That's a great idea. I'll see if this forum software supports that.

Friends, I apologize for the extended downtime. To be blunt, the server went down because I didn't pay the bill. This time of year is the absolute worst for me financially and frankly I just didn't have the money to pay it. I should've come here sooner and reminded everyone about donations, because it's been months since I've received one. But I've been working 12-16 hours a day on repair projects, trying to make some money. Member Dan Gould paid for this month and to him I'm very thankful. Anyway, I'm not complaining, just letting everyone know the reality. As is the case everywhere, the price to run this place has gone up slightly. My server fees are $138 per month and the license to use the forum software doubled from $99 a year to $199 a year. I haven't paid that yet. So in total it's $1855 a year to keep the lights on. I wish I could get the Donations tab working again. I'll look into that some more. That was nice when it was working. Anyway, my PayPal is b3groover@hotmail.com Thanks!

They are up on my soundcloud. Also I just posted a new YouTube video with some more tunes done with an authentic mid-60s Hammond drum machine! There's also this little gem I did a few years ago with Ivan Akansiima and Jeff Shoup.

No, we do not. And I haven't been getting any emails about slow downs. So maybe the server just needed a reboot. Not sure. I'll keep an eye on it.

I was receiving them through the DONATIONS window. But I just removed it because it bothers me. My PayPal is b3groover at hotmail dot com. You can send money there or PM me if you want to send Venmo, Cash App, or a physical check.

The DONATIONS plug-in was purchased via the Invision Community Forums marketplace. The person who developed it, who has a long history with the community (our old donations code was made by him) has evidently disappeared off the face of the planet. He has not responded to any emails, any support requests, nor has he logged on to the actual Invision Forum (the forum hosted by the company that makes this forum software) for several months. I have no idea what happened to him, but as of yet nobody else offers a plug-in for donations. I might have to hire a code expert to make a custom one for us.