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Thread: The Future Of E-budo.com

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    Exclamation The Future Of E-budo.com

    Aloha, all:

    I have been in contact with the organization that hosts this Web-site, & we have a problem.

    The owner is simply no longer interested in maintaining e-Budo, & has not responded to multiple voice-mails & e-mails to discuss the site. He is $600 behind on hosting fees & is accumulating an additional $20 each month.

    I would like to start a conversation on who among us is interested in continuing e-Budo. Here are my priorities:

    1. Collect $600 to bring the hosting service current - they deserve this!

    2. Identify people who will pay $20 once a year so that the fees don't fall behind again. I am the first of these people.

    3. Identify people who will maintain the Web-site. This differs from the folks who monitor each forum.

    4. Come up with some ideas on how to keep the site owner from arbitrarily taking down the site. This will include downloading & backing up ALL of the valuable data currently in storage, & then getting a small group together to see if we can simply buy the site's rights from the owner. I don't think that will be easy.

    If we do nothing, then Orionweb.net has every right to permanently take down the Web-site, so please get back to me with ideas & offers.

    Thanks!!

    Ken Goldstein, Ph.D.
    ken@catii.com
    808-239-7950

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    You might want to post this as a sticky in the What's New and/or Members Lounge forums. But to be frank, E-Budo has declined precipitously over the past several years, and it's doubtful that it will ever reach the levels of participation that it did back at the turn of the century. Maybe that's why John has written if off.

    Internet forums are declining overall, I suspect largely due to the rise in social media use. Sites like this one seem to be going the way of the e-mail list serves that hosted e-mail list serves in the 1990s. Ironically, Aikido-L and Iaido-L still exist, but they are shadows of what they were in their heyday.

    Still, if there are enough others here who would be willing to fund and also oversee the maintenance of the site, that would be a noble effort.
    Cady Goldfield

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cady Goldfield View Post
    You might want to post this as a sticky in the What's New and/or Members Lounge forums. But to be frank, E-Budo has declined precipitously over the past several years, and it's doubtful that it will ever reach the levels of participation that it did back at the turn of the century. Maybe that's why John has written if off.

    Internet forums are declining overall, I suspect largely due to the rise in social media use. Sites like this one seem to be going the way of the e-mail list serves that hosted e-mail list serves in the 1990s. Ironically, Aikido-L and Iaido-L still exist, but they are shadows of what they were in their heyday.

    Still, if there are enough others here who would be willing to fund and also oversee the maintenance of the site, that would be a noble effort.
    Frankly, when it went off-line, I had assumed it was due to the inactivity.

    Aikiweb still has quite a bit of activity, but I prefer e-Budo.
    Joseph Dostie

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    As Cady suggested, I have moved this thread to the Members Lounge and made it sticky, since it might attract more views than in its previous position in the Sword Forum.
    Last edited by P Goldsbury; 4th April 2013 at 04:24.
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
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    Quote Originally Posted by jdostie View Post
    Frankly, when it went off-line, I had assumed it was due to the inactivity.

    Aikiweb still has quite a bit of activity, but I prefer e-Budo.
    I know Jun Akiyama well and we have discussed AikiWeb and similar forums many times. Like other general web discussion forums, there is always a risk of dumbing down the standards in order to attract viewers and members. I contribute to AikiWeb more than I do here because of the freedom that Jun gives me to post what I like.

    Moderation is always an issue and some AikiWeb members have opined that E-Budo suffers from excessive and biased moderation. (I disagree, but I am probably biased, being a moderator here .)

    I hope E-Budo survives and would be willing to contribute to this end.
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

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    I wasn't degrading Aiki-web, or that wasn't my intention... There is a different 'flavor' in each. For "non-aikido" related topics, I have enjoyed e-Budo, perhaps because I found it first, or perhaps the topical organization.

    Many of the posters are the same...
    Joseph Dostie

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    Quote Originally Posted by jdostie View Post
    I wasn't degrading Aiki-web, or that wasn't my intention... There is a different 'flavor' in each. For "non-aikido" related topics, I have enjoyed e-Budo, perhaps because I found it first, or perhaps the topical organization.

    Many of the posters are the same...
    I did not think that was your intention. I was really echoing Cady's comment about the general decline of web discussion forums.
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

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    I'm afraid that facebook has taken over the universe that used to be web fora, just (as pointed out) web fora took over from usenet newsgroups. One can rail against it, or simply go with the evolving technology. The only other option I see is Reddit.
    - elmar schmeisser

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    AikiWeb is, of course, focused on aikido, though it provides a forum to post about other martial arts and related topics. Traffic there is consistent but not heavy. There are a lot of "guests" who lurk there (probably a fair number are 'bots), but posting seems to be limited to a relatively small handful of regulars. Same seems to be the case for other martial arts forums I occasionally visit, including for Chinese arts.

    It's the social media's reign now. Facebook provides "one-stop shopping" for people, drawing them away from the more cumbersome Internet forums. Even forum owners have Facebook pages, and if traffic there gets heavier than on their forums, they may end up just ditching the old 'net forums and moving all traffic to Facebook.

    I suspect, also, that the depressed global economy has forced a lot of people to spend less time posting online on a variety of sites, and more time doing their jobs, or looking for a job.
    Cady Goldfield

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    Regardless of whether or not E-Budo continues (here or elsewhere), is it possible to archive the forum as a permanent on-line resource? How much would that cost? As a lurker, I did miss access to the discussions that occurred before I became aware of the site, and value them.
    'Leaves fall.'

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    Default eBudo should stay

    As a regular contributor I would hate to see eBudo go. I don't think Facebook works as well for what eBudo's used for. Especially in the archiving aspect mentioned before. Because of this I'd be willing to contribute to the upkeep, as well.
    I mostly post in (and read) the Shorinjikempo forum because that's the art I practice. This used to be one of the most active forums here and has seen a strong decline recently too, though the reasons are, as far as I can tell, more from inside our art than the forum in general. Therefore it might recover over time.

    JL
    Jan Lipsius
    少林寺拳法
    Shorinjikempo
    Humboldt University Berlin Branch

    "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." Gandhi

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    I also have enjoyed e-budo over the years, and would be willing to contribute to its continuation. However, I do not have the web experience or the time necessary to contribute to actually running and maintaining the site, all I can do is help out monetarily. Hopefully more internet savvy folks will volunteer to actually run the site.
    Paul Smith
    "Always keep the sharp side and the pointy end between you and your opponent"

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    Thanks to those of you who have replied.

    I'm working to find a way to at least archive existing e-Budo information, although I'm not sure how I would be able to get that information back out to other users if the site goes down again.

    As mentioned, my first task is to collect $600 to pay the arrears that Orionweb.net has accumulated. If you are able to help, even with a few dollars, please e-mail me directly at ken@catii.com. Once I'm able to get enough donations, I will ask you to send me a PayPal payment, & will send the $600 to Bill Knoernschild <bill@orionweb.net> who runs the hosting service. This will allow e-Budo.com to remain viable, at least for now. Feel free to e-mail Bill if you have questions on services or payments.

    We can then address paying the monthly $20 hosting fee, & onwards from there.

    Thank you!

    Ken
    Ken Goldstein
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    Judo Kodansha/MJER Iaido Kodansha/Jodo Oku-iri
    Fencing Master/NRA Instructor

    "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it'll annoy enough people to be worth the effort."

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    Hi Ken,

    Thanks for your efforts and the heads up.

    Personally, the fact that less people participate here anymore, or that forums are declining in popularity, is not a big concern to me. What I am interested in is having the discussions archived publicly so they continue to come up in net searches. Most important topics have already been discussed to death, but now serve as important resources when researching an art or instructor, IMO.

    The AJJ forum is specifically moderated with archiving information about the related arts, qualified instructors, and history. There are many instructors who are no longer using the names "Daito-ryu" or "Aikijujutsu" for their businesses due to having been - or fear of being - weeded out e-budo. As such, I think forums such as this are still critical for providing information to the public that at the same time allows for fair debate or updates.

    So IOW, my vote would be at least to preserve e-budo as a database.

    Another idea for preserving the forum (fully functioning) would be to create a non-profit organization for it. I know of at least one good sized web hosting service that offers free web hosting (fully hosted) with email accounts, etc, for non-profit groups who can provide proof of their 501(c) status. The only fee then would be annual fees for maintaining the "e-budo.com" name, which is minimal. As far as forming such an organization, monthly meetings could be held online.

    Worth the effort?
    Nathan Scott
    Nichigetsukai

    "Put strength into your practice, and avoid conceit. It is easy enough to understand a strategy and guard against it after the matter has already been settled, but the reason an opponent becomes defeated is because they didn't learn of it ahead of time. This is the nature of secret matters. That which is kept hidden is what we call the Flower."

    - Zeami Motokiyo, 1418 (Fūshikaden)

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    IMO, preserving the site as at least a (non-participatory) database is the absolute minimum action. There is some valuable material here, worth preserving for a variety of purposes.

    I'd hate to see all of those years of substance just go away and vanish into the cyber ethers. Last time E-Budo came back after a long absence, I hurriedly sought out and copied a bunch of old threads and posts before "The Flying Dutchman" disappeared again.

    I do like Nathan's idea of creating a non-profit for E-Budo and finding a freebie/low cost hosting to transfer it to, remaining an active, fully functioning forum. It would be worth the effort, if there is a core group here willing to help and support the process. We'd need John's permission first.
    Cady Goldfield

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