I've had a lot of things on my plate lately, but I figured we'd have a little chat about what I've been working on in the background, some things I'm hoping to implement, and then you guys are free to throw some ideas around.

I'm hoping to have SEv2 massively updated again within the next 6 months. It's still got some bugs in the posting, a lack of message and admin functionality, and the help section needs to be converted, but it's gradually taking shape. I'll probably open beta status to silver recipients later this year. I really appreciate those of you who have been checking it out and messaging me about the bugs you've been finding. That's how I know what needs fixing!

I have had a metrics system (aka my XP framework) working in the background for about a year now without causing too many database hiccups. If I can keep it that way, it will be the basis for a kind of achievement/challenge system that I'll probably start randomly inviting some of you to help me experiment with.

I'm trying to design a framework for new users, a kind of activity path in which they start off with commenting privileges and work their way up to earning the responsibilities of posting. Part of this process will probably involve taking one of the old entry numbers that doesn't have a post on it and convert it into a new user introduction thread, where their welcome message will implore them to visit and post about themselves. The idea being that if they find a no consequences place to make a connection with people they'll hopefully be more likely to take part in conversations in the future. I don't have exact numbers handy but we run about 500 unique IPs on the site a day, with a very large amount of them being lurkers. We have a variety of people here, they're often just very quiet. It'd be nice if we could get people more involved before they go all quiet on us.

Oh! Question for all of you. Right now the messaging system is setup to emulate the feel of the comment threads. Does anyone actually feel like that's beneficial? Would y'all prefer a single thread that looks like more like the messaging systems of your phones with your messages one side and the person you're conversing with on the other?

And yeah, as V2 comes closer to being available for primetime... I am thinking of getting rid of the shoutbox, but I'm debating as to whether that's in favor of a dedicated page to random chats or just killing it. Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject.

Subscribers as always are needed and appreciated. We've lost a couple, gained a couple, but still are ultimately far shorter of the goal I originally pitched when I took on this responsibility. That doesn't just mean I'm poor (which is inconvenient, but not the end of the world) that also means that SE is just as economically unstable as I am. The whole point of the subscriptions is to ensure that even if i end up in a situation (like if any of my many other projects take off) that I can't afford to put time into SE, I could hire somebody to do it for me. As it stands now with all the hours I put into this place I probably make much less than 3 dollars an hour. I may be willing to do that, but hiring somebody else to do so at that rate wouldn't be viable. I understand that many of y'all's financial situation is just as delicate as mine is so don't feel guilty if you can't afford it, but if you can, your assistance is appreciated.

A possible supplement to subs was brought to my attention in the form of coin-hive.com. It's a javascript based cryptocoin miner that websites can use to raise funds by letting their users mine coins for a the website account. It's something I've been rolling around in my head. Of course, it would be totally voluntary, except for Dienes. ;)

As always, as long as SE is mine the site will be free for everyone. I'm just looking for options for people who can't afford cash but want to contribute towards SE's upkeep and expenses.

Is that everything? I think it's most everything SE related. What's happening in my life? My truck I was living out of died back in february and had to be scrapped, I thought I was going to die, but didn't. Yay! Had a car accident in June where a tire blowout sent me off the highway and sliding alongside it sideways. Got lucky on that one too, didn't die! Yay! I'm hoping to release my first GearVR NoloVR app in the next week or so as well as slowly reworking my old CompSec site Lowkeysoft.com into a hub for my VR, AI, and Consciousness Hacking related projects. So I'm pretty excited about that.

So... What's up with you, SE?