new thread
Victor started this web board as a hobby interest almost a decade ago, and I've been helping him with the software for 7 years. We both recently came to realize that hobbies come and go - that's part of life! However, spawned by Victor's early interest was this web community which may live on for many years. For all we know, it may live on past the time we are both pushing up daisies. Organizations are like that, and Victor realized it was time to turn the board over to a committee which forever replenishes itself with users who are active NOW. Moving the web board off his personal server at the-light.com to our new domain www.mlhh.org tonight was part of that process.
Nothing should change much. It will be the same crowd using the board, and the guys you know as the Moderation Crew will be managing it, just as they have for several years. The Moderation Crew always is replenishing itself with people who are excited about what goes on here, so you can count on active, involved management who really care about what happens here, and that will continue long after any one man's interest in all the work of running a web board has faded away.
Victor and I are both as committed to having long hair as ever, and we always will be. He's really excited about his photography hobby now, though, and my retirement has turned my thoughts to new opportunities such as travel. Hey, from this place we all come and go! What this change means is that the board won't now skip town when one of us does....
Enjoy the Hyperboard!
Bill
site software engineer, who's definitely tired of the computer right now. [grin]
Hey Bill and Victor,
just want to say Thanks for the time and work you are putting into the hyperboard
Thank you Victor and Bill for a wonderful and insightful board for all of us longhairs...
A big thankyou to you Bill, and to Victor!
We'll keep the "the light" on, even if it's not in the domain name. :-)
- Oren
Thanks Bill for such a quick and smooth relocation of the board.
Absalom
Thanks Victor & Bill, I've been visiting this board on and off for years now since I found it, as a sometimes longhair and sometimes shorthair who probably doesn't post as much as he should and sometimes misses a few days between visits. I appreciate the work you guys go to! Also thanks to those who work behind the scenes, and especially to Oren.
You guys are much more dedicated than I am.
We're not worthy!, We're not worthy!
MattT
Dude, you have really nice hair. I took a look at the 2 movie clips. Hopefully you will let it grow this time.
Absalom
Planning on at least shoulder length!
MattT
Thanks to Bill, Victor, and Oren for having put so much time and energy into making this forum possible. I'm sure countless guys have benefitted from your kindness.
dino
Thanks Bill & Victor for the time you've dedicated to the maintenance of this board. Lets hope the board is still going strong in another decade!
Mogh
Bill,
I applaud what Victor and you have done with the site. I'd like to thank Victor for creating the site in the first place and congratulate him on his success. Thanks Victor!
And Bill...thank you for all you have done to keep this site functioning and for taking it to it's next level!
I have a bit of an idea just how overwhelming maintaining a site like this can be...and it is a daunting task for one single person to handle. The way you have set this up will make it possible for all of us to enjoy for many years to come!
This board has been a tremendous support mechanism for all of us...especially with those of us unsure about our looks and/or lack of experience in maintaining healthy hair. It's good to see the site growing into it's next phase.
I'm sure I echo the thoughts of all of us here by saying 'thank you' for giving us all a place to go and, much like having long hair, allowing it to grow as long as possible!
All the best,
Brett
Thanks to Bill for all you hard work in the programming and keeping it going whilst others weren't always there, and Victor thanks for a great idea.
I think the word "great" is applicable as the current trend of "awesome" just not sum it up. From the keepers of the how enhlih should be used...hehehe!!!
Don't forget Bill you and other half are always welcome to the Blighty Isle the other side of the pond.
John.B
All I can say to this is, "Thank you!" Thanks for giving this community a chance do coalesce and grow, thanks for nurturing it and looking after it for all these years, and a huge *Thank you* for taking steps to ensure its longevity!
A hearty round of applause is in order.
And a big thanks to you for mentioning this site on a mutual forum that we're both on. That's how I found out about the MLHH!
--Rick
Oh, you're quite welcome.
The relocation of the board from Victor's site to a standalone seperate .org server is a great milestone!
It will be easier to remember the link to the site and was much needed. Bill, you are doing an incredible job as always, with the running and maintainence of this board. Almost 10 years of the MLHH, wow, be sure to have an anniversary cake. Longevity is one of the main attributes that will keep this board going and going, and constantly improving at the same time.
A great milestone, congratulations!
A huge 'Thank You' to you and Victor for creating and maintaining this board for so long. It's been and will continue to be a big help to everyone who's growing and thinking about growing their hair long. Also... it's a great place to create friendships!
Keep it growing!
--Rick
P.S. It was great to meet you and Larry a few weeks ago!
Yes, we'll have to do it again!
Bill
Fantastic. Looks like a seemless transition. Congratulations on pulling that off. A lot of other web sites have a hard time moving like that. Thank-you to the entire team, but especially Victor and Bill for their years of service.
The move took planning. We started by moving things that could be unchanged for a few days, like the users' directory. Oren just held changes to it, saving them up to put on the new site. Last was the board itself. Every message (there were hundreds of them) had references to the old site within them. We wrote a program to change all of those references. The program took less than an hour to write, and less than a second to change those references in hundreds of files. Imagine how long it would have taken to change all those manually! We moved the board and then changed all of those references, and the entire process took about 15 minutes. Users couldn't post during that time, so we had about a 15 minute downtime. We had that late on a weekend evening when few use the board.
That was "the technical side". On the political side, the whole crew has had work to do, and more remains. We had to apply for the domain name and set up an account for handling of funds. Later we'll set up a way to take donations. We had to write up procedures to govern ourselves - there will no longer be a benevolent dictator to just go crying to if things aren't to one's liking! All in all, our crew works great together, but what do we do if someday we don't? We have to be prepared for that, to assure the community continues onward able to fulfill its intended goals.
Much like a radio station has a "programming department" and an "engineering department", we'll split our work into two groups. The Moderation Crew will take care of social and content issues and the Technical Committee will handle software and server related ones. Some men may serve in both groups, but we have some who don't spend the time doing one of the tasks to be really qualified for it (or maybe they just don't have the interest), but they are great at the other task. Now we can tap all that talent.
We still have a few technical tasks remaining. The alternate views for the main page have not been installed yet, and the archives await someone who is willing to spend a LOT of time on them because they are quite out of date. And though we have no bug reports yet, any reports we might get will be handled promptly.
Our goal has been to make the changeover as seamless as possible to the site's users, and it appears we've succeeded. We are delighted at that, and we are delighted at all your positive comments about our endeavor. Such comments mean a lot toward encouraging the crew to work for the community into the future!
Bill
Thanx for all the work and support. Great resource.
I also would like to add my kudos to the folks responsible for the operation of this site; it has been beneficial to many. I also would like to add that I appreciate the manner in which this site has been run, and the positive attitude which emulates herein. The discord prevelent on some of the other sites is unbelievable and tends to run people off; I am glad to see that not taking place here.
Once again, thanks.
Big George
And yet another opportunity for us to thank You, Victor and so many others over the years for all your work providing a comfortable virtual-living-room for all of us. This is one of the few sane niches to hide in an insane world.
Three Cheers !!
Walter White Tail
I've been visited this site for some time now, even before I started to grow my hair longer again. It was encouraging to see that I wasn't alone with the desire to have long hair. Thank you for your hard work in building this community and keeping it civil.
Bruce
Hi Bill, hi Victor,
congratulations to both of you, to all the moderators, and the other volunteers for making this a great site! The 10-year anniversary will be a HUGE celebration...
Many more happy years to all men dedicated to long hair!
Hans-Uwe
I remember when I first started the board. I did so with trepidation, wondering if anyone would visit. I think the original activity may have been spurred by the desire for the conversations we have here to be moved AWAY from other boards that happened to be active, but with a concentration toward female hair.
It was gratifying there to know people wanted to visit. This may sound odd, but it's even more gratifying now to know that it can and will fledge to live a life of its own.
This would not have been possible without the dedication of the moderators. Most of you are probably not aware how much work they do behind the scenes.
Victor,
You are "proud papa" of all of this.
Thanks a million for founding this fine oasis for us.
It is our pleasure to keep it going.
- Oren