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What are these numbers? (with a short history of MFO appended)
Yes, I believe so. There may have been a relatively small number of posts which were not counted in the very early days as the software was first being adapted, but I'm pretty sure that these counts go back to the beginning of the vanilla software now in use, as well as the previous version.
Chip or Accipiter will know for sure if they happen to read this.
Thanks Old_Joe. By the way, what was the inception date of MFO (roughly)? Were you part of Fund Alarm before that? I never knew about Fund Alarm so was not a part of it.
David, Chip, Accipiter, Ted, were they all on Fund Alarm? That must have been quite a site.
"what was the inception date of MFO (roughly)?" Sometime in March, 2011.
"Were you part of FundAlarm before that?" Well, I was a poster, if that counts.
Actually, FundAlarm was quite a bit tamer than MFO because the proprietor, Roy Weitz, had no use for off-topic posts, and ran a very tight ship. Obviously there was therefore no category other than "mutual funds", and a great deal of imagination was employed and fun was had by many of us trying to "sneak" contraband under his moderation screen.
David assisted Roy in a number of areas, and then as now, was a major contributor with respect to the analysis of funds and fund families. As I recall, Accipiter participated in posting, but I don't remember him (or anyone, for that matter) being involved at the technical level. If he reads this I'm sure that he'll give us the story. Chip came to us when MFO replaced FundAlarm, as David is a technical doofus tyro.
The software construct of FundAlarm was completely different than that of MFO: a very simple line-by-line affair for topic headings, with a one-line response heading "tree" down from the original post, sort of like one of those genealogical charts that I can never figure out.
It was quite a site, and we are very indebted to Roy Weitz for the incredible amount of time and dedication that he gave to FundAlarm.
By the way, what is the difference between the role that Accipiter has and the role that Chip has at MFO? I think of them both as the computer and tech aces here.
Yes, I'm with you on that. I believe that Chip takes care of the more frequent day-to-day technical issues, and Accipiter comes aboard when there are major problems or software changes being made. My contribution to MFO was the assembly of the site User Manual, which can be downloaded as a PDF under the "Resources" heading. I had the pleasure of working with both Chip and Accipiter on that project, and they are really great to work with. That manual is now obsolescent, as the newer MFO software is much simpler than the last version. I hope to rewrite the User Manual if time permits.
For those unfamiliar with FundAlarm and for folks looking for a nostalgic rush, here's a snapshot of the FA discussion board from January 2011 and April 2005.
Roy Weitz launched FundAlarm 18 years ago as an antidote to the mindless hype that fund companies were getting away with. He combined a tart monthly commentary with a list of funds to avoid, then added a discussion board. About six years ago he felt himself running out of steam and asked if I'd write a new feature on small and new funds; after a year, Roy granted himself a sabbatical and I took up the monthly commentary. About four years ago he admitted that he'd written himself out; he felt he was stretching for content and made my role permanent.
About three and a half years ago, Roy's parents encountered simultaneous health crises and he let the community know that he was retiring FundAlarm to care for family. At Roy's prodding a number of folks encouraged me to launch "a site in the tradition of FundAlarm." Lacking any technical skills, I paid Brad Isbell, an IT colleague at Augustana, to design the site and prevailed upon my friend Cheryl Welsch (a/k/a Chip) to maintain it. We did a "soft launch" on April 1 2011 and had a sort of grand opening on May 1 2011. Our early look was ... uhhh, rudimentary. Anna Zolotusky, web designer whose mom was (is?) a fan, volunteered to bring us into the 21st century (and did).
We run two major software packages side-by-side: WordPress underlies the entire site and Vanilla underlies the discussion board. Chip frets rather more about WordPress, Accipiter - who taught himself programming for the purpose - frets rather more about Vanilla. Accipiter also wrote the Navigator program, which allows you to find a wealth of targeted information about any fund. As our discussion board software grew in complexity (Accipiter has written a bunch of custom programs for it), OJ generously wrote a really first-rate users guide.
Charles, like me, started as a member of the discussion community with a special knack. I'm not sure what my knack was. Charles's is making data sing. After reading one particularly fine post, I asked Charles if we might include it in the monthly commentary and had the pleasure, thereafter, to have him contribute pieces with a sophisticated statistical bent on a regular basis. As he thought about what the site needed, he also designed both our fund screener and the metrics behind it which led to the Great Owl designation.
Ed Studzinski, whose career included stints in the Navy JAG office and banking as well as co-managing OAKBX, had been sharing behind the scenes commentary on the industry and its players by phone. Eventually I persuaded him to address a larger audience about the dynamics of the industry and the way they affect our fates.
Hey David- I figured that you might show up- that's why I graciously crossed out "doofus" up above. Thanks for all of this stuff- we wouldn't have anything now if it weren't for your work and dedication.
Note: redundant, as David was posting as I was writing...............2 minutes is a lifetime, once in awhile.
Take care, Catch
Catch, that was an interesting webpage you linked. You're right, a bunch of names that are here today. Sounds like Fund Alarm was really special. Now I finally have some idea what is meant by 'MFO is a site in the tradition of Fund Alarm'
A note about the FundAlarm page that you viewed. You will see about 8 days of posting, more or less. As a new post (at the top of the page) was added; the oldest post (the last line of the page) was dropped and gone forever. Of course, with MFO; one has DAY 1; or whatever other page may be found with a search of a word/name. Take care, Catch
A note from the very beginning (March, 2011) of MFO and the guidelines; for the newly arrived and slow learners:
Following long FundAlarm tradition, I expect that the moderator will keep a low profile but will still act to help preserve the Board's traditions of open inquiry, civil disagreement and fun.
RULES FOR THE DISCUSSION BOARD:
Commercial, off-topic, or offensive postings will be ruthlessly deleted.
- If you are rude, your post will be deleted. If you are repeatedly rude, your right to post will be deleted.
Only one screen name is allowed per individual.
Please do not include copyrighted material in your post, except for the occasional, brief excerpt.
Hi Catch- how funny, I also had gone back to "page one" and looked through some of the original stuff. When I saw that rule list, I thought exactly the same thing that you did. I always liked the "ruthlessly" descriptor. For anyone who prefers a bit of "ruth", here it is:
ruth noun archaic a feeling of pity, distress, or grief. ORIGIN Middle English : from the verb rue, probably influenced by Old Norse hrygth.
(Please note that the above is an "occasional, brief excerpt.")
It's my impression that the view counter for posts has changed how it counts. Seemed that last site update the views per post stopped growing as fast or as high. Is this possibly true?
The numbers are since the inception of MFO. They reflect the total number of posts, topics, users, and views that exist in our database, today. I don't think they would reflect any deleted posts.
Comments
Chip or Accipiter will know for sure if they happen to read this.
Were you part of Fund Alarm before that?
I never knew about Fund Alarm so was not a part of it.
David, Chip, Accipiter, Ted, were they all on Fund Alarm?
That must have been quite a site.
Sometime in March, 2011.
"Were you part of FundAlarm before that?"
Well, I was a poster, if that counts.
Actually, FundAlarm was quite a bit tamer than MFO because the proprietor, Roy Weitz, had no use for off-topic posts, and ran a very tight ship. Obviously there was therefore no category other than "mutual funds", and a great deal of imagination was employed and fun was had by many of us trying to "sneak" contraband under his moderation screen.
David assisted Roy in a number of areas, and then as now, was a major contributor with respect to the analysis of funds and fund families. As I recall, Accipiter participated in posting, but I don't remember him (or anyone, for that matter) being involved at the technical level. If he reads this I'm sure that he'll give us the story. Chip came to us when MFO replaced FundAlarm, as David is a technical
doofustyro.The software construct of FundAlarm was completely different than that of MFO: a very simple line-by-line affair for topic headings, with a one-line response heading "tree" down from the original post, sort of like one of those genealogical charts that I can never figure out.
It was quite a site, and we are very indebted to Roy Weitz for the incredible amount of time and dedication that he gave to FundAlarm.
By the way, what is the difference between the role that Accipiter has and the role that Chip has at MFO? I think of them both as the computer and tech aces here.
Roy Weitz launched FundAlarm 18 years ago as an antidote to the mindless hype that fund companies were getting away with. He combined a tart monthly commentary with a list of funds to avoid, then added a discussion board. About six years ago he felt himself running out of steam and asked if I'd write a new feature on small and new funds; after a year, Roy granted himself a sabbatical and I took up the monthly commentary. About four years ago he admitted that he'd written himself out; he felt he was stretching for content and made my role permanent.
About three and a half years ago, Roy's parents encountered simultaneous health crises and he let the community know that he was retiring FundAlarm to care for family. At Roy's prodding a number of folks encouraged me to launch "a site in the tradition of FundAlarm." Lacking any technical skills, I paid Brad Isbell, an IT colleague at Augustana, to design the site and prevailed upon my friend Cheryl Welsch (a/k/a Chip) to maintain it. We did a "soft launch" on April 1 2011 and had a sort of grand opening on May 1 2011. Our early look was ... uhhh, rudimentary. Anna Zolotusky, web designer whose mom was (is?) a fan, volunteered to bring us into the 21st century (and did).
We run two major software packages side-by-side: WordPress underlies the entire site and Vanilla underlies the discussion board. Chip frets rather more about WordPress, Accipiter - who taught himself programming for the purpose - frets rather more about Vanilla. Accipiter also wrote the Navigator program, which allows you to find a wealth of targeted information about any fund. As our discussion board software grew in complexity (Accipiter has written a bunch of custom programs for it), OJ generously wrote a really first-rate users guide.
Charles, like me, started as a member of the discussion community with a special knack. I'm not sure what my knack was. Charles's is making data sing. After reading one particularly fine post, I asked Charles if we might include it in the monthly commentary and had the pleasure, thereafter, to have him contribute pieces with a sophisticated statistical bent on a regular basis. As he thought about what the site needed, he also designed both our fund screener and the metrics behind it which led to the Great Owl designation.
Ed Studzinski, whose career included stints in the Navy JAG office and banking as well as co-managing OAKBX, had been sharing behind the scenes commentary on the industry and its players by phone. Eventually I persuaded him to address a larger audience about the dynamics of the industry and the way they affect our fates.
All on less than $700 a month.
Hope that helps,
David
April 1, 2011 was the active opening for MFO.
The below link is a view only, archive page; for FundAlarm in April, 2011.
You'll find a few names that you see today, here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110423104354/http://www.fundalarm.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html
Note: redundant, as David was posting as I was writing...............2 minutes is a lifetime, once in awhile.
Take care,
Catch
Regards!
A note about the FundAlarm page that you viewed. You will see about 8 days of posting, more or less. As a new post (at the top of the page) was added; the oldest post (the last line of the page) was dropped and gone forever.
Of course, with MFO; one has DAY 1; or whatever other page may be found with a search of a word/name.
Take care,
Catch
A note from the very beginning (March, 2011) of MFO and the guidelines; for the newly arrived and slow learners: Take care in your town,
Catch
ruth
noun archaic
a feeling of pity, distress, or grief.
ORIGIN Middle English : from the verb rue, probably influenced by Old Norse hrygth.
(Please note that the above is an "occasional, brief excerpt.")
Take care- OJ
Note: David- thanks for the editing.
yes, OJ is correct