I've been lurking and paying attention for a while.

Well, forum software does become obsolete and incompatible with newer operating systems, just like software does on a PC. Bugs don't get resolved and patches don't get applied.

Hell, the ancient versions of PHP and MySQL that has to be used in order to run forum software this old no longer gets patched for bugs or security exploits. Moving to modern forum software is necessary just to keep up with all of the PHP and operating system updates most webhosts out there are using on their servers, not to mention to keep the hackers away.

None of that matters though if Brent doesn't take action one way or another.

After 50 some years dealing with software I can tell you that software and hardware running an application do not have an expiration date. There is a DEC VAX system that I helped support in the 70's still running their original application.

This site has had several server changes over the past couple of years. Bigger faster better did nothing since the gas sucks. In its heyday this forum supported easily 2 to 5 times as many active users as any time you see now, and it served them with virtually no latency. Server speed is not the issue.

The problem here is not hardware and the forum software, it's the database. Not the database software but the database itself. Garbage in, garbage out. Figure out how to make the database errors go away and the site will function as it did before.

Security and hackers welcome. Have been for over a decade. Has never been a secure site. Heck, it pre-dates the notion of secure links. Nothing to take. Spammers come and go.

PS. I used to be a follower of the "latest and greatest" software releases. I was a VMS junkie and was one of the first internal (I worked at DEC) test sites for the pre-customer betas. I followed the MAC OS through the end of the Power PC at which time none of my embedded systems development tools ran on the MAC and chip tools only ran on Windows. I stopped chasing Windows. I have two rock solid Thinkpads still running Windows 7 and a thrid (this one) running Windows 10. I did run Windows 8 and later betas while we were developing the USB3 infrastructure. They should have been ashamed of themselves. Releases would fix one set of bugs and then break something else.

Now I'll wait for the database error after I submit reply.

I may have this a bit off, but a semi recent conversation with Brent, I gleaned that there appear to be issues with the software powering the sister site clubchopper.com that are also causing the issues we are having with both clubhotrod.com as well as clubcobra.com. As such, clubchopper will remain down and the continued glitches will apparently continue sporadically until Brent can figure out the issue. The database is intact, but it will still be an inconvenience for those who use the site until such time that Brent can come up with a working solution.

I know, not what you want to hear, but here it is, in black and white, metaphorically speaking that is.


Bill S.

But Bill, this problem has been going on for over ten years now. He obviously can't fix it himself, the problems always return, so why doesn't he turn the problem over to someone else? Is there a simple answer as to why he would want to put himself through this year after year after year? :confused:

Having dealt with vB 3.8 for many years, way back when it was coming to the end of it's supported life, I remember dealing with plenty of db errors. As did other forum owners I know who moved on from that version of the software long ago. The script tends to error out when it uses up too many resources - could be a result of one of the customizations, poor code, db issues, other sites on the same server, etc. ClubHotRod runs a pretty buggy version of vB with 4.2. Could easily be issues with both sites if they're running on the same server, as mrmustang pointed out.

Let's see if this reply goes through... I'm copying it just in case. I hope Brent gets it worked out, or hands it off to someone willing to do the work required.

I too copy my post before submitting, but in every case that generates the database memory allocation error the post happens and the error is generated while the forum software is on its way back to refresh the thread to display the new post. Sometimes I get a page that says something about being redirected but it's only a couple of times. Normally forums reopen the thread with the new post at the end...

When are the Keith Craft sponsor ads going away? Just wondering.%/

Does the term "not in your lifetime" mean anything to you?

Does the term "not in your lifetime" mean anything to you? I should purchase an advert as it will outlive me!

Does the term "not in your lifetime" mean anything to you? I should purchase an advert as it will outlive me!

During the 22+ years I've been coming to this forum I've never criticized its management because I have never contributed anything more than content. I'll not start now but I will offer an opinion. Based on the obvious functional problems, the long out of date ads, and not-Cobra-related spammy social groups, it appears that the current and projected future income generated by this site is not sufficient to motivate management to spend its time and resources to make it better. I don't say this to criticize management but to acknowledge that interest in the Cobra hobby seems to have waned over the years, and that may be a root cause of the problem. Management may no longer find this site interesting or profitable enough to justify more than the glitchy experience I have come to expect.

This is not a management problem, Tony. It is an ownership problem!

The owner, whom I presume is Brent, stumbled onto something unexpected that spawned a life of its own along with some unexpected cash flow, at least for a while. Like a financially uninformed lottery winner, the site owner took the cash and spent it without reinvesting it into continuing operations.

By the time the money was gone, it was too late; the site had begun buckling at the knees due to a lack of ongoing maintenance. At this point, chewing gum and banding wire are all that are keeping this embarrassment alive. At some point in the not-too-distant future, that saga will also come to an inglorious end.

It will be a sad day for a once vibrant site — a day that did not have to happen. The original site and ongoing membership were/are much better than the owner deserved.

And do not fall into the trap of cash donations. Ask those that did on the premise that things woukd get fixed just how much value they received. I heard one person made a sizeable donation and nothing changed. I suppose the position would be "it didn't get any worse"

I also can't imagine that advertising revenue in forums could ever do much more than pay to keep the lights on. Certainly not funding retirement.. maybe a case of beer after expenses

as long as no life depends on the site being up, who cares.
I check in once in a while, if its not up, I'll check next time

Pay attention to Tony's admonition in post #154. Throwing money at this problem is not going to fix the problem. It will reduce the amount of mad money you personally have available for your own Cobra projects!

The website's problems and performance are directly attributable to a lack of maintenance, mismanagement, indifference, and greed. Contributing money to this site is a gross strategic miscalculation.

Remember W.C fields immortal words, "A fool and his money are easily separated."

If you must throw money away, let me know, and I will provide you with a place to send it that will at least say thank you for the donation.

There is so much stored history and tribal knowledge on this site, it would be an absolute shame to let the site fade away and go down. For those of us who refuse to wade in the sewer that is social media (me), this is about the only game in town.
I've said it multiple times before but I'll repeat again - I am very confused as to the motivations, or lack thereof, of the owner of this site. On one hand, he seems to have grown disinterested in promoting and maintaining the site, and the advertising revenue seems to have reached about zero, as the ads haven't changed a bit in years. Yet when he's approached about selling the site to others who will inject some time, money, life and vitality back into the site, he apparently refuses to engage. Sort of "I don't want it any longer, but I don't want anyone else to have it either. I just don't get it.

Lots of double posts lately, something wrong with the site?

There are stable alternatives to explore.


https://www.talkcobra.com/