• Posted 12/19/2024.
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    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Bye-bye...

This Truly makes me sad. Those were some of the COOLEST dolphins in the world and now, more than likely they are gone. Lets hope, HOPE that somehow they can still capture a few breeding pairs of these guys, get them into captivity and possibly help save their species. Maybe... maybe... all is not lost.

:(
 
Very sad indeed and unfortunately I doubt they will be the last headed in that direction.
 
I suspect that human beings are the only species on this planet that some members can be embarrassed at being part of that species.

Sometime far into the future, if humanity still survives, those far distant generations will say of us, "Just what the HELL were those dummies THINKING?"
 
WebSlave said:
I suspect that human beings are the only species on this planet that some members can be embarrassed at being part of that species.
Click to expand...
:iagree: I hate being human to tell you the truth. I'd like to be a little viper or something, far away from humans who could kill me and my habitat.
 
WebSlave said:
I suspect that human beings are the only species on this planet that some members can be embarrassed at being part of that species.

Sometime far into the future, if humanity still survives, those far distant generations will say of us, "Just what the HELL were those dummies THINKING?"
Click to expand...

I think we're also the only one that will assume guilt beyond what might be logical.

Human factors are definitely and clearly responsible for the yangtze river dolphin's ultimate demise and people have been aware of it for quite some time (Last Chance to See anyone? Adams? Photo of the falcon and the rubber brimmed fedora?) however... While factors like underwater noise pollution (not good for a species that ecolocates), chemical pollution and fishing had a definite imact, it's also a species that had kind of evolved itself into a dead end long before people were interacting with them.

The species represents a high degree of specialization into an ecological niche which was inherently incapable of supporting a large population. There were never large numbers because the population had evolved to meet the specific environmental demands of a specific river system. They either branched off from or died out in competition with marine species and what was left is a population that was highly suited to it's specific environment and not at all capable of surviving in any other. The human factor removed the chance to continue that process naturally- either evolving further to remain successful within their limited environment, evolving to succeed in bordering environments (back to salt water? Onto land?) or dying out as a response to the pressures inherent in the species they interact with and the environmental changes that happen over time (erosion, temperature changes, altering weather patterns and on and on and on).

The signifigance and impact of any new factor or change, including our less than exactly natural contributions, is going to be directly proportional to the size of the species and the environment it exists in. One river system, one small island... any change is going to be a signifigant one. The smaller the environment or population, the more specific and highly evolved to a given ecological niche, the more it becomes a razor's edge situation. We're not always going to be directly responsible for the decline of a species, but we'll probably always get kicked in the metaphorical stomach by the guilt.
 
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