Happy new year upgoat. I'm glad to say goodbye to 2024, the worst year of my life. 2025 is going to be a good year. We have the "good" jew in office again. Free speech is cool again and people are fed up with the bullshit being forced down our throats constantly. I guess we'll see what happens. One thing I do know is it will be a pivotal year for Upgoat.
Back in October our hosting provider increased our rate by 3X. Fortunately they offered to grandfather in our old rate but this is temporary and if I make any changes to the account we'll lose it. If/when that happens it will be harder to justify keeping this place going. It's been 4 years and traffic has flatlined. I'm just tired and bored to be honest. I feel like I've accomplished everything I set out to do. It is still cheap enough to shell out, it went from about $400 a year to over $1100, but I am not a rich man. If prices continue to go up I will have to put the goat on the chopping block.
But I know there are more than a few people who care about this place and I don't take that lightly. I care about you more than I care about the website itself. Upgoat is no Voat but it's become a cozy home for a good chunk of people, myself included. So shutting down isn't something I take lightly. But it's an alluring option I won't lie. It is stressful being in this position, having to worry about being doxxed, or fucked with, having to worry about governments and laws. The world is a scary fucking place right now. Being a nobody is appealing. But free speech is something I am passionate about. It's worth being persecuted and even dying for because I wouldn't want to live in a world without it. That's the only thing driving this place. But I feel like I've given it my all and have nothing to show for it after nearly 4 years.
So I'm conflicted. Have been for awhile, even before the price increase which is more than likely just an alignment to reflect our new fucked up economy (thanks Biden). Our host has been great when it comes to uptime, performance and customer service so looking elsewhere for hosting hasn't even crossed my mind.
So something needs to change. But my options are limited. I value my privacy above money and success and that limits my options greatly.
Many have suggested I begin accepting crypto. I am humbled by your generosity. Seriously. But I never understood it well enough to feel comfortable taking it. I didn't just want to sign up for a website and let it handle everything without me having a clue what is going on. So I've been paying attention to the scene for the past couple years and I now feel comfortable enough running my own wallets on own machines without fucking it up. I'm sure you crypto bros are laughing, but I really had no interest in crypto. I'm not a money guy. Taking money from people is not something I take lightly, I'm a horrible sales person. But not having to worry about paying out of pocket to keep this place running will be a big burden off my back. And the idea of reinvesting into the site and growing is appealing. So fuck it. Here you go. Let's keep this party going.
The upgoat vault will be used strictly to pay for the costs of the site. Not having a safety blanket of capital has stunted this place's growth. With it I will have the confidence to start branching out, adding image hosting and other improvements. These accounts will hopefully ensure we are online for years to come.
I also created separate addresses for myself. If you appreciate the time and effort I put into the place you can donate to me directly through the tip addresses.
Having separate addresses will hopefully avoid any confusion and fuckery. The vault is for website costs; hosting, domains, certs and other misc costs. The tip addresses are for me, allowing myself to maybe have a steak or a cheeseburger every once in a while.
DO NOT donate if you can't afford to. Don't go out trying to obtain crypto just to give. Only donate if you already have crypto and can spare a few bits to keep this place going. I don't want anyone to feel obligated.
I am also considering offering services paid for in bitcoin/monero. Username changes, a pinned post for a certain length of time, pick your name color, sponser a feature etc. Let me know what you guys want. Everyone who donates will get to create a custom badge if they choose (pick the image and flair text) or you can remain anonymous. This is still in the air though.
I know bitcoin is still obscure and times are tough. But if you are in a position to then consider keeping this place alive. I will keep this pinned for week or so. Feel free to click the x to hide it. Someone mentioned the idea of having a PO box where money orders could be sent. I will consider this. All info will be in the side bar "Donate" link (which doesn't exist yet).
I value everyone who contributes to the site through discussion, content submission, and voting. That organic engagement cannot be bought. You people are why this place exists at all. So treating everyone equally without bias will continue to be important to me. I also cannot be bought. I value my integrity and your presence here more than any monetary value. So no special favors or fuckery. However if you do donate I would definitely be more willing to listen to your feedback and spend time replying to you. But everyone is always free to message me as well. I reply back most of the time, if not immediately then within a few days.
Now that I am officially accepting donations I feel I need to clean this place up. Homogenize all the pages, clean up the code, QOL features, minor annoyances etc. Feel free to post your feedback here. I am planning on spending a good chunk of time in the code this year. Even if this is all a failure I want to at least leave behind an open source repo.
Thanks for listening to my spiel. I know it's long but these words have been floating around in my head for a while. 2025 will be the year we grow or die. I'm okay with either. Love you all regardless.
Hello old friends, I was truckboattruck back on original voat and ive been lurking around since then. suffice it to say, I hope this place grows and becomes a bulwark against the nigger tides.
also, tell system we need a way to send money that doesnt involve crypto. fuck that shit
Fall of the Rebel Angels, early 18th century, sculpted from a single piece of ivory. Unknown author (formerly attributed to Jakob Auer). Currently located at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Hey there folks. Well, as the title says, recently I have come to believe that I might in fact be a nigger. I'm not exactly sure how it happened or if there was a major turning point in my life that led me to becoming a nigger, but I sorta came to the realization recently that it's a definite possibility.
I don't like to work, I love weed, I love me some white women, and I despise the cold.
Just picked her up fresh from the lot. Gonna use it to move wood into the barn. Thinking of getting some offroad tires or perhaps a C.B. radio to talk to other carts.
Old nam vet comes into my buddy's place yesterday and is just talking everyone's ear off about typical ziocuck bullshit and fancy cars. He's always been standoffish with me because he's borderline down's syndrome and a zogbot to the core. As I'm walking up, .454 in a drop leg as always, he says, bragging "You know I'm a 33rd degree freemason right?" With zero hesitation, I said, "admitting you're a satanic pedophile around here is a good way to get shot." He responded by grinning and opening up his jacket to show me a 1911 in a shoulder rig with three point retention and I laughed at him and said, "Ok, you go ahead and try to draw first." and stared him down silently for a solid ten seconds, and the blood drained out of his face. He just froze up. I actually felt a little bad and said, "Well, you're lucky I'm not feeling shooty today, but we don't even joke about that shit around here." and he was still in shock so I told him I was just razzing him to break the tension, and told him some stories about my previous encounters with drunk pervert masons, said he was a "clown car mason, not a bank ceo mason". He chatted uncomfortably for a minute but made an excuse to leave. It felt great, but I apologized to my buddy for putting his customer on the hot seat like that. He said hates the guy and was glad I scared him off so no worries there.
I used to just remain quiet and cordial and make a mental note to avoid those guys when I ran into them, but lately, my give a fuck is just gone and it feels great, and natural, to just be brutally honest at all times. Maybe it was the covid psyop that was the straw that broke the camel's back, but for the last few years, my kid gloves are just off with people. I know it's not always the best strategy, and it likely endangers me more than being an intelligent good hearted honky inherently does in our world, but at this point, I feel like blatant exposure and intolerance of bullshit is humanity's only hope.
I guess the point of this post is wanting to see other strategies that are as effective at scumbag exposure and removal from one's life, but not as dangerous as publicly calling them out.
Niggerfaggots, I think I fucked my inner ankle up. I started jogging in October of 2023 and noticed my ankle was kinda sore, so I stopped, but continued hiking and walking a lot. Over time, I’ve had stiffness in the same ankle but just brushed it off as the beginnings of arthritis. I have a job where I’m on my feet and it has gotten to the point where I know something is definitely up. I don’t want to deal with “the system”. I have been wearing an aircast for the last few hours and it hurts worse than it did before. For reference, the last 4 days, I haven’t been walking much on it, and have been elevating and icing it. Any suggestions? I’m currently off work and have leeway to be a gimp till February 10th.
The great irony about Anne Frank is that she helps disprove the Holocaust.
She was sent to Auschwitz where she wasn’t gassed or killed, then transferred to Bergen-Belsen where she died of Typhus in a hospital.
If Auschwitz was a death camp, why did Germany waste resources transferring her? But further her story lines up exactly with what revisionist say in that many Jews died in concentration camps at the end of the war from spread of disease and starvation.
