Thank You For Your Continued Support!
Since taking over Random Curiosity, various generous individuals have e-mailed me asking if they could show some financial support for the site. While I had thanked them for their kind gesture at the time, I was intent on keeping the blog self-sustainable as a fan site, regardless of how much my double-edged personal standards made it feel like a second job. What’s more, it just wasn’t in my “style” to accept donations even in light of some trying times when I was forced to change web hosting earlier this month. However, I admit the thought of just dropping all the extra work that goes into maintaining the site and looking forward to days of an abundance of free-time did cross my mind at one point. I found myself working tirelessly for four days straight exploring options and configuring software to get things back up, and ran into one problem after another both in setting up the new server and in real life, and seriously started questioning why I’m working as hard as I am — almost always at the expense of sleep.
It was then that I was reminded of the faithful and supportive readership that has developed over the site’s nearly six year existence, of which I had the privilege of being a part of almost half of. In addition to your supportive comments, the e-mails I’ve received expressing appreciation on taking up the reins of the site and even concern for my personal health goes a long way in those sleepless nights, and were something I felt I had to live up to both for those kindhearted souls and my expectations of myself. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that I’m more of a workaholic than I’d care to admit, but I’ve also discovered that I’m someone who absolutely thrives on just words of gratitude, so there’s no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be putting so much time and effort into the site had if it didn’t have the supportive readership that it does. For that, I’d like to express my own thanks in return. I know it sounds rather cliché, but Random Curiosity really wouldn’t be what it is today without the readers coming back regularly on a daily basis to read my thoughts and those of other writers on the latest and greatest anime. One side definitely drives the other, and from my personal perspective it would be all of you.
That said, please note this is not some sort of “donation drive” campaign to raise financial support for the site. I have every intent of fulfilling the expectations people have in this site and the ones I have in myself, even if it means devoting a hundred hours or so to put together the most comprehensive season preview that I’m capable of every three months. The server costs have gone up dramatically since switching over to a dedicated box and I’ve since learned that the bandwidth cap is likely insufficient for our readers’ needs, but I plan to make that workable in a sensible manner given the budget that I have. As such, my decision to actually start accepting donations is mainly for the aforementioned generous individuals who wanted to show their support in a way that made the most sense for them. Like Azusa above, I’m still a bit apprehensive about the idea, since I didn’t want the site to be known as a donation supported one; however, the days of being hosted on AnimeBlogger and having expenses covered by their donation drives are over, and I’d be lying if I said the money wouldn’t help towards keeping the site running (motivational-wise too).
Be that as it may, please PLEASE do not feel obligated to contribute towards the site even if you’ve been a long-time reader since its inception. I will make do one way or another, and the ultimate motivation will always be your continued support from just visiting the site, hearing me out on what I have to say about anime, and providing feedback if you like what you see. This is just more of a formality thing, as I didn’t want to alienate readers by having a Donations page show up on the site all of a sudden. There just happens to be various generous souls out there who may or may not be in a much better financial position than myself, and it didn’t really make any sense for me to refuse their sign of appreciation anymore. Regardless of how you want to show your support, it will always be greatly appreciated in more ways than words can express. Once again, thank you.
October 21, 2010 at 1:21 pmNghtmrSrph
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Thanks for keeping this site up Divine, we all love you.
October 23, 2010 at 6:08 amSnipyro
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That sums up what I want to say. I’ve been reading RC for years now, and it’s something I check on a daily basis. Thanks for keeping up the good work after Omni retired, Divine! And a big thanks to all the other writers too!
October 21, 2010 at 1:28 pmKondou
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Aha…I remember when the server was down and every time I saw the “Under maintenance” sign, I would refresh the page every now and then just to make sure if it wasn’t fixed.^^
Many thanks for all the hard work throughout the years!
October 21, 2010 at 1:32 pmImperialX
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I wish I wasn’t a student anymore. I’d totally donate to you. The work you put into this blog is astounding, to say the least. We love you. :)
October 21, 2010 at 9:27 pmOtaku_Brawler
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I hear you. Being a student leaves you broke all the time. I’d totally support this awesome site. One day…:)
October 21, 2010 at 2:07 pmWhitefame
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I been addicted to this site for years now and I really appreciate all the work you done. I will try to donate so often i can so please keep up the good work!!!
October 21, 2010 at 2:28 pmPera
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I have just discovered this site. But I love the work your doing, and I really appreciate all the work you do to keep us happy. I will try to donate when I can, it’s the least we can do to make you do the same good job you always do
October 21, 2010 at 2:37 pmswrp
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they need to new add movie called K-ON. It saw to TV. K-ON Season 1 done and Season 2 then yet, movie k-on. please, they beg to me.
October 21, 2010 at 3:01 pmAznCoffee
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Thanks for all the hard work you put into this site Divine! :’D
It touches me how much you care.
But y’know, you ‘could’ ease up by just doing anime posts instead of updating the song or whatever. xD;
Jus sayin. XOXO
October 21, 2010 at 3:21 pmLesire
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You’ve put in so much effort, especially over these last few months, I’m suprised you managed to keep a constant stream of quality post available for us to read!
As long as there’s a RC, I’ll be checking it daily!
:)
October 21, 2010 at 4:19 pmGambler
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I really appreciate the amount of effort put into the site and giving previews of eps. Without RC it’s like flying blind through anime. Keep it up.
October 21, 2010 at 5:31 pmHenry
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Random Curiosity is pretty much the only anime blog I look to; that said, im sure many people here feel the sameway
October 21, 2010 at 6:01 pmArnaiyus
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I already donated.
Please continue your awesome work.
We all love you!
October 21, 2010 at 6:06 pminnerchihiro
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Divine, you are so awesome. You say thank you to us when we should be thanking you. If there’s anyway we can support, I’m sure a lot of us will jump at the chance.
October 21, 2010 at 6:10 pmstarss
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How can you get mad from cute little faces like those?
You’re welcome.
October 21, 2010 at 6:17 pmd_w31
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What a great way to handle this, I had offered to donate before and will be doing so now that the option is available. Good job Divine! I was pleasantly surprised to find that you are taking funds in Canadian funds, makes it easy for me :)
October 21, 2010 at 7:16 pmAnon
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Hey, I just wanted to thank you so much for putting in so much time in this website! I’m not much of a speaker (commenter) but, that doesn’t stop me visiting this website pretty much everyday. I love anime and manga, but lately, I don’t have the time to watch any anime. So, this is the way I do. From the reviews, it’s like I learned it and I remember to watch it over the few breaks I do. I love reading up it as, it’s not only a source of information but a way of sharing both gut-reactions and critical thinking of the material. With that said, I really do appreciate the time and the effort and everything!
Please take care of your own health and best of luck!
October 21, 2010 at 7:40 pmpp
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why not switch to http://www.squarespace.com/pricing/ instead ? They have unlimited bandwidth for $20/mth..
October 21, 2010 at 7:48 pmsylv3rblade
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That’s not a good sign of a reliable host.
I imagine with randomc’s load, any account will be immediately suspended for it’s massive resource requirement.
October 21, 2010 at 7:52 pmsylv3rblade
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How’s the server load doing? Also, if you’re looking at a huge cost in terms of dedicated, you might be interested in looking up Amazon’s Web Services, EC2 and S3 specifically. It’s a bit on the techy side to deploy but it may be cheaper.
October 21, 2010 at 9:52 pmDivine
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The server costs are manageable thanks to Mentar getting me some really good pricing. As I mentioned, this isn’t intended to be a Random Curiosity fundraiser or anything, but just a means for those who have wanted to donate to do so. All contributions will be used to support the site, with the most obvious cost being hosting of course.
Also, I took a quick look at Amazon S3 and it wouldn’t be worthwhile given how the site moves 3 to 4TB of traffic a month. Based on their pricing of $0.15 per GB for the first 10TB, that would be $450-600 a month. I can get that for a fraction of the cost just by paying for more bandwidth on my current hosting.
October 21, 2010 at 8:24 pmChen^2
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Thank you very much for everything Divine. Been checking this site everyday for the past 3 years. I am sorta strapped for cash at the moment (still an intern) but I hope my appreciation for all you have done is enough for now. Thanks again.
October 21, 2010 at 8:47 pmSilivious
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I’ll donate as much as I can on my budget. :D
October 21, 2010 at 9:02 pmEternal
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And thank YOU Divine for your continued efforts.
October 21, 2010 at 9:11 pmBossun
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, you want Canadian Dollars?! I don’t think I can read on this site anymore
October 21, 2010 at 9:53 pmDivine
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I’m sorry to hear that. :\
October 21, 2010 at 9:12 pmShinjiro
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D, you pretty much know how I felt about RC so I won’t just double up what everyone and I said in the past. I’ll tag you along soon.
October 21, 2010 at 9:35 pmOr@nge-kun
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Thank you very much for your hard work here. I really love this site.
I will definitely support this site regularly, though it might not be that much since I’m still a student.
October 21, 2010 at 10:13 pmCode Breaker
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I’ve been coming to this site for over 4-5 years! and I must say! you are one of the most interesting writers I’ve ever seen..sadly I can’t donate..ya know, student has no money thingy XD but I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work you have done and keep doing! and I’m probably right to say that 99.9% of the people here feel the same way as I do.
October 21, 2010 at 10:23 pmqntiria
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thankyou so much for keeping the site running divine =D i always check here everyday and i love reading your blogs! dont thank us, it should be us thanking you!
October 21, 2010 at 10:26 pmAnimeToshokan
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Random Curiosity is the best animeblogger site period.
October 21, 2010 at 10:29 pmT4nk
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You and the staff are doing an amazing job! I’m really grateful you guys have devoted so much time and effort into maintaining and running this awesome site!
October 21, 2010 at 10:57 pmRickson
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Thank you so much for your hard work!!
October 21, 2010 at 11:32 pmKaNeLo
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Yay, we can finally donate :)
I been following random curiosity for three years now, I honestly cant say my day would be normal without checking on the site every day. I appreciate the work that you have been doing and your sacrifices even more. Your level of commitment to this site is something i admire, Thank you soo much ^_^
oh, we haven’t Forgotten about you omni wherever you are, thank you for starting this!!!!!
October 22, 2010 at 12:32 amLiberta
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Remember Divine, if your very ill and/or dead, there will be no Random Curiosity. With the understanding that you are a workaholic, please put your health at the highest priority : ) Don’t try to let your fans worry too much -_^
Since I actually got a decent paying job, I will try to see if I can somehow help ya out with the site. I am curious about CAD though. Is there a process through paypal that converts American currency to Canadian?
Keep up the good work Divine. Remember! Take it easy =D Don’t risk your health ^_^
October 22, 2010 at 1:16 amDivine
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Yeah, PayPal will handle all currency conversions using their rates. (They take a small cut.)
October 22, 2010 at 9:14 amlynn
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yeah, they take a “small” cut. Anyway I want you to know you can count with me :-), I’ll try to donate as regularly as I can. I’ve been reading this site for a long time, I seriously thank you for all your hard work, what you’ve done with RC is great.
Greetings.
October 22, 2010 at 7:22 amKelino
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My willingness to donate increases proportionally as your (specifically you, not the rest of your staff) episode commentaries move away from summary and closer to a separation between thoughts and summary.
October 22, 2010 at 11:26 amDivine
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If you’re referring to going back to a dedicated summary, then I won’t be able to oblige in that regard. To those who haven’t tried blogging using that format (or blogging altogether), it is literally like writing two separate posts that are completely unrelated to one another. As such, it’s monotonous and takes a lot longer to write as well.
October 22, 2010 at 11:43 amTakaii
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As much as I’ve tried, I also don’t enjoy writing a full summary and then writing my thoughts. But I suppose only Divine is being targeted here :|
October 22, 2010 at 8:58 pmkookaa
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Appreciate the dedication you guys put to the site. Keep up the good work!!!
October 23, 2010 at 9:40 pmMrBrownSound
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I Appreciate all you are doing Divine. You and all the writers are very honest and sincere people. You can ask me for my credit card number’s, and I still would never think in a million years you would do anything bad with it.
Trust me when I say your fan’s really do want to support you in every way possible. Maybe things will get a little easier on you, if you put up a donation(Paypal) banner on top of the page. You must be totally against it, but please think about it when you hit hard times, and find maintaining the site needs a bit more.
October 24, 2010 at 1:32 amSyaoran Li
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There’s neither shame nor need to explain yourself right now, because the burden you accepted after Onmi’s decision of leaving for good was something not many people would’ve accepted. For that, you’ve my respect and admiration. The times have changed, so the needs and resources to maintain alive a webpage like this running, so you don’t have to feel embarrassed in front of these signs of kindness and financial supports towards something everyone over here enjoys, even those who are following RC since the beginning. Believe me, if I’d the means to contribute with anything in my hands to help this blog, I would do it gladly and without hesitation; so let the people who want to share the burden with you, even if it goes against your original believes, please let them.
We’ll never forget the choice you did when Onmi said “This is it”, so feel proud of yourself and let others help in any way they can. Remember, you’re not alone here.
October 25, 2010 at 11:20 pmDarkScyX
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Divine, thx for putting so much effort and time in the Site… i have to say, that i was really lost without RC supporting me in my daily check on the animes episodes reviews…
but i have admit that i did try searching another blog…
and none of them… can be compared to yours…
i’ll allways love ur personal comments about the new animes…
so Good Luck, and keep it comming…
Really… Thanks… really happy to have all the team Back… ^-^
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