Welcome to the Pogues Fora

[DzM]

These fora came online November 30, 2003.

The fora offer an environment to discuss the Pogues and the various member's careers, current events, history, etc.

Enjoy.

DzM

[DzM]

Happy anniversary to the forums!

Here's some useless statistics about the first year of operation:

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Number of posts:            2400      Posts per day:        6.50
Number of topics:            342      Topics per day:       0.93
Number of users:             191      Users per day:        0.52
Avatar directory size:  59.06 KB      Database size:     2.99 MB

Hooray for us!

[DzM]

Happy Second Anniversary to the Fora! This second year of operation has shown some explosive growth, at least as compared to the same time last year (note that the numbers are since the inception of the fora, not just the last year).

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Number of posts:        18108     Posts per day:     24.76
Number of topics:        1493     Topics per day:     2.04
Number of users:          693     Users per day:      0.95
Avatar directory size: 260.42 KB  Database size:     19.67 MB

Thanks to all of you for making the Medusa fora the entertaining place that it is. Here's to another great year of it.

[DzM]

Happy third anniversary to the fora! Just like last year, we've experienced a real phenomenal growth spurt this year (numbers are since the fora began operating, not since last year):

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Number of posts:        71029     Posts per day:     63.94
Number of topics:        3457     Topics per day:     3.11
Number of users:         1588     Users per day:      1.43
Avatar directory size: 646.57 KB  Database size:     75.79 MB

Thank you, everyone, for making Medusa the obsessive time sink that it is for all of us. You guys rock (even when you're aggravating). I'm thrilled to be in the company of so many interesting people.

In particular I'd like to thank Zuzana and MacRua. Without their help Medusa would long ago have collapsed under her weight and my negligence (read "real world commitments"). I also want to thank Philip for being such an active participant here. It's a rare band (or band member) that invests so much effort in personally connecting with their fans. So thank you to all three. You guys rock extra more better.

Here's to another big year!

[DzM]

Happy fourth anniversary to the fora! This year we seem to have hit our stride and maintained a relatively level amount of activity. In contrast to the last two years the number of user registrations has somewhat stabilized, the number of daily posts has leveled off, etc.

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Number of posts: 92704 (124199)   Posts per day: 63.26 (84.5)
Number of topics: 3499            Topics per day: 2.39
Number of users: 2391             Users per day: 1.63
Avatar directory size: 833.88 KB  Database size: 100.21 MB

The numbers in parenthesis above indicate total number of posts (which means "includes posts that are no longer in the database, including trimmed spam, auto-deleted from Speaker's Corner, etc").

Thank you once again for making Medusa the obsessive time sink that it is. You guys rock (even when you're aggravating). I'm thrilled to be in the company of so many interesting people.

It's been a big year for shuffling the deck chairs of our dear Medusa. Zuzana and MacRua have become full-fledged Site Janitors, with every bit as much administrative power over the hallowed halls that I enjoy (Zuzana has also become a part-time steward for the rest of pogues.com as well). I've tried to reduce my day-to-day activity. Medusa has been evicted from her home of the last few years (Didn't I mention that? No? Oh. Umm. Well, hopefully nothing will break in the next week. Keep your fingers crossed.). Philip has taken medical leave from The Pogues, but remains as feisty as ever here. Spider, too, has maintained his feistiness. 25th Anniversary logos have been liberally sprinkled about, and a T-Shirt is rumored to exist.

Things hopefully soon on the horizon are: upgrade to the fora software (yes, this upgrade would include the mythical beast called "Ignore User"); a new home for Medusa (I'm not positive how this new home will work out, but my fingers are crossed). I've also heard rumors of shows coming up in the UK and Ireland.

So - again - Thanks to everyone that makes this place as exciting as it is.

[DzM]

Happy Fifth Anniversary to the fora! And only a day or two late. Here's some numerical trivia for you that enjoy these things (numbers on the left represent "in the database" statistics, numbers on the right represent "since the beginning of time" statistics and are adjusted to presume no message or thread has ever been reaped, deleted, is spam, etc):

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Number of posts in database:     108410 / 149482 (24918)
Posts per day:     59.18 / 81.68 (68.26)
Number of topics:    3900 / 9227
Topics per day:    2.13 / 5.04
Number of users:    2953
Users per day:    1.62
Board started:    28 Nov 2003 06:11 pm / 1830 days
Avatar directory size:    975.55 KiB
Database size:    146.5 MiB

The interesting things here are that our Medusa remains relatively stable and consistent with last year's statistics. New users remains at around 1.5 per day, new posts and topics remains relatively stable, etc. Overall these stats are down a small amount, but not enough to be alarming.

Organizationally Medusa remains unchanged from last year. Zuzana and MacRua continue to be full Janitors for the fora and continue to have all the authority that I do in the day-to-day running of things. Zuzana and I continue to share stewardship of the rest of pogues.com (and we even talk quite regularly about how it's TOTALLY time for us to ... you know ... improve the rest of the site so it doesn't suck).

The fora software went through a relatively painless software upgrade that introduced many new features AND a new look-and-feel to the fora. This was met with a pretty even 50/50 reaction of love and hate.

There have been various explosions of enthusiastic criticism for how things are run.

I have had the great privilege of meeting many more of you at the Spring shows on the East Coast of the USofA.

I'm just wandering down memory lane. Sorry about that.

In short - Medusa continues to be a vibrant place. There is an ebb and flow of quiet periods and exciting periods, passionate periods and list-making periods. After five years of the fora I have trouble imagining Medusa not being a daily part of my life. Thank you, everyone, for continuing to make it an interesting and dynamic environment.

[DzM]

Happy Sixth Anniversary to the fora, and a very happy and merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Winter Solstice, and more!

Gah! I completely missed the anniversary though. Too much drama in late November with shows about to start, server relocation, database-wipes, etc. My numbers are all wrong. We'll just have to take the last four weeks' data as a bonus. Here's some numerical trivia for you that enjoy these things (numbers on the left represent "in the database today" statistics, numbers on the right represent "since the beginning of time" statistics and are adjusted to presume no message or thread has ever been reaped, deleted, is spam, etc):

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Number of posts:    124597 / 170000
Posts per day:      56.18 / 76.61
Number of topics:   4326 / 10570
Topics per day:      1.95 / 4.76
Number of users:    3152 / 3383
Users per day:      1.42 / 1.52
Board started:      28 Nov 2003 06:11 pm PST
Days since start:   2219
Database size:      182.9 MiB

2009 has been a mixed year for Medusa. Some of us have lost beloved members of our families. Some have lost jobs. We've got new people coming into our community, we've had others leave. We've had some of our old friends come back. We've had three tours from the Pogues and one lost Shane. We've retired our old server (so long, Gir. We barely knew ya.) and brought up a new server (howdy Gaz, and welcome!) in a location that should give better performance for our users all around the world. I managed to Do Dumb Things during the migration and lost five days worth of posts.

Despite the ups and downs, the drama and lulls, I still can't imagine this community of people not being a fixture of my daily routine. As before - thank you all for making these fora an interesting, challenging, entertaining, frustrating, and enthralling place. I owe you.

[DzM]

Happy Seventh Anniversary to the fora, and a very happy and merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Winter Solstice, and more!

Here's some numerical trivia for you that enjoy these things (numbers on the left represent "in the database today" statistics, numbers on the right represent "since the beginning of time" statistics and are adjusted to presume no message or thread has ever been reaped, deleted, is spam, etc):

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Number of posts:    130922 / 179291
Posts per day:      51.11 / 69.95
Number of topics:   4515 / 11104
Topics per day:     1.76 / 4.33
Number of users:    3437 / 3687
Users per day:      1.34 / 1.43
Board started:      28 Nov 2003 06:11 pm PST
Days since start:   2563
Database size:      216.23 MiB

Here's to a great eighth year!

[DzM]

Happy Eighth Anniversary to the fora, and a very happy and merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Winter Solstice, and more!

Here's some numerical trivia for you that enjoy these things (numbers on the left represent "in the database today" statistics, numbers on the right represent "since the beginning of time" statistics and are adjusted to presume no message or thread has ever been reaped, deleted, is spam, etc):

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Number of posts:    139618 / 191227
Posts per day:      47.66 / 65.42
Number of topics:   4934 / 11884
Topics per day:     1.68 / 4.07
Number of users:    3806 / 4103
Users per day:      1.30 / 1.40
Board started:      28 Nov 2003 06:11 pm PST
Days since start:   2923
Database size:      246.46 MiB

The Facebooks have taken their toll on activity here but we're still going strong.

Here's to a great ninth year!

[DzM]

It was in late November of 2003 that these fora opened. We’ve had ups and downs, good years and bad. In 2013 we’ve had new members bring fresh enthusiasm and perspective, we’ve had box set(s), and we have an upcoming set of shows featuring a complete performance of Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. All pretty fantastic things. I’d be lying, though, if I implied for a moment that 2013 hasn’t been a crap sandwich. At least 2014 can only possibly be better.

The relevant numbers:

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Number of posts:    156234 / 218066
Posts per day:      42.74
Number of topics:   5287
Topics per day:     1.45
Number of users:    4209
Users per day:      1.15
Board started:      28 Nov 2003 06:11 pm PST
Days since start:   2923
Database size:      567.25 MiB