Jeff, would you consider doing an AMA?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Are your children old enough to post? If so, do they? What do they think of this thing you've created?

(I showed my 15 year old DS some threads I thought might interest him, and his eyes bugged out of his head, like wow, moms write all this kind of stuff? He couldn't believe it.)

They are old enough to post (our youngest is also 15) but they have no interest. DCUM is boring to them. They are into Youtube and the idea of typing everything is incomprehensible to them.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Do you and your wife often discuss various threads? If so, what kinds of threads spark the most animated conversations?

Yes, we both work from home and are frequently in the same room. We talk about threads throughout the day. I ask her advice about moderation and she points out things to me. Sometimes she disagrees with how I handled something and, if it is possible to correct what I did, I will (at least sometimes).

We sometimes discuss threads that interest us or catch our attention for some reason. She will most often point out threads that are funny.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Jeff. Thank you for providing me so much entertainment that's free. Especially during work - a lot of my job involves being available so there's tons of down time.

My question: a while ago you posted about a lifestyle change where you were losing weight and changing how you ate. You were given a lot of feedback and encouragement and suggestions. I am wondering where you are with that. Did you take our suggestions? How are you doing now?

I ended up losing about 50 pounds and gained back about 5. I really struggle to stay at that level and sometimes up 5 and sometimes down 5.

I made many lifestyle changes which has changed how I do things day to day. I eat much less, stopped drinking alcohol, coffee, and tea, and exercise a lot. I often spend two hours or more a day exercising which is a big time sink.

I don't think I took much advice from the site because the only way I was going to do this was to do it my way. My way was sort of insane, but it worked. Maintaining it is almost a religion. Luckily my family puts up with it.

[Anonymous]

What happened on 6.30.17 to garner so many posts? I've tried Googling news events and a very cursory search of this site and come up with nothing.

[Anonymous]

How many hours per day do you spending working?

[Anonymous]

Have you have been subpoenaed for log data? Could you talk about it of you had been?

[Anonymous]

How do you take vacations?

[Anonymous]

Can you tell how many people visit DCUM a day (not how many posts, or how many times a person comes back during the day, but just the number of people as measured by different computers?) I always wonder how many people are on here.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi Jeff. Thank you for providing me so much entertainment that's free. Especially during work - a lot of my job involves being available so there's tons of down time.

My question: a while ago you posted about a lifestyle change where you were losing weight and changing how you ate. You were given a lot of feedback and encouragement and suggestions. I am wondering where you are with that. Did you take our suggestions? How are you doing now?

I ended up losing about 50 pounds and gained back about 5. I really struggle to stay at that level and sometimes up 5 and sometimes down 5.

I made many lifestyle changes which has changed how I do things day to day. I eat much less, stopped drinking alcohol, coffee, and tea, and exercise a lot. I often spend two hours or more a day exercising which is a big time sink.

I don't think I took much advice from the site because the only way I was going to do this was to do it my way. My way was sort of insane, but it worked. Maintaining it is almost a religion. Luckily my family puts up with it.

Good work!
It is so hard.

[Anonymous]

This is really personal, so don’t feel obligated to answer: how much are you making from this? With the ad revenue I have to imagine it’s a lot.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:What happened on 6.30.17 to garner so many posts? I've tried Googling news events and a very cursory search of this site and come up with nothing.

I have never figured out what happened then. I assume it is some sort of glitch. Based on traffic stats, it doesn't appear that there was any out of the ordinary traffic that day.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:How many hours per day do you spending working?

It is kind of hard to say. I don't have set hours. Rather, this is sort of a 24/7 job, but I only work off and on during that 24/7. I tend to work an hour or so in the morning, then take time for exercising, then work for another hour, then play guitar for a while, then do some more work and so on. If we go out or are watching TV or doing anything when I am away from the computer, I still keep tabs on things via my phone.

[Anonymous]

What criteria do you use for deleting threads or replies vs locking them? Assuming the OP has not asked you to.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Have you have been subpoenaed for log data? Could you talk about it of you had been?

We have been subpoenaed several times. I've been told by our lawyer that I shouldn't broadcast the specifics of a subpoena but I can warn the targets so that they can contest the subpoena if they want. The problem is that I normally can't identify the targets in order to warn them because they are always anonymous. Very often we get threats of subpoenas which some people seem to believe will intimidate me. It actually doesn't bother me and I have no problem with people who believe they have been harmed using the legal system to seek remedy. I think it is cheaper and easier if they just contact me to discuss the issue civilly.

We also get lots of threats along the lines of "If you don't remove such and such posts I will sue you." I just laugh at those and, if anything, am even less wiling to remove the content in question.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I flag things that are just mean and unhelpful. Is that annoying for you or an acceptable use of flagging?