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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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 Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:14 pm Post subject: DAVE IS DYING! - HELP! |
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Yes, DAVE is dying! Maybe you can help.
(not that Dave!).
We've had several interesting threads about this educational tool I've developed but unfortunately unless we find a sponsor by June 30th, his plug will be pulled. Get details HERE. The server he's on (and which we need, supports AIML) won't continue to offer bandwidth for free...
Thousands of students/teachers use Dave both on our public page ( http://eflclassroom.com/bot.html ) and on EFL Classroom 2.0. What's unique is that students don't have to type to practice English with Dave.
We are looking for a sponsor who in return for paying for the $75/month server fee, will get a banner ad and also a Supporter Ad (we don't accept profit based ads on EFL Classroom). If you can pass this on to someone who might help out, much appreciated.
Let's keep Dave alive!
DD
http://eflclassroom.com |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know how I ran into this, but it intrigued me so I saved the link:
http://www.beautifulfund.org/eng/index.jsp
$75 is a modest sum to ask for. For the good that Dave does the Korean community, it might be worth checking into requesting a monthly grant. They may even just have the server space to help with? |
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Adjumas Cheekbones
Joined: 26 May 2009
Location: director's pocket
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:27 am Post subject: |
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Your priority should really be your terrible site navigation DD
Your welcome
AC |
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Teelo
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Wellington, NZ
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Let me get this straight... You want someone to pay you $75 a month, and all they get out of it is a banner ad, and the banner can't advertise something that costs money? |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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Kikomon,
I didn't think of this option. Thanks for sparking my brain, it definitely might be something for further down the road. Takes a while to set up.
Teelo - Nobody has or has ever paid me money for my work on the site or advertising etc... The $75/mo. is to pay an AIML (artifiical intelligence markup language) compliant server for running the bot. Dr. Wallace no longer will allow me to use his pandora bots site for free because of the traffic. http://bandore.pandorabots.com:8008/subscription/index.html
What I'm essentially saying is that someone who would like to use the Dave bot could put up a banner ad and take over that whole entire page. Do whatever they want with it so long as they keep letting students go there to talk to Dave. In addition, they can advertise on EFL Classroom 2.0 in our We Support EFL 2.0 ad box. We get thousands of site views daily and I've never sought to monetize that nor ever will. Members appreciate that it is a community and not Las Vegas like most EFL/ESL sites.
Cheekbones - use the directory. http://eflclassroom.ning.com/directory.html
In addition, make friends, talk, participate and make it better. It's your call and I'm just one member there like yourself.
The Dave bot as I've configured it is unique. With unique replies/language and functionality. Useful to students for self study.
http://eflclassroom.com/bot.html Someone I'm sure will step up and help out...
DD
http://eflclassroom.com |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I thought this was yet another thread about this site dying because it's too slow. |
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Mint
Joined: 08 May 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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Dave: Do you often like things that are sexy?
Human: Do you often like things that are sexy?
Dave: I like Keith Haring.
Human: Why is Keith Haring sexy?
Dave: Why do I exist?
Human: To amuse me.
Dave: Specifically, how will do I exist help you amuse you?
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Real educational. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:56 am Post subject: |
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LOL Mint!
The point is --- there is that struggle for meaning, which is so hard to get students doing. That's the rub and why it is educational. And let's face it, anything educational is always a bit subversive...
Who is Keith Haring? I'm clueless...
You can see my own rather cryptic questioning of Dave and his impending death on video. Here. http://www.vimeo.com/5040862
DD
http://eflclassroom.com |
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alphakennyone
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Location: city heights
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The King of Kwangju
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Location: New York City
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:15 am Post subject: |
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Well, strictly speaking, AIML is just XML, which supported by any server. What you really need is a server that can support your robot app. A quick look and it seems to be flash/javascript driven, which again is supported by any server. You could probably move this anywhere.
Now, if you're really getting thousands of views a day you should be looking at some kind of advertising, seeing how your community is getting something out of the site and you have real costs.
You might find banner ads odious but I bet your members won't care one way or the other just as long as the site doesn't go down. Every community on the internet has advertising to support itself, or investors.
So sign up for Google adsense, you should be able to make $75 a month from a single well-placed ad. Otherwise you'll have to suck up the costs yourself and chalk it up to the price of your hobby. |
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Teelo
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Wellington, NZ
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
| I thought this was yet another thread about this site dying because it's too slow. |
Same. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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| The King of Kwangju wrote: |
| Now, if you're really getting thousands of views a day you should be looking at some kind of advertising, seeing how your community is getting something out of the site and you have real costs. |
I agree, but I don't think DD will go for it. Countless posts made by him on this forum alone indicate that he is against any type of for-profit items on his site.
| The King of Kwangju wrote: |
| So sign up for Google adsense, you should be able to make $75 a month from a single well-placed ad. Otherwise you'll have to suck up the costs yourself and chalk it up to the price of your hobby. |
Google AdSense, ah, becareful. I had it on my site and in about 2 months, I had almost $70. Then, I get this email from Google saying they have suspended my account indefinitely due to drive-by clickers. It turns out people went click-happy on my site and as a result, Google cancelled the service. I've been reading a lot about Google AdSense and many people have experienced the same problem that I experienced. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Well, strictly speaking, AIML is just XML, which supported by any server. What you really need is a server that can support your robot app. A quick look and it seems to be flash/javascript driven, which again is supported by any server. You could probably move this anywhere. |
Kwangju,
There could be cheap alternatives (and I think I'm the king of finding and using them online) however, I don't have the AIML script which runs the Dave Bot. It is a set of thousands of responses all algorithmed . I could buy it for around $1,000 but there would be a heck of a lot of other work associated with that set up. Plus, there would be issues with Site Pal which gives us the Dave face. So we are held hostage in a way -- I've only been given this alternative. If at the end of the day Dave dies, I'll use some other bot -- I can make him a lot more attractive than is (get rid of those old hideous windows drop down frames for example).
About advertising. The cost of running a social network or site is minimal when you discount the "labor/time". I will be publishing next month , a full breakdown of our costs but I can tell you it runs me about $70/mo. I'll gladly give that to education and not have advertising. I really think education is an investment in the future - not an investment in one's pocketbook. I am presently looking at a commercial model and it will be ready soon but it won't be in the realm of professional development.
Also - tried adsense for awhile. that was just nickle and dime stuff. Not many people make money from it. That's the truth ruth...
I've had a few nibbles but will make a REAL push to save Dave shortly....
DD
http://eflclassroom.com |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Dave double slow post - deleted |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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If students are really motivated to learn, I think finding penpals a better solution than talking to a bot, like at http://www.epals.com/
Last edited by lifeinkorea on Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:35 am; edited 1 time in total |
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