What?

Subscriptions are $10/month. They will enable full use of the site going forward.

Why?

Subscriptions will fund the expenses of the site going forward. Not depending on third partied, like ads, will protect user's privacy.

If I can get even half of the 2000 frequent users of this site to do this, I can easily justify the time to make improvements and keep this site going. As many can tell, I've spent a lot of time recently and would like to keep that going as I'm able to run my own company versus being salaried with 40+ hours/week.

When?

As more funding rolls in, I'll dedicate more time to improving the site, including premium features for subscribers only. While this will limit some existing functionality for all users, this functionality has a price that is fair for paying people to enjoy.

I'm working on identifying those who subscribe in their profiles and will tie this to site features in the coming weeks.

Is $10 too much?

You could easily spend $10 on two trips to Starbucks. What do you get for that but the illusion that you're buying something premium? I think those that use this site frequently get much more satisfaction than these burnt cheap beans could ever bring.

Also, how many of those streaming accounts do you use as much as this site? You pay how much a year for access to saccharin pop culture? I'll happily trade my time for subscriptions but it has to be enough to compete with my billable time for security consulting.

When subscribing, what’s the difference in privileges between Daily Driver and Sunday Driver?

I’ve hesitated to respond/input. The last thing I’d want to do is retract from the dedication and work Jarrod does to make this site function and keep it running. So please take my comments as just that. Observations.

I was a member of another car site for a previous vehicle I upgraded and maintained. The buyin was $15, and $10 renewal per year. It was a community that was very helpful in terms of the information available and responses to my questions. Unlike Turbobricks, I find the posters here genuine and ready to help. I check in on Brickboard just about every day for some diversion. Yes, I have posted a few times and found some helpful information which has been useful. I don’t know if I would pay $120 per year to continue. I have no idea what it takes to build, operate and upgrade a site such as this.

Having said that, I extend thanks to Jarrod for all your efforts.

Craig.

This is what I have been waiting to hear. I have been waiting for some definite word on the future of the site.

When it was first announced that the Brickboard was operating at a deficit I was hesitant to make a contribution because the fate of the site seemed uncertain. What if I were to send money only to have the site fold a couple of months later? I would have felt like the money could have gone for a better purpose.

That is why I indicated my support for subscriptions when Jarrod first brought it up and why I subscribed as soon as I realized it was an option.

It sounds like I am singing my own praises and maybe I am but I think this is the best way to fund the site if the regular users get onboard. Contributions are not something one can depend on. Some contribute, others others do not. I made a contribution more than ten years ago but I have been freeloading ever since.


--
'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon, '15 XC70 T6

I have never spent a dime in starbucks. I drive a 29 year old car. My wife drives an 11 year old car. I dont though, believe in mooching off other people. I have contributed 25 bucks a couple of times and recently started an automatic 5 dollars a month contribution. I look at BB almost every day.
I suspect if regular users "auto gave" even 5 bucks a month that would generate a LOT of money. How bout it regular users?
If not, how about a contribution EVERY time the site enables you to fix an issue?

OK. I had a few people sign up this year for $10/month without any prompting. I think $5/month will be enough. When I do the numbers on that, it's very reasonable if enough of the daily or weekly users sign up.

As for per-fix-payment, I am thinking about something similar. I could enable a field to have people put in a Patreon account for themselves. I think we know who makes this site so appealing. I'm just the technical side of it and pay the bills, but some of the expertise and troubleshooting instinct really makes the site what it is. I don't think anyone who does this needs a profit motive, but a gift from grateful users might be nice.

I should have known that this audience wasn't the Starbucks-is-just-so-classy crowd. :)

I'm thinking a lot about the entertainment habits I have myself. I pay for a few services that get next to no use by me and my family. They are nice to have when you want them, but I need to switch these to a per-use. My entertainment is basically all DIY, whether it's stuff I'm building or stuff other people are building. I do have one service that's $10/month that's a small audience and thoroughly entertaining.

-Jarrod

It is a great site. That is an understatement. There will always people who do more than their share, less than there share, and as Ayn Rand put it, "the looters". I suspect the site is dominated by people who buy used Volvos, 15 years old or older, and take pride in maintaining a dependable car for a year for less money than 1 or two car payments made by the guy next door with the car he is upside down on, and will trade in before he pays for it.
Anyway, in a perfect world, everyone who performs a repair with knowledge from an elaborate sight like this ought to pony up some cash. For sure, a daily user like myself needs to auto contribute, be it $5, or $25,etc. monthly, according to your conscience.
And here is a shout out to guys like Art, who ought to RECEIVE money instead of contribute. Sadly, I think I am witnessing the end of a civilization, marked by an end of the ability or desire to read and comprehend.
Why do you have to read, or study anything any more when most people ask their phone the most mundane or what used to be common knowledge question?

Thanks

It is a great site. That is an understatement. There will always people who do more than their share, less than there share, and as Ayn Rand put it, "the looters". I suspect the site is dominated by people who buy used Volvos, 15 years old or older, and take pride in maintaining a dependable car for a year for less money than 1 or two car payments made by the guy next door with the car he is upside down on, and will trade in before he pays for it.
Anyway, in a perfect world, everyone who performs a repair with knowledge from an elaborate sight like this ought to pony up some cash. For sure, a daily user like myself needs to auto contribute, be it $5, or $25,etc. monthly, according to your conscience.
And here is a shout out to guys like Art, who ought to RECEIVE money instead of contribute. Sadly, I think I am witnessing the end of a civilization, marked by an end of the ability or desire to read and comprehend.
Why do you have to read, or study anything anymore when most people ask their phone what 25 minus 4 is?

Thanks

Some come to this site to get a problem solved.
Some come to solve problems, to exercise their 'little grey cells'.



kitty's GVolvo, suggests the Volvo Facebook site for a larger audience.

Small Rant follows:

Go there to open your entire life to the tracking geniuses employed by Zuckerberg in exchange for a Free exchange of information.

FB has killed the bb (bulliten board) model of communication on the internet.

I've been a WW kyaker for over 30yrs(nearly all of them driving a 245 to get to the rivers). Used to be that Club BBs were the place to find other boaters, buy/sell boats and gear, plan weekend or exteneded trips, get race results from the international circuit.......in other words, a connection to the community of paddlers.

FB killed all those BBs. All the clubs abandoned them and set up FB pages.
Hey let's just go on FB, post all that info plus pix and videos...all for FREE.

But even back then during the demise, there were a few 'woke' people who warned about the data sucking business model that is FB.
But the basis that drove that model +**if you ain't on FB, You Don't Exist**+, was too compelling. Add to that - running a BB server maintaining it.... all the stuff that Jarrod faces here, and FB will win.

Cheers
alias (someone claiming to be CB)

Thank you. I think you're right.

I recommend that anyone who uses Facebook or, in particular, has it installed on their mobile devices (along with Messenger) try Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 service. Set it to log and then look at those logs.

This is finally what made me move away from it. The Facebook and Messenger apps are VERY offensive to privacy. Even if you're casual about that, it will likely floor you to see the reality.

Of course, nothing is actually ever free in life. The price you pay for Facebook and Messenger is very high, in my opinion. This is also true of Google and Amazon, and even Apple and Microsoft.

I want to continue to believe in the dream many of us knew from early internet days. 4 or 5 services basically recreating the command-and-control of TV and radio networks wasn't it. Maybe it was inevitable, but I'm not going to concede until forced to do so. FOSS operating systems won (this is being typed on a rock-solid Manjaro workstation) and I believe private, niche internet services can win similarly.

This is why I decided to keep this site going and to build a better platform while moving forward.

I hope to keep bringing all of you the value you've known and more as I re-engage in this in force.

-Jarrod

FYI folks.

San Francisco (AFP) - Facebook can determine where users are even if they opt out of having their whereabouts tracked, the company revealed in a letter sent to US senators.

In the missive, which was widely shared on social media Tuesday, Facebook explained ways it can still figure out where people are after they have selected not to share precise location data with the company.

The social network, which was responding to a request for information by two senators, contended that knowing a user's whereabouts has benefits ranging from showing ads for nearby shops to fighting hackers and battling misinformation.

"There is no opting out. No control over your personal information," Republican Senator Josh Hawley said in a tweet.

Facebook said that clues for figuring out a user's location include being tagged in a photo at a specific place or a check-in at a location such as at a restaurant during a dinner with friends.

People may share an address for purchases at a shopping section at Facebook, or simply include it in their profile information.

https://news.yahoo.com/facebook-says-locate-users-opt-tracking-032431090.html

After using a facebook, after logout, clear the browser cache.

In:
- Mozilla FireFox and the like
- (Evil) Google Chrome and Chromium browsers
- Microsoft Edge and I-net Explorer

Press the keyboard combo:
Ctrl+Shit-Delete

The browsers display some manner of a dialogue:

MS Edge:


Check all box options at the screen left from:
- Browsing history
- Third party services data

In the "Obliterate the following items from":
- The beginning of time

I do this a few times between sessions.

Also, in browser preferences, if you can, set the browser to delete all browser data.

Mozilla FireFox:

Check ALL boxes in History and Browser Data panes in the dialogue:




Chrome
From the beginning of time. Check ALL boxes. Your dialogue may be different.


Clear browser cache / data / history between website and session limits and prevents tracking.



Ad Block

Use uBlock Origin by Raymond Hill. Disable uBlock Origin while at the brickboard, of course!

If you use Chrome or a Chromium browser, also use uBlock Origin Plus.

Browser Privacy Settings

Use the browser privacy settings. Read the info there.
--
Jonathan Harshman Winters III: The Mightiest, Greatest, & Most Powerful North American Comedian & Comedic Actor in Perpetuity

Now this is inspirational. I've been wanting to try out Linux for years and looked up Manjaro based on this message. After about an hour of work I'm typing this message on a thumb-based permanent install with a KDE Plasma desktop. Running from a thumb drive it's way faster than the Win10/SSD permanent install on this T440 and clean and usable. I see dual boot coming, maybe even a conversion. Thanks for the tip.

Glad you like it. Just remember to use the package manager (pacman) to install EVERYTHING. Otherwise things will start to come apart. You can use the GUI, but should get to know the command line a little too.

Convert. And when you have more than one, set up an Ansible server to automatically manage and sync them.

Also, look into ZeroTier for remote access/VPN. It's mind-blowing even to serious networking techs I show it to.

All in all, the biggest win for me is to get back to command line on a daily basis. It's so powerful.

That said, Windows 10 is the best version yet. I have a machine that a client gave me (no Windows at home except in a VM) and I'm using Atom, Git, and GitBash on it. There will be some PowerShell work too (VERY powerful compared to Unix pipes).

-Jarrod

I just checked my paypal account, and realized that though I thought I was, I was not contributing $5.00 a month to the site. When I attempted to make a contribution on the BB site, it seems that one is unable to contribute any longer, only to suscribe. Is this the case, or a I just missing something that is right in font of my face?
I am uncomfortable with a $120.00 a year or nothing choice if that is the case. Is that the reality now? I hope not.

Try it now.

Well well. Now I am one of those Sunday drivers I talk about.

Thanks

No judgement. Just thought it would be a bit humorous and better than "pro" and "advanced" or some brand jargon like that.

I set it to that. I'll log in and change it.

-Jarrod

For a guy that never goes to Starbucks (MacDonald's is $1 for seniors) and no longer able to fit in a 2001+ Volvo wagon (except the big honking XC90), $10/month is a bit steep. I am letting my membership in VCOA lapse because there is no return from the annual fee.

I really like the Brickboard. It has helped me become a shade tree mechanic, and, in return, I have been able to help others solve their problems. Yes, the Brickboard has saved me a lot of mechanic charges over the decades, and I appreciate the advice given to me by the various experts in the RWD and AWD sides of the board.

I will continue to 'lurk' in the AWD area, even though my heart is with the 120 cars.

My hats off to Jerrod for building a great web site. The Brickboard is truly international and I hope it lives for a very long time.
--
Keeping it running is better than buying new

Test