Basejumper.com - archive

I've got some important news to share today. BASEjumper.com has a new owner: an internet company called NameMedia which, among other things, specializes in running online communities and "enthusiast sites". This marks an exciting new phase for the site because for this first time there is a real strong arm to support the site and propel it to the next level. NameMedia is a remarkable company and has an impressive list of success stories with community sites. Above all they have a real appreciation for the uniqueness and variety of characters that make up our community of skydivers. Not to mention that they have "real" technical support staff (with pagers!) and designers and content people and all sorts of other goodies that I only pretended to have.

So what will change? Well, not too much in the next few months. I will continue to run the site, working with you guys as in the past. As far as management and day-to-day operations are concerned there are really no immediate changes. Within a year however I anticipate becoming regular user of the site, as NameMedia will appoint a full-time replacement to take over the day-to-day operations.

After a while you may notice some improvements as we start to leverage NameMedia's resources. This could include fresher content with more frequent updates (e.g. articles, news), better site performance, faster responses and better resolutions to issues and bugs, some enhancements being implemented, and ads that are more targeted to our community.

Ultimately, the strategic direction of BASEjumper.com is in NameMedia's hands and you should expect to see gradual phased changes. NameMedia understands perfectly well that community sites are first and foremost about the communities. They will involve you in the change process and invite your feedback and advice.

OK, so why did Sangiro sell? For two reasons:

(1) Because his personal priorities have changed. Both Sangiro and his partner have families and children (on the way) now and a need for more consistency and security than what is offered by running a web-site as a semi-professional-skunkworks-two-man-show with very little capital. BTW, this change also applies to their other two sites: Rockclimbing.com and Dropzone.com.

(2) Because they got a good offer from a buyer whom we consider a really good fit. While the sites have never been put up for sale, over the years we've had dozens of offers. This one stuck out.



NameMedia Acquisition FAQs

What else can you tell us about NameMedia? What else do they do?
NameMedia is located in Waltham, MA and has two divisions: One part of what they do is buy and sell domain names and they've been doing this since 1999. Separate from the domain side of the business is the "enthusiast site" division which was started in 2007. This is what BASEjumper.com will become part of.

Here are some other communities that the own and manage:

http://www.namemedia.com/adventure/


What about the Moderators?
The Moderators are still in their same roles and will continue doing what they are doing now for as long as they choose. NameMedia will look at the existing moderation team to provide the leadership role in the forums, and the moderators will always come from the community. Nothing will change there.


What kinds of changes is NameMedia going to make to BASEjumper.com?
Over the short term you’re not going to see any dramatic changes. NameMedia are not migrating the entire site onto their own platform or changing the entire design and technology backend overnight. They are continuing to host these sites with Gossamer Threads – Sangiro’s hosting partner for many years – and heavily rely on their expertise and skills to keep moving it forward.

This is not to say there won’t be changes in the future, there will be. NameMedia, like any business will make strategic decisions about where to position and how to evolve this site and aim to continually improve and grow their membership and in the process earn your trust and loyalty. They assure me that any change will be evolutionary and not revolutionary. They have no intention of suddenly repainting the house and shifting all the furniture around.


They’re gonna want to make more money from BASEjumper.com, right?
Of course. But this does not have to be a bad thing. One of the big reasons why we felt NameMedia was a great fit for BASEjumper.com is that they believe in monetizing in the right way. Preserving the integrity of the user experience might take more thought, creativity and effort but it’s always a better idea than making a quick buck and driving away members.

NameMedia has strong existing relationships with many adventure and outdoor related brands. They also have relationships and access to ad agencies and networks that specialize in serving ads targeted to specific demographics and verticals. NameMedia is in a much stronger position than Sangiro ever was to negotiate quality and relevant advertising that will enhance the site and user experience rather that diminish it.


Are they going to flood us with pop-ups?
No they’re not. You know how we feel about pop-up ads. Feel free to visit any of their other enthusiast sites and you’ll see there are no pop-ups on any of them.


Are they going to sell my email address and read my PMs?
No they’re not. NameMedia will have a clear published Privacy Statement just like we have now. They know very well how people feel about privacy and spam and have no desire to diminish the value of their investment by alienating the community that sustains this site. Please give them the benefit of the doubt.


Are they going to make BASEjumper.com a pay-only site?
NameMedia believes, as I do, that a website needs to be setup in such a way that people can access the information freely without having to pay or else it's not going to succeed.


I've read all of the Q&As and I'm still worried. Is that OK?
Of course that is ok. I was wary and I can understand that you may be wary. Sangiro has flown to the US and met with their leadership team in person and after many conversations with NameMedia and with people who had their community acquired by NameMedia, we trust that they have BASEjumper.com’s best interests in mind and that have a great philosophy about how things should be done. They are not perfect and may make some mistakes during the transition process or along the way. I ask that you give them the benefit of the doubt and send them your feedback, they want to hear it.

Finally – please keep in mind that for the next year at least, I will still be running this site as before. See me as the gatekeeper. I’ll keep you posted on everything that may be coming your way down the pipeline.

Como se dice BLiNC?

Thanks for letting us know. I hope Sangiro soaked them for a freaking million dollars. And thanks to you, Tom, for all the non-paid work you've done over the years.

Okay, that was the honey, now here comes the medicine . . .

I've seen it all internet/BASE wise. The early BBS scene, the first major ISPs like GEnie and Comp-u-serve, Usenet, and the later boards like BLinc and now the local BASEtranets like the BASE Hotline.

And I'm telling you, you can have all the fancy flash animations, buttons, and whistles you want BUT CONTENT IS KING! And right now BASE content is dead as the doo-doo-bird. The era of discovery in BASE is over. What I mean is, sure there will always be new stuff, but an experienced BASE jumper today could retire to a private cliff in South America, live in a hut, and never learn another new thing about BASE and happily jump for the rest of their natural life.

Contrast that to the early days of BASE on the internet when we hung on every word like it was life or death because it was life or death.

Some will say that today the internet is vast. But I say in 1989 it was vaster. In those days we didn't worry much about what we said security wise as it was long before Google, or any other decent search engine. The public, the press, the police, and the rangers just couldn't find us. We were free to pass on tips and sites without much worry. In fact, while the phrase "no site naming" may seem normal to you, when that first started it was really the death knell for BASE on the internet.

Okay, I hear you saying BASE isn't the same sport it was back in the 1980s. It's all kind of legal and above board now. But is it really? When visiting Johnny makes his first half dozen Perrine jumps what do you thing he does when he goes back home? That's right he rapes every object in his hometown. The only difference today is he can't log onto BASEjumper.com and ask if anyone is jumping the Whatever Tower and get a straight answer.

So since we can't talk about 80 percent of what we are really doing we have to talk in code, fight with each other, or basically descend into calling each other gay. And there you have the state of BASE internet discourse today. But there is a bigger problem for these new owners of the site besides all that. And there's a formula for it they didn't learn in their MBA class . . .

BASE Jumpers + Corporate Owners = Go Fuck Yourselves!

Corporate masters may be easy to cum swallow if you're sponsored by Red Bull but for the rest of us, the ones who put the sport first and fame and bucks second, we won't hang with it.

BASE jumping, as a sport, is 30-years old. But I'm sure some MBA said hey, "Let's buy into this new BASE thing." As a non-sport BASE is hundreds of years old. The future of BASE on the internet is the BASEtranets, the small local and private boards that disseminate information among people you actually know.

Sure, I like the idea I can jump on a plane and spend a week in Idaho and make a bunch of jumps. But I like more the idea I can leave my house, drive twenty minutes, and make a jump too. Ask me which one I'm willing to give up and I'll push the plunger that detonates the C4 under the Perrine Bridge right now.

Saying I don't need, or even want, anyone's permission to BASE jump seems parochial these days. But it's the very backbone of the sport itself. And once we get used to it being some other way, well, then it just becomes bowling or golf with parachutes.

So you corporate guys, you Red Bull guys, and you others like Jeb, Felix, and all the rest, just shut the fuck up and jump. Don't worry, if you do something cool, I guarantee we'll still hear about it and give you the deference it deserves, and probably more.

So now I hope Sangiro (at least he jumps) double crosses the new site owners by re-opening the BASE ZONE back over on DZ.com and we get back to what we were doing in the first place, helping interested skydivers get into BASE jumping as safely as possible. Anything else is just gay . . .

NickD
BASE 194

don't really see that happening as he sold all 3 of them as a package. I figure that's how they wound up with basejumper.com anyways.

1. Out of interest, in photography, I visited photography dot com and immediately got a pop-up. WTF?

2. Nick is spot on again.

3. Happy to sell basejump.org for the right offer!

Cheers,

Ken.

I agree 100%. I'm all about expanding the sport, but whuffos controlling our forums makes me nervous.

evidently, Sangiro is getting out entirely. he sold us, dz.com, and rockclimbing.com. we can't go back to a corporate free dz.com.

this announcement brags about adding us as a "Premium Website." if they chase away eyeballs, they destroy value. hopefully, they will not. the sport NEEDS a place like this, a portal that will attract the casual web user. they must go somewhere after getting pumped up on youTube.

Another place will come. Maybe it won't be internet relateded, like maybe will talk face to face . . .

Are you ready?

NickD

I'm ready to talk to anybody.
it's how I get my best advice.

Yes, it's enough here.

>> I'm ready to talk to anybody.
it's how I get my best advice.<<

And why internet BASE doesn't work anymore.

While the really cool stuff is happening here, there, and everywhere else locally.

NickD
BASE 194

NICKDG

Fahion is coming full circle yet again...

I vote we revive the old board... or create a new one... this time slightly more underground...

Then the circle will be complete yet again.

Down with NameMedia...

EDIT to add.... I think I will be taking my videos/pictures down (not that anyone liked them )...

What is NameMedia's stance on handing over personal information of users to law enforcement if requested? Is NameMedia based in the US? Will the servers be based in the US?

I could be wrong, but I thought the fact that Sangiro was in South Africa and the servers were in South Africa (correct?) serves as a large deterrent to law enforcement requesting information regarding the users of this site. AFAIK there's a big difference paper work and effort wise for LEO to request info/compliance from a company based in the US than some guy with some servers in South Africa.

The servers have always been in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Sangiro has been located in South Africa, and the corporation that owned the site was chartered in Dubai.

NameMedia is located in the US (which is bad, from this perspective), but the servers will remain in Vancouver for the foreseeable future.

I haven't actually asked about this, but I will. I'll post again when I know more.

fuck name media, and fuck sangrio for selling out.

i always knew he was in it for the bucks.

If you uploaded any BASE vids to this site it might be a good idea to delete them right now. (Before they delete the delete button.)

Corporate will consider these vids owned and your stuff is going to get sold to Real TV . . .

NickD

Not bad. I didn't have to fill in to many boxes in buzz-word bingo.

I knew about this only slightly before all of you (meaning about a week ago). I did not have a chance to talk with anyone at NameMedia before I posted this announcement. While I did read over the post and tweak it slightly, it's pretty much exactly the same as the announcement that Sangiro wrote for DZ.com.

I don’t know exactly how much Sangiro got for his sites, but just getting a feeling for the ballpark the transaction was in, I’ll tell you that I’d have sold them too. If you owned these sites, and selling them would pay off your home and put your kids through college, I’d bet you’d sell, too, and probably a bit faster than he did.

I do not have any financial stake in this transaction. I've never been paid anything for the work I do here, I'm not getting any payoff over this, and I don't anticipate either of those things changing.

My interest here (and at DZ.com before this, and at BLiNC before that) is to help facilitate communication between jumpers. The most important aspect of this is passing technical information that can make BASE safer for all of us. Building community and comradery are important, too, but definitely take a back seat to technical stuff. That means that I really don’t care very much about photos and videos. I only care a little about classified ads (in so much as they help people get safer equipment for a lower price). I do think that articles are fairly important, especially the ones that explain technical and safety points. I’m willing to go along with, and help with, the other stuff if it facilitates (and pays for) the really important things (like the technical forum).

I did have a chance to talk with the guy at NameMedia who will (more or less) be in charge of this group of sites, on the phone, for about an hour yesterday (after the announcement was made).



Here’s my feeling, based on what I know:

BASEjumper.com pretty much came along in this deal because of Rockclimbing.com and Dropzone.com. Our site isn’t large enough or busy enough to really interest NameMedia on it’s own. As a result, I don’t expect that they’re going to be very interested in much of what goes on here. They’ve got lots of bigger things on their plate, which largely means we’ll continue to do our own thing. The site will continue operating pretty much as it has been. I don’t expect to see NameMedia come in here and run around roughshod changing how everything works.

That’s good and bad. While it means that I don’t anticipate some corporate overlord coming in to dictate things to us, I’m a bit concerned about things like technical support. Being way down their list of priorities means that they won’t bother us much, but will it also mean that when things break around here they’re not going to worry about fixing them? Only time will tell us the answers to those sorts of questions.

Where I do think we’ll see some improvements is in the nuts and bolts of the site. I expect that they’ll move things along in terms of page loading speed, backups on the server, and such, so that we have a smoother, faster running, and easier to use site. Again, while I expect this (it’s one of their areas of expertise), I plan to wait and see how it all works out.

I am actually a little concerned about the point that tornolf raised (Law Enforcement access to data), and I’ll pursue that with NameMedia and see what they have to say.

I think the trick here is to use them for what we can get, while not giving up the things that are essential to us.

I’ve been on lots of web sites over the years, and I don’t think there’s any way that we can run a site that’s as good (meaning it doesn’t crash, it’s easy to use, it loads quickly and smoothly, and there is good technical support) as a professionally run one. I’d love to be able to just hire a group of professionals to run such a site, so we could all use it. But, frankly, that’s not in my budget, and I doubt it’s in anyone else’s. We can find a couple of motivated people to build something, but when it comes to maintenance, the simple truth is that there are very few of us who stick around long enough to be much use. The jumpers who will volunteer eventually want to move on, or find that the boring nuts and bolts maintenance really isn’t that much fun. If we could hire real professionals to do that stuff, I’d be in favor of it.

In essence, that’s what we’ve done here. We’ve found someone who will get some income from a web site, and will, in exchange, maintain it for us.

Does that mean we’ve sold our souls? I don’t think so. It means we’re using a commodity we own (our internet traffic) to purchase something we want (a smoothly running site that gives us a place to trade information). Will it develop into more than that? I’m not sure, but, honestly, if that happens, I’m more than willing to just walk away, because I’ve got no stake here. I want this to be something good for BASE jumping. So far, I think it has. When I don’t think that’s happening any longer, I won’t be part of it.

Remember back when we were all on BLiNC? Well, maybe not, but for those of us who were there, do you remember what happened? Constant bickering, anonymous sniping, and, of course “vote purge”?

BLiNC wasn’t killed by Dropzone.com’s BASE forum. BLiNC had already self-destructed by the time that forum came around.

What made BLiNC fail? In my opinion, it was the basic difference between DZ.com (and later this site) and BLiNC.

BLiNC has a “no holds barred” attitude. No rules, say whatever you like, insult people straight up, and all that good stuff. It sounds pretty appealing. We’re all adults, and if you can’t handle the heat, you need to stay out of the kitchen, right?

That seemed to work, until the site really started having some traffic. Then the constant bickering and name calling drowned out every shred of rational discussion. When you could no longer ask a simple technical question without getting flamed by six people (and often still not get an answer), we had a problem. The forum wasn’t useful for communication any more. And so BLiNC died away.

Has that changed? Not as far as I can tell. BLiNC has a new skin, but the feel of the place is still the same and the rules (which were pretty much ignored by everyone last time around) are still either non-existent or unenforced. That works great if your group is small enough, but it simply couldn’t deal with the traffic we had at the end there, and the traffic we have now is more than that.

I’ve been down that road, as have those of us here who are still around. It didn’t work last time, and I don’t see it working next time either. It seems great for a while, but then things explode, and the noise level is so high that no real discussion can take place.

The only way I can see that approach working is in small, localized forums (the UK forum is a great example of this). When people really know each other, and there’s not too many of them, they tend to keep themselves civil. But I still see value in having a common place where we can all come together and talk (like this one) to complement those localized sites.

the early internet exploded with much anti-corporation sentiment. face it, the San Francisco area was NOT a hotbed of capitalism. many web visionaries had more of a left wing counter culture flavor.

lots of cool sites developed with iron clad privacy policies. users told me to trust them and place personal information on the web. then money became tight and websites became valuable. big business bought the struggling sites, immediately changed the privacy policies, and viewed user data as propriety data.

it is happening again with "social networks" like facebook, but the corporate "monetizers" have become more subtle. they know how quickly users can flee, turning a bustling site into a waste land.

hopefully, Tom is correct and this site is too BIG to close down, but too SMALL to warrant much corporate attention.

either way, it should remind us NOT to trust "secrets" to any internet site. speak as if you are in a large room full of eavesdropping strangers. it will NOT matter who owns the site, friendly to BASE or not. once a user shares something in cyberspace, they lose control of that information.

(heck, I wonder how long it will take Google's bots to scan this post. I might have to search for "monetizers + BASE" in a few days to see...)

my concern is PMs. if Sangiro hasn't given NameMedia control over the servers yet, it'd be nice if we could purge our PMs from the servers. this site is way different from rc.com/dz.com from a legal standpoint.

The delete (and delete all) button will continue to work.

Also, the system is arranged such that the administrator cannot read your PM's anyway.

I'm sure all three of us know that anyone with access to the database can read PM's, whether or not it's included as a feature in the admin package.

just to cater to everyones paranoia, I do believe deleting all PMs, pics, and any content that you have discretion over and may not want "others" to see is a good step. I know I did :)

Corporate ownership of BASE jumping forum with so much grey content just does not sound inspiring :(

PS and as much as it pains me, I have to agree with Ghet-toe.

That may not be entirely true. Through some funky crypto and the magic of math (), it is possible to make a system that encrypts PMs in such a way that only the recipient can actually read them. The stuff in the database would be unreadable garbage in that case.

Maybe such technology is used here? Tom, do you know?

They have it, it's called MD5 encryption. A human reading the database wouldn't be able to read anything... but a human with access to the MD5 key could (which would be conveniently located in a config file somewhere on the server)

And yes, Vid666, I know it hurts. Get used to it

Nah dude, MD5 is not an encryption- it is a hash and wouldn't really help here anyway.

The way I imagine it would work is the server stores an asymmetric key pair (ie, for RSA) for each user, and the private key encrypted with the user's password, using something like AES. Your incoming PMs get encrypted with your public key and are stored in this form. When you go to read PMs, your private key is decrypted (but not stored) using your password. The private key is then used to decrypt the messages and send them to you. As soon as you log out, the session ends and all the temporary data disappears from memory.

And since password doesn't actually get stored in plain form, your messages are pretty safe. To get at them, law enforcement would have to either brute-force RSA (hard), brute-force AES (also hard), or brute-force your password (may be hard). It may be easier for them to just hold a gun to your head and make you to log in.

As was mentioned earlier, things posted for everyone to see, such as pictures and videos, may be just as incriminating if they are traced back to your IP address, and then to your identity. Where does NameMedia stand on revealing such information?

For that matter, if you are very concerned with your IP address being traced back, you can consider using a free anonymizing program, or just use a public terminal. Though understandably this makes using the site more inconvenient, ultimately impeding the exchange of information.

There's no privacy in "private" messages to site programmer or law enforcement. If the "black box" takes username and password and spits out readable messages, anyone who owns it or has full access to it can read your messages.

The only way to protect your messages is to encrypt them yourself before you send them. The receiving party would have to know how to decrypt them. Then you're pretty much safe, sans brute force attack.

And I wouldn't trust Delete button, either. You never know if it actually deletes rows in database or simply marks them as inactive.

Short version: we're fucked.

Here's my private message to Ghetto:

2ED10FC6E5CD2D87C5BD77E2CD60FF314529FA4C8ED77EFF1A3FAD66AC720F3C

yup, that's what I was thinking. Tom/Sangiro, can you confirm what delete will do?

We could all install PGP or something

Well. Considering it spits out gibberish when plugged into a simple hex/ascii converter, and only two of the hex pairs repeat (and only once each) throughout the entire message, I'm going to have to assume it's either not that simple, or not a message at all. But what's nagging me is that it IS valid hex, and knowing that you of all people probably WOULD actually take the time to encrypt a message, I can't help but feel like there's something there.

Without giving away any unnecessary hints, just tell me if it's actually a message, or just bullshit and a complete waste of my time before I start eating every box of cereal in my pantry looking for a secret decoder ring.

Edit: I just re-read that and wow.... I am a nerd.

Don't feel bad. I tried the exact same thing. Also it's 64 characters long, which is a naggingly convenient number.

I have a feeling that it's going to end up decoding down to something like "Want to find out how to keep a retard busy for hours?"

:(

Dear yuri,

i would like to share some of my secret WS exit points here in hannover, with you, but sadly i lost the cylinder B from my 'ENIGMA' !


Since then, all what i write make no sense.

P.S. This and my piss poor english probably avoid communication.

Why do I get the feeling that we are going to be here for a while..... ?

Code

Have fun ;)

if thats your idea of 'fun', what is your idea of a bad time?

 
You know I just have to wonder how many rangers are sttting there reading this right now takeing notes. On the other hand I'm really getting off on the idea of a ranger sitting in his log cabbin surrounded by books on criptogrophy and code breaking trying to figure all of this out. His pet racoon knawing on the corner of the binding. Will all of his hair turn gray or will he pull it out?

Lee

http://wsn.at/encrypt/


Pick a method, pick a key. Copy and paste your PMs.

Question for the moderators... Do encrypted personal attacks get you banned?

Code

Cleaning velcro.

That worked. The audible sound that came from my face region was laughter.

Taking crap from our high-strung, abusive physicist. The highly audible sound coming from my face region is anguished crying. He also keeps farting and thinks we can't smell it.

My high school physics teacher was giving the class a lesson on the first day about dissipation of gases in a turbulent closed environment. As he start the class and closing the door during his introduction and hand out of the syllabus he poured a small amount of liquid onto a little paper towel. No one took much notice. After 5-10 minutes continuing to walk around the classroom we the students started noticing a putrid odor, some cringed, some looked around with blaming type glares, some giggled. He then spilled the beans and told us the root of the smell, and concluded "That is your first lesson in the wonderful world of physics!"

Worst and best first day of class. I had forgotten about that until now.

Yeah, the idea doesn't seem very "exciting" to me. In fact it feels like one of the final, if not the last nail in the coffin in many ways.

NameMedia, please suck my balls and then take a 6 count off the Perrine.

That is all.......

you can already see an increase over at http://www.blincmagazine.com/

And here I was just logging in to wish basejumper.com a happy first anniversary!

Concerning the PM problem: If it's really that much of a concern just open a hushmail account (encrypted e-mail) and post the address in your profile with a note to use that one instead of PM's. May not be as convenient but that would keep the corporate owners away and base jumpers just aren't important enough to the law enforcers to actually get the mails from hushmail.

I seem to be getting a few pop-ups lately from this site. Is this going to be an ongoing thing or are they going to stop. Frankly I don't give a fuck about Nike and would prefer it if their pop-ups would stop.

I haven't gotten any pop ups. I hadn't thought that was going to happen here. I'll ask my contact at NameMedia and see what they say.

I've been in web programming for a while, and I hardly ever give the user the option to "actually" delete anything.

Get Firefox and install Adblock Plus. Firefox blocks the popups, Adblock Plus blocks any other annoying ads.

Thanks for the info. I strictly use firefox. I will give adblocker a try.

I've been unable to replicate the pop ups. I'm pretty sure they're not coming from BASEJumper.com, but I could be wrong. Can you give us any more specifics? Has anyone else encountered pop ups from this site?

I've received zero pop-ups.

as previously stated, I use firefox (and it's pop-up blocker), adblock, and another plug-in that prevents flash from automatically playing. it's a great combo.

No popups, and I am still using IE7 when visiting this site.

Have been having dreams about Lance Armstrong though . . .

Which one?

I had gone to the firefox website and found a bunch of stuff listed.

I downloaded the extension Flashblock 1.5.6 and have been happy so far.

Complete transcript of my correspondence with NameMedia tech support is attached. They think it's likely this is some kind of adware that has self-installed on your machine:

NickD

Don't worry, the NPS may own NameMedia, but I secretly have the backing of the entire Squirrel Army (including the regiment currently stationed in Yosemite)

He who has all the nuts makes the rules

Hi, I am a new member of forum. Would a newcomer be warmly welcome here? Good day you guys!!!
__________________
http://watchmoviesfree.biz

no, we usually make fun of them. Overall it's like college - you have to endure some bashing before you are in. If you are into that sort of things, then stay.