Cheers for the heads-up on posting.
PG was built and funded by a Canadian programmer and former OG member (Ethical Grower/Gadabout) who was my old sparring partner in the Shark Tank. He invited me to be his partner in a new venture (planetganja.com) at the end of 2004, as he needed someone to help build the front end and administer the site. There were always a few minor issues between us - mostly ideological about the running of the site (including how I handled the POM saga - I'm a bit of an avowed anarchist, and probably let things go a bit far in the name of "free speech"), but also Gad's complaining about paying the bills while at the same time not wanting to accept financial help via donations and/or subs.
He might have been sick of paying the bills, but most members were also sick of being reminded of this fact, as well as ongoing threats to close the site. Sometime in 2010 I woke to find we'd been taken offline. It wasn't the first time. Eventually, after a bit of negotiation with potential partners, Gad agreed to hand over the keys and Smokebreaks - who now owns and runs myplanetganja.com - would provide a server for the migration and foot the bills with the aim of trying to become self-funded through advertising, donations and site auctions to keep planetganja going as an independent resource.
However, when it came time to hand over the keys, Gad reneged and pulled the site for good. He spun a story about how his real-life business partner had "stolen" the server on which PG was based, and that his partner had "disappeared". Later, Gad claimed he'd taken it down himself due to "security issues".
The bottom line was that someone spat the dummy and took his bat and ball, as well as four years' worth of grow logs and everything else. There is, of course, another side to the story, but consensus is Gad was sick of paying the bills and simply preferred to pull the plug rather than hand over all his hard work for nothing. His ideal was to build the site into something he could later sell. My ideal was to have somewhere to grow and play - like the old OG Shark Tank - with a minimum of moderation, vested interests and site politics. Idealism doesn't pay the bills and capitalism benefits the few . . .
Gad's since offered to hand the planetganja.com domain over and help out at myplanetganga, but there's not a lot of good will and, frankly, few trust him after what he did to PG. I've had nothing to do with the new site apart from being a regular member, so kudos to those who have continued the legacy of the old "Stank". Though I guess it's not much of a legacy these days.
But we can still reminisce.
PG was built and funded by a Canadian programmer and former OG member (Ethical Grower/Gadabout) who was my old sparring partner in the Shark Tank. He invited me to be his partner in a new venture (planetganja.com) at the end of 2004, as he needed someone to help build the front end and administer the site. There were always a few minor issues between us - mostly ideological about the running of the site (including how I handled the POM saga - I'm a bit of an avowed anarchist, and probably let things go a bit far in the name of "free speech"), but also Gad's complaining about paying the bills while at the same time not wanting to accept financial help via donations and/or subs.
He might have been sick of paying the bills, but most members were also sick of being reminded of this fact, as well as ongoing threats to close the site. Sometime in 2010 I woke to find we'd been taken offline. It wasn't the first time. Eventually, after a bit of negotiation with potential partners, Gad agreed to hand over the keys and Smokebreaks - who now owns and runs myplanetganja.com - would provide a server for the migration and foot the bills with the aim of trying to become self-funded through advertising, donations and site auctions to keep planetganja going as an independent resource.
However, when it came time to hand over the keys, Gad reneged and pulled the site for good. He spun a story about how his real-life business partner had "stolen" the server on which PG was based, and that his partner had "disappeared". Later, Gad claimed he'd taken it down himself due to "security issues".
The bottom line was that someone spat the dummy and took his bat and ball, as well as four years' worth of grow logs and everything else. There is, of course, another side to the story, but consensus is Gad was sick of paying the bills and simply preferred to pull the plug rather than hand over all his hard work for nothing. His ideal was to build the site into something he could later sell. My ideal was to have somewhere to grow and play - like the old OG Shark Tank - with a minimum of moderation, vested interests and site politics. Idealism doesn't pay the bills and capitalism benefits the few . . .
Gad's since offered to hand the planetganja.com domain over and help out at myplanetganga, but there's not a lot of good will and, frankly, few trust him after what he did to PG. I've had nothing to do with the new site apart from being a regular member, so kudos to those who have continued the legacy of the old "Stank". Though I guess it's not much of a legacy these days.
But we can still reminisce.
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