Whenever people suggest donating to us, I respond:

"If you're serious, go spend that money at one of our sponsor sites and go out of your way to tell them you're spending this money with them because MRH is free and you didn't have to spend it on paying for the magazine."

There's nothing better you can do for helping our venture than this.

 how many times are you going to delay the release?

I am tired of checking back.

Just put an honest announcement in the next issue and tell us it is really there and we can download it.

Tom

how many times are you going to delay the release?

I am tired of checking back.

Just put an honest announcement in the next issue and tell us it is really there and we can download it.

Not sure what you mean, Tom.

We released the downloads on Jan 4 when promised, and we posted a notice that the Online version and the Printer-friendly versions would be available on Jan 6 - it's the 6th and they're available.

The bonus downloads, as we've said, will be available on Jan 8, and they will be - what's not been honestly disclosed here?

As has been said on this thread before, you're getting exactly what you paid for ... (wink)

Seems like some people may be skipping their prozac and/or ritalin before they start their day.

Blue I believe it's the word free that confuses them. You know that old saying give someone and inch and they want a mile. Tell someone there is a free magazine on line and they don't read the small print about the extras always come out after the magazine has been line tested and everything else works first. I believe the notice about extras comming out by the 12th was the first notice just after Christmas and then was updated as comming on the 8th but I could be wrong about about the 12th.

Dan

You know that old saying give someone and inch and they want a mile.

That sure seems to be the attitude of some.

For myself, I feel blessed to be able to get a quality publication like MRH FOR FREE!  Being able to participate in the forum, which in my mind ranks right up at the top as one of the best online model railroad forums, is a great added bonus.  Add to that, the fact that I no longer feel the need to subscribe to a paper mag, which I wasn't happy paying for anyway...well I just can't see the downside from here.

I just don't get the negativity.  Maybe the nay sayers are on the payroll of one of the print mag's and are here to stir up trouble...oh well, don't quit yer day job I say! LOL!

Heck, I was just thinking, I'll be done reading the magazine COVER to COVER before the extra's are available, just in time for me to flip through them all.

However...

Would it not be more logical to upload the extras first? Since no one can download them anyways, until the issue is released, I'd upload them first, then upload the issue next...

Would it not be more logical to upload the extras first? Since no one can download them anyways, until the issue is released, I'd upload them first, then upload the issue next...

Josh

More logical, maybe - but more practical, no.

These extras don't just "appear" out of nowhere. We have to take the time to re-render all the videos to get DVD and HD quality videos. Until you worked with video and learned that rerenders can take hours to days, you can't appreciate the extra work involved.

And the extras are just that - extras. When the deadline's a comin' the extras get shoved aside for the issue itself and its deadline. We don't have dozens of idle computers just laying around that we can tie up for hours and hours doing all this video rerendering. The higher quality the video, the longer the render is.

By way of comparison, an HD render at 720p takes roughly 4 times as long as a standard DVD render at 480i. Fortunately, the renders we do for MRH only take about 1/4 of the time a standard DVD-quality render takes - although then we have to convert it to Flash format for the Embedded edition and also upload the video to Blip.tv - again tying up a computer for hours.

Then let's not forget that large video file uploads also take several hours even at fast broadband speeds ... and much of this work is volunteer because the magazine's not making enough money to pay for all this extra stuff.

I hate to be a stickler, but c'mon guys - if enough people throw a hissy-fit over free extra content being announced as coming 4 days after the core content, then hey - we just won't do the extras.

We thought of doing extras as a service to our readers - but we've got better things to do with our time if all we're doing is making people angry cuz the extras take extra time to produce ...

Joe then if the extras won't be ready at release of the magazine why not just not mention any extra at release date and then surprise everybody with it 3 of 4 days later.

Dan

If he announces the extras coming in 4 days after the magazine comes out, people complain that the extras aren't available on the first day.  If he comes out with a mag without extras, people will be asking where are the extras?  I appreciate what Joe and the staff are doing with this mag, and we need to give them some slack.  I've been subscribing to an online automotive enthusiasts magazine that has been out for 3 years and they still have not gotten to the level that MRH was at in it's first issue, plus that magazine is now trying to pressure people into paying for subscriptions for their substandard, to my mind, publication.