Site News
Spam Ho!
Posted Nov 28, 2021 3:32PM EST
My partner came home Tuesday after two weeks in the hospital and eleven days at a rehabilitation center. He was still terribly weak and needed constant attention, so I’ve barely been online this week.
Naturally, my absence coincided with the latest onslaught of spammers on the site. Someone is using single-use email services to create accounts and send messages to other members. I blocked access from one service, and after a day, they started using another. And, today, a half dozen more. I plugged those holes also, but it may be a few days before I can do more than whack each mole as it pops out. Al still needs help, and, tomorrow, we’re starting our rounds of doctors’ offices following his discharge.
I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I know it makes being a member of the site less enjoyable when you get this nonsense in your inbox. (If you’re not sure what I mean, if you get a message from someone one minute after he joins the site...
Forced Break
Posted Nov 10, 2021 5:26PM EST
My other half’s been in the hospital with pneumonia for two weeks. That’s not quite accurate, since, thankfully, they eased COVID restrictions and I’ve spent part of each day with him. So, at a rough estimate, 41% of me has been gone. I’ve taken an iPad with me a couple of times, thinking I might do something while he's sleeping, but holding his hand and rubbing his thumb has been a full and satisfying vocation, and I haven't gotten around to more.
Each day of the last week has been a broken promise. First, we heard he'd go to rehab. I was all for this, seeing how weak he'd become, but then we heard that the rehab center only does acute care, and he's only cleared for sub-acute care. So they planned to send him to another center which, based on online reviews and conversations with many friends, has a reputation as a death trap that leaves people far worse than when they come in. And it was the only option his insurance would pay for. So he...
Member Galleries
Posted Sep 16, 2021 8:49PM EDT
Following on the heels of marking people in pictures, I've created galleries from the results:
https://oldergay.men/images/members
Have a look — happy window shopping! 😀
Jeff
People In Pictures
Posted Sep 16, 2021 5:39PM EDT
I've made it possible now to say that you're in a picture on the site. On a picture's page, just click "Add yourself to the list" under "People in this picture". See here for example:
https://oldergay.men/images/fb51ce6ce0593dae4bc26646c91a6f62
Do Not Abuse This. Marking yourself as the subject of a picture of Ed Asner or a drawing of Santa Claus will get you a warning, and continuing will get your account banned. Let's keep this useful.
On profile pages, we make a distinction now between photos someone's uploaded and photos that feature the person. Like here:
https://oldergay.men/users/jeff-covey
We show ten pictures on the profile, and you can click through to see more:
https://oldergay.men/images?subject=141
When you upload a batch of photos now, you can tick a checkbox to have them all marked as pictures of you. If you've already uploaded a bunch, go to your profile page. Above the thumbnails of pictures uploaded by you, you'll find a new link labeled...
Is This Worth It?
Posted Sep 02, 2021 4:35PM EDT
In the best shoot-then-aim tradition, I've only started to collect statistics about what's happening on OlderGay.Men. One jumped out at me: 107 members currently support us on Patreon. On the one hand: That's great! On the other: It's 0.1468% of our membership.
I don't want to sound discouraged. But if only 15 percent of one percent of you care to make sure this will still be here tomorrow, you have to admit that's not the most enthusiastic vote of confidence. On a crass financial level, it means that supporting members pay less than a third of our monthly expenses. I'm happy to continue making up the rest, but increased support would ease both my pocketbook and my worries about whether this is a worthwhile experiment.
So let me ask you:
- If you subscribe: Thank you!
- If you don’t… Why not?
I don't mean that as an accusation, but as a sincere question.
I understand that $5 a month is more than some of our members can afford. I...
Bereft
Posted Aug 29, 2021 5:17PM EDT
Breaking in to our usual coverage for this sad news:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/29/arts/television/ed-asner-dead.html
Uploading Many Photos At Once
Posted Aug 26, 2021 5:35PM EDT
I finally got around to making it possible to upload multiple images at once. If you have a bunch you want to add to the site, you can drop them all at once now:
https://oldergay.men/image_contributions/new
The site puts them into a holding area, then, when it gets a moment, takes each and runs it through all the processing that we were doing at the time of uploading before: Checking that the image isn't already on the site, double-checking that you didn't accidentally upload the PDF of your tax return, etc. Since all of this happens later, uploading should be much faster as well as more convenient. Give it a try and let us know if you run into any problems!
Enjoy,
Jeff
Meetups
Posted Jul 15, 2021 4:58PM EDT
We're excited to announce another get-back-out-there feature. If you've been looking for a way to meet other OlderGay members near you, you can now schedule a meetup to get everyone together.
Pick a place and a time, and we'll notify everyone nearby in the newsletter. If you don't have a location in mind, you can head to our Places section. When you see a place that seems amenable, you'll find a "Schedule a meetup here!" link on its page that will pre-fill the name and address of the venue. When you click through, you'll also find a somewhat tedious list of suggestions to help make your event the best it can be.
We hope this will break the ice for members close to each other who haven't yet met. We hope it will be good for travelers, too! Imagine if, on your first visit to London or Palm Springs or Rio de Janeiro, you could have dinner or drinks with like-minded friends who help you settle in. Years of running...
Second Homes And Travel Plans
Posted Jun 21, 2021 6:24PM EDT
We have two huge announcements to make, just in time for the world’s re-opening.
First, you can now list a second location on your profile if you spend part of the year somewhere else (summers in New York and winters in Fort Lauderdale, for example). Both homes will appear on your profile, and you’ll appear in searches on either location (and as being near places, groups, events, etc. in either place).
Second, if you’re just making a trip somewhere, you can post it here:
When you do, you’ll create a page with the information we have about the area you’re visiting, and you can post your comments if you need some advice. The newsletter will notify people in the area that you’re coming, and you’ll start appearing in location searches just before your arrival date. As you can see, we automatically create trips when members say they’re attending events. Trips are only visible to members who are logged in.
I hope you find these features helpful,...
Reporting Spam
Posted May 09, 2021 1:25PM EDT
As one of the steps we’re taking against spam on the site, you’ll now find a form at the bottom of each message you receive which lets you forward the conversation to our staff for review. We continue to work on preventing spam from reaching you, but if something does get through, we appreciate your help in flagging messages so we can remove spammer accounts as quickly as possible.
Have a great week!
Jeff