It was me. I was to inherit the web site. Ryan has stated it in his will, though we did not want to make it public. The plan was for me to keep the web site running and continue things like April Fool's Day gags. I was also going to make changes to the web site periodically that people either really liked or very much disliked and then sit back and watch the banter. There were also going to be extensive plans to make it look like Ryan was still running the web site from the grave. Now that you had to ask and bring it all out into the light, everybody else knows. Thanks for outting us and exposing the secret plan, 3FLA. Now Ryan will have to come up with a new plan. What will it be? I suppose that now we will have to wait for him to tell us all.

Actually, turtles live a really long time. No need for concern.

Any good admin has a backup plan. Hopefully the backup is not some crazed person :)

There is so much valuable data here it would be a shame if it went away. I wonder if there is an easy way to download all of our plants including clues? For backup purposes.

Wait.... I had the same agreement with Ryan!

Hopefully.

Was he using us both as the backup plan for one another?!

The word was hopefully. Why did I read it as mwahahahaha?

REDUNDANCY - brilliant!

Oh. My. Lord.

Wahoo! What a great Anniversary/ AQ Birthday!

Shelly

I think all changes have people who both really like and very much dislike the change! When was the last time there was a change that wasn't controversial? =)

-- Ryan

Long term, I'm not really sure what would happen to AQ. It's not like Amanda has the technical expertise to keep it running, and I'm not really sure the website earns enough for her to just pay someone to keep it running and do updates.

Long term, I figure someone from the letterboxing community who does have the technical skills would likely have to take it over. There are a couple of people who know all of the passwords and accounts to get into the site if I were to mysteriously disappear in the wilderness (come on, let's face it, that's my likely fate!).

So in the short-term, Wassa could certainly keep things running. But longer-term.... I hope there's someone here with the technical expertise and interest to keep the site running.

-- Ryan

Well that’s not exactly the (humorous) response I was expecting but I’m grateful for the honest feedback. We pray you live a long and healthy life O Green One!

Maybe in/on the Galapagos. Humans suck though. Beach re-nourishment? The amount of turtle/sea life loss is astounding but the tourists want a nice sandy beach so they can then pop into HomeDepot on the way here and buy shovels to dig deep abysses that the nesting turtles who survived the beach restoration and hatchling turtles both can fall into, never to make it out. Walking the beach almost daily gives us a window to a staggering amount of beached dead sea turtles from boat strikes too. Sorry, I get your sentiment and don’t mean to be gruesome but it’s a soapbox of mine, and I’ll get off it now. Yes I agree with you, turtles left unmolested by selfish humans can live a long life!

Wow, that is a big one! Congratulations, Teacup. 🎉 🎂

As a software tester, I would like to put all the developers in a hunger games situation and let hem fight for the passwords.

Ding ding ding! Best answer for the win!

❤️🥳

Stay inky! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Happy Cake Day

Wait? There's someone running AQ?

I was thinking about this last night!!!!

Let's keep "running" in quotes, why don't we?

Well, I think about death a lot. And this is definitely something that's crossed my mind a few times. Glad someone asked. So, basically...the site could crash out if none with the wherewithal were to step up. Hope that never happens. Eeesh.

OK, here's a suggestion, and please note that this suggestion comes from someone who couldn't code their way out of a paper bag, what about having a stripped down version waiting in the wings - kind of a flip phone version - that would basically be a repository of clues and that clues could be added to. So all that would be required is someone to pay the hosting bill. That way at least the current clues would be protected. Kind of a self-correcting site... or is that even possible?

And I guess the same goes for LbNA, right?

let copilot take it over.

Many thanks to everyone for the kind thoughts and prayers. For simplicity I will post one reply to all of you. The update is sort of depressing and I will probably put the whole story on the blog at some point when I can face it! Give me a few days to settle down...

The time estimates vary a bit, but if I take the average it's going to be about a year before I have my house back. I don't know if the insurance company can make any accommodation for Stampeaz - it's still early. They just officially decided the cause of the fire this afternoon. And it boggles the mind.

Piper and I are camping out with my sister and feel very fortunate to have a safe, warm place to stay for the time being.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support.

Maybe AI will run it...... *shudders*

Even websites that don't seem to change often need updates. I spend quite a bit of time and effort doing nothing more than keeping the websites up!

I have to constantly be upgrading software--important for security and reliability--but that often breaks existing code so then the code needs updating. Which can also break stuff, so then the code needs fixing...

And sometimes certain queries in the database start running slower and slower as the size of the database grows, so then I often spend enormous amounts of effort trying to figure out ways to make then run faster.

Then there are API calls that AQ uses (such as the geocoders or Google Maps), and they update their API's, which means I have to update the website to keep everything working.

You might not SEE any changes on the website, but it's being updated and maintained all the time. I try to be very proactive in keeping things as up-to-date as possible, and it might be able to run for years without too much trouble, but without someone to do these sorts of tweaks, it'll eventually all come crashing down.

There's no such thing as a website that doesn't need maintenance.

-- Ryan

I wonder if the admins at geocaching.com have a plan for this eventuality and if so, what is it? If it is a better plan than we have I wonder if they would be willing to include letterboxing within their bailiwick. I know, I know, heresy, but better than losing it all.

So I just did a quick google search and it looks like geocaching.com has approximately 100 full time employees and generates over 11 million dollars a year in revenue. It’s a privately owned corporation with a CEO. That’s definitely not a company built on sand and they surely have a back up plan.