PipCop is biased

[PipCop]

Originally Posted by rsmereka

IMHO, you should add http://www.forex-robots.com.

Yeah, I had checked them out prior to starting my site, and at that point they charged a membership to access the full data. They also require you to register just to SEE the data. I do neither.

Plus, their site is COMPLETELY non-cross-browser compatible. Check it out in Firefox for a chuckle. When I first visited their site, I couldn't even use it so I left.

Originally Posted by rsmereka

The new method is that software is built by volunteers and is available to anyone including the source code for free. Companies make money not from the sale of software but from support and consulting. If you translate this business model to Pipcop's case, the information should be freely available with the oppertunity to make money from support, consulting and customization.

One of my future plans is to have a community robot programming effort. However, at this time, I don't think we have enough programmers on board to start that up. My long term goal is to find a robot that makes money, or create our own, and use that for income. Plain and simple. In the meanwhile ... this is about the best I can come up with to garner interest in the site.

[raindog]

"I did not say it was law but a saying in law. Informally, most of the North American law and political system is primarily driven by "the appearance" of guilt or innocence."

Rubbish. Formally, most of the North American law and political system is primarily driven by presumption of innocence. Stop talking off the top of your head, stick to facts.

[1ka]

Originally Posted by rsmereka

I am not offering the same level of service on my website as our businesses are completely different along with the services that we each provide.

Exactly the point I was making. The sites are different, your's is a fairly static site with little daily, or even monthly, maintenance. PipCop's site is dynamic and requires active daily monitoring, updating and maintenance. I'd suggest that it is virtually a full time job for PipCop, though I don't know (is it, PipCop?) To suggest you don't solicit donations on your site, and by association, neither should PipCop is a little unfair as you are comparing apples and oranges

Originally Posted by rsmereka

I do and I have personally done exactly that for 10 years now. The service that Pipcop is providing is mostly information. I believe that this information should be shared freely and openly without fees, licenses, donations or commercialism. Take the open source software movement as a similar example. The old school method is that software is sold (or kinda leased) and the license actually restricts your rights. The new method is that software is built by volunteers and is available to anyone including the source code for free. Companies make money not from the sale of software but from support and consulting. If you translate this business model to Pipcop's case, the information should be freely available with the oppertunity to make money from support, consulting and customization.

PipCop may be just providing information, but it isn't free information. However the information is presented it has to be gathered and distilled, and that process isn't free.

Your argument above, I think, is exactly what PipCop is doing. He is providing the information freely and is taking the opportunity to make money via donation. If you place any value on the information then you will, perhaps, donate, if not, there is no compulsion to. Perhaps after donation PipCop could send you a summary of EA's tested so far and then we could call the donation a consultancy fee

[PipCop]

I don't want to fan this fire too much, because I think both sides have valid points, but in response to how much time I spend on the site ... Yeah, I spend at least 4 hours a day on it, and some days even more. I read every post that is made to the site (which is sent to me by email), I am always looking for new features (such as the Links Directory and Video Library) to help make the site more useful, I've actually hired several different people to help me with tasks that I either can't do or don't have the time to do. Each new robot I setup for review usually takes about 30-45 minutes to get going (create a new VM , set up the MT instances, get the robot installed, create the FTP folder on the server, test the publisher, check the robot log for errors, change the config file for the Quick Stats, create the new thread, be sure the statement shows up, refresh the QS parser so the stats fire off, and then check my emails for notifications of robots which have hung ... usually on Fridays for some reason ... and restart them, and so forth.)

Then there is the planning new features. I want to start capturing ticks and spreads for brokerages, both live and demo, to compare. To do that is going to require at least one new server. I also want to test more robots, so I need a second new server. That means I will have 4 servers in my closet. I am working on the purchase today, and hope to have them provisioned next weekend. Then I have to add another shelf to my closet, so I have to find some that will fit and put them in, and make sure they can support 60 pounds of weight. I have to be sure the circuit breaker can handle the power load. I still need a battery backup! Then I have to setup the servers, buy the operating systems, install them and apply patches, get more AV licenses, install the VM server software, install the database server software ... etc. I love this site, and I am thrilled everytime someone tells me "Great site" and that is what helps keep me going.

Then, I get to go through my emails and see who has contacted me directly and see how I can help them. Et cetera, et cetera.

Of course, I do also have a life. I have my dogs who want to play and eat. I have my day job. I have my wife who likes to spend time with me, and we have guests over occasionally. I have a friend coming over today to work on our cars. Our heater in our house broke and is spewing carbon monoxide into the house so the landlord is having contractors come over to try and schedule a time to replace it (yeah, the whole thing has to be replaced!)

Um ... I could go on, but yeah, I lead a busy life. But it's by choice. I really enjoy being busy.

[PipCop]

My friend just reminded me that I also have a nice electric bill. His electric bill was $38 last month. Mine was $158. We both have similar sized homes. I'm pretty sure my bill is so high because of all the computer equipment I leave running 24x7 in the house.

So, yes, there are costs associated with running this site, and it's nice to get a little help.

[rsmereka]

Yeah, I had checked them out prior to starting my site, and at that point they charged a membership to access the full data. They also require you to register just to SEE the data. I do neither.

Plus, their site is COMPLETELY non-cross-browser compatible. Check it out in Firefox for a chuckle. When I first visited their site, I couldn't even use it so I left.

I feel the same way about that site. It really irritated me that most of the valuable data was available by subscription only, they had commercials all over the place for all the EA's and the site seems to be specific to IE and is platform/browser specific (one of my pet peeves). I still go back there once in a while but I have classified all of their emails as spam.

Your argument above, I think, is exactly what PipCop is doing. He is providing the information freely and is taking the opportunity to make money via donation. If you place any value on the information then you will, perhaps, donate, if not, there is no compulsion to. Perhaps after donation PipCop could send you a summary of EA's tested so far and then we could call the donation a consultancy fee

I don't think you grasped the point I was trying to make. Bottom line for me is that if this was my site, I would use a different model but it is not my site. I think that this site is the best of it's kind and that is why I'm here and not someplace else. I am flexible enough to know that I am not going to get everything I want and I know a good thing when I see it. Great job Pipcop , keep up the good work and you can count on me to spread the word and contribute as much as I can. Speaking of contributing:

One of my future plans is to have a community robot programming effort. However, at this time, I don't think we have enough programmers on board to start that up

Count me in. I don't know MQL but I am a programmer, IT specialist with over 20 years of experience and have over 6 years experience trading and know a lot about technical analysis .

I regularly pickup computer languages when the need arises. I just picked up another one in the last couple of days. I don't think it would take me too long to pick up MQL especially after digesting some already existing EA code that is readily available.

Rick

[PipCop]

I've actually being trying to get around that Forex-Robots site ever since you mentioned it. First, you have to register, so I did. Then you have to click a link in an email they send before you can log in. I check my account ... no email. I check later ... no email. I checked the next day, it finally showed up. So I click and am now a member. Okay, now I can see a little more detail, and they send me an email with the investor login info for the 6 robots under test. Okay, great. I want more. I click the link for the "Premium" membership, but it's broken. Okay. I come back today. I'm not sure if I am logged in or not. "Premium" is still broken. There's no community feedback. Ads are all over the place. I'm ... not ... really ... impressed!

I'm glad you like my site. Personally, I love it! (Awww!) I just get a big kick out of building forums and helping people, even if it costs me a little (okay, a lot) of money. The RS Club cost me over $10k to start and maintain in the first few years alone. I am already well on the way for PipCop, what with all these servers and such. Luckily for you all, I'm doing a much better job. Here's how the RS Club started out, way back in 2000:



Nice, huh!

Anyway, I have lots of plans, I just need to build things up before a lot of them will be viable. As they are implemented, I'll probably (unfortunately) sent out a mass email (which I really hate to do) to everyone. For the record, when I ran the RS Club, I believe I only sent out two mass emails in 7 years. I hate spam and ads, and I suspect you all do as well.

[stickerman]

Hi Pipcop. I've been following some of your threads for a while, particularly Robominer, and the discussion about your affilaite status.
Firstly, having the link to sell RM (or other EA's) doesn't bother me, as long as you are being 'up front' about it. I think if you were linking to these sites through, say, another website, there would be cause for complaint, but not in the way you're doing it.
The original sites selling the RM had 2 options: 1-off purchase, or 'monthly for life'. I did contact them to ask if I could take out the second option for a period of months (say 3 - 6) to ensure the system worked for me, and then if necessary cancel the monthly deal and purchase it outright (at the full price). This they agreed to (different to your aim of 'lease to buy'). Can you confirm that I could purchase from you on this same basis.
Finally, (and I know you like to hear this), Great Site! I have learned a lot so far, and the live statements are essential. Incidentally, I am running RM on a demo account and getting similar results to you - pretty high DD at the moment but should (hopefully) come down as (if!) the market retraces.

[PipCop]

Hi Stickerman,

That is good to hear. By the way, just to mention again to everyone, I do completely disclose all of these details in the "What does pipcop do?" thread, which is listed at the top left of every page (above the Quick Stats) so I think it's pretty transparent.

And yes, you absolutely may subscribe to the monthly version, and then cancel the subscription at any time, and purchase the full version. I have one other person who wanted to do the same thing - he did the monthly version to try it for a month, paid, canceled the subscription right after buying, and is now using the robot to the end of the 30 days. (The payment subscription end date is not tied to the robot end date. Let me know if that makes sense or not.)

I'm really glad you like the site! Yes, I love hearing it. Yay me! I'm glad your demo is going well.

[raindog]

Has anyone had experience with GT Shadow? It seems a lot riskier, I couldn't find much on it here or eslewhere...

thanks,

rd