What's with Hungercity again?

[MalFrie]

Does anyone know any info regarding just who ShaReef is?

[vladsmythe]

Seems to me HC had several "eras". The Beatles era - when you could earn, and "gift" ratio to other members, was my favorite. It became much more autocratic after that. There seemed to be staff changes that also coincided with the shift in content. Dylan was once the theme, then Bowie, Van Morrison, Classic Old Euro Rock TV shows, etc. The bumping of torrents by staff, and not the contributing members was telling to me that things were strange.

I find it sort of odd that it took this final insult to members and staff, to take offense to the constant begging for donations. It was like clockwork at the 3rd week of every month, year after year - a solicitation in my PM box. Maybe I was out of the loop, but I recall lamenting the $675 dollar server fees years ago. If HC was still running, would the fees even be an issue now?

[rflynn]

Originally Posted by MalFrie

Does anyone know any info regarding just who ShaReef is?

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/shareef-bustani/67/9ab/3a0

I don't belong to LinkedIn, but this is the guy.

[JackDog]

Is that the same guy? Because I was under the impression that English wasn't his first language so I assumed that he was from Europe.

[rflynn]

Yes, I was a Founder at HC. I quit a few years ago because he would disappear and leave the staff to fend for themselves.

Originally Posted by JackDog

Is that the same guy? Because I was under the impression that English wasn't his first language so I assumed that he was from Europe.

For what it's worth, I was told that one his parents was a citizen of the UK, from where he is from originally, and that English is his first language (allegedly).

That said, as a recovering English professor, I can attest to the fact that a lack of fluency in one's native language is not unusual. However, just because one has all but the total inability to manipulate her or his native tongue in the written form does not mean that it ought not to be a source of shame.

Even if it were the only task to have been delegated, the person who operates HC should have allowed one of the volunteer staff members access to the site to proofread its content so that it looked as if its owner had at least graduated from primary school.

I try really hard not to nitpick grammar here in the intertubes (and it could be possible that he is dyslexic or has a kindred learning disability, which is no laughing matter), but, really, if one's grammar is that bad — for whatever reason — one needs to outsource.

My rather modest fee (Hi, ShaReeF! ) is only $80 per hour.

[RamesesII]

Is this the guy?

[paddington]

wait, this shit happened, again? So soon?

[paddington]

Originally Posted by daddyray

Karmacity!

(but someone who is self focused might think that was about them. )

[nutzrocker]

On a more serious note, if anyone around the net is still thinking of making any donations, please consider what the staff team has just discovered: -

if you go to Hunger City you get the "Host Gator . com" 404 Page Error screen. However, if you look at the url (below) this is a page created within Hunger City itself - with the name of "last chance". The tracker has not been "shut off" at all....

[MalFrie]

I`ve just managed to log in to the Tracker & Artwork Forum (Says KarmaKat is the newest member) although the last message appears to be from LGT on Tuesday apologizing for the"Mess"

[nutzrocker]

Originally Posted by nutzrocker

On a more serious note, if anyone around the net is still thinking of making any donations, please consider what the staff team has just discovered: -

if you go to Hunger City you get the "Host Gator . com" 404 Page Error screen. However, if you look at the url (below) this is a page created within Hunger City itself - with the name of "last chance". The tracker has not been "shut off" at all....

http://thehcforum.com/hungercity/las...html/index.php

[paddington]

yeah, he's just moving all the files so they can't be accessed while the lastchance.html page is pimped out.

the hostnig appears to still be active.

http://thehcforum.com/hungercity/

The following post appeared this morning in the HC Forum:

Originally Posted by OutsideTLaw

The following message was sent to ShaReef the evening of Sept 29, US east coast time:

"HungerCity Staff
September 29, 2013

Dear Shareef:

Hungercity has been a home for many and has always had a good reputation for its audio and video torrents. Many people have given their enthusiasm, their energy , their time, their donations, and their music.

It is therefore with great regret that the staff of Hungercity unanimously came to the conclusion that we can no longer tolerate the way things are handled by the site owner.

1. There is no transparency about the real costs of the site. No Staff members have any knowledge of how much is donated or the site's financial resources, gains, losses or conditions.

2. People who have donated don’t get credited. Staff members have been left to handle these requests when individual users bring proof of donations to the their attention.

3. Crucial knowledge about the site, such as usernames and passwords for access to PayPal data and domain servers are only in your own posession.

4. The site is unstable and is frequently offline for extended periods. Good back-ups are not always available, so posts and threads are lost as a result.

The staff requested a contingency plan in case you were unable to perform your duties. Staff just wanted to avoid the frequent site outages, maintain all backups to prevent loss of valued data, and remove any appearance of improper fund management. But you refused this request, thwarting the staff's efforts to provide friendly management and smooth operation of the site.

So, staff consensus is this: unless you may immediately inform us of the concrete steps being taken to resolve these issues, we have decided to end our involvement with HungerCity.

Luisbp51
OutsideTLaw
LGT
Pottel
ErikSnow
Kisseber
Yassas
Falo
Blindwilly
Roberts
Nutzrocker
Nptslim
RubenCarter
Kixdude
mcp"

ShaReef's response follows:

"RESIGNATIONS ACCEPTED FOR ALL. HC WILL RETURN ANYWAYS."

[dasmueller]

A class act in action