The time has almost come. Tomorrow morning, Thursday, July 25th, at nine o'clock, I will undergo cataract surgery on my right eye. Admittedly, I'm quite nervous about the procedure, even though cataract surgeries have a success rate of 98 percent. My nerves mainly come from the fact that my right eye is already impaired due to the scars on my retina. It's also exciting to see how my left eye, which has had to compensate for the impaired right eye for many years, will react. Currently, I have 5 percent vision in my right eye, and it is expected to improve to 25 to 30 percent after the surgery. I will still be looking through a tunnel with my right eye, but it will be sharper, and colors will be brighter. In short, an improvement that makes the surgery worthwhile for me.

The surgery will have some impact on my online activities. I will likely not be online at all for the first few days after the operation, and after that, my online presence will be very limited. This is actually a good thing, considering how many hours a day I usually spend behind the computer.

I expect to be fully available again in four to six weeks, and I am looking forward to continuing with all the plans I have. First up is our project friendsplaceinternational.com. Our developer is currently working on a major update that will mainly improve the monetization system. After my recovery, we plan to thoroughly test the new system. The monetization system on Friendsplace will initially only be available to gold members. The good news is that we have 100 free gold member subscriptions available for active members of Friendsplace. So, if you are a creative content creator, I encourage you to create an account on Friendsplace and join the Monetizing Testers group. If you are already an active member of Friendsplace, you are also welcome to join the Monetizing Testers group. Once your application is approved, your Gold member subscription for one year will also be activated. Please note that you must be active on Friendsplace, which means posting a few times a week and responding to other members' posts. We will be paying close attention to this because we want Friendsplace to become a vibrant community.

I also plan to build a Matrix server. The app connected to the server will allow you to send and receive encrypted messages, just like WhatsApp, but without all the hassle. Once I have set up the server, I will need people to help test the app and server with me before they go live. If you are interested in helping me test, send me a private message on Vriendenplek or Friendsplace International.

The observant among you may have noticed that I started a forum a few weeks ago. Openvoiceforum.com is a platform I set up to facilitate respectful discussions on various topics. The forum is available in both English and Dutch to reach as wide an audience as possible. Although the forum is still in beta, you can already become a member.

So, now you are up to date, and I look forward to seeing you all again in four to six weeks.

Kind regards
Rudy