Posted on 10/23/2012 3:58:44 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
The 4th and final of the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates have come and gone for 2012.
Here are the three things we can walk away with.
- Romney can't lose a debate coin toss, going 3 for 3. Which of course means nothing.
- Obama gets more moderated debate time, going 3 for 3 in the time column. Which of course means nothing.
- Free Republic crashes before any debate and doesn't get back to normal until dawn the next day.
I would like to state that I have been here since the 2004 election season. I can't lay claim to being an old timer here compared to some of the posters here. I can safely say though that I am not a spur of the moment account meant to come here and spam, insult and run away.
Here's my point; Free Republic is in danger of not being relevant and it's purely because of technical reasons.
I know your technical team or advisor is trying like mad to isolate why this site is unavailable for hours on end surrounding the debates this year. It's not working.
This debate season for Free Republic has been the equivalent of having a TV network go out for a wild card round, divisional round and conference or league championship. The network knew the times of the contest, they knew tons of people would be watching, they knew where the technical problems might arise yet failed 4 times over the course of every scheduled event.
Now the Super Bowl of American politics is 2 weeks away and the same team that has aired loading screens for every head to head political contest this year must realize this simple fact; if you're not up and running on election night 2012 you might as well close the door on any thought of continuing your political relevance.
Online communities do not build themselves overnight but they can collapse overnight. As inconceivable as it may be this could be a swan song moment that you were warned about, tried to prevent yet ultimately could not control. If your traffic can't get to your site, you have no site.
If you fail in giving voice to this community during what should or could be a glorious night for America your role in history will be noteworthy, just like print edition of Newsweek's coverage of the Presidential inauguration in 2013. Non-existent.
History will indeed be made on November 6th because of the nature of the event. The question Free Republic needs to determine is if it is going to report history or become part of it.
Comeon bro, Pittsburg was too snarky, no doubt, but he raised important points. JimRob agreed and addressed all the points even throughout the thread. We cannot be a ‘dysfunctional family’ where we cannot honestly talk about real problems. We’ll find solutions, in time, but we have to be able to talk about the problems....
Well, me calling the number would do no good whatsoever. If your friend on the other end of the line has THE solution, please have him email it to me and I’ll be sure John gets it.
Thanks
“Live chats would be a good substitute for all kinds of things”
I second that.
The excellent reptile forum I belong to has several great topical forums *and* a live chat room available 24/7.
The chat is fast moving and in real time.
I prefer chat over FB because FB is pure evil, IMO.
I searched for organic coconut oil for my dogs a week ago and I’m *still* getting intrusive ads for that brand of oil.
FB tracks every bloody move you make.
No kidding, right?
As an experienced software developer and unix systems & database administrator, it wears me out when people make blanket statements without any intimate knowledge of the operating environment. Alerting management and administrators that a problem exists and expressing the level of its severity is acceptable. Making suggestions is acceptable. Offering help is acceptable. Making blanket statements about what is obviously the problem and how easy it is to fix are unacceptable and unappreciated.
No, it is absolutely not a simple matter to "upload the code" to a "new hosting company." Software is designed, coded, and configured to run in specific operating environments. Generally speaking, changing operating environments requires configuration changes at multiple places: the network, the hardware, the operating system, the database(s), and the software. It can and usually does require changes to the actual software, meaning how the software is written. Unless the operating environment was specifically designed to be portable across platforms and environments (most aren't), it probably isn't easily ported.
Troubleshooting performance issues is also not a simple matter. It is almost always not a matter of "either this or that." It is almost always a combination of solutions, which means a combination of resources must be examined in multiple combinations at multiple times from multiple perspectives: network, hardware, database, and software. Money is rarely the easy answer. When it is, the IT staff hollers "Yeehaw!" and gets to work, eager to fix the damn thing and be done with the complaints.
Now, with respect to professional help in troubleshooting the performance problem, I will put my money and my experience where my mouth is and offer my expertise, my time, and that of my very experienced IT associates and probably some FRiends. If Jim and John want the help (for free), there it is.
But don't anybody get excited. That does not equate to "problem solved." There would be many details to work out and coordinate, not the least of which is John's time, effort, availability, and professional trust. Is he even willing to allow someone else a look under the hood to help diagnose the problem? Only he can or should answer that question. I can guarantee that screaming at him or trying to force him to do so ain't gonna work. Been there, done that, ain't doin' it again.
Can it be resolved before the election? I don't know. Can we try? I don't know that either.
Many more questions than answers, unfortunately.
FRegards, Tex P.S. As a frame of reference, one of the developers of Facebook commented recently that if FB had to do any significant reconfiguration or make significant changes to the operating environment, it would be an epic failure and disaster, essentially, because Facebook grew at an exponential rate and was not built with scalability or performance in mind. They just threw money and hardware at the problems ... because they had that luxury.
Knock it off. That ain’t helping.
Tell your browser to delete your cookies every time you shut it down.
I don't know if Internet Explorer has that option, but you can certainly delete all your cookies manually. Firefox has a way to do it automatically each time.
That gets rid of all the tracking cookies that you have in your browser. You'll also lose some other stuff, like default usernames. You'll have to login to FR again. But, it's more reliable than any other methodology.
I was just telling him that the other day!
Learn C#? On purpose? Why? Yech!
(Sorry.)
First things first. God bless and keep you and your genius son, John.
FREE REPUBLIC IS HERE TO STAY and will never be irrelevant.
We are the premiere site on the whole of the Internet for God, Family, Country, Life & Liberty Conservatives and our awesome membership freely supports our forum with freely given donations!
I don’t want to hear any talk about refunding the donations intended for the new equipment when John determines the precise equipment that’s needed. In fact, if more money is needed, we’ll raise it!
There’s been a lot of griping and and understandably so. The premiere site is expected to be online 24/7.
You have graciously put those questions and gripes to rest. I’m so sorry you had to share John’s personal information with the membership, but perhaps that was necessary too. He has my prayers and now the membership’s too. Of course, everyone should realize, that his personal problems have not stopped his work on solutions for FR’s problems!!!
Like you said, “there’s no place like home” and FR is our home!
Please everyone, SUPPORT YOUR HOME ON THE INTERNET.
OUR 4TH QUARTER FREEPATHON IS WELL UNDERWAY!
PLEASE DONATE TODAY, MONTHLY IF YOU CAN.
Very generous FReeper Sponsors are kicking-in $10.00 for every New Monthly Donor & $1-A-DAY DONOR!!!!
God bless and Keep you all!
Well, that's the epitome of arrogance and ignorance considering the fact that you didn't write the software, didn't implement it, AND don't maintain it.
Just goes to show that when you have a great site..you draw more people:) I have faith in you as do the majority of freepers and know you and John are doing your best..that is all that matters to me.
Love Free Republic:)
I thought Jim’s offer to refund was a stand up move. I am not interested in getting my paltry donations back - I pay for value received.
I do appreciate the suggestions and offers of help. I am a bit perplexed with the resistance. It has been my experience that a second set of eyes and a second brain often helps when I get stuck on a problem.
Because then you would have access to a truly object-oriented language with a rich and well-tested library of highly-scalable, easily-configured functionality, based on a language-agnostic platform that adapts well to Agile development techniques?
FR is bleeding, that much is so. It's difficult to maintain viewing habits let alone posting habits when it's just not possible during any noteworthy event with political import. People will find other options, it's just human nature.
See how many individuals with the necessary talent are FReepers and pull it off in time for the Presidential vote in two weeks. If you need specific equipment publish a list, see about donations of hardware, cash donations, etcetera with a hard number and a deadline, with FReepers themselves involved.
This has been my political home for going on eight years, and I frequented the place for many years before that. This is painful to watch. I'm sure it is for you, you've more or less dedicated your life to FR.
Try this, see if it resolves the issue. Time is getting short, I'm not the only one with this sense.
Jim, if you ever decide you need to do some financed equipment for 2 or 3 years, I will help with $50 extra a month just for that payment. Just say the word. I am betting there would be a few of us who would throw in to get the systems running better.
TC
Excellent post, onyx.
Quit griping, What is, is. On a night like last night, plan ahead and go somewhere you can follow the goings on.
Obviously nothing is going to change, so, you have to change.
I have a slew of web hosting user names and passwords stored in my browser and it’s a PITA to have to go look them up every time I update my sites, not mention all the log ins I have.
Can’t do it.
Firefox has an option to ‘protect’ them but it is so aggravating and time consuming.
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