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2012 Flashback: Free Republic: 2 Weeks Left of Relevancy Unless You Fix It [updates at 130, 270]
October 23, 2012 | Self

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.


TOPICS: Free Republic; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: election; fr; freerepublic; frproblems; frserver; frservers; jrpost130; servers
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To: Lazamataz

Without a doubt FR can actually be too busy, myself I avoid the rush hour topics such as debates, maybe its because I drive a big slow commercial vehicle during the day and I have actually witnessed accidents of yahoos trying to either pass me going up a hill, in the fog, around a blind corner etc and nearly killing others.

So my comments don’t have any revelations or secret insights, thus because I feel my contribution would at best be just a sentence or two I just stay out and let the pros arrive.

In summation when the traffic gets really heavy I avoid FR, or when it got sluggish last night, I tried to follow the comments on the Live Debate thread, didn’t help much to me as I had to watch the debate on a recording, I just did a 12 hour shift driving a concrete mixer in Alaska.


61 posted on 10/23/2012 6:01:59 AM PDT by Eye of Unk (OPSEC)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark
There are bigger things in life than having a website unavailable for 2 or 3 hours; 3 days per year.

So many things life much, much more important.

If FR goes down, do something else like read or talk to a family member.

62 posted on 10/23/2012 6:02:43 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Encourage all of your Democrat friends to get out and vote on November 7th, the stakes are high.)
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To: All

I don’t think they really want to fix it. It’s easier for Jim and his brother to keep the $ 85,000 given to them every 3-months and claim that operating costs leave nothing left over.

This site needs a complete overhaul. Even on regular days it’s response time is slow. And the hoops you have to jump through just to post an article are laborious...sometimes I don’t even post an article just because of the red tape involved.

The original poster is right. If FreeRepublic does not do something soon, it will not be around much longer.


63 posted on 10/23/2012 6:04:33 AM PDT by Arcy (When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, people groan.)
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To: Arcy
Utterly unfair, and wrong in the facts.

JR has no brother involved with FR.

64 posted on 10/23/2012 6:08:05 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The Pravda Press has gone from 'biased' straight on through to 'utterly bizarre'.)
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To: Lazamataz

We disagree. No big deal.


65 posted on 10/23/2012 6:08:10 AM PDT by glennaro
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

I agree 100%.

I HAVE been here quite a long time... one of the endearing qualities about FR has ALWAYS been it’s ability to delivery FAST, in the moment, NEWS... along with, interesting commentary. It was like Twitter, before there was Twitter... only WAY BETTER than Twitter.

With NO FR available... I’ve been forced to go learn how to use Twitter. So far, I still don’t like it. But, if I ever figure it out.... ?? Who knows.

If JR’s health is an issue... we all need to pray. Because this country NEEDS this site, and it’s founder, to be relevant.


66 posted on 10/23/2012 6:08:28 AM PDT by SomeCallMeTim ( The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them)
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To: HereInTheHeartland

What are you doing here, Grandma?


67 posted on 10/23/2012 6:09:31 AM PDT by Arcy (When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, people groan.)
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To: Arcy

The way I understood your post, you are calling Mr.Robinson a crook.


68 posted on 10/23/2012 6:10:09 AM PDT by sport
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

I agree 100%.

I HAVE been here quite a long time... one of the endearing qualities about FR has ALWAYS been it’s ability to delivery FAST, in the moment, NEWS... along with, interesting commentary. It was like Twitter, before there was Twitter... only WAY BETTER than Twitter.

With NO FR available... I’ve been forced to go learn how to use Twitter. So far, I still don’t like it. But, if I ever figure it out.... ?? Who knows.

If JR’s health is an issue... we all need to pray. Because this country NEEDS this site, and it’s founder, to be relevant.


69 posted on 10/23/2012 6:13:13 AM PDT by SomeCallMeTim ( The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them)
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To: mazda77
this being a recent problem

This is an ongoing problem.

In the 2008 election cycle, FR had similar problems. IIRC, it was the night of Hillary's concession during the primaries that FR went down, and did so during the periodic 'big event' times.

A couple of years ago when similar sluggishness was going on, John found that the culprit was something in the software coding. He apparently fixed it and FR speeded up.

The first two FR Donation quarterlies were increased to get more $$$ for equipment improvements. [That was January and April 2012, IIRC]

Someone posted a trace route log that showed the FR stream bogging down in the San Jose area. That, IIRC, where the FR servers are located. Is the problem with the FR hosting facility? If so, FR should be considering alternative hosting facilities.

Many of us post, 'what is the problem?' If it is $$$, FReepers would donate, if we knew, and if it would fix the problem. [See above comment regarding 2008 election cycle.]

2012: Four debates and four nights FR became EPIC FAIL. The truth hurts, but FR crashed.
70 posted on 10/23/2012 6:14:30 AM PDT by TomGuy (Dukakis is to tank as Obama is to binder & Big Bird)
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To: Arcy
“What are you doing here, Grandma?”

Being upset that you can’t get on to a website a handful of times; is a rather bizzare distoration of priorities.

Some people have an overinflated value of the need to post their opinion within minutes of having that opinion.

The answer is, take a breath, step away from the computer, do something real for a small amount of time.

The conservative cause won’t be hurt if FR is slow for 2 hours after a debate.

71 posted on 10/23/2012 6:15:04 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Encourage all of your Democrat friends to get out and vote on November 7th, the stakes are high.)
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To: Lazamataz

Unfair, huh? I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the ‘ol, if we don’t get the $85,000 then this site will not be here. Oh, come on. Think about it. This site has NO graphic content, streams NO videos and still, it’s slower than a turtle even though all that money is donated every 3-months? Uncork your nostrils, pal. Something stinks.


72 posted on 10/23/2012 6:15:22 AM PDT by Arcy (When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, people groan.)
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To: SomeCallMeTim

Obviously... the problem is not 100% fixed... STILL getting double posts, because I had to wait SO LONG, I couldn’t remember if I actually hit POST or not...... wow


73 posted on 10/23/2012 6:16:26 AM PDT by SomeCallMeTim ( The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them)
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To: sport

Hardly, I’m simply saying where are the improvements in performance?


74 posted on 10/23/2012 6:19:43 AM PDT by Arcy (When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, people groan.)
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To: Arcy

I’m sorry. The ol’ “this site is just a big money making scam” issue died the first three times it was trotted out in the ‘90s.

You will have to be more original to get special “high-five” points.


75 posted on 10/23/2012 6:21:16 AM PDT by KC Burke (Plain Conservative opinions and common sense correction for thirteen years.)
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To: HereInTheHeartland
Cute.

But it doesn't resolve the problem.

FR has a problem. Problems are fixable. Problems are solveable.

Cute does not fix problems. Obama likes being cute. etc.


76 posted on 10/23/2012 6:28:54 AM PDT by TomGuy (Dukakis is to tank as Obama is to binder & Big Bird)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark; All

The real question is: What website do you want to meet up at to discuss election night?


77 posted on 10/23/2012 6:30:47 AM PDT by Arcy (When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, people groan.)
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To: TomGuy

“FR has a problem. Problems are fixable. Problems are solveable.’

I’m guessing they know that!


78 posted on 10/23/2012 6:30:47 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Encourage all of your Democrat friends to get out and vote on November 7th, the stakes are high.)
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To: Salamander
Bearing in mind that any tracert is only a snapshot, these were more/less representative via my 10Mbps pipe from central PA for both 'Live' threads:

from R/Ø #2

from R/Ø #3

click either for larger


No claims whatsoever for network expertise, but it would appear that if sabotage is behind this, it's occurring either within one or more Shitcago hubs, or one of the several hops between IL & CA.

Further examination by some true geeks might be warranted re that ntt.net outfit ?


/.02

79 posted on 10/23/2012 6:37:13 AM PDT by tomkat
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To: Lazamataz

80 posted on 10/23/2012 6:41:12 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas exercitus gerit ;-{)
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