Update -- Things are looking good. Server load is nominal and the number of visitors is almost back to normal. :) We'll keep an eye on things and make sure it's all okay but when the DNS has finished propagating in 24 to 48 hours, all should be copacetic. Starting Monday, we have a few more changes to make, like bringing the old site back up as SecondShelf etc.
Once again, I've had to turn guest searches off here at TopShelf due to server load. At 2:36 pm PDT, we had a dozen or so guests doing searches simultaneously and this effectively slowed the server to a crawl that it took Bob and I twenty minutes to get in and correct.
We're deep enough into BC's history that four years ago will include enough stories often enough to make it worthwhile to put up a new Jewel Box in the header links. Enjoy. :)
With FM down, traffic growth at BC has been penomenal, Bob and I have both spent 20 to 30 hours a week in November and December tweaking and tuning the server and software to keep the site up. Today, we're probably going to set another record for traffic, it looks like we will break 12,000 visitors and get close to 45,000 pages. This is still less than peak loads at Storysite and much less than at FM. BC's software is flexible but CPU and Disk Access intensive compared with FM and SS; we've got plenty of bandwidth but we're flogging the server eight-to-the-bar to keep up.
While I was out early in the evening, it snowed where I live. Hardly enough to count most places, maybe four inches of wet but fluffy snow lying all over the deserty landscape.
We will be returning to your chosen fantasy as soon as we can get this furshlugginer server to stop yo-yoing! Oh, search is off again for non-logged in visitors.
I've got my final in Music Theory today so I have to go out and walk across campus in the rain and I have a terrible cold. I'm not looking forward to this. I'm going to stock up on hot chocolate and o.j. before I leave.
Courtesy of some tweaks Bob made in the system, Search is back and better and faster than before. Let's hope it doesn't cause more troubles so it can stay here this time. Thanks, Bob.
Neither Bob nor I have any idea why the server went down at the slowest time of the night but we didn't find out about it till we got up this morning. Took over half an hour to get the thing to reboot.
I've decided to blame Governor Blagojevich of Illinois for corrupting my server. He seems to be able to deal emotionally with things like that, nothing upsets him, apparently. With everything else he's accused of, I'm sure we can slip another crime onto the docket and no one will notice.
My ISP, Time Warner, is having some problems maintaining service in this area. It's possibly related to either the fires or the recent rain or both. They say they should have it fixed tomorrow but they said that before, so who knows? As it is, I'm online for varying periods and then down for half an hour to an hour or three while they try some more bubblegum, clothespins and duct tape. They're actually pretty good at this so I figure I'll get a credit on my next bill and they will have it fixed by this weekend.
I just had to write a PM reply to an author who felt very confused. She posted a story that several commenters admitted was well-written but the very existence of the story was attacked by several prominent posters here -- attacked on moral grounds. The gist of the comments were that the story should not have been written since the actions depicted in the story were immoral.
If I seem extra grumpy lately, it is perhaps due to the Return of the Sinusitis, the Sequel from Hell. No time to go to the doctor before maybe Thursday, so please bear with me.
Some sort of attack brought the server down at about 8:15 PST this morning. Bob and I are working on figuring this out, so the site may go up and down a bit for awhile.
Looks like I'm not going to be getting some of the things I wanted to do this weekend accomplished since I woke up with a head cold. I have to take care with these things because they can turn into bronchitis and pneumonia for me very quickly so it's off to the drugstore for stuff and then maybe back to bed.
The site was down temporarily here because I needed to cool off from a temper tantrum. In the last two weeks, I have put in more than forty hours a week in running BC to the neglect of many other aspects of my life. Count in Bob's time during that span and we're talking more than 130 hours that in a just world could be billed at $115 an hour to someone (yes, that's what I used to bill). About $15,000.
A recent thread got off topic, the topic being a story. Things were beginning to heat up with first a few mild general insults and then some that were more pointed. It really hadn't got out of hand and many people seemed to be enjoying things but I finally felt that it had gone on long enough since the topic was continuing four and five levels deep without reference to the story.
It's the only excuse I can think of for why I haven't got the voting widget up for the All Souls Day Contest. The software is so crotchety it takes an enormous concentration to get it up and working right or you have to start all over. I'm not worthy.
Anyway, I will get it up and it will be up for a week and it's just unlikely to be this weekend like I wanted it to be. I used up a couple weeks allotment of concentration on fixing some website problems Friday and Saturday and all I want to do today is sleep and eat nachos.
Fires in Los Angeles and Orange County may interrupt power to our downtown LA server for BCTS. If so, we'll be down and no knowing for how long. A less serious consequence might be rolling blackouts with intermittent outages lasting hours unless the server farm has to just shut down to protect equipment from surges. More news as it becomes available.
I'm 50 miles east of the fires, so don't worry about me, personally.
Tuckerspawn has been moved off of the classic BC server onto the Fictioneer server. The new URL is http://tuckerspawn.fictioneer.org. Please update your bookmarks.
There have been continuing problems for many people with the persistent login function. I hope that Bob and I have now fixed this by uninstalling and then reinstalling the module. Unfortunately, that wiped out everyone's pre-existing persistent login so we all have to do that over but it appears to be working now. :)
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
