Well, it looks like something has gone wrong again. The server that we’re hosted on is up and running but apache is not. The site went down around 6:00 pm CST 2006-03-22. I’ve only now 8:00 am CST 2006-03-23 been able to get a hold of the guy who can make things happen. I tried to get it fixed last night but was unable. Sorry for the downtime! We’re going to be back up asap.
Wow, what a fantastic week. I am really excited that I have windows running on my Mac now. The week has been super busy and I’ve had barely any time for Veronique or for my day job. It’s crazy, especially since I will be travelling next week. The rate of progress since the solution came out is immense. Just looking at the wiki and watching it grow was incredible. Not to mention all of the activity in the chat room and the forums . Im looking forward to continuing my support of development and assisting those involved in any way I can.
I signed up for zesthost hosting for my project windows XP on an Intel Mac and I have to say that I am really really disappointed with how poor the hosting is. As I write this, the site is currently down. Since I signed up it has been down at least 10 times that I noticed - and who knows how many more times. It is constantly slow to load when there is not significant traffic and the host hasnt done anything to make it better. They told me they would move it to a new server, but I can say that if this is their new server I am on now, that it sucks.
Update : After receiving a lot of traffic last night my 125gb per month account is suspended? I have been getting around 8000 hits a day prior to yesterday when it spiked to 30,000. That does not generate 125gb of traffic in half a month considering that there is nothing but images to download on the site. This is quite ridiculous.
Update: Some have pointed out that it is more likely due to the processor demands rather than the bandwidth.
Update: winxponmac.com is up on a different server - windowsxp.onmac.net, forum.onmac.net and windows.onmac.net are not. I have been trying since 9:30 pm CST last night to get in touch with Zesthost but have had no luck until now - 12:30 pm CST the next day. Im going to try and pay them more to put me on a better server to get the site back up - I know it looks bad and Im sorry for the downtime.
Rackspace saved the day. We are now hosted on a 5-node cluster with true professionals at the helm. I have to say that my experience with rackspace has been top notch since we moved there 2 days ago. It sure beats mediocre virtual hosts.
All the buzz around the watercooler has been about the battle for our Ports, the latest theater in the war on terrorism. CNBC is now talking about the coming backlash on the ports deal that will no doubt create investor pessimism in our economy – smart move sheep in congress. The only guy with the cojones to do the right thing for the country (Dubai Ports World is not a threat to our national security) – surprisingly was President Bush - read this article for more info.
The interesting thing however is that the idea of foreign operators running ports is not one that our wonderfully open and free economy is unique in offering (generally). The Dubai Ports World website is down, however, if you take a look at the PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) website, http://www.internationalpsa.com/, a government run company in Singapore, you will see that they operate 19 ports in 11 countries: http://www.internationalpsa.com/factsheet/map.html. I believe that Dubai Ports World also has a similar configuration.
Be aware of the facts so that when people say “The US is so open – no one else would even let a foreign entity operate their ports”, you will understand that this is a common thing- an important fact that is being left out of the news reports.
Things to consider
Before jumping on the bashing Arab countries bandwagon, think about a few things
We’ve been getting some phone calls at the office on one of our lines from Johnny Demarco - not this guy - at first it is a recorded call with some high energy guy saying that Johnny DeMarco predicted last weeks game perfectly blah blah blah. Well, it’s annoying.
The way this guy does it is he has a bunch of screeners who answer the calls after the recorded message (if you press 0) and then they ask you “are you betting on the games” and you say something like “I’ve been know to place bets occasionally, what do you guys have to offer” and then they say - please hold because you look like a potential sucker.
Well John L. Edens of Atlanta, GA aka Johnny DeMarco - email is john@johnedens.com - Here are all your forum posts on bettorsworld.com one of your haunts
An article I’ve found exposes the scam (mirror):
Atlanta’s John L. Edens alias Johnny DeMarco, the Babe Ruth of 900 sales pitchers, will make you wish Alexander Graham Bell had never been born. According to published ads and taped phone calls, Edens:
Got on his 800 line and told listeners to call his 900 line for $25, “and if the game loses, there’ll be no charge.” That, of course, is a lie. Once a call is made on a 900 line, the charge is automatic. Told customers of one of his phone services that his special guest-selector that day was “a former six-time NBA basketball All-Star who wishes to remain anonymous due to security matters.” The anonymous “All-Star” then got on the line and offered his inside information on “three big plays, tonight.” Told his customers on another occasion, “Sporting Illustrated magazine calls the Handicapping Hotline the Number One value in sports.” Remarkably, there is no Sporting Illustrated. Wrote in a print ad, which appeared in the schedule of games he sent out to customers in early 1991, that his service was rated “the very best available by the Interstate Sports Commission, the nation’s only legitimate monitoring service.” The ad failed to mention that the ISC is owned by a company with which, DeMarco acknowledges, he is “affiliated.” Got on his 800 line in March 1989 and said he had spoken with then N.C. State coach Jim Valvano and had “key” information on the Final Four. Valvano says he has never spoken to DeMarco.
Some other links
http://forums.therx.com/showthread.php?p=1171734
If you’ve had experience with this scourge on society, I’d love to hear from you!
Pros: Price, Audio Quality, Great bass response, Microphone built in
Cons: They mess up my hair
I got these the other day after reading some reviews online. I just wanted to add my $0.02.
These are a great pair of headphones for the money. The sound quality is good at low volume levels. I got them for 2 primary reasons:
I can assure you that they are great for both purposes. I have never been interested in large over the ear headphones because they are too bulky to be portable. These are no different. They are perfect for sitting at your computer and I would challenge anyone to find better desktop speakers sub $40.00. Im not an audiophile, but I love music and I can tell the difference between good and bad headphones. These are definitely the best headphones I have had in a while - much better than the iPod buds, and the Sony replacement buds for my iPod. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a videoconferencing / skyping set of headphones or if you work long hours on your computer listening to music. I imagine they would be great for gaming too, but I have heard there are 5.1 surround headphones that are a little pricier.
After checking pricegrabber, I found the best price for these was on Amazon.com
Cnet also mentioned these in an article on creating your own podcast - I might try it!