Do the people who run this site care about the bad performance?

[Bijou Drains]

As far as I can tell the owners/managers don't really care at all about how poorly the site runs. Maybe that's because they don't make any money off the site.

I never see any posts here about improvements or fixes. The closest I see is "Jerry is looking into that"

I was getting ready to pony up to be a paid member but I don't see the point of that since I get constant crashes.

[Liberal]

You shouldn't be getting crashes. Mine is not crashing. See whether CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) can help. See this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531207) for testimonials from people whom it helped tremendously.

[ftg]

My years of observation have lead me to believe that the hardware and software, if properly managed, are up to the demands placed on them compared to other message boards.

The same problems have been going on for so long that it is clear that it is a process problem. I.e., that how things are done is the issue. Problems of this ilk generally do not go away unless the personnel changes.

That appears to be something that no one in authority is either aware needs to be done or feels the urgency to do. Unfortunately, the most obvious people to try and push things thru on this front are quite insular and are not all that interested in threads such as these.

[Bijou Drains]

How is CC cleaner on my PC going to make this site run better?

[Liberal]

As explained in the referenced thread, sometimes a computer can become clogged with corrupted cookies, hundreds of millions of bytes of temp files, and registry orphans and remnants. These can sometimes affect one site more than another, due to a number of factors — such as the "crashes" you mentioned in your Opening Post.

CCleaner cleans out all that stuff, and let's you start anew with clean, corruption-free browsing cache, and a clean registry.

Maybe it won't help you at all, I don't know. But as you can see from the referenced thread, it has helped others. I use it practically every day.

[samclem]

I was getting ready to pony up to be a paid member but I don't see the point of that since I get constant crashes.
What exactly do you mean by "constant crashes?" Describe what happens when you "crash." Also, what browser are you using?

[Bijou Drains]

I use Firefox. By "crash" I mean not being able to access the site. Or getting database errors. I guess I should have been a little more clear in my first post.

I don't think these issues are unique to me. There was a thread about problems in the mornings but I don't know if that was fixed since nobody ever said it was fixed.

[DudleyGarrett]

Bijou, the answer is pretty clearly NO. The people that run the show here do NOT care about the board's performance. Mind you, I'm not talking about moderators or TubaDiva; I think they get just as annoyed as the regular users, but really can't say so publicly which is understandable.

If the powers that be did care about the problems, they would have been fixed by now.

[Bijou Drains]

The other option is they care but they don't care enough to spend any money to fix the problems. (Assuming that more money could fix them which may not be true, they could be fixed with little or no money spent)

[ivan astikov]

How dare you presume to have a right to a glitch free board! Don't you realise you are on the most important site on teh interwebs, and that you are fortunate to have been allowed to post here?

[Liberal]

I feel like I'm fortunate to post here. It's not the 'Net's biggest board, or its busiest, or its most famous. But it has 10 years of very interesting history. It has an administrator whom I've blasted with full cannons both here and on other sites, and yet she still communicates with me in a civil, and even humble manner. Granted, Dex is a bit trigger happy, but he doesn't hold grudges, and he has rescinded some of his rulings before.

But I like the fact that the smartest person I've ever encountered (Indistinguishable) posts here. I like the fact that materialists like SentientMeat, who bother actually to understand their opponent's position post here. I like the fact that Gaudere is an administrator: she deserves it for helping Tuba (who, by the way, personally paid for a temp board when the board crashed for several days.) I like that I've been able to heal relations with people like EddyTeddyFreddy and Pseudotriton Ruber Ruber. I like that Triskadecamus posts here. And that Polycarp does. And Voyager. And shit, just too many to list. I even like that Der Trihs posts here. His arguments are helpful to my side. Even my meltdowns (and other people's as well) have been a part of the board's history.

The whole Wally thing. And the old days, when Spiritus Mundi — another brilliant individual — posted here. And kind people, like Washte, whom I miss very much. Biggirl. Guinastasia. Chronos. And people who call me "attention whore" and all that. It seems that even FinnAgain and I are working out our differences. I don't know. I've left out probably a hundred names that I feel like are almost family. This is a forgiving place. It's a place you can shit on, forsake, and then return — all without a strike against you.

Of course, I'm a '99er, a Charter Member, and an infamous character, so maybe my point of view is different. Yes, it's not a well maintained board, but its home. And home is a place that you can always come back to. It's a place where, if you're down and out, the people will rally and collect money for you. It's a damn good place, even if its server sucks.

[ftg]

There are a lot of problems with the system. It's not Bijou Drains or my system or our browsers or our cookies, etc. (It can be cookies for not remembering someone, but not always.)

I can't see how anyone would think that the "database error" message could be at the user's end, for one example of many. Got that one several times earlier today.

I have visited a huge number of sites over the years, and this is consistently the slowest. How that could be at my end, on different machines, from different networks, with different OSes, with different browsers is hard to imagine.

[Liberal]

I can't see how anyone would think that the "database error" message could be at the user's end, for one example of many.No one thinks that. No one has said that.

I have visited a huge number of sites over the years, and this is consistently the slowest. How that could be at my end, on different machines, from different networks, with different OSes, with different browsers is hard to imagine.How many different machines, networks, OSes, and browsers? Two? Thirty? Thousands? The guy in the thread I referenced used two. His problems disappeared. The gal in the thread I referenced saw her laptop come to life. I'm really not here to argue with you, and I won't be back to see your response because, frankly, it is predictable. I just offered what I thought might help. If you don't want it, there's no need to stamp me as some sort of enemy or opponent who is trying to argue with you. It's pretty clear now that your title question is merely rhetorical.

[Xploder]

Hey Lib, how much longer are you gonna junior mod in ATMB before you finally post part five of your blog in GD?




Just askin'...

[Ed Zotti]

As far as I can tell the owners/managers don't really care at all about how poorly the site runs. Maybe that's because they don't make any money off the site.

I never see any posts here about improvements or fixes. The closest I see is "Jerry is looking into that"

I was getting ready to pony up to be a paid member but I don't see the point of that since I get constant crashes.The major complaint lately had to do with slow operation during morning hours. After consultation with our service provider, it appears this problem arose because of a bottleneck in the communications pipe between the master and slave servers. (The master mirrors to the slave; the idea as I recall was that we would use the slave for searches in order not to tie up the master.) The short version of the fix is that Jerry suspended mirroring during the hours when the slowdown was most evident. He put this in place a couple weeks ago and looking at the time stamps on the posts I'd say that's when most of the complaints stopped - yours is the first we've had in a while. So my initial thought is that the problems you're having now are local to your system. Once in a while I still get an unformatted page, but this always resolves on refresh. If others are having persistent problems (as opposed to the odd infrequent glitch), please advise and we will investigate further.

[C K Dexter Haven]

Hey Lib, how much longer are you gonna junior mod in ATMB before you finally post part five of your blog in GD?Xploder: if you think someone is junior-modding, please REPORT it. You do this by hitting the little ! in the red triangle in the upper right corner of the post. That way, the mods can decide whether the person is indeed junior-modding and correct them, or whether it's simply a statement about the boards that any poster can make.

In this instance, the topic is NOT one for the mods since we have no interaction with the hardware (or software, for that matter), so Liberal is free to make whatever computer-related guesses he may wish.

[peri]

So my initial thought is that the problems you're having now are local to your system. I get database errors several times a week. I am generally browsing in the afternoon or late at night. The problem is on your end.

[Liberal]

In this instance, the topic is NOT one for the mods since we have no interaction with the hardware (or software, for that matter), so Liberal is free to make whatever computer-related guesses he may wish."Computers are useless. They give you only answers." — Pablo Picasso

[Polycarp]

I get database errors several times a week. I am generally browsing in the afternoon or late at night. The problem is on your end.

I get timeouts and the VBulletin database error message regularly, averaging 3-4X/week, and usually in the morning/early afternoon EDT. Haven't complained; others have, and gotten a "we're doing what we can" message. But it should be noted that breaking mirroring did not toally fix the problem. (And I do clear my cache regularly, so I'm fairly sure it's not local.)

[RaftPeople]

I get timeouts and the VBulletin database error message regularly, averaging 3-4X/week, and usually in the morning/early afternoon EDT. Haven't complained; others have, and gotten a "we're doing what we can" message. But it should be noted that breaking mirroring did not toally fix the problem. (And I do clear my cache regularly, so I'm fairly sure it's not local.)

So, you cleared your cache and you're still getting database errors? Hmmm. Well you should check these other things that could cause database errors:

1) Stuck key on your keyboard
2) Wi-fi password too long
3) House electricity out of phase
4) PC not set to daylight savings time
5) Wi-fi password too short
6) Digital camera plugged into a low speed usb port


Note: this attempt at humor is not directed at you, just having fun with the general notion that a database error might be something other than the database on the server

[Liberal]

So, you cleared your cache and you're still getting database errors? Hmmm. Well you should check these other things that could cause database errors:

1) Stuck key on your keyboard
2) Wi-fi password too long
3) House electricity out of phase
4) PC not set to daylight savings time
5) Wi-fi password too short
6) Digital camera plugged into a low speed usb port


Note: this attempt at humor is not directed at you, just having fun with the general notion that a database error might be something other than the database on the serverYour post's attempt failed. The OP said nothing about database errors until well within the thread. Therefore, there exists no such "general notion".

[samclem]

So my initial thought is that the problems you're having now are local to your system. Once in a while I still get an unformatted page, but this always resolves on refresh. If others are having persistent problems (as opposed to the odd infrequent glitch), please advise and we will investigate further.
Without putting words into the OP's mouth, I think that's what he/she was talking about. Odd infrequent database errors, mainly. I still get them, we all do. Certainly infinitely better than a month ago when they were many and regular. It's still irritating.

Not complaining from my end. I"ve learned to live with it, by refreshing the page as you suggested. And it happens, in general, few enough times to not cause rage.

[elbows]

Data base errors, lots of them, just the last few weeks, usually in the mornings, but not only.

I would complain, but, really, what's the point?

I'd wager most of the people having problems feel about the same.

[elbows]

..

[Martini Enfield]

I think the people running the board (ie, Creative Loafing) really have bigger problems at the moment than the performance of this messageboard, unfortunately.

[Ed Zotti]

I get database errors several times a week. I am generally browsing in the afternoon or late at night. The problem is on your end.We need to be clear about which problem we're talking about. The OP talked about "constant crashes," and had also posted in the thread about slow operation and apparent lockups in the mornings. It seemed reasonable to assume these were the constant crashes being referred to. I believe this issue has been resolved. The database errors are a different problem; you're quite right that it's on our end, not yours. The errors in my observation go away on refresh and are mainly an irritant; that said, I agree they look a little bush. I don't profess to be a database expert, but wonder if they're another consequence of mirroring. Since that's suspended in the mornings now, if database errors no longer occur then, that would tell us something. Please advise if you get database errors in the morning, and if so time/time zone/date. Thanks.

[DudleyGarrett]

I think the people running the board (ie, Creative Loafing) really have bigger problems at the moment than the performance of this messageboard, unfortunately.



Really? I thought they were bought for a hefty sum.

[RaftPeople]

Your post's attempt failed.

I think what you mean to say is that my attempt failed for X% of the posters while succeeding with Y% of the posters and was unread by Z% of the posters.

Unfortunately we don't actually know what those percents are. However, if polls were enabled we could probably figure it out pretty quick. :)

The OP said nothing about database errors until well within the thread. Therefore, there exists no such "general notion".

I wasn't knocking your recommendation from earlier. For the last 5 years there have been many that have offered up suggestions that the database errors are due to local factors, that's what I was referring to, not everyone thinks it, but it has come up enough I decided to have some fun with it.

[Oakminster]

Please advise if you get database errors in the morning, and if so time/time zone/date. Thanks.

I just got a database error this morning, about 10:15 AM Central time, 9/16/09.

[NineToTheSky]

I have been trying to respond to this thread for about two hours now, but it keeps on timing out. (17:00 BST). This happens two or three times a week. I've grown used to it; I'm not too bothered - it's only a message board after all. But this is the only message board I use that it happens on.

[elbows]

I had like 4 database errors, eventually could read the forums page and then more errors when trying to select a forum, won't load.

No problems on any other sites, between 8 - 10am, this morning.

[Bijou Drains]

I'm glad the earlier problem with mornings was fixed. Why not have a post that says it was fixed? I thought it was fixed but I was not sure since there was no post telling me that it was fixed.

[TubaDiva]

I'm glad the earlier problem with mornings was fixed. Why not have a post that says it was fixed? I thought it was fixed but I was not sure since there was no post telling me that it was fixed.Generally if there was intervention of some sort there's a posting made about it. Not always but mostly.

Sometimes the problem and the solution come outside of this site and we don't have a damn thing to do with the resolution -- it just happens, it just stops happening. There's usually no posting when that occurs because it's not something we generated. This is one of those times. We don't know why it happened, we don't know why it stopped happening.

[kunilou]

I had the same problem as Oakminster at about the same time. First time it's happened to me in a couple of weeks.

[Liberal]

I think what you mean to say is that my attempt failed for X% of the posters while succeeding with Y% of the posters and was unread by Z% of the posters.

Unfortunately we don't actually know what those percents are. However, if polls were enabled we could probably figure it out pretty quick. :)A point well taken. :)

I wasn't knocking your recommendation from earlier. For the last 5 years there have been many that have offered up suggestions that the database errors are due to local factors, that's what I was referring to, not everyone thinks it, but it has come up enough I decided to have some fun with it.My bad, then. And my apology as well.

[Bijou Drains]

Generally if there was intervention of some sort there's a posting made about it. Not always but mostly.

Sometimes the problem and the solution come outside of this site and we don't have a damn thing to do with the resolution -- it just happens, it just stops happening. There's usually no posting when that occurs because it's not something we generated. This is one of those times. We don't know why it happened, we don't know why it stopped happening.

Wasn't there was a post in this thread that explained the problem and the solution? See post #15

[TubaDiva]

Not sure there's a connection between a previously observed and documented problem and what happened this morning -- not sure at all. And we've had these sorts of things before -- the board collapses and then resets. No intervention to make it happen, any of it.