Moving to New Server Friday, January 19th @ 09:00 CST

[susan]

Just had a hang-up of about a minute moving to the next New Posts page. Also, when I tried to go to the second page of this post, I got a database error twice. When I came back after a few minutes and clicked directly on page 2, it was fine. I was then able to flip between pages 1 and 2 with no problem.

[GIGObuster]

[New hamsters]

Database…

Must…

Resist…

[GIGObuster]

Oh Oh.

I hope the poor guys get better.

[susan]

Okay, a sudden rash of database error messages. I’ve sent an e-mail to webmaster@straightdope.com about this, but will reitterate here that the database error message includes a link to Technical Staff that’s empty.

Shoshana

[Q.E.D]

@Shoshana

Just had a hang-up of about a minute moving to the next New Posts page. Also, when I tried to go to the second page of this post, I got a database error twice.

I’d expect a few hiccups at first, until they get things tweaked. The new server never really did get a full load, since hardly anyone went over there. I’m sure Jerry will have things running smoothly soon enough.

[jdavis]

@Shoshana

Okay, a sudden rash of database error messages. I’ve sent an e-mail to webmaster@straightdope.com about this, but will reitterate here that the database error message includes a link to Technical Staff that’s empty.

Shoshana

I’m working on the database error problem. The default install MySQL connections are not enough and I need to raise them. Should resolve that particular problem.

Jerry

[alterego]

What kind of hardware we got? Can I ask that?

[Duckster]

So what happened to the hamsters running the old server? Are they retired and put out to pasture? Do they have plenty of food to tide them over until that Chicago winter becomes a Chicago spring?

Did you move them into the new house with the new server? If so, are you expecting territorial fights with the new hamsters yet?

Or did you do the unthinkable …? Shock, horror!

You didn’t, did you??

[Arnold_Winkelried]

Looks good! Thank you Jerry.

[Ponder_Stibbons]

@alterego

What kind of hardware we got? Can I ask that?

I’m going to hazard a guess and say, “Good”.

[glee]

@jdavis

See the announcement.

Well done that man.

[jdavis]

The maximum number of database connections has been substantially raised so that should take care of the database error problems we were having earlier. We’ll see…

Jerry

[Q.E.D]

So far, so good.

[Ice_Wolf]

Awesome stuff!

[What_Exit]

Thank you for the great job Jerry.

Is the Currently Active Users: 261 (137 members and 124 guests) feature* going to remain on, on a trial basis?

I hope so, it looks very useful.

Jim

• Near bottom of Main page.

[susan]

So what happened to the hamsters running the old server? Are they retired and put out to pasture? Do they have plenty of food to tide them over until that Chicago winter becomes a Chicago spring?

Did you move them into the new house with the new server? If so, are you expecting territorial fights with the new hamsters yet?

Or did you do the unthinkable …? Shock, horror!

You didn’t, did you??

Meatmice.

Nutria nuggets.

…?

[jdavis]

@What Exit?

Thank you for the great job Jerry.

Is the Currently Active Users: 261 (137 members and 124 guests) feature* going to remain on, on a trial basis?

I hope so, it looks very useful.

Jim

• Near bottom of Main page.

I was just using it to track something. It’s not one of the new features being contemplated for everyday use so it’s been turned back off.

[What_Exit]

@jdavis

I was just using it to track something. It’s not one of the new features being contemplated for everyday use so it’s been turned back off.

Okay, Oh Well.

Thanks for the quick answer.

Jim

[SkipMagic]

@Crotalus

Is the new server better, stronger, faster?

Not only that, but it makes really cool slow-mo noises when it jumps brick walls.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@Duckster

So what happened to the hamsters running the old server? Are they retired and put out to pasture? Do they have plenty of food to tide them over until that Chicago winter becomes a Chicago spring?

Did you move them into the new house with the new server? If so, are you expecting territorial fights with the new hamsters yet?

Or did you do the unthinkable …? Shock, horror!

You didn’t, did you??

From The New Scientist, January 13, 2007

Q. Could hamster power be an environmentally friendly answer to the impending energy crisis? How many hamsters running on wheels would it take to provide energy for a house or a factory?

A. Let’s assume a hamster weighing 50 grams can run up a 30-degree slope at 2 metres per second. This corresponds to a power output of half a watt. If it delivers the same power when running in a hamster wheel, we would need 120 hamsters working flat-out to light a 60-watt bulb.

The average hamster probably doesn’t spend more than 5 per cent of its life running in its wheel, so already we need a brigade of 2400 hamsters just to light our bulb. It gets worse. The average UK household consumes in excess of 80 gigajoules of energy per year. This is equivalent to a constant power consumption of about 2.5 kilowatts. Each house would need 100,000 hamsters. Multiply this by the number of households in the UK and we would have an environmental and economic disaster.

In addition, we would need to employ an army of animal behaviourists to devise Pavlovian tricks to get the hamsters onto their wheels in response to surges in demand. And given that hamsters are nocturnal, this would force politicians and lawyers to debate animal welfare. The UK alone would need to employ everyone else in Europe to feed and care for its hamster population.

They will have a full and productive life ahead of them powering the baked bean factories of England.