# Slight problem with the database...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [September 4, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926 "2002-09-04T06:29:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926/1 "2002-09-04T06:29:44Z")

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Just now, I hit “next thread” in MPSIMS. For some reason, I got that gray screen that informed me “There seems to be a slight problem with the database, something something, An email has been dispatched to our technical staff yadda yadda.”

Is that true? I kinda hope not. I backpaged and clicked the thread again and it came up immediately, so there “seems” to have been no real problem. I don’t like the idea of Jerry the Tech God’s inbox getting crammed up with e-mails every time there’s a misstep; he’ll get fed up. No wolf-crier I!

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926/2 "2002-09-04T12:46:30Z")

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No, no real e-mail is sent. The message is vB-boiler plate, and just hasn’t been changed.

What you experienced is a temporary time-out, for which the server sends you the boiler plate message. Or it just times out without sending it - you never know in advance. But it’s the uncertainties in life that make it interesting, no?

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926/3 "2002-09-04T12:48:27Z")

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Didn’t **jdavis** post once that all auto-generated error emails end up in /dev/null?

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926/4 "2002-09-04T12:49:31Z")

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(i.e. the web equivalent of Disney’s The Black Hole)

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**Author:** ![femtosecond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-problem-with-the-database/126926/5 "2002-09-04T12:54:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by jdavis_ [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2108062#post2108062)
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > _Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried_  
> > **jdavis is a board administrator and does a lot of the setup for the SDMB. So if he wants to turn off the e-mails I imagine he will.**
> 
> /dev/null told me just yesterday how much she is enjoying the daily batch of e-mails from the SDMB… 😃
> 
> Jerry

Mostly they’ll go right to the trash, but in case of a bigger error these mails could help to trace the cause, so I guess they’re kept enabled.