Thats not gratitude. 
If the new version of the program is not running as well as the older version, why not revert to the old version? (I liked it better anyway.)
Here’s another thought related to my first one:
I don’t think this performance reflects very well on vBulletin. So I would think they might want to help out, considering that what they’re getting by not helping out is plenty of bad publicity from the 7000+ potential customers here.
And let me tell you, I AM telling others about this situation when we discuss BBS software…
Wellllll. Slow sometimes, other times not. If you post you cannot close until its completely processed…or shouldn’t anyway.
What can you do when you are waiting? 1. Open a new browser window, FILE:NEW etc & look at some other web sites. Or Open a new window & read another forum. YOu can have dozens of web sites open at any time.
If you get a too many connections message, hit reload, it usually loads okay within a few seconds.
Disclaimer: I am not an administrator at the Straight Dope, so the statements below should not be construed as representing the official position of the Straight Dope Message Board management.
Quixotic: Believe it or not, so far we have been having better success with vBulletin than with UBB. I remember that in the final weeks before the upgrade to vBulletin, the SDMB server would be brought down for “maintenance” almost once a day. Double posts were a common occurrence. The techs are working on “tuning” the server, and as a matter of fact I seem to notice that performance today is better than it was yesterday. (Of course, this might be a fluke.)
Johnny L.A. (hi! how’s the helicopter?): The upgrade was a one-way trip. Changes were made to the underlying database that make it impossible to go back to the previous version (unless, of course, one decides to lose all the posts made since the upgrade.)
Arnold, me old son, there is paid advertising on this board. Don’t tell me that the Chicago Reader is donating that space. the SDMB is liable to be future of the Chicago Reader one of these days. It behooves the management to drop everything else and upgrade the server.
tcburnett, me oul son, ye have no idea how little money the Reader takes in from the “paid advertising.”
For that matter, where is that advertising anyway? On the SD homepage, and on the Forums list. That’s it.
And there’s one banner per page, at most. More often than not, it’s for the Chicago Reader. Lately, it’s been a memorial for Wally.
Not much in the way of income there, pally. While I appreciate the sentiment, it in no way “behooves the management [of the Chicago Reader] to drop everything” for this message board.
Disclaimer: my englisch is nott so gud.
tcburnett, now you see why I put disclaimers on all my posts! 
I should have said “does not generate sufficient revenue to cover the costs.” As andros pointed out, (and as is my understanding), the advertisement from banner pages is less than the cost of maintaining the SDMB.
What do you think is the source of the money for the lease on my Ferrari? (one of the moderator perks) Not the banner ads, unfortunately. Even though you may see Cecil Adams driving by in a Rolls Royce on his way to the opera, rest assured that his Rolls is more than 10 years old and in great need of a proper detailing. (Notice the “wash me” traced in the dirt on the back bumper.) We’re all watching our budgets over here.
It’s not sentiment. It is humor. Admittedly, I did not preface “The SDMB is liable to be future of the Chicago Reader one of these days. It behooves the management to drop everything else and upgrade the server.” with “The next two sentences are to be construed as humor”, but you are a pretty smart guy. You should be able to figure it out. Arnold did without too much trouble.
tcburnett, I “figured it out” because I suffer from an unfortunate disease where I consider 99% of the sentences I hear to be “construed as humour.” Which is why I have suffered through countless setbacks in my lifetime at the hands of humour-impaired conversation partners.
A few examples:
Mom: “It’s your turn to wash the dishes tonight.”
Me: “Good one Mom!” (chuckling)
Dad: “I need you to help me paint the house this week-end.”
Me: (gales of laughter)
Teacher: “Remember, no late homework will be accepted, and the test is NOT open book.”
Me: “Pull the other one!” (rotflmao)
Officer of the law: “I’m going to have to write you a ticket for speeding.”
Me: “You’re kidding, right?” (loud guffaws)
It’s a curse, not a boon.
I’ve noticed that it’s quite a bit better today. Much faster and nicer to use. Yesterday it blew big donkey chunks.
Oh, I have no doubt it’s working better than the UBB. My only point was (and it may or may not be true) that the VB software wasn’t living up to our expectations. That is, it’s obviously better to not have the board crash all the bleedin’ time, forcing the techs to bounce the server - but - if the software is going to run without need of tech support, but run at a snail’s pace, the result is the same: the board becomes unusable.
Of course, all of this is variable according to net traffic, router status, etc. I was just wondering (at the time of my previous post) if the software was working as advertised, or if VBulletin had some unforeseen difficulties for which they should be providing reparations, tout suite (this is a paid software package, no?).
Once again, my thanks to the administration and tech staff of the SDMB for their tireless efforts on behalf of us users. And thank you, Arnold, for your willingness to discuss what is by now a very tiresome issue. Rest assured the efforts of the mods are appreciated as well. (Hell, we’re only trying to read ‘n’ post - you guys have to read, post, and moderate us unruly bastards).
Arnold, I had that very disease once but I got married and my wife cured me of it because I never got to say anything. Women don’t belch, fart or perspire, so if they didn’t bitch, they would explode. And I expected her to explode at any time, but she never shut her mouth long enough to build up any pressure. Thank God my debilitating humor disease returned almost immediately after we split up. In any case, I am sympathetic to your problem. Sadly, we stand-up humor guys are misunderstood in the printed media. Or else the assholes just don’t get it.
This here messageboard crawls like opium-intoxicated elderly sidewinders on a cold molasses-coated plate from this here posting person’s DSL. There exists a certain hungarian site I occasionally try to access which has a 14.4 connection on their end of things.
Theirs loads faster.
Your Illustrious and Ever so Scholarly Ed-ness: Sir, this ain’t good.
doing a traceroute to the board would give them more information on which computer is the slow one.
Standard disclaimer: I’m just Joe Schmoe here, and I don’t know anything, blah-blah-blah.
Quixotic: I am confident that the technical support staff of the Chicago Reader is doing its best to resolve the problem with the support staff at vBulletin. Other high-traffic message boards that use vBulletin are experiencing the same problem, I believe.
AHunter3: During “off hours” the board is quite speedy. (small consolation I know)
handy: You are correct, sir, but the problems seem to go beyond the slowdowns related to Internet traffic. The SDMB server is overloaded.
Please see the announcement by TubaDiva in this thread.
Happy Happy Joy Joy :D:)
Hint: it’s good news.