Folks,
Just a head’s up – I’ll be working on the site off and on today. After the fiasco yesterday, I’m going to take calm, measured steps. This will be less dramatic as I will be doing the updates myself instead of trying to clean up a mess.
I am working with the wonderful folks from Hosting Matters to sort out some rights issues when we try to roll back changes. It is possible that the site might go down for a few minutes; this might be necessary to ferret out the lurking issues with the restore process so that it never misfires again.
Hopefully the site won’t go down, but once I update the theme files, the site will temporarily be “vanilla” until I apply our customizations. That should just be a matter of minutes except that one of the main parts of the theme seems to have changed so our normal customizations result in a blank page. Obviously this won’t do, so should you see this happen, take a deep breath and try again. I’ll have a backup copy of the file at issue ready to drop back in should something happen, but going into this with the painful lesson of yesterday should help limit the likelihood of an incident.
After my profuse thanks for their help yesterday and after I pointed out that I gave them a nice plug for their help, Hosting Matters pointed me to a great deal they offer – the Social Media Special
It’s for new customers and offers a site with unmetered resources and a free domain for the first year for $8.16 a month. It’s a great deal, and they are a great host. When my current hosting plans wind down later this year, I’ll be moving to them as their support and expertise are fantastic, and their reliability and pricing are awesome.
So, if you’re looking to setup a new site or move off of nickel-and-dimer-hosting companies, please check out Hosting Matters.
NotMax
If you can install and get working an update that makes us all look 10 pounds lighter, that’s be the bee’s knees.
;)
Spanky
So Cole won’t be involved then. Good to know.
SiubhanDuinne
Thanks for the heads-up, Alain, and thank you again for all you do (mostly thankless and unsung).
Major Major Major Major
Thanks for all you do, Alain!
A Ghost To Most
Don’t break any of the posts off!
amk
new hosting site? gonna miss all the fywp’s.
I have sternly warned Adam to stay from the update button.
Oatler.
My computer crashed and rebooted all weekend trying to install more windows updates, or was it sympathy pains?
Alain the site fixer
@SiubhanDuinne: Y’all thank me (and blame me!) appropriately. Can’t say I feel happy when folks bitch – I don’t have John’s constitution – but it’s par for the course. I hope to get lots of little wish-list items done today/this week, but first I’m going to get the updates done and the site back to looking at it does right now. Then I can play with the new stuff…
And I would be remiss if I didn’t encourage anyone who’s thinking of buying technology later thus year to consider buying it now. The dollar is sinking and I expect Trump’s Trade War to begin this week, so many imported things will likely go up due to the combo of lower dollar, uncertainty, and new barriers. I pulled some money out of savings to invest in some tech I want to play with over 2017, and I’ve seen some things (microcontrollers and sensors made in China, for example) go up compared to a month ago. That could just be coincidence, but better to be thinking about the possible future now than when things cost 30% more!
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: Hey do you still use that server I built? If not I want to kill it and save moolah.
Major Major Major Major
@Alain the site fixer: nope, go ahead.
Alain the site fixer
@amk: No, Balloon Juice isn’t going anywhere, I have some personal and professional sites and when my current terms are up, I plan to move to Hosting Matters.
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: thanks.
The Moar You Know
@Alain the site fixer: No shit and seconded. I considered bringing this up at my weekly meeting with management this morning, but the C-level staff all voted for Trump (and had no problems letting us know that and know that was their preference) so I’m going to keep my mouth shut and not say anything. After all, I’m not an economist. They can find out the hard way when the cost for a new laptop hits four grand by April.
Also, thanks for your thankless work here. Keeping anything up with a database these days is no fun and I’m glad that’s no longer my day to day job.
LAO
Stupid question here — how does one copy or link properly to a tweet? Asking for a friend…
amk
@Alain the site fixer:
sex-toys are gonna cost more now. This oughta piss off his base.
Major Major Major Major
@amk: what about wetsuits?
Mary G
@Alain the site fixer: Thanks for the advice, Alain, as I’ve been putting off buying new stuff. My laptop that runs Windows Vista has finally bit the dust and this PC from 2008 has been doing some odd things. So shopping I guess I’ll go.
@LAO: The way I do it is click the down arrow on the right top corner of the tweet, select “embed tweet,” copy the gobbledygook that shows up in the box, and paste it. Sample in response to the news that Rubio the Rubbery will vote for Tillerson’s confirmation.
Mary G
@LAO: The way I do it is click the down arrow on the right top corner of the tweet, select “embed tweet,” copy the gobbledygook that shows up in the box, and paste it. Sample in response to the news that Rubio the Rubbery will vote for Tillerson’s confirmation:
Unless you do one at a time, you will end up in moderation on Balloon Juice, as everything in blue counts as a link and you go over three very easily. I had to change my comment three times to hopefully get it through this time.
mai naem mobile
@amk: waterproof mattress covers will receive an exceptional stream of subsidies. The gold standard of subsidies. I cannot stop myself from these really bad jokes.
Mary G
@Mary G: Whoops, thought you were gone Alain, thanks for releasing me.
mai naem mobile
Brave Lil Marco is going to vote for Tillerson after all.
LAO
@Mary G: Thanks!
Alain the site fixer
Some small changes made. Waiting on a password change from John and then I can do the ickier stuff. Off to brave torrents and fierce winds to acquire lunch and some important groceries. I’ll be happily asking for a pound of Indian buffet to-go, please! ????
I’ll continue site work when I get back. Perhaps I’ll add the mobile site buttons while I’m eating….
amk
@Alain the site fixer: you don’t have to sacrifice your peaceful lunch for these jackals.
what the heck is an indian buffet anyway?
Another Scott
@mai naem mobile: Of course he is. Essentially all of the GOP is going to vote for Trump’s picks. As you note, it’s what they do.
The question is, how many Democrats are going to vote for the rest of his picks? We would do well to make that number as close to 0 as possible. Especially monsters like Sessions, DeVos, Price, and Mnuchin. And incompetents like Perry and Carson.
The choice should be easy for Democrats. Make them own it.
Cheers,
Scott.
Origuy
@amk: Alain’s probably at lunch now, so I’ll answer. Many of the Indian restaurants around here, and I assume wherever Alain is, have lunch buffets. All you can eat, usually naan, chicken tandoori, various curries. dal, finish off with mango ice cream. Sometimes those balls of dough soaked in honey water, I forget what they’re called.
Damn, I’m hungry now and I won’t have time for Indian buffet today.
mai naem mobile
@Alain the site fixer: dude you don’t do Indian buffets on Monday. You get leftovers from Sunday. You do Indian buffets on sat and sun because that’s when the kids take their parents/elderly relatives so they have to make everything fresh. You also get the bonus of watching Indian aunties complaining to the chef if the food isn’t exactly to their liking because,you know, every chef from every region of India should know how to cook the way your village does it.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Origuy:
Gulab jamun, which I always love saying.
Now I’m hungry for Indian buffet. Fortunately, this is my night to have it (there’s a place right next to my usual Monday night obligation).
schrodingers_cat
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: You know what’s even better? Rasgulla, balls of homemade cheese soaked in sugar syrup.
Alain the site fixer
@mai naem mobile: lol there are so many Indians and such from the continent that it’s fresh every day. I have like 5 good places within 5 miles, all full of Indians at lunch. Good stuff
Calming Influence
@Alain the site fixer:
The sooner you get into the “Blame John” mentality, the better your mental health. Even if it’s your fault, it’s his website, amirite?
Edit: forgot to mention my outrage at yesterday’s disruption, &c, &c…
Miss Bianca
@Alain the site fixer: ooh, so if I’m thinking about biting the bullet and getting a new Apple laptop, for example…
and a laurel and hearty handshake/thank you for al you do for the site!
schrodingers_cat
@Alain the site fixer: Are you in MD or NoVa? If in MD try Wood Lands or Udupi Palace in Langley Park for great south Indian snack foods like dosas and idlis.