Is anyone else having a hard time getting into the ActiveBody site? I have tried for 2 days with no luck.

Hey Bertt,

Delete your cookies and try again.

Clint

Thanks Clint

Instead of deleting all of my cookies, could you give me a clue about the name of the Activebody.org cookie?

Is is something simple like "Activebody.org?"

I can't get on either

Whoa I didnt know BF had a club. Im gonna join up right now

Hey everyone,

Seems my ISP (lunarpages.com) thought I was using too much server resources for the type of account I have and is in the process of moving it over to a different server. I will have more details soon but please understand that I'm doing my best to get the site back up as fast as possible.

During this process, if you see others having questions about the site, please point them to this thread as I will keep you all updated here.

Sorry for the problems and I hope to have you all back in ASAP,
Clint Thayer

What type of server were you hosting on? I have a win2k box on the net hosting a couple sites... I'm also in WI. :) I don't have perl or anything other than asp running on my server at the moment though.

The site uses PHP and mySQL to create the "magic" you all know and love. I very much thank you for the option to use your server but my first goal is to create a solution that is as stable as I can make it (so I don't have to do this all the time). Perhaps an activebody user is also the owner of a ISP and will donate the server and space???

As I see it, the site is reaching that critical mass where it can't "live" in an account that is in the range of $10 a month. The next level up at the current ISP is $39 a month and will give the users (and the site) a great deal more processing power, space, and bandwidth to grow into a site we all really want it to. The good news is the site is growing, the bad news is that means I'm having to pay more then I expected (at least I didn't expect it so soon). Will it remain free? Yes... without a doubt. But with the added cost there are going to have to be some small changes... here is what I will propose to users once the site goes live again, please read it over and give me your thoughts… Just like the site, I welcome your ideas, and insights…

The Idea...
Model the site like NPR (National Public Radio) where the site is partly funding by the users themselves, but still free to all.

The Details...
The site will now cost about $500 a year to run (up from about $100 a year). I will pledge the following to help keep the site up and running:
* $250 (an increase of $150 a year)
* Domain reg fees
* My time to upgrade, help users, and maintain the site

What can users do to help? Donate the remaining amount (~$250) each year. I foresee having two "pledge drives" a year where I beat the drum trying to raise the remaining amount. If users donate the full $250 in the first day, the donate button disappears from the site, only to return the next year to try and drum up funding. The power is in your hands.

What Will Happen if the Money is Not Raised?
Well... Sadly we will have some not so nice options... The site will start using banner ads (I'm not a fan of banner adds), go to a lower level of account and cap users (REALLY not a fan), or have to be shut down or go to a pay to play (I think you know how I feel about that).

So give me your thoughts... would you support the site if I meet you half way? Now is the time to speak your mind.

I can certainly skip drinking one Singapore Sling a month to support activebody.org. That's at least $60 each year. I get the impression your current ISP yanked the plug surprising you and everyone else; if that's true (and I'm sure you already are) if I were you I'd not be including them in my long term plan.

Thanks for your support!

It was very much a surprise to this admin and have had about 3 phone conversations with them about the business rule. They mentioned that prior to a few months ago they would just suspend the account... now they off the account over to a temp server which gives admins the ability to get something up to alert users. In our case it took a little longer then expected to get things set up on a temp server.

On one hand I can see their side of it... they have one account that is taking more resources on a shared server and you want to keep the majority of users happy by keeping the server stable, but on the flip side I was not pleased with the "no warning" style of account management.

In the end I've enjoyed my contract and service with Lunarpages and would recommend them to others (as I have with friends and family in the past). Though I will alwasy give them warning about this type of situation in the future.

Finding a good ISP is tough work... I've used about 3 so far and really don't want to go on the market looking for another. If things stablize in the near future I don't see any reason to jump ship and cause yet another delay in service to the users.

Cheers,
Clint

Well, I would donate to the cause. I keep forgetting to upgrade my account here.. gotta do that as well..

I do have MS SQL running on my server. :) And a fair bit of bandwidth available, I host my blog and then the local sports car club pages right now.. basically a place for me to host all my pictures. :) And my blog is sql backended.

I host it at my brothers company in Milwaukee.. they are a software developer and do some hosting as well.. I'll shoot him an email and see what he thinks. Maybe he has a box that he will rent out for a cheap price. He's a cyclist too!

Thanks Barren. The site is paid in full til May of 2005 so we have some time. Always good to think of different solutions.

-Clint

Wow, didn't know it was back up and running! Nice!

*opens new window to enter logs from last night*

I'll still see what my brother thinks.. I'll inform him that it's paid through May.. we might be able to work something out. :) I've been hosting there for a couple years.

p.s. Do you frequent willybikes?

Whoops.. just an update up there.. *reads*..

gotcha.

I hit Budget when I use a shop in town. I also race (tandem with my wife) for a citizens level team that is setup by a shop just outside Madison. SO if I need a shop I tend to send most of my money his direction.

Willy is a good shop though.

Clint I signed up before your crash. Now I can not login. The error reads:
The query failed! table_name must be a valid table name that exists in the database specified in mysql_select_db

Hi Larue,

Thanks for asking...

Since the site is on a temp server solution while we move to a more longer term solution we don't have all the server tools that we need to have a 100% running site. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but if you could sit tight and wait till we can get everything up and running on the new server that would be great.

Feel free to ask any more questions,
Clint

Oh no problem Clint. Good luck with the new server and can't wait to get back on the site.

Thanks for creating such a wonderful tool,

larue.

Hi everyone,

The site is back up and running on a new server.

Thanks to everyone for waiting.

-Clint

"website found. Waiting for reply . . ."

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

still waiting

Working for me. Thanks for the hard work!

Deleted a bunch of cookies and it loaded. Of course, now have to reregister for everything!

You shouldnt have to reregister, just log back in...

What I meant, and evidewntly failed to communicate, is that I have a lot of web sites on which I have a saved cookie so that I don't have to enter my name and password each time. Since my cookies have been erased, I now need to log on (not register again) again with username and password on each site and reestablish my cookie.

Sorry I was so confusing. :D

Hey Clint! Sorry to hear of all the hubbub going on with the server.
Bad me I haven't ridden my bike in about a month now; I just got back from staffing the Tour of Hope with Lance and the crew. I hope to get on my bike again this week and get in some fall riding. I will also support you site if the big red button appears.
Also Craig has a little something special for you.