24-Sep Downtime

[pegsam]

An update everyday could very well be the same update that was posted the day before, which will anger most and confuse others.

Jehan (and Emily and Slug) -

This is a great example of what you PBase administrators don't get about communication. You make an assumption and choose not to communicate anything based on that assumption. No communication does not mean we understand that you are continuing to work on the solutions to the problems. I suggest you get a better understanding of communication and operate accordingly, with an increased awareness of your past, poor communication practices.

Yes, I am not happy with the glitch that brought PBase to its knees. But I get really steamed when one of you administrators fumbles their way through yet another communication fiasco. Please, get a clue and change your behavior as administrators of PBase --- it's not all about making sure the electricity bill for the servers gets paid.

[oldhiker]

This whole problem is hard to understand. The original message on the power failure says that the same electrical fault that caused the backup battery system to take over also prevented the backup generator from operating. What kind of system is this? Your generator doesn't work because the electrical power is out? Doesn't make sense. Perhaps there were no batteries, or no generator. Also, the extraordinarily long time to get the system completely back up and running is hard to understand. I suspect that anything not recovered now will never be recovered. Pbase is a very small business with low prices. It's fine for amateurs who just want to show off display their pictures, but that's all.

[dennislaska]

or thought. The largest room is the one for improvement. Yes, we will readily agree that communication could be improved and we will do all that we can to improve in this area.

And ?????

No communication. Excellent!

[merigan]

Two weeks since this report What is going on now? Tom

[ajuett]

And ?????

No communication. Excellent!

Here is some communication:

http://www.pbase.com/ajuett/image/118408421

[trinko]

I common issue in this thread is communication. I do not intend for this to be a specific response to a specific post or email. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and deserves to get what they pay for. Many of you have wondered why there is not a daily update. I am sure Emily will post an update when she has "new" information to share as was done during the outage. An update everyday could very well be the same update that was posted the day before, which will anger most and confuse others. PBase staff is communicating with a large numbers of emails daily (which we try to answer in a timely manner, first come first serve). Truth be told, if you want answers to questions this is the best way to communicate with us. Due to the increased amount of emails, it does not allow us the opportunity to patrol the forums and comment on every post or thought. The largest room is the one for improvement. Yes, we will readily agree that communication could be improved and we will do all that we can to improve in this area.

If each days update was the same it would tell us that you folks don't have a plan. For example if someone is fixing the statistics they should have some sort of plan otherwise why not first reinstall the old functionality until you figure out how long it will take to implement the new ones? I mean if it's going to take 3 months to get the new stats don't you think you should reinstall the old ones first? On the other hand if it's only going to take a day or two to get the new stats then go for it. But if you have a plan you've got some milestones. For example alpha stat code ready for testing on 1-oct, test to run for 3 days, beta test on 7-oct runs for 5 days looking for volunteers, 15-oct golden master begin site transition. 21-oct full transition in place. On the days between the milestones a comment like "looks like we're on track" or "oops that 7-oct date will slip by a day or two since my pet turtle died" would be nice.

Also why is the PBase staff spending it's time communicating with users 1 on 1? Clearly there are too many users for that. The current 8-oct message should be updated every day so every PBase user can see what's going on.

I'm not keen on leaving PBase but the lack of information, even a target date for new stats, makes me wonder if the reason we're not being told anything is that they have no idea of when they'll go online. Frankly the fact that PBase picked a server vendor that clearly doesn't understand the relationship between "no single point failure" and "uninterrupted service" worries me. PBase isn't that cheap if you've got more than 500Meg of photos. I don't mind the folks making a living with PBase but unless this is a hobby for them then I'd really expect a better level of customer support than I'm seeing. While the PBase staff seems to be very nice people I'm getting a little concerned about their level of professionalism, maybe this is a side effort for them. If so I'd like to know. If I'm benefiting from that via lower prices then I'd feel a lot more sanguine about the current situation. But if my PBase fees pay for their mortgages then I'd really like quicker recovery times or at least better info on what's happening.

[romansphotos]

Ok, its been a darned close to a month now, and no statistics available yet? I am in IT as my day job and have been very patient in how PBASE has recovered from an outage that shouldnt have effected them in the first place. UPS's with generator backup is only 1/2 of a disaster recovery program. They should have had software that would start an immediate normal shutdown on servers when power shut down for more than a spike. That way if the generators didnt kick on, the servers would be OK just off till somone arrived to turn them back on.

I have been a PBASE supported since 2004. And while the service has been spotty the first few years, nothing ever like this. And through all those years, communication is somthing the admins are sorely lacking...(did you read that? Its the number one complaint about your service...yet you ignore what people are telling you and continue with poor communications)

Wake up....please....get some people skills. Your probably angry at the way I just put that, but you know....after soooooo many people keep telling you where your lacking....and you seem to lack the capacity to self correct. If your lacking communication skills, you have two choices.....find a way to train yourself correctly, or find somone who does and let them communicate for you. You are part of a service industry. Service is more than the ability to put pictures on line. I really want to keep using Pbase....so please...give me a reason to feel good about that choice.

Roman

[dennislaska]

And ?????

No communication. Excellent!

Here is some communication:

http://www.pbase.com/ajuett/image/118408421

I am not a spammer.

I have been a member since 2005. I have never used these forums until pbase went down.

Get a life and quit quoting and replying to to my posts you big jerk!

[ajuett]

And ?????

No communication. Excellent!

I am not a spammer.

I have been a member since 2005. I have never used these forums until pbase went down.

Get a life and quit quoting and replying to to my posts you big jerk!

You are a spammer and a troll, your constant, negative, uneducated replies show this.

[mikelong]

Isn't Sarah Palin from Alaska, too?

[smeredith]

What's with you people that seem to think it's their duty to defend PBase? It's blatantly obvious that this site is run very poorly and the communication is absolutely pathetic. Why defend this? Seriously, why?

[dennislaska]

[/quote]

You are a spammer and a troll, your constant, negative, uneducated replies show this.[/quote]

I work for a canadian company so I know you simpletons may have trouble understanding simple things. But what part of "quit quoting and replying to to my posts" don't you understand???

And FYI, it is not a question so DON'T reply and move along.

If you have anything constructive to say fine. If not, PM me and I won't read it but I'll dump it in the trash. This way these forums can be used for their intended purpose and everyone else won't have to read your mental rants.

[ajuett]

What's with you people that seem to think it's their duty to defend PBase? It's blatantly obvious that this site is run very poorly and the communication is absolutely pathetic. Why defend this? Seriously, why?

I'm not defending, I'm wondering why people go ballistic when something like this happens. It's not a mission critical site.

[fishit]

What's with you people that seem to think it's their duty to defend PBase? It's blatantly obvious that this site is run very poorly and the communication is absolutely pathetic. Why defend this? Seriously, why?

Why you ask? 10 years of service, some good some not so good. This time has been pretty bad and yea better communication is needed.
There seems to be some issues behind the scenes most people do not know about nor should they.
If you are using PBase as a main site for your work and display as the only option I suggest you think twice.

But PBase is what is it is, I like it and it is worth for now the $23.00 bucks a year it costs.
PBase is a icon in the field of photo sites, it has been through a lot and photo sharing has changed quite a bit over the last 10 years.

I am not sure I buy in total to the issues of how and why the site was down for so long and why some data is still not functioning.
The lack of communication is a issue but how much do people want, 30 minute tweets or daily updates.
For people to post insults toward one another and demand things of the administration in a hostile manor does nothing to improve the situation.

Frankly I do not care, I think the PBase team is doing what they can as fast as they can. If you don't like it move on quietly.

[soenda]

What's with you people that seem to think it's their duty to defend PBase? It's blatantly obvious that this site is run very poorly and the communication is absolutely pathetic. Why defend this? Seriously, why?

Where do you get the silly notion that duty has anything to do with it? My motives are 100% selfish.

I like having my photos on PBase. I can put up with the headaches. I'll admit it might be different if I were running a business, but if that was the case, I'd certainly have a Plan B for when this kind of trouble happened. Twenty-three bucks a year is a pretty shaky foundation for someone's livelihood.

This current bleating that's going on about the statistics is comical. Before they went down, folks here were in a rush to tell you how inaccurate PBase's own counts were. Third party was the only way to go. Now suddenly they're not only the gold standard, but folks are about to suffocate without them.

What I don't want to see is that the PBase trashers set a self-fulfilling prophecy in motion. I've seen it happen before, and it's a crying shame when it takes an outfit down. If you don't like the place, by all means, leave it. The $23 shouldn't break anybody who's into the expensive hobby of photography. You'll be doing yourself a big favor, reducing your stress level and living longer. You'll enjoy photography again. It's all good.