caderoux
-
Posts
486 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by caderoux
-
-
We had a local case of a cache placed and eventually archived, then another cache by a different hider showing up within a couple feet.
There's always going to be lots of kinds of valid exceptions to the no double-logging idea.
-
The site issues have nothing to do with bandwidth. The problem cannot be solved just by adding servers, because the architecture of the application does not currently allow the live transactional database to be served from more than one machine. There is a read-only database used to reduce traffic on the live database.
The problems can only be resolved by improving performance at the database level, and eventually working towards a more scalable database design. Right now, there really is not a single low-cost RDBMS which is drop-in scalable to multiple servers. Oracle has some features which SQL Server doesn't have with regard to active-active clustering, but such a change would be extremely large and expensive. SQL Server has some great scalability, but it requires configuration expertise and design changes to applications as well. How much work should be done where can only really be determined by those who know the system well and those who can identify the performance bottlenecks which will have the most impact.
If any of you recall ebay and paypal's massive availability problems a few years ago, it can even happen to well-funded and experienced database shops.
-
I'll just add: Imagine how exciting geocaching would be if no one logged online at all?
If you define the excitement of geocaching by logging online or reading online logs, you're not exactly getting the point of the sport.
If anyone out there is not going to log my caches online, please consider that I didn't put them out for you and add them to your ignore list.
If you're going to put out caches with strings attached for the finders, please consider not putting them out at all. If you hide caches with such expectations, you're being rude to people who find your cache.
Cache= (box+logbook.)
Cache != (box + online log)
Think of it as pre-emptive. ;->
-
I love to leave stuff that people enjoy finding
And you know they enjoy finding the stuff you leave because you go back and check the logs on caches you've found regularly, since they aren't logging online either. That's great dedication and also helps with the numbers problem, since those regular visits to caches to read the physical logs consume more and more time every month and leave less time to run up caching numbers.
You've got a right to play the game the way you want.
I'm really not very dedicated at all - after I leave good stuff, I just watch the cache online and see when people enjoy a cache I've placed, or a TB I've released or a geocoin I've dropped.
-
I expressed my thoughts on the lack of online logging in another thread, and I got jumped on already - so I won't waste my breath here.
I'll just add: Imagine how exciting geocaching would be if no one logged online at all?
If anyone out there is not going to log my caches online, please consider that I didn't put them out for you and add them to your ignore list.
-
Monsanto's logo (plant in a box) - fine for the maker of roundup, but not if you're selling ferilizer and seeds, too!
-
In China the number 4 is Si, which also means death. So in China don't use 4 servers. Fortunately we can get to 12 with no issues. 13 on the other hand...
Japan, too. We renamed our software instead of releasing a 4.0 version.
-
I know you have more than one server since the forum username/password combo is case sensitive while the geocaching username/password is not case sensitive, that's at least 2 servers. And when I made my first couple caches my profile summary box showed 2 hidden but if you clicked on it and looked at geocaches there were none hidden by me until a couple hours later, so that's apparently a third server. And sometimes when I log a cache or a travel bug, my stats increment immediately but the cache or travel bug page does not show my log for several minutes, so that's a fourth server?
Yeah, that all follows quite logically. And from there we will conclude that the problem must be caused by having 4 servers. And from there we determine that the number 4 is bad for some reason. But how to decide whether 3 or 5 be better. ;-)
What did Arthur Clarke say about magic and science?
-
I'm locking it 90 days after the last post ;-)
-
I don't think anyone has a problem with old threads being available. The information they contain has value. However, many, many old threads are simply no longer relevant for many reasons.
The possible relevance of a thread is depending on the reader and can not be determined by objective means.
But does it need to be posted to?
Should every thread about the slow website be closed and just have one master thread for gripes about the website and complaints which have long since been resolved?
Should every lame micro thread be dredged up and brought back to life?
Would this eliminate the need for markwells, since everything you could possibly want to know is further up the thread?
-
The thread cited in my OP was an example of the problem. It happens on a fairly regular basis here. Someone posts to a long-dormant thread, other people reply and then realize there is no need to rehash the thread. And then the thread gets locked by a mod or the OP (if they're still around).
As far as ignoring them, the recent activity causes the thread to pop up to the top, and there isn't any indication that the thread had actually been dormant for years.
There is an indication that it started long, long ago (if you read the date), but not that it is dormant.
I'm a fan of don't open an existing thread if there is already an active discussion. Just like you wouldn't round up the guests from a dinner party 2 years ago to reargue a point. Assuming you have something new to say, and everyone stopped talking about a topic months ago, make your new point and link to the old dormant thread.
If a thread stays active, I don't have a problem with that.
Having said all this, someone could just make a Greasemonkey which turns your textbox red if you are replying to a post where the past reply was more than X months ago. That way, you can do it if you want to, but you'll get some indication that the thread has been dead for sometime. It won't be able to stop the piling on later, and it will only help the script users.
-
I like the Camelbak M.U.L.E. - looks like they just revised it.
-
Wonder if the board has a feature for this...
-
If we get this thing far enough OT, the mods will lock it...
In before lock.
-
I have posted a new topic (http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=128105), which hopefully appeals to Republicans, Democrats, and any people who steer clear of labels and brands altogether.
-
It seems like it would be good to have a way to auto-lock threads based on time of inactivity (a year, two years with no posts). If anyone really wants to revisit it, start a new thread with a link to the old one (http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=78829)
-
This kind of stuff is left over from the bad old days of the Internet. Sites didn't use any client-side features, and preferred to display a message confirming that an action had occurred and then go to the next page (and the new page had no obligations to worry about displaying information about past events), instead of the more recently developed mechanism of showing the changes highlighted in a message on the next page. And some browsers didn't support redirects at all.
But progress doesn't stop there. Nowadays with AJAX and better frameworks, UIs and architectures for web interaction, these dark corners of history look more and more anachronistic on the web.
Enjoy them, like fine SPAM, while they last.
-
I've been muggled! On a scale of 1-10, I give this one a 9 since the pieces were still there. My fellow cacher GatorGrl collected the pieces for me.
Hey, that's my Chocolate Dairyshake Powder!
-
It might take 5 minutes of programming but I'm sure one more query to the DB wouldn't be great for the server load.
It's all a question of design... You can always make any web page with just one trip to the database. ;-) Making that trip efficient is what's important. And sometimes it's actually more efficient to make more trips.
-
To answer the question about Geocaching.com specific questions, the intent was to create a very straightforward and broad survey to figure out who are actually playing the activity.
Definitely, it's just that the leadin text of the email says:
"You are invited to participate in this brief 5 – 7 minute survey regarding your use and satisfaction with geocaching.com"
-
I expect there will be another survey in the future as they learn what they left out and what they need to learn more about.
If they are talking about the site and how people use the site and expect the site to work for them, I can think of a lot of questions which could be useful which weren't asked. Seems like there were a lot of questions about caching, many of which were meaningless because they don't accommodate the variety of responses properly - like the terrain difficulty one.
There is a great book on survey design by Don Dillman (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471323543/103-4299495-8091056?v=glance&n=283155)
-
I don't condone seal hunting.
-
The element most likely to get an ammo can is the muggle.
-
"You are invited to participate in this brief 5 – 7 minute survey regarding your use and satisfaction with geocaching.com"
Oddly enough, the majority of the non-demographic questions related to the caching activity and not to the use of and satisfaction with geocaching.com.
Commercialism And Ethics Question
in General geocaching topics
Posted
If it makes you feel any better, all the big chains are struggling in New Orleans, while the small operations are coming back strong. It seems that the loyalty of the workforce, the nimbleness and the flexibility of smaller businesses to get open and stay open has beat the larger competition to market.
Most of the SBUX here are still shuttered.
As far as litter, thanks to the Corps, we've been having an ongoing CITO since last September - you can always come down and join in and we have a geocaching-specific CITO event next Saturday in conjuctions with the Katrina Krewe.