DATA LOSS IN THE GENERAL DISCUSSION FORUM, 12/22

[Skinner]

At approximately 3:30 PM ET this afternoon, December 22, we had a glitch -- an unfortunate combination of software and human error -- which deleted the original post (OP) of every thread in the General Discussion forum. Replies were not affected.

The bug has been fixed so this will never happen again.

Fortunately we keep nightly backups, so we were able to recover every original post that was posted here up until approximately 3:30 AM ET this morning. Unfortunately, this leaves approximately 12 hours of OPs that we were unable to completely recover.

For the missing 12 hours of OPs, we were able to recover the thread titles, along with other data about the thread. But we were unable to recover the full message text. On these threads, the missing text has been replaced with the following notification:

The message body of this post was accidentally deleted due to an unexpected bug in our new software. The bug has been fixed, and most of the data was recovered. But unfortunately we were unable to recover the full text of this post. An older version of this post may be available in its edit history. Also, the author of the post may edit the post to replace the missing text, if they wish. The DU Administrators apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.

So, if the message text of your OP is missing, you have options:

1) If you edited your OP at any time, then the most recent version is saved in the edit history of the post.

2) You can edit the OP to update the message text.

We understand that this situation is very disappointing, especially if you spent time and effort crafting an OP that is now gone forever. When you post on DU, you expect your post to be there, and you expect that something like this will not happen. The DU Administrators are very sorry for this catastrophic error, and we will do everything in our power to hopefully avoid repeating this mistake.

Again, we are very sorry. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

David Allen
DU Administrator

[gateley]

1. Swell. There went my DUzy. nt

[A-Schwarzenegger]

4. DUzy!

This one was probably better than the other one anyway.

[rhett o rick]

2. Thanks for all your hard work. We are not worthy. nm

[Skittles]

3. I'm impressed with the speed of your actions

yes INDEED

[krispos42]

21. I'm of the opinion...

...that the Admins snort a combination of powdered coffee, cocaine, and speed. Hourly.

[Skittles]

42. WOOT!

I'm middle-aged and work 12 hour night shifts - my game is coffee, diet Rock Star, the occasional 5 hour energy shot, and more coffee

[RKP5637]

5. You guys really care and are consistently incredible. n/t

[tabatha]

6. You guys do an awesome job. Thanks.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. First off, thanks for your hard work, and your good work.

DU is a great place.

Second... database replication.

[PCIntern]

8. I had posted that alternative solution to Fermat's Theorem here but...

OH NO!!!!!

[tularetom]

9. It's just the interweb, it isn't real life

Thanks for your quick action and I'm sure we'll all get over it.

If we can't, that's our problem Skinner, and not yours. You done good.

[steve2470]

10. thanks for caring ! nt

[malaise]

11. Thanks Skinner

DU rocks!

[ProfessionalLeftist]

12. It's a new site, new software, hiccups are expected.

Thanks Skinner and Elad.

I hope you guys can get away from DU long enough to enjoy the holidays with your families! (and tell Elad not to muck with the code after he's had too many egg nogs 'cause when he does, stuff like this happens)

[HappyMe]

13. Sir Skinner of Awesome,

A humble thank you for everything.



Respectfully,

HappyMe

[Spazito]

14. I am very impressed at how much was saved....

and just want to give you guys for recovering almost everything.

[MineralMan]

15. I'm glad it wasn't more severe, and especially

glad that you solved the problem.

[WilliamPitt]

16. I want my money back.

You know, or not.

[HipChick]

17. I just completed a Point In Time Recovery

10TB database

I don't think I've slept in over 48hrs...

Our robotic tape arm overshot a tape..

The data header was found to be unreadable...

I've spent more time with my co-workers than my SO

It's IT...shit happens...


Thanks Skinner...I feel ya pain

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. The other night I stayed at a hotel where the fire alarm went off at 4:00 AM.

When I checked out I mentioned to the front desk lady that it kind of screwed up my night and I overslept as a result.

"Is there any way I can make it up to you?" she asked.

"Yeah. How about 2000 extra points on my rewards card?"

"I can do that" She said.

I want 2000 rewards points for the inconvenience!


Well, I didn't put up any OP's, so...as far as I'm concerned, the fire alarm didn't go off in my corner of DU.

[Mimosa]

19. Thanks, Skinner. Stuff happens. n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. Administrator Stimpson, you are hereby terminated.

You were told not to press that button.

[Texasgal]

22. Gawdammit!!!

My super HUGE post that was MOST important has been ERASED??? OMG!! WTF????

I'll never get it back and my life is OVER now... OVAH IT TELL YOU!!!









Thanks for your hard work!

[hootinholler]

23. I've noticed a few things lately

That I suspected might lead to something like this.

If you would like to discuss them, feel free to call me. You already have my number and my resume.

I will ask if the DB was journaled? You may be able to recover some of the posts there.

[jimlup]

24. Thanks Guys for your hard work

[Lefta Dissenter]

25. hey,

after dealing with my Dad's computer that has been eaten alive by a virus over the past week, I'm amazed that ANY of this works!

Thank you for the considerate explanation and the continuing hard work.

[eppur_se_muova]

26. Oh, I suddenly have so much respect for the Edit History !

At first, it sounded like something that would be more trouble than it was worth -- I guess that got proved wrong in a hurry.

[REP]

27. My sympathies to you all - my how that must've sucked!

I'm sure this will make a funny story someday. I hope that day is soon

[westerebus]

28. How many times do we have to go over this?

Do not place sippy cups on top of the server.

Now do I alert on myself for being disruptive, cause I want a jury. And I want one now! Or not...

[tavalon]

29. It is awful but this is a huge start up and I think you guys are doing a stand up job

I also suspect that you each have wives who are sick of having their husbands spend 24/7 on this.

It's going to take me a while to get over how gobsmacked I am at how good this new website is and while that was a huge glitch, things happen.

It's merely my opinion, and certainly not verifiable fact, but it seems that the three of you created something better than 1000 Microsoft employees working for 10 years.

[tavalon]

30. Skinner

Save this thread. There has never, ever, ever, ever been a thread in which you received 100% support. This is like, you know, mind blowing.

[SpiralHawk]

31. Hiccup 2.0

Thanks for finding the cure !

[HopeHoops]

32. Shit happens.

We had a backup tape that simply wouldn't be read to or written from. I discovered it the morning after it was put in because the nightly backup had failed. Murphy stepped in - the accounting software farted and all of the previous day's data was gone. There was no backup. So they yelled at ME (top dog in IT there) because THEY decided to use a "one-touch" system and now had no idea what they had or had not put into the database the previous day. One-touch sounds like a good idea, but it isn't so great when you can't get at the data easily when shit goes wrong.

[Wait Wut]

33. Were proper punishments administered?

Spankings! I demand spankings!!!!

[MineralMan]

38. Can I watch? I just adore spankings!

[Bucky]

34. Including my OP that blew the lid off this whole can of worms & then revealed the meaning of life?

Man, I knew I shoulda made a back up.

[hyphenate]

35. Is this why I have duplicates

of most of my original threads under "My posts"?

If so, I'll at least know. Thanks.

[Skinner]

37. Yes.

I think that's why.

[hyphenate]

39. Thanks! eom

[liberaltrucker]

36. Hey guys, great job!

Now, go forth and celebrate The Holidays with your families. If somehow the proverbial
shit hits the fan during your absence, we'll survive. OK?

[EFerrari]

40. A lot of stuff goes missing this time of year.

I bet Elad will find it with the Scotch tape and the extra batteries on Jan 2.

No worries.

[pennylane100]

41. Well that is just terrible that it happened on the most newsworthy event of the year which I posted

in a misleading headline will go unread. However I can tell you that there are photos and recordings to back up my claim.

[CTyankee]

43. I automatically assume that if any computer error is made, it is my fault.

So, as far as I am concerned, you were never "on the hook"! I just thought "there I go again with my computer dumbness..."

[BeHereNow]

44. Okay, Skinner, Elad and Earl G! This is the final straw...

You are all FIRED!
LOL.
BHN