Blinksale: Easy, painless, online invoicing for small businesses

Server Issues - AKA Blame Me

Okay folks, so here's the deal... I know there's been a ton of chatter recently about the server issues. The issue is two-fold. First, we have an ugly memory leak. We think we know where it is, we hope to have that fixed today. Second, we need more power. We're working on this too, but FEDEX will take a few more days to get us the new equipment.

We would have liked to have taken care of this sooner, but there are several issues in play that have prevented us from doing so. I'll explain as much as I can, but I have to stay mum on a several fronts right now.

Several months ago, we (the Firewheel team) decided that it was time to make a deliberate effort to phase ourselves out of client work and into developing our own products like IconBuffet, Blinksale, and our new unnamed venture. We stopped taking new client work on a couple months ago, and have been in the process of wrapping up existing client projects. This is actually a fairly difficult transition to make.

As I've mentioned before, we don't make a killing on IconBuffet. None of us are getting rich here. We all have families. Well, except for Keegan. Yes, he's single ladies. That said, we have to watch our budget very closely during transition times like this to make sure we can continue to cover overhead. Needless to say, this suspended the purchasing of new equipment until this transition could be more or less completed.

We're getting close to rounding that corner, and we're now able to put some resources back into server hardware. We certainly appreciate your patience with us during the growing pains. It's not our intent to jack you around.

There is actually a lot more to this story than what I've briefly summed up above, but this is the cliff notes version. We'll fill you in more in the days to come. We love you all. Thanks for helping us make the Buffet a success.

Posted by josh Vip-micro on Sep 05, 2007 in News | 83 comments

a2 on Sep 05, 2007

And thanks for keeping us in the loop when you can. I love the icons and understand the growing pains. Just hearing a bit of reassurance makes us feel we're not being neglected.

Good luck with the transition/changes! Can't wait to see what's coming down the pipe...

justG on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for the info, Josh, and good luck to all o' ya. =)

debbye on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for the heads up, Josh! i think it's only because we [ i ] care about the Buffet, that we want to see it running as smooth as we [ i ] know that it can.

lobotomia on Sep 05, 2007

Success to the team :D
Nice to know about improvements ;)

Hoshichan on Sep 05, 2007

Good luck to you all; I'm phasing out of new contracts myself and it's put quite a crimp in my husband and I's budget. The transition stage uh, BLOWS. :P

Huzzah for new stuff from Firewheel!

Teej Vip-micro on Sep 05, 2007

Too many icons, not enough Memcached.

zelda013 on Sep 05, 2007

thanks for the info (i know, it's been said), it does make it easier knowing at least a little of what's going on behind the scenes... good luck with the transition, i'm sure y'all will soon be rolling along again !

soprano on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for the update!

maldenjen on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for a bit of back-end intel. It's appreciated!

beanface Vip-micro on Sep 05, 2007

Thank you! I understand the difficulties. Hope you can get it all worked out. Good luck!

austingirl on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for the update. Good luck transitioning. I (we) love the Buffet and want all to go well.

rossanyl on Sep 05, 2007

thanks for letting us know what is/are the trouble(s) and how you think of fixing it/them. Really appreciate keeping us in the loop! good luck.

sgitheanaich on Sep 05, 2007

Fair play. Best wishes with the projects and thanks for the peace of mind that the teething troubles are being taken care of.

anti on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for the info, and for continuing to serve up the great sets!

sloan on Sep 05, 2007

yippee... thanks for updatee

icbumari on Sep 05, 2007

Well, I'm happy to support ya even if ya can't give us anything for some time....I'll stick with ya =D

ehooton on Sep 05, 2007

Yay! I've been pretty patient through all of this (I mean I wasn't upset or complaining), but I was just thinking this morning about how much less time I've been spending on the Buffet because of these issues. I can't wait for the fun level to go back up as people have to wait less to get on.

jwhitmire on Sep 05, 2007

Yet more teas-er-ific fun.

elnitido52 on Sep 05, 2007

He who doesn't cry, never gets milk...

Blabby on Sep 05, 2007

Can't wait to see what genius you're cooking up next!

FallenAngel on Sep 05, 2007

Yay for more server goodiness 'n' stuff. We loves the icons and we loves the 'buffet, and we loves the chefs, and we loves 'em even more when they're speedier. We'll still be here when things get up to speed again...you did too good a job at getting us all addicted. ;-)

louiemctool on Sep 05, 2007

we can has more server? yayz!!!

:)

jameshilton on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks Josh, i totally understand your problems, but next time tell us about them before we get fed up. Looking forward to getting back the buffet we all became addicted to!

VINZ on Sep 05, 2007

cool! new server!
For now, surf the buffet by night :) it's smooooooooooooother

josh Vip-micro on Sep 05, 2007

Thanks for your understanding all. We're pressing forward!

tamashii on Sep 06, 2007

i am jealous of your perseverance

thedudedean on Sep 06, 2007

Do you guys need some Ram? ;-)

maryct on Sep 06, 2007

No finger-pointing; how about two thumbs up instead?

MrDee on Sep 06, 2007

Even with the server issues, IB is the only site I look forward to visiting regularly.
It just feels right.

Starry on Sep 06, 2007

:] me too~

Good luck, guys!

seanhussey on Sep 06, 2007

Thanks for the update! And, please remember the love that's spread when you let us know. You could be randomly unplugging the server every so often, but if you let us know (and why), we're happy. :) It's just when the problem is so obvious and there's no word at all. Just tell us! We'll love you all the more for it!

JBVisions on Sep 07, 2007

That's the key, keeping us informed. Thanks Josh. If you post the phone number for Fedex we could speed them up a bit. 500 phone calls should do it :)

tommythewolfboy on Sep 07, 2007

Fortune favours the brave - best of luck for your new endeavours and thanks for the heads up about the issues :D

Haha, and if you want to put any of that client work you don't want to do anymore my way, then don't be shy ;)

terremom Vip-micro on Sep 07, 2007

I just enjoy being a part of the IconBuffet at all. You took me in with my zero knowledge and with the help of the others I'm understanding how websites work, enjoying comraderie of folks round the globe, and collecting wonderful icons for uses beyond the computer screen. So things move a bit slow..,I'mm ok with that. Thanks for all of it Josh. Take care, Terre

vihugo Vip-micro on Sep 07, 2007

...needless to say, the real IconBuffet-Addicts will stay calm in the future, too. We really appreciate your brilliant work! vihugo

soprano on Sep 07, 2007

So, when do these FedEx packages arrive?

razu on Sep 07, 2007

Im with you (btw spare me the old RAM) :P

MacManX on Sep 08, 2007

"FedEx - When it absolutely has to be either late or lost."

MrFenwick on Sep 09, 2007

Thats cool... This site is a pain to load, take a minute to load some pages at the moment. But I love the icons and hope to see more!

aemcg on Sep 10, 2007

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gswd on Sep 10, 2007

Hmmm. 5 days and still borked. Was that FedEx Turtle that was used?

elnitido52 on Sep 10, 2007

The shipment was erroneously sent Japan. It will arrive soon though.

travisseitler on Sep 11, 2007

That's the key, keeping us informed.

Yuppers! Thanks, Josh.

laulena on Sep 11, 2007

Thanks for keeping us in the loop and letting us know what's happening!

daia on Sep 12, 2007

Hah, FedEx Turtle, that's a great idea for a set! :)

emirem on Sep 12, 2007

and that prevents you from re-releasing thisistheslam.com ?!?

//sorry I had to ...

gswd on Sep 12, 2007

@emirem - color me confused.

opello on Sep 13, 2007

Good to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for the service.

me2orion on Sep 13, 2007

@opello i agree completely.

The chef's have been feeding our icon addiction worse by giving us the "Ice Cream Social." But for the last couples of weeks, it's been more of an "I SCREAM" Social. Hopefully it will start getting better.

dyar on Sep 13, 2007

But for the last couples of weeks, it's been more of an "I SCREAM" Social.

Good one me2orion <-smile->

iqon on Sep 13, 2007

Aye, but the last couple of days it be so fast me has gotten a brain freeze.

Me monkey swears a delivery was accepted before me monkey even sent it. Me thinks me monkey be drinking fermented coconut milk again.

elnitido52 on Sep 13, 2007

@me2orion - "I SCREAM" social."
Really a good one. :o)

@Iqon - MeMonkey be drinking fermented Pineapple Skin Juice. If you haven't try it yourself, give it a try and you'll see why MeMonkey is acting that way.

fmimoso on Sep 14, 2007

I have some virtual memory I can provide. It's right here next to my virtual money... :D

Well, just to worsen things, why don't you release a "SERVER PANIC" icon set? :P

iqon on Sep 14, 2007

Arrr, be me and me monkey prefer the sounds of Widespread Panic.

So what would a Server Panic set be looking like this:
Smoke pouring out the ears of the brave little server, hard drive leaking 1s and 0s, pirate plundering the RAM, brave little server trying to lift (or balance) a massive load, BSOD (for the MS servers), brave little server with a hatchet embedded in it (cracker attack), UPS battery performing CPR on a dead power supply.

iconmaster on Sep 14, 2007

I'm watching JC set up the new server right now. It's noisy!

soprano on Sep 14, 2007

You 6 can suffer if we get a fast site. :P

jk

Orionizer on Sep 14, 2007

Hehehe - and you probably were worried when my VIP status went south... Actually, I was on month-to-month and my CC company cancelled the card due to it possibly being exposed or something like that... Anyway, as soon as I realized, I did a 1 yr!

So, if you want to credit me for the funds needed to press forward, I'll gladly accept! ;)

NextStudent on Sep 14, 2007

Thank you for keeping us in the loop. Now-a-days it's not often where a company tries to keep you in the loop. :) Thanks again!

Ginny on Sep 14, 2007

Thanks for the update. You guys are doing a great job!!!

rotassator on Sep 15, 2007

Thanks for keeping us updated. We do all really appreciate this site and all you guys behind it (and the hamsters running furiously to keep it all happening).

Are you guys going to go deaf with the new server noise (aka. extra hamsters) now? ;)

elnitido52 on Sep 15, 2007

Things arrr... much better now.
Thanks for the great effort.

dyar on Sep 16, 2007

I'm watching JC set up the new server right now. It's noisy!

I think you got ripped on the new Server. It's no better than the last one(s). Pages are again taking forever to load and duplicate posts are still happening.

tweakedeye on Sep 16, 2007

YEP, TOTALLY worse for me than before.....I just about to delete is from my shortcut toolbar....almost too much PITA. :(

Like my mom used to say....."has so much potential"...LOL

SawanM Vip-micro on Sep 16, 2007

Yeah, I didn't notice a difference.

mcd on Sep 16, 2007

This is ridiculous.

130 seconds to fully load IB homepage on IO Cable connection.

Come on guys. Get it together.

JBVisions on Sep 16, 2007

Crawling here too. I'm just hoping the new server isn't fully commissioned yet cos if it's not that then there's something seriously wrong with the site design.

soprano on Sep 16, 2007

Yeah they were OK for a few days, but it's crawling again.

travisseitler on Sep 17, 2007

Yeah, I pretty much couldn't do anything here over the weekend.

iconmaster on Sep 17, 2007

The server's not actually in the rack yet, guys. Just on deck.

SawanM Vip-micro on Sep 17, 2007

It's working fine right now, but it will probably slow to a crawl.

JTornado on Sep 17, 2007

Thanks for the fix, yesterday the page did not load at all. (I am not complaining, my life does not revolve around icons, I was just surprised that your site was down.)

soprano on Sep 17, 2007

This is strange--none of the avatars are loading! Makes the page loads faster, though.

elnitido52 on Sep 17, 2007

None of the graphics arrr... loading (Avatars or icons tiny preview).

soprano on Sep 17, 2007

Well, the template loads. (IB logo, Post Comment, Send Delivery, Add to Friends, etc.)

laulena on Sep 17, 2007

the pages seem to be working fine for me today. maybe a little slow but everything is loading fine.

sloan on Sep 17, 2007

it was just a momentary glitz

soprano on Sep 18, 2007

This is un-stickied! Did the server get installed?

JBVisions on Sep 18, 2007

No idea but don't the stickies time out after a while?

jmnovak on Sep 18, 2007

Don't know if that's an automatic or manual time-out...
But at least the server is working well at this instant!

Pootee2 on Oct 03, 2007

i keep getting email problems - connection refused - when i email chef@ etc so i cant contact iconbuffet at all anyone else got this problem?

dyar on Oct 03, 2007

Yep, I sent them 2 emails and both were returned.

soprano on Oct 03, 2007

Same here!

soprano on Nov 10, 2007

If you have lots and lots of moolah (seriously), we’re available for hire.
     —the page footer

We stopped taking new client work on a couple months ago
     —this post

Contradiction?