Tech: Mudcat Troubleshooting

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Mr Happy
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 11:32 AM

CC,

You have friends??

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 01:01 PM

Joe/Spaw/and whoever thinks the second post is Pulitzer material:

If you equate having a good time with linking an entire paragraph of obscenities together, you are on a different astral plane. I can get that sort of bilgewater from the out-to-change-the-world-but-what-I-really-want-is-attention pseudo-radicals who have invaded my favorite open mic lately. I can't take my friends THERE, either.

CC

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 07:59 AM

Sorry, Joe - it was late.
Thanks for your help.
Ross

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: reggie miles
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 03:15 AM

So, Joe, I guess if the trolls have taken over the help section as you stated in the first post on this thread that may be why I've not received answer from you. Is PMing you still the best way to reach you?

---

Hi, Reggie - long time, no see. Yes, a PM is the best way to reach me. Otherwise you can e-mail me, [e-mail]
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 01:39 AM

Well, there's some fooling around here, Charlie - but it's generally for a serious purpose. We don't want to get too serious, though - most of are here to have a good time.

Ross, I should have been able to tell you about Messages by Day long ago, but my mind is failing. Occupational hazard, you know...

The Filter displays 1000 threads max - right now, that's about three weeks' worth of threads, not just three days. Guess Ross's mind may be failing, too.

Misery loves company.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 12:44 AM

"Aha, she cried, and waved her wooden leg!" (from one of my "random" discoveries).

"Messages by Date" in the Quick Links does exactly what I want - about 500 messages going back from the date you key in.

Thanks again, kat. Still learning about this great site.

Ross

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 12:33 AM

Thanks, katlaughing
I hadn't picked up on that.

Ross

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie
Date: 10 Mar 08 - 12:24 AM

To think I took this as a serious thread. Great. Now how about moving it to BS?

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Mar 08 - 11:47 PM

Ross, are you aware of the "Messages Since Last Visit" option in the Quick Links? That's an easy and quick way to see what has been posted between your visits. That might at least help with what you might miss of new stuff.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 09 Mar 08 - 11:08 PM

Joe, thanks for the ask, and Spaw, thanks for the answer - I might have to take you up on that if no solution can be found.

I'm not sure when I first noticed the change, but I reckon up to about last January I was able to use the Refresh(All) option in the threads index page to get a listing of every thread back to the year dot, in order of last post. If I do this now I find that the first 1000 entries are listed (usually about three days' worth of posts), but it is impossible to get any further back. I understand this limitation was introduced to keep file-sizes from getting out of hand.

This has several disadvantages for me. If I'm away from internet access for a few days, I can't find out what people may have posted in the interval. It's easy to miss topical information (club/concert/festival dates) in that sort of timescale. And if you don't know what topics may have been discussed, you can't use keywords to pick up the threads.

I also used the historic listing to browse for inactive threads that may have generated great interest in the past - I found some great discussions this way, things I could find now because I know they are there, but which I couldn't possibly have found by keyword.

Joe has suggested the method above for calling up individual threads in sequence, and I have tried this, starting with thread 4 - but it's very labour-intensive, you don't find out the topic till you've actually brought up the page, so not a good method for seeking random interesting threads.

Another method of "randomising" the selection of threads to look at is to pick a Mudcat name, anyone who has contributed to a thread I've enjoyed, say "Joe Offer" or "catspaw49".
Clicking on the name brings up a list of that person's contributions (and there are happily quite a few of you who have been posting regular and fascinating material from way back).
The latest 250 posts are listed, but there is an option to step all the way back to someone's first Mudcat post.

What I suggested to Joe was that the "Refresh" results could possibly be presented in the same way as the "Name" results, to bring back the historical range that used to be there. As a former programmer, I am aware that things that look simple to do ain't necessarily so, but if something like that could be devised, that would be great.

As things stand, the "Refresh " options beyond three days are effectively blocked.

Ross

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Mar 08 - 01:35 PM

No, but I used to know several women who turned them if that helps...................

Spaw

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Mar 08 - 01:01 PM

I got a message from somebody who wants to look at threads that go way back into Mudcat history. The Filter allows a display of only the last 1,000 threads that meet the filter criteria, so ADD and REQ threads older than that first thousand won't appear. He knows how to use the filter to search for specific words, but he wants to see a forum menu with the first 250 threads, the next 250, and so forth.

Anybody know how to do that?

He knows how to view threads one at a time, but starting with
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=1
and changing the number, but he wants a menu. Anybody know a trick?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: OldPossum
Date: 15 Dec 07 - 04:18 PM

I agree with Jeri. In the last few days the place has been absolutely flooded with Google ads about "Adolf Hitler" or "Third Reich Videos". I used to get them something like 99 times out of 100.

I found it so offensive that I have now blocked Google ads completely from my PC.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Rowan
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 10:22 PM

Usually, if the post does not 'take', you will not see the thread you posted to come to the top....now, if you hit 'back', you should see your post still there, as you typed it. Highlight it, copy it to the clipboard, then go forward and reload Mudcat! Then go to your thread and re-submit it. I have never had it fail when I do this.

(I use Opera & Firefox, and they retain the typing in past history pages until you close the browser)
Bill, the same trick also works in Safari.

my bottom bar shows a "Done but with errors on page" (in IE7).
John, I too have noticed such messages (occasionally) in the same place (again, on Safari) but it hasn't been associated with any delays. Then again, I'm behind a serious firewall and on broadband, so am unlikely to experience dialup problems.

About the "nazi" Google ads: The selection of two ads to be displayed at the bottom of a thread is obviously made by some computer program ("bot"?) that picks up clues from that particular thread's text.
PoppaGator (and others), I suspect there is also a regional determinant influencing which Google ads are selected to appear on each thread. At the time of this posting (Sataurday afternoon in Oz) the ads are "Learn to use the secret" (no other info and I'm not interested in pursuing it) and "Face skin suture lift" with an Oz Freecall phone number (but ditto).

I've not noticed any Nazi or white supremacist ads but I tend to have a blind spot that means I don't see ads much of the time anyway. On top of that, Australia has legislation against behaviour tending to vilify ethnic or religious groups and such ads might fall foul of Oz legislation. I'll keep an eye out for them in future.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: PoppaGator
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 02:37 PM

I've only rarely had a post disappear after typing and submitting. What a bummer when it does happen! I've never tried to recover ~ like Joe, I generally chalk it up to fate or karma or whatever. (Almost anything I ever write is something I might later think better of.)

About the "nazi" Google ads: The selection of two ads to be displayed at the bottom of a thread is obviously made by some computer program ("bot"?) that picks up clues from that particular thread's text. I've noticed several times over the years ~ not just here at Mudcat ~ that mention of "Irish" and/or "Celtic" is very often interpreted as "white/Caucasian," and more specifically, as white-supremist. Of course, people of Irish/Celtic descent are generally white, but our attitiudes towards fellow humans of other genetic heritages vary greatly among indiviudals. Some few are undoubtedly racists, but it should not be assumed that every paleface of northern European descent is necessarily a potential recruit for the KKK.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 11:51 AM

Not really a problem, but I've seen numerous instances when the Google ad, especially the one at the bottom of the page shows an "Unable to open" or "file not found" and sometimes a "401 error" in the ad box. Since these come from "off-site" and are managed by "others," mudcat has little control over the reliability of the connection to the ad insert.

On some other sites, I've seen the page that's wanted fail to load when the ads load first and one or more ads fail. The whole connection just fails. MSNBC is a prime example, since they load about 1.9 MB (it seems) of ad junk before they give you the 3 KB article.

On some other sites, I've seen an extreme delay in finishing the download before the page appears, apparently due to searching for the missing ad link before going to - or completing - the site's own page.

Often in such cases, my bottom bar shows a "Done but with errors on page" (in IE7). This particular error could be something that would cause a mudcat slowdown that people with a faster connection might notice; although with my dial-up it's hard to tell.

John

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 11:24 AM

You mean...*gasp*..I've met Steve Martin????

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: MMario
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 10:22 AM

Joe Offer is really nothing except a Turing program Max cobbled up a few years ago - we *think* we've met him in 3D - but that guy is really an actor.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 10:18 AM

Fate is fickle, Joe.:-)

RtS - we all have certain *visions* of Joe!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 09:30 AM

Is it just me but I picture Joe as a Jack Reacher figure (read Lee Child's novels) coming into town and solving our problems "firmly" and moving on with a tip of the hat...

RtS
(yes, it's just you, Roger, have you had your meds checked recently?)(

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 01:53 AM

I've considered composing my Mudcat messages in a word processor and spellchecking and protecting myself from loss and all that - but I wrote off the idea as anal-retentive.
I figure if a message I typed disappears, fate had a hand in it. Maybe I said something stupid that was better off not being posted.

But then, what about all the stupid things I say that do get posted?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 12:39 AM

I've had that happen to me, too, Bill, many times.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 11:14 PM

Janie...about your question of posts not appearing.

I, too, find this happening now & then. It may have something to do with the cache, or with Mudcat being in the middle of some process...etc...I really am not sure, but I know how to combat it - IF you notice right away! Usually, if the post does not 'take', you will not see the thread you posted to come to the top....now, if you hit 'back', you should see your post still there, as you typed it. Highlight it, copy it to the clipboard, then go forward and reload Mudcat! Then go to your thread and re-submit it. I have never had it fail when I do this.

(I use Opera & Firefox, and they retain the typing in past history pages until you close the browser)

Of course, if you actually compose your posts in a word processing program, like some smart folks, and copy & paste it to Mudcat, you'll have it without all the back & forthing...but I am never that clever.

I repeat...I do NOT know why this sometimes happens, but with a little care, you need not ever lose a long post again.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:35 PM

I have found it pretty much as fast as usual today. So you may be looking at regional net bottlenecks of some sort, not server response time from mudcat.org.


A

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 08:54 PM

Joe O.: Thank you for your replies. I knew about the problem with the forum search; I had merely forgotten that the recourse was named Old Advanced Forum Search, and that it was to be found under Quick Links. I will make a note of that. But it seems to me that, for the (rather long) time being, the OAFS, whatever its faults, is more useful than the AFS, and that it, rather than (or in addition to) the AFS, should be featured in a prominent box, rather than hidden in what is to me a rather obscure leaf on the decision tree.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 08:01 PM

The Mudcat has been slow for me the last day or so. Usually it isn't.

Jeri, I have not seen any ringtone ads.

Spaw, who in real life is the Archbishop of Canterbury, must be feeling the stresses of the season. Best wishes, Spaw.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:12 AM

Mudcat is running slower than anything else I load. Maybe a few new parts and pieces will help. So if you haven't as of yet, why not stop by THIS THREAD AND PAY UP(;<))

Spaw

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:08 AM

I did notice a couple of resurrected threads had nonsense postings in, maybe we were repelling boarders at the time?

Or can we, unlike the 'USSS Enterprise', fire when our shields are up?

LTS

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:01 AM

It's been slow here too. Internet Traffic report says the US is running at 95% or better, so maybe it's the cat. Don't know.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 08:38 AM

Joe, I haven't had problems with speed most of the time, but I've gotten numerous, 'the server has been placed off-line by the operator' (or words to that effect) messages. It's usually back within seconds.

My question is where the HELL all of these N*zi (and N*zi r*ngtones) Google ads are coming from!? They're in most threads, and I don't understand what in the threads would trigger them.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 01:43 AM

Mudcat seems to have been slow all week, but especially yeasterday. Anybody having the same experience, or is my new Broadband on the blink already?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe_F
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 08:20 PM

1. I read the Mudcat with Firefox. I would rather use the keyboard than the trackball. If I put the cursor to the left of an entry in the list, I can move it up & down with the arrow keys, and then, when it is next to something I want to read, I can bring that up with the Enter key. It used to be that, after returning to the list with the Back Space key, I would find the cursor where it was, and could go down the list again with the arrow key. Now, for some reason, that almost never happens; when I get the list back, the cursor has disappeared, and I have to put it back using the trackball. (But occasionally it is still there.) Is this may fault or yours?

2. The documentation for searches gives a routine that confessedly does not see any of the postings for the last couple of years. There used to be a way around that, i.e., a way of searching the Forum that saw everything up to the present. I have forgotten what it was, and now I can't find documentation for it anywhere. Does it still exist?

---

#1 - I think that one's your fault, Joe. That seems to be something that happens when your browser or operating system gets an update. Or, it could be a conflict between the mouse, keyboard, and trackball.

#2 Is our fault. Our main search engine depends on an index, and the index has not been updated since our Big Crash of the summer of 2005. You'll find workarounds in the FAQ, but they're not perfect.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 09:39 PM

Yeah, Amos. And Dawn Causeley (the first picture) and Kim McPhail (further down the line) are either the same photograph or twins. I think some of the other photos are duplicates also.

Joe and Spaw, just remember these profound words of wisdom:

Ignoring Reality is easier than changing it.
                            -- Rat

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Amos
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 09:12 PM

I dunno what this has to do with Mudcat Troubleshooting, John, but them there are some of the sorriest, most-downbeat, beat-up, down-and-out, steamrollered sorry sack folks Ihave ever been disturbed to look upon, except for one or two of 'em.


A

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 09:02 PM

something profound!

PRO - - - FOUND (Warning - possibly disturbing content)

John

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 01:38 AM

Aw, gee, it's just like the good old days...

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 01:28 AM

Is that why I have gas and it smells so bad? I mean if its all coming from a profound post, I'll be extra careful to NOT make anymore of them!!! I'll just be glad when this one passes.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 12:59 AM

I think yer profound post went right up yer arse, Spawdarlin'...(ewww I am baaad, tonight!)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 12:53 AM

......***sigh***.......wow......That's so neat Joe. A profound post....................I wish I had a profound post somewhere. All these years and just tripe....pure tripe.....nothing missed if lost to the ether.................******large sigh******.............I'm gonna' sit down sometime next week and think up something profound! No shit....I'm gonna' do it!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Janie
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 09:42 PM

OK Joe, Here's one fer ya. In the last few weeks I have had a number of posts "not take."    Hit submit, seems to go fine, but the post is not there on the thread. This has happened very occasionally in the past. But in the last 1 to 1 1/2 weeks it has happened 5 or 6 times.

Janie

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 06:01 PM

I wonder how many websites have been going for 11 years with 'almost' complete archives back to the beginning?

Now...add to that websites run on a shoestring and on small servers in someone's basement.

It ain't perfect, but it is amazing.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: nutty
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 04:41 PM

Thanks Spaw (and Joe) .... for giving me the best laugh of the day

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 04:18 PM

Did Spaw say anything? Does Spaw even exist? I have trouble believing Spaw exists; perhaps Joe can help?

Subject: RE: Mudcat Troubleshooting
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 03:56 PM

This place sucks and so do you. Joe Offer my ass. They ought to call you Jerk Offer or even better "Jerk Off." You and your prima type clones don't do a thing except to kiss the ass of Max Spiegel and worship at the feet of the "Mudcat Elite." This is a lousy board too and I hate using it. Anyone who likes this pathetic format can go straight to hell. What am I saying? Coming to this forum is like being in hell anyway. Up yours. Screw you and the horse you rode in on. You and all the Mudcat Royals can suck off camels!

Well that's better. Now it looks like the Help Forum of old sorta'.



Spaw........damn...forgot to sign out.....sign me "Anonymous".....no make that "Anonymous Former Member aka catspaw49".........no....hold on, better make it......."TLOM" for True Lover of Mudcat..........no, that's not good either......just go with "Death to Mudcat."

---

I worship at your feet, O Great Catspaw, King of the Mudcat Elite...
-Joe Offer, sycophantically-

Subject: Troubleshooting
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 03:25 PM

This is an edited PermaThread, used to deal with technical problems at Mudcat - kind of a replacement for the Help Forum, which was taken over by trolls. Feel free to post here to report or discuss Mudcat technical problems, but note that all messages here are subject to editing and deletion.
Note that this thread is only for technical problems. If you want to report offensive messages or troll activity or the like, please do not exacerbate the problem by posting public notice of it. Contact me by Personal Message or by e-mail [[e-mail]].
Thanks.
-Joe Offer-