Hello, everybody! Long time, no see. Shrtys... er... The Arbiter, has made a hundredth return!

(Update 3/31/05)

March 30th, 2005 From 9PM to 12PM (PST/US West Coast Time) FanFiction.Net will be in read-only mode, submissions and reviewing will not be allowed, while staff perform an emergency hardware upgrade to prevent future down-time.

How many times have we heard that before?

I don't claim to be the authority on website maintainence, but when you have to perform an 'emergency hardware upgrade' five days after a different upgrade, then something's gotta be wrong. And don't go telling me "BUT ARBATUR, SOMETING WUZ RONG AND THEY HAD 2 UPGRAD THA HARDWEAR LOLOLOL!"

It's bullshit. Sure, it's being able to keep up with the growing traffic on FanFiction.net, but really now, is it so difficult to keep upgrades to one instance? If I had the know-how to run a major website and I had to make upgrades, I'd figure there's more to upgrading technology than just slapping in a new console and calling it a day. While we're at it, why not take a look at the other bits and pieces of the grand operation and see if they need upgrades too, or at least check if they're in perfect working order. And then there's compatibility tests that need to be run, because some technologies works well with other technologies, and different kinds of technologies work like Mexican people.

This is my second time trying to write this mini-rant. The first time I tried, it got eaten. Seems as if after all these upgrades, FF.net still can't handle an update to some asshole's BIO page. If you manage to overlook the fact that you fucked up, then give yourself a pat on the back, guys.

Alright, I'm finished. Now go read my stories!