Remember that scene from Yellow Submarine? Sure you do.
Old Fred: Now whatever you do, don't touch that button!Ringo: Which button?
Old Fred: That button.
Ringo: This button?
[presses the button and is ejected]Ringo: Aaaahhhhh!
That's right. I touched the button. Yesterday afternoon I was doing what I thought was some routine maintenance on the site when I inadvertently...deleted the whole thing. I didn't know there was a button for that.
So I want to reiterate: there was no attack. This one was all my doing. I never claimed to be a techie, folks, and now you have all too vivid proof. And I apologize for being unable to post all day, as I was on the Laura Ingraham and Michael Medved shows today, as well as some others, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you notice. However, I think both replay, so you may be able to catch them.
Anyway, thanks to the heroic efforts of Charles Johnson, we are mostly operational again. If the site still looks strange to you, please hit refresh. If it still looks strange after that, you and I have different tastes.
I still cannot access my director@jihadwatch.org email, and have no idea how long it will be down. This is a major hindrance, as you can see from all the "with thanks to..." tags on various posts. But I will put up a few things soon, and hope to be able to resume regular posting tomorrow.
And I promise never to touch that button again.
At least Charles managed to get the whole thing up and running again... so there must have been a database back-up somewhere. Let me start this thread by saying "Thanks a lot" to Charles.
Your experience, Robert, proves to me again that I'm better off running a static html website - no databases, please.
Anyway, good to have jihadwatch back. I was worried.
Oh, dear. And that sounds like something I would do! I'm sure it's been a nightmare, but I had to giggle just a bit.
Oh Heavens! I know how you must feel. I've done equally stupid things on the various sites which I am responsible for. Why don't the techies tell us not to indulge, even by accident, in certain key-strokes? What do they think we are - mindreaders?
Mark-you, I've probably been more incompetent. I once deleted and removed everybodies' email accounts - took me all of five seconds. Believe me, when I cock up, I cock up big time. OK. OK. Some would say, also, most of the time. Can I help it if I'm a klutz on the keyboard and mouse? I try, you know, I really do try!
So don't blame Robert. It really is very easy to screw things up in this electronic age. My friendly local techie claims that he can make everything absolutely idiot proof - until someone comes along and invents a bigger and better idiot (ie me).
Dominic.
Glad to you know only human as well Robert.. :)
LOL!
I am very surprised JW does not have a system administrator and that the director has to involve himself in maintanance. That explains the frequent problems with this site. It may be save money, but it is not smart.
George Rem:
I don't claim any technical expertise, but you're quite wrong in saying "that explains the frequent problems with this site." This is the first time I've done anything like this.
The earlier problems with the site were because the site really was under attack at that time. The attacks stopped when we blocked traffic from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and a few other countries from which the attacks were coming, and moved to a new server.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
Robert Spencer kind of does look like Ringo...haha.
Good reference, I say.
Hitting a button is bad, but missing a button can also be a problem. A vital button (according to Serena Vitale in "Il Botone di Pushkin") was missing from Pushkin's greatcoat when he went out to fight a duel with D'Anthes in January 1837, the whole silly business the result of prideful Pushkin's fury at a certain long-armed bow-legged nobleman's nasty prank. What bullet might have ricocheted off that button had it not been missing?
It's a case of Hit Or Miss. You can't win.
Hugh/
Can one not imagine Robert at his keyboard:
"Never, never, never, never, never!
Pray you, undo this button."
(Lear, I think.)
Dominic.
Ha Ha, did EXACTLY as Mother E. did (who can remember how to spell Ecclesiastica anyway)
Dear Robert, keep your button pusher to yourself, especially anywhere near a computer!
On second thought, keep on pushing those jihadi's buttons right and left!!
The punishment for those who touch that button, shall be execution, or crucifixion, or the amputation of all fingers and the thumb from the dominant hand...
Welcome back...I missed you yesterday- A LOT!
Punishment for computer crimes in America: A couple of months in a country-club prison.
Punishment for computer crimes in an Islamic nation: All kinds of things your really going to miss, LOPPED OFF!!
As a Prison Minister, I have been in many different prisons for many years and state prisons have really bad food over-all. You get beans and rice one day and rice and beans the next day just to give you some variety. I was in Leavenworth Federal Pen (NOT a country-club pen) and in the dining hall they had a SALAD BAR and an inmate CUSTOM COOKING YOUR EGGS TO ORDER!!......thats the Fed's for you.
Well Robert
Allah must have guided your hand. ;-)
I am glad you are back.
ROBERT: "If the site still looks strange to you, please hit refresh. If it still looks strange after that, you and I have different tastes."
No one can accuse you of not having a sense of humor.
Dominic --
That is unbeatable. That is perfect. Nothing can top it.
Mr. S: The next time you're tempted to push a mysterious button, please choose a time when the Interior Department is NOT blocking several other conservative web sites. The coincidence yesterday was too neat to look like a coincidence.
Those of us who couldn't read those other web sites are doubly relieved: certain federal employees aren't quite so malign as they appeared to be yesterday (they were, however, stupid enough to miss JH and DH); and now we know we'll always get JH and DH when we push our own, correct, buttons.
Being a sysadmin by trade, I can tell you that there are four distinct stages of the Horrible Mistake. Stage one is the act itself, selecting the wrong item, clicking twice accidentally, or deleting something. Stage two is the awful, sinking realization that you may have actually make a Horrible Mistake. Stage three is the (usually short) investigation, during which you either feel great relief, or else prove to yourself that you have, indeed, made a Horrible Mistake. Stage four is acceptance, which generally means you've got to tell a colleage or management that you've made a Horrible Mistake, and then find a way to fix it.
By making relatively few Horrible Mistakes I've managed to be passably decent at my job. In the end being honest about it helps a lot. Non-tech people are not capable of making Horrible Mistakes. It is not their job to be so adept with systems - they get instant forgiveness. Then can just fob off the whole process on me, which I truly prefer to having to fix my own.
Dominic--
Take a look at
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm?blog_id=2676
Ah, yes ... THAT button. I have one of those, too. [g]
However, I refuse to incriminate myself by admitting how many times I've used it.
Robert,
Since you mention taste...
I would much prefer the menu at the top of Dhimmi Watch to be in the same format as that at the top of Jihad watch, as I believe was the case until a few weeks ago. It's a bit of a jolt moving from one to the other.
Welcome back, though, in any format.
Regards,
Aardvark:
It is the same. Hit refresh.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
Frieda,
Jihad Watch is not on that Department of Interior ban list. It isn't on the viewable list either; it just seems as if no one there cares about it one way or the other. And why should they? Everyone knows there's no jihad activity in the American interior!
Cordially
Robert Spencer
Aah! THAT refresh...
Hugh/
Thank-you for the link. I have followed it.
Sincerely,
Dominic.
Hope that wasn,t me I,ve been lost in space in another land and on other machines
Not sure what botten is for what botten
must be James Brown Drunk again!!!
Nice to see all is well.
I be missing Frankie maybe later this week who knows
Hell can,t read this dame key bord???
Hugh that one was for you just found it?!
Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
GOD BLESS THE USA AND ALL HER FIGHTING FORCES AND ALL WHO FIGHT WITH HER GIVE THEM STRENGTH, WISDOM, SIGHT, AND COURAGE TO STAND TOGETHER TO DESTROY ALL ISLAMIC TERRORIST AND ALL WHO SUPORT THEM OPEN THE WORLDS EYES TO THEIR THREAT AMEN
PS
Lost in space aint that bad
Glad to see the site back up. Reminds me of the time that I typed "rm -f *" at the UNIX prompt only to realise moments later, to my utter horror, that I was at the root of the filesystem!
(P.S.: I should like to point out that in this post and another you have printed an email address in a format that may be picked up by 'bots and worse -- may I suggest changing it to the safer "[name] AT [domain.com]" format?)