BlueHost is a Failure at Customer Service

Technology
Nov 18, 2008

A few weeks ago my hosting provider, BlueHost, upgraded their servers. In doing so, they also removed the options of using PHP4 and went to PHP5 exclusively. Several angry phone calls to them later resulted in yielding no meaningful resolution. Many of my sites work fine on PHP5, however I had one legacy site from a rather large customer still on an old version of Drupal.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had trouble with BlueHost. They had upgraded their rails installation twice, also without any prior notice, breaking several of my production websites. I’ve read other horror stories concerning BluHhost, including one from my favorite webcomic, but in the several years I had been with them I didn’t have any major issues. It is only this past year that they preformed lots of random upgrades without telling anyone.

When I asked why they hadn’t sent out any notices, the manager on their support line told me they had sent out a notice a year ago that PHP4 would be phased out. I asked repeatedly why they hadn’t sent out a recent notice within the past month or week? He felt as if the notice a year previous had been enough. I checked my e-mail and sure enough, the very last message I ever received from BlueHost was dated November 29, 2007.

The past three week has been spent moving to a much faster and more reliable web hosting solution. I’ve migrated several old legacy applications that were originally managed by Drupal and Ruby on Rails into WordPress. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Rails so far and with my new host charging extra for Rails, I decided I’m better off migrating those sites to WordPress. I’ve been impressed with WordPress and all its functionality and plug-ins. I’ve come to realize I’d rather spend more time doing what I want to do rather than trying to figure out how to do it.

The last time I had to move web hosts was from DarkFiles. They gave their customers plenty of notice when they decided to get out of the web hosting industry. At the time I was in school and had more time to work on the transition (and fewer sites). This transition has helped me deal with a lot of things that needed to be upgraded and changed. In ways I am glad, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. Moving forward, I would highly suggest to anyone using BlueHost to migrate their web hosting provider soon. BlueHost’s service has been absolutely horrible and is only suitable for the smallest and least relevant website. Their hosting may be cheap, but you do get what you pay for.

Sequatchie Valley Institute and Mountain Top Removal

Politics
Nov 12, 2008

Honor Thy Soldier

Politics
Nov 12, 2008

This morning I attended a Veterans Day memorial service. A crowd of people gathered in a somber mood for a ceremony of patriotic hymns and praise of all the soldiers who have served the United States. Yet as singers and speakers praised those who “Fight for our freedom,” in an emotional tidal wave that sent tears around the crowd, I couldn’t help but think to myself that these troops do not fight for my freedom.

Major Brian Borek with the US Army spoke to the audience. A distinguished officer who has served in various capacities gave homage to friends; fellow soldiers he had lost in Iraq. His words chocked and he held back tears as he spoke their names. His speech felt real in a sea of clichés. And even as he spoke about the friends he had lost I couldn’t help but think, keeping the utmost of respect, they did not need to die.

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Obamanation

Politics
Nov 7, 2008

On November 4th, I found myself at a Chattup Election Party in downtown Chattanooga. We were a room full of mostly liberals and a few conservatives; an island with an endless sea of red outside the windows. A projector and a monitor displayed two news coverage feeds. There was beer, pizza, camaraderie, mobile social networking devices, constant twittering and a large roar as several networks declared Barack Obama the winner of the 2008 US presidential elections.

As everyone cheered, I simply smiled. I saw a crowd both on TV and in that room that was completely enamored with Obama, his campaign and legacy. I am a liberal and deep down, I did want Obama to win. Still in recent weeks I’ve come to understand why people look up to and support McCain, even if I did not think he would make a good president in these times. Still, waving a marking slogan of Change and Hope seemed cliche and trite and made me question if even Obama would be able to turn this country around.

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Vote for Nobody

Politics
Nov 3, 2008

My Election Yard SignAre you ready to throw your vote away? There are two major parties and heaven forbid you vote for anyone else. After all, a vote for a third party takes a vote away from either Obama or McCain and could cause a candidate closest to your values to lose, especially in swing states. So we are told we must vote strategically; that we must vote for the “Lesser of the two Evils,” and thereby trapping us in an undemocratic two party system with only a perception of real choice.

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Who Ownes US Debt?

Politics
Oct 22, 2008

The US Government doesn’t have the money to continue funding the war, social programs and the new massive bailout package. So the question remains: who owns our debt? The following chart contains the percentages of foreign debt held by other countries as of August 2008. Keep in mind this is only foreign debt and doesn’t show the massive amount of domestically held debt, which would take up half of the pie in itself.

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The Cost of the Bailout

Politics
Oct 20, 2008

With so many huge numbers being thrown around, the question must be asked, what is the real cost of the bailout? The answer: $3,222.78 per US Citizen. The number was the result of research done by Noah Holcomb, a mechanical engineer whose professional work includes quality control and cost analysis in the manufacturing industry. The following is his analysis of the bailout, complete with sources to the original data:

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Coming Home

Politics
Oct 15, 2008

“The entire deaths of Vietnam died in vain. And they’re dying in vain right this very second. And you know what’s worse than a soldier dying in vain? It’s more soldiers dying in vain. That’s what’s worse.” -Mike Gravel, former Senator of Alaska


Coming Home a Hero vs Coming Home in Defeat
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McCain’s Honor

Politics
Oct 11, 2008

Senator John McCain believed the Vietnam war was winnable, and it is important to understand why he not only believed that Vietnam was winnable, but that Iraq is winnable as well. It goes back to core principals of honor which are shared by a long line of military commanders in McCain’s family. But Honor is an ideological tenant that can not be a shield from the realities of power and politics.

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Hoping for the Apocalypse

Politics
Oct 2, 2008

Back in high school I remember hearing numerous people in different churches who talked about their belief that Jesus would come back to Earth in their lifetimes. They saw the signs and fulfillment from prophecy everywhere, but how much of this prophecy is self fulfilled from vague interpretations of scripture? Why are some Bible texts interpreted literally and others metaphorically? Why are some Christians so desperate to see the end of the world and to what ends does that affect the actions of fundamentalists in political office?

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