Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Dashboard Charts on Handheld Devices
I had a user contact me today to let me know that the clickable charts on the dashboard page are causing problems when viewing stats on the iPhone. To remedy this, I have disabled the charts on iPhone, iPod and BlackBerry devices. This seems like the simplest solution to the problem. If anyone misses the charts on their smaller handheld device, use the support form to let me know which device you're using and we can look into other solutions for this problem.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Organization Name Added to Daily and Page Reports
I've added a new column to the daily and page reports called "Organization". Based on the visitor's IP address, this column will report the name of the organization (eg "Google") if the user originates from a corporate or educational network. For residential networks, you'll find the name of the ISP in this column (eg "Comcast Cable").
This column has been added to the "Extended" report format and is now also available as part of the custom report layouts.
This column has been added to the "Extended" report format and is now also available as part of the custom report layouts.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Network Issues (resolved)
It looks like things were resolved around 1:30 AM EST. I'm told it was a bad network cable, which had actually been in place for years, that became unreliable and caused all of the issues. That's certainly more convenient to fix than replacing expensive hardware, but it's maybe not the obvious first place to look. In the 10+ years the WunderCounter has been online, I can't recall that a network cable was ever the root of a problem like this.
On a technical level, the ping times inside the data centre to the machine are now all under 5ms and there is no packet loss, so things should be as they normally were. I apologize for any inconvenience this problem has caused.
On a technical level, the ping times inside the data centre to the machine are now all under 5ms and there is no packet loss, so things should be as they normally were. I apologize for any inconvenience this problem has caused.
Network Issues
There is currently an issue with the network which is causing the WunderCounter to load very slowly and occasionally not at all. It's an intermittent problem and the folks in the data centre have been troubleshooting this for several hours now. Sometimes the load times are lightning fast, so it's a bit of a head scratcher at this point.
The problem appears to be related to the load balancer which is in front of the rack, but this hasn't been established 100%. The techs have ruled out the main switch as the cause of the problem and they're working to restore the network to the speed it should normally be at.
My apologies for the outages. Since we can't say exactly what the issue is, it's hard to give a timeline for it being fixed. My hope is, of course, that this is fixed very quickly. I'll post an update here when I know that the problem has been resolved.
The problem appears to be related to the load balancer which is in front of the rack, but this hasn't been established 100%. The techs have ruled out the main switch as the cause of the problem and they're working to restore the network to the speed it should normally be at.
My apologies for the outages. Since we can't say exactly what the issue is, it's hard to give a timeline for it being fixed. My hope is, of course, that this is fixed very quickly. I'll post an update here when I know that the problem has been resolved.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
"Vile Christmas" Now Available for Purchase and Download
Occasionally my band releases some music. Sometimes (but not always) I post about it on this blog. I'm particularly happy about this latest effort, so I wanted to make a point of posting about it here as well. "Vile Christmas" is now available for purchase and download at CDBaby.
Over the years we haven't just recorded songs for albums -- we've also made recordings for our family and friends. Vile Christmas is a collection of some of these recordings. These songs were not recorded for radio play, but to amuse family and friends and to provide an interesting gift for the holidays. We hope that these recordings will amuse you too. We had a lot of fun making them. We hope you have just as much fun listening to them.
http://cdbaby.com/vilerichard1
Merry Christmas!
http://cdbaby.com/vilerichard1
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Moving to a new web host? You don't have to transfer your domain name.
Web hosting is a very organic business. Clients come and go all the time. Businesses come and go. Good ideas survive and less successful ones need to be abandoned. Sometimes a move to a new web host is urged on by your web designer. Maybe your designer is more comfortable with her regular web host or, as is quite often the case, your designer is getting a kickback for referring new business. You are now being told to move your site in order to put a few extra bucks in your web designer's pocket. Whatever the motivation, many designers will also tell you that you need to transfer your domain name when you make the move.
Whatever decision you make, you should be aware that moving your hosting business to another provider is more easily done when you do not transfer your domain name. Domain name transfers can be complicated, can involve a lot of frustration and are often just not worth it. You may say that I have a bias here, because I offer both web hosting and domain name registration. For the record, let me just say that I like to make it clear to new clients that they don't have to transfer their domain registration to wundersolutions.com when they move the web site here.
If you choose not to transfer the name, all that is involved is you logging in to your domain management tool and changing the nameservers. This is typically two text boxes which you have to fill in. Click the submit button and you're done. A transfer, on the other hand, involves a purchase of at least one additional year for your domain. It may require filling in an extensive form with the new domain name reseller, requiring an authentication code from your current registrar, waiting for a confirmation email and going to another page to confirm the transfer. Then, once the transfer is complete, you still have to log in to change the nameservers.
It's a complicated and convoluted process. You don't do it often enough to remember the steps. So, next time you move, you'll probably not remember how you did it the first time and the fun begins anew.
You should also keep in mind that many registrars make little to no money on domain name registrations. They're typically "loss leaders", or low priced items designed to attract your initial business so that you'll spend money on hosting, SSL certificates, email etc. My advice? If you're happy with your current registrar, don't bother transferring your domain name. If you're unhappy, by all means, find a new registrar. Just know that it's not a requirement, regardless of what you're told.
Whatever decision you make, you should be aware that moving your hosting business to another provider is more easily done when you do not transfer your domain name. Domain name transfers can be complicated, can involve a lot of frustration and are often just not worth it. You may say that I have a bias here, because I offer both web hosting and domain name registration. For the record, let me just say that I like to make it clear to new clients that they don't have to transfer their domain registration to wundersolutions.com when they move the web site here.
If you choose not to transfer the name, all that is involved is you logging in to your domain management tool and changing the nameservers. This is typically two text boxes which you have to fill in. Click the submit button and you're done. A transfer, on the other hand, involves a purchase of at least one additional year for your domain. It may require filling in an extensive form with the new domain name reseller, requiring an authentication code from your current registrar, waiting for a confirmation email and going to another page to confirm the transfer. Then, once the transfer is complete, you still have to log in to change the nameservers.
It's a complicated and convoluted process. You don't do it often enough to remember the steps. So, next time you move, you'll probably not remember how you did it the first time and the fun begins anew.
You should also keep in mind that many registrars make little to no money on domain name registrations. They're typically "loss leaders", or low priced items designed to attract your initial business so that you'll spend money on hosting, SSL certificates, email etc. My advice? If you're happy with your current registrar, don't bother transferring your domain name. If you're unhappy, by all means, find a new registrar. Just know that it's not a requirement, regardless of what you're told.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
PayPal Single Payments Now Possible
Late in 2010, WorldPay gave me 60 days notice that they would be pulling out of the Canadian market and that I'd have to look elsewhere for credit card processing. The way they handled this could easily be covered in a series of blog posts. Let me just say that, after years of great service from WorldPay things have ended on a very unsatisfactory note for me. I won't be encouraging any more of my clients to go with WorldPay as a billing solution. There are better solutions out there and there are companies out there who will treat you with more respect. That's all I'll say about that for now.
The good news for you is that, as of now, single credit card payments are handled by PayPal. So, if you're already a PayPal user, you can now make WunderCounter payments either by creating a subscription (recurring payments) or you can make your payments manually when they come due. This gives you lots of flexibility. It gives you the hands-off autobill approach or the hands-on manual approach. It really comes down to what you prefer and it makes no difference to me which path you choose. :)
If you don't have a PayPal account, you won't be required to create one in order to make a single (manual) payment, so it won't be much different than making a payment to any other gateway. The difference is that PayPal will handle your credit card details (rather than the WunderCounter) and that's a good thing.
The good news for you is that, as of now, single credit card payments are handled by PayPal. So, if you're already a PayPal user, you can now make WunderCounter payments either by creating a subscription (recurring payments) or you can make your payments manually when they come due. This gives you lots of flexibility. It gives you the hands-off autobill approach or the hands-on manual approach. It really comes down to what you prefer and it makes no difference to me which path you choose. :)
If you don't have a PayPal account, you won't be required to create one in order to make a single (manual) payment, so it won't be much different than making a payment to any other gateway. The difference is that PayPal will handle your credit card details (rather than the WunderCounter) and that's a good thing.
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