Ahh Doody ...:(
Take a deep breath, blow it out - and don't even think about that old place!:)
:grouphug:

Status
 

I was able to get onto the chronic pain forum OBT and watched a thread about the problem since last week, I held down myCTRL button and asif it was bypassing pop up to allow it to opwn I could get on.

Zobie slayer had information of the techno situation as they work on it.

If unable to post this techno pass on, mod's just delete it. Nice to know what the trouble is why I passed it on....
Dianne

ZS-

the administrator is working from inside the "Hasty Pastry" office where the BrainTalk Server is physically mantained. When there, he "sees" BT Communities by connecting through the internal network, not the internet. His first look at BT last friday, after I had alerted him to the problem, was in confusion...

"Things are loading fine on the internal network."
They never lost power. They had battery backups.

Last night, status was the same. Perhaps a tiny bit faster, but only a drop in the bucket...

did narrow it down to which T1 connection at the "Hasty Pastry" that is giving all of you the trouble.

If things go right, hoping for a resolution within a few days if not sooner.

Maybe the ISP might have to get involved. I see that as the worst case scenario. We may need them to send a guy/gal out. It could be their problem...
__________________

Administrator/Community Manager

Cheryl, do you know if they get paid for providing the website? I know the donations go to the maintenence of the site, but not sure about a "salary". Anyone?

I only have 2 sets of question I have yet to get any answers to:

Why does this sort of problem take over a week to fix? Doesn't anyone care to get the thing that thousands rely on fixed asap instead "When we get around to it"?

What can be done in the future to ensure it doesn't happen again, given BT's history of technical "glitches" that seem to take it down for months at a time, or seriously impair its service?

Thanks,
John

Hi Doc

Well in my own opinion the reason is that John L is away a lot from Boston and the home of the server in the basement of Hasty Pastry and his so called assistants are in California. They have no access to the site at all save for being able to exercise a few changes here and there.

The head honcho is about to make some changes in the general design of the forums such as reducing the topics or some such thing on the individual forums. He is starting with the epilepsy forum as that is his original home forum but you can't see what is happening as because of "security" reasons you have to private mail him and get a password to see what he is trying to do. I assume he has started an example and only the chosen may view it.

Or he is starting his own site. Your imagination can run wild over there but the one fact is evident all over that the members are of no value to the site whatsoever.

John was just recently or in the near future in Calgary Alberta for a meeting, this month for sure is all I am positive of. Whether he takes time to fix the site is debatable.

He will never let anyone but himself fix it regardless of who they are as it is the best reference he has for what he is doing now.

The whole site is a farce and the board he has is useless save for boosting and boasting of what it used to be with no noise as to what it has become.

So in answer to your question it will remain the same as it is for the near future as it survives it's past and then fades into oblivion as it is now headed.

Slow or fast, good or indifferent it is serving it's purpose of being and that is all they want for now. Another non-profit fiasco.


As to what can be done to bring it back is a hard question to answer as when the reporter was asking about all the sites for Neurological diseases and conditions I read what his, John's friend and board member had to say to her and it was as if he was relating what was 5 years ago.

The members also wrote to her and while they had good intentions they waxed on about how good the site was and seemed oblivious to the present condition. So this is what went out in print. And many read it and think how wonderful and indeed once it was so.

I don't think John will ever sell it and while he has seemingly no interest in what is being conducted there by his staff it still serves a purpose.

But the one question for me is where is the reality or is it just Reality now...................It is what you want it to be and to heck with what others see or want.

This site is going to surpass all that Braintalk promised and has failed to deliver. He promised compassion and caring and being there for the long haul and chose instead to leave it all in the hands of one who neither cares nor is the least bit interested in the site or the members in general.

More fools the members be that still are trying to find the good and the value in what once was a beautiful dream.

Wake up people and see this is the reality that you are searching for and try and bring those who need it here.

Sorry if I hurt feelings but the truth is not to be denied but told straight and upfront not banned nor censored by anyone.

for it is truth that will allow us all to go forward.

Thanks for reading

Thelma

When...
 

I read "promises" and see they are broken, over and over and when I see explanations late or never coming, and when I suspect doubletalk...I lose interest pretty quickly.

Promises: JL promised that the 2000 board would remain with all its information in read only format... REALITY: it was turned off with no warning.

Downs/glitches: responded to days later, or never (we did not hear from any admin about the current problem for DAYS).

Doubletalk: Blocking links to here-- censoring them in posts.
"Can't work on form lists --only John can do that"--- well Admins there have
added forums to the list, are going to work on Epilepsy forum, have closed Sanctuary to guests, etc. They seem very capable of DOING things.

I posted this once before and I will so again:
As of 10-10-97 there were THREE earlier forums before the 1997 version
and all of them were dropped and no information saved. This is posted clearly on The Wayback Machine in Spinal Forum.
The 2000 forum was turned off with no warning after promises to keep it archived. (some is on Wayback Machine but the vast majority is lost forever).
The 2004 forum is totally lost-- I do not think any archive will be forthcoming from it (it was huge and filled with information) and now we cannot access
the BT forums efficiently at all. Trying to keep information SAFE here and link to it is being censored and blocked.

It is not the handling of one down that is upsetting people...it is a 10 yr history of behavior that disrespects those who made BT a novel, helpful, informative place.

I just went there and read the announcement at Epilepsy... so there will be little islands now of special people with passwords
who can post and block general readers? Make it an exclusive club? :( How will people in need find what they want? That is what made BT great...its availability. I have been looking at their forums home...not many members are there anymore...just trolling bots.

And I won't even address the "reign of terror" that lasted over a year there that many here know about. That seems to be over,
and there is no reason to dredge it up again. It alone was devastating!

thanks for your thoughtful insights...to me it's like a lost love. You just can't "go home again". :grouphug:

you're welcome, Alffe!
 

And Love is blind is it not, often?

Requests made...
 

I have made repeated requests regarding the status/plans for database restoration, reliability, etc. at BT and still no information. I have also requested that if the database will not be restored, please make this clear with a statement so the users will not keep “wondering” about it… still no information. Mike Weins (ZombieSlayer) has made a valiant effort to keep BT running for these past several months, but since he is on the other side of the country to where the server is located, there isn’t much he can do to fix hardware, etc. problems.

One can only assume that BT is still primarily a one-person operation. While this person was employed at MGH and it was his job to support the site, everything went well. But since this is no longer the case, the site appears to continue to die a slow death. Note no status/plans/information from any of the members of the board of directors either (or at least nothing that I have seen). These issues were discussed months ago after the last crash and many excellent suggestions/recommendations were submitted (both here and at BT) and some offered financial assistance. But again, little to nothing with regards to plans/implementation.

Thanks DocJohn for understanding the importance of reliability and support for a site such as this.

I first went to BT when I had surgery looming in 04. I know alot of people were members long long before that. I did not see the BT that many did back then. Instead the BT I saw was one of heavy handed one sided control. Dare say anything negative about on of the favorites and the swift hand of banning came down hard. And no I was never banned but I was afraid to speak my mind at times.

When I joined it was because of Rock (remember him) he made you feel so comfortable that I thought I would jump in. I did learn so much from the members there and I am very thankful for that.

Now JL has moved on to bigger and better things on the back of the many who built his legacy. It is time to let it go and move your bags or baggage:p here. Remember what we have all been taught. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I refuse to be fooled by what I see as the biggest fool of all.

Thanks Dr John for giving us a new confortable home. I hope I didn't offend any as these are my thoughts and mine alone. Have a great day...Sue :) :grouphug: