Community Server

Apologies for the lack of blogging recently, but I've been busy running my annual March Madness Pool. This year I made an addition to the site to permit interaction between the pool players, powered by a nifty platform called Community Server. The platform, which runs on an MS SQL database through my hosting service, permits me to have an online forum, blogs, and any other content I want to include. Community Server also offers options for setting up photo galleries and other types of file sharing, RSS newsfeeds and blog syndication, and it can support thousands of individual users.

The control interface is quite user friendly, although customization is not quite as easy as the promotional copy would lead you to believe - a considerable amount of effort tweaking config files is required (no simple task for a non-techie like myself), although after reviewing tips offered by other users of CS, I was able to stumble and bumble my way through.

Besides, how can you complain when the thing is free (for the Personal Edition, that is). Powerful tools such as this that allow vast interaction and collaboration among thousands of people - coupled with virtually unlimited integration of constantly updated content - is part of what people mean when they talk about the concept of Web 2.0.

And how do I wield this mighty tool of the future? I use it to make a March Madness office pool more fun for the participants. Call it Pool 2.0...

DST2K

A site of mine, MarchMadPool.com, that is hosted by GoDaddy.com is down today, as are many other sites hosted by GoDaddy. Some suspect that GoDaddy's hosting servers were ill-prepared for this morning's early change to Daylight Savings Time; Elf M. Sternberg calls it a "mini-Y2K, and says "this completely sucks". I couldn't agree more - MarchMadPool.com is a site I use for a large NCAA tournanment pool that I run every year, and today is Selection Sunday! This is inexcusable, especially since they've had nearly two years to get ready - the legislation changing DST was signed in 2005.

It appears other computers are also experiencing "DST2K" problems: Sprint phones aren't showing the correct time, and neither is my own T-Mobile Blackberry (tried powering it on and off, but that didn't help). And flights at Philadelphia International Airport have reportedly been delayed by a DST time glitch.

Fortunately, my battery-powered analog wall clock is showing the correct time, after a simple spin of the dial in the back of the clock. Sometimes simpler is better...

UPDATE: The Team Murder blog points to a PC World article from yesterday, in which GoDaddy poo-pooed concerns raised by a customer that its servers weren't prepared for the new DST:

"Thank you for contacting Online Support. As Daylight Savings [sic] does not apply to our servers, since we are on Arizona Time and our time zone does not change, our servers wouldn't update," reads one of the replies he received, and which he provided to IDG News Service.

Are. You. Effing. Kidding. Me?

UPDATE II: YawpCo! reports that "as of 3:18pm EST it appears that GoDaddy services are restored". But my MarchMadPool site is still down...

UPDATE III: See the comments at this Slashdot post for a tech geek discussion of the GoDaddy debacle.

UPDATE IV: As of 3:48pm EST my MarchMadPool.com site is back up and running - praise be! Let's just hope it stays up for the duration of March Madness...