I will give a shout out to the TPM team and their I.T. staff.
I have been fixing computers, re-designing small websites, and doing SEO since 2000 (about the same time TPM was formed. My account says I joined in 2017 or 18 but that is when I became a paying member). I have been in an Enterprise I.T. role since 2012. I don’t have any experience managing a Web 2.0 platform. The main publishing platform and reader experience, that I get…but not incorporating a robust commenting platform and managing the partnership with an entity like Discourse. I know for a fact Josh appreciates the popularity of the Comments side…but I would think it is quite distinct from the publishing and ‘news’ considerations and doubtless presents an enormous challenge technically that TPM (or any publisher) would rather they didn’t have to deal with.
I am not saying that correctly…again I am certain Josh and the TPM people understand the value it has to its members. But in the scheme of things…news, editorials, hiring, firing, payroll, insurance, union, logistics, quality and timeliness of reporting…the comments section is a technilogical black-hole that they cannot avoid. Every time they want to make a move they have 10 options but it always comes back to “but that would break the comments section”. Every decision about webhosting, programming, software, internet provision, bandwidth costs can be handled one way…but then they have to address what will that mean for the commenting platform?
I got most of the warnings (on the site and email) that the maintenance was coming. For the most part, I loved the way comments worked (compared to others I have experience with) and thought it worked very well. And I am glad they kept with the same basic system.
ETA: Remember, it wasn’t like TPM had multiple choices of going with new/different commenting platforms. Building their own isn’t really an option…and going with something other than Discourse would have been great upheaval. So, they basically have only the Discourse upgrade options and timing decisions open to them and I was told this has been in the works for a full year. It probably required buying/leasing new servers and moving everything whilst doing the upgrade and taking every precaution to back things up while maintaining two systems until they are certain the new one is solid.
Years ago I had a Deadhead friend busted for selling large quantities of LSD. I ran into him after he was out of prison. He’d been in a minimum security place in Western Oklahoma. There were no walls, but there was no place to go to for miles and miles. He was able to finish his college degree.
On the downside, as a short Filipino, he was a target. He said he stopped bathing, shaving, and wearing deodorant.
I don’t see how this disrupts Bannon’s routine at all.
a smoking hot issue taking up the minds of House Republicans of late—and no, it’s not the cost of living, or your healthcare. According to Axios, the Rep. Tom Cole’s move (R-OK) to the House Appropriations Committee has left GOP lawmakers without a space to smoke their cigars. Now, they want House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to get involved. Cole told Axios the “hideaway” his Capitol office once provided was a hub for lawmakers to connect and bond about policy over cigars. After taking over Cole’s old office, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), a physician, snuffed the cigar tradition. “We’re trying to work on finding the place — the Rules office was a great place, but I’m not Rules chairman anymore,” Cole told Axios. Other GOP members have since pointed to the ceremonial balcony as an alternative “smoking porch,” though Johnson would need to approve the measure. Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), joked to Axios that “Plan D or E” might be to “smoke in in Mike Johnson’s office,” adding that with his cigars and supplied alcohol, “we’re just going to sit in his office, light up and not leave until Tom Cole gets a hideaway.”
I would add that, from what I know, TPM has 2 I.T. staff. And I believe them when they say they appreciate us and are sorry for any down-time. Also, I appreciate the history of the comments that they have to lug around…years and years of an ever-growing mountain of luggage that could easily have been lost in an I.T. snafu or abandoned in a ‘business decision’. Further, I know from experience sometimes there is no good solution. There will be breakage or mistakes/accidents…and sometimes things must be sacrificed to get to a better place. I spend more time on these boards than any other elective practice and I am glad it keeps chugging on.
I really don’t understand the IT stuff at all, but I do appreciate that sites like this need maintenance and upgrades, and they’re doing it on a fairly small budget.
I mostly read and post from my phone because I work on Remote Desktop and I don’t like toggling in and out, and after work I really don’t want to sit in front of a computer.
The new version seems a bit easier to read on iPhone.
When it is an continuing issue to find a designated smoking area, it does not speak well of the decision makers. In this case, the Republicans. And the smoking porch sounds good. Why should they get an indoor smoking area when the rest of us have to brave the elements and the scorn of the public at large.
My impression was this was a pretty hefty update on the back side. Maybe a major version release or such. I presume this is a package or framework they build upon. And there will be tweaking. I am sort of impressed in they said the weekend and the site was back Monday as noted. Pretty much functional. But somethings left to figure out.
Is there a reason i have no access to today’s (06-18) MM? I tried deleting my cookies, and other comments sections are still working OK, but today’s MM is off limits. It is me? Have i been excluded from today’s discussions?
