Baseball Think Factory has disappeared!
From Wiki Gonzalez
[Note, 1:37 PDT; anyone else having this problem? name servers for the domain baseballthinkfactory.org point www.baseballthinkfactory.org to 66.197.211.53, but alas, when one visits that age, there is only a database error.]
The information on this page is mostly relevant to the November 30, 2006 outage. It will not fix the problems behind the May 10, 2007 outage.
If you have access, the best thing to do during an outage is to visit IRC.
For people having trouble getting back in for the June 9/10 outage, because BTF is on a new server, make sure you don't have the old fixes still in your HOSTS file.
Q1. Baseball Think Factory has disappeared! What's the deal?
A1. One possibility is a domain name problem. Quoting Jim Furtado from the home page the last time this happened:
"The site is currently in domain registrar limbo between my current registrar (godaddy.com) and my former registrar (registerfly.com). I've been told an error occurred during the transfer process. As a result, although the site shows current and up-to-date at godaddy.com, somehow the record was/is still controlled by registerfly.com. I've been assured by both registrars that the problem soon will be rectified."
A1a. Another possibility is the BBTF database being down. Expression Engine produces this delightfully descriptive error message that says it all.
- Database Error: Unable to connect to your database. Your database appears to be turned off or the database connection settings in your config file are not correct. Please contact your hosting provider if the problem persists.
The best option here is to wait.
Q1a. Does that infer Option J?
Q2. How do I fix/work around the domain name problem?
A2. The site normally appears to be at IP Address 66.197.211.53. The workaround would be to create an entry in your local hosts file, redirecting the BBTF URL to this address.
- In Windows XP place the line "66.197.211.53 www.baseballthinkfactory.org" in \windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
- In Linux or Mac OS X put it in /etc/hosts.
- In Windows 95/98/ME place the line in \windows\hosts (you may need to create the file if it doesn't exist). Jack Keefe was able to do this, so it can't be terribly difficult.
Q2i: What the hell is '"/etc/hosts'" in Mac OS X? What the hell are you talking about? I don't see any folder with that name anywhere.
A2i: This is where Macintosh and Unix collide. There's a whole bunch of stuff you can't see, because the Aqua interface in OS X operates inside the shell. Do this: Open the terminal (first time for everything, right?), type "ls" and press "return". There's everything at the root level of your home directory. Now type "ls /" and press "return". There's everything at the root level of the shell. Now press "Cmd - Q" to quit the terminal, and don't ever go there again. There's no way in Hell I'm going to try talking you through it any farther.
A2i from Andere: You can only do it if you have administrative permissions on your Mac. Type /etc/hosts into your URL box in Safari or whatever browser you are using. (Actually, it has to be Safari. Firefox won't take you there.) A folder will open up with a file called "hosts" highlighted. First you have to give yourself permission to open the file, so go to "Get Info" under "File". At the bottom of the window that opens up, you will see options for Ownership & Permissions, and that it is read only. Click the little lock to unlock it. You will see that O&P is assigned to "System". Change it to yourself. Now it will say that it is read & write accessible. Once this is done, you will still not be able to modify the hosts file, because the Folder it's in is also locked. So, go back to the etc/hosts window, and unhighlight the hosts file by clicking on the top of the window. Now, go to "Get Info" again and change the permissions for the etc folder just like you did for the the "hosts" file. Now you can modify the hosts file. Double click on it and it will open up a text file. At the bottom, paste in the new host info as instructed. Save the file, quit Safari, and when you reopen it you should be able to get to BTF. If not, clear your cache and restart (thanks, B9).
A2i from B9: What? Are you high? If you have admin permissions on your Mac then you damned well better learn how to use them. Knowledge is Power, Think Different, yada yada yada.
From Andere: Learning Unix commands kinda defeats the whole purpose of using an OS like OSX, doncha think? Anyway, what you described certainly works just as well -- I was able to figure out the above and I haven't done any Unix in ten years at least.
Run the application called Terminal, then at the command prompts, type:
% cd /private/etc
then:
% sudo pico hosts
At the "Password" prompt: type your admin password
You've now opened the hosts file! Use the down arrow to go the first blank line at the end of the hosts file.
The current last line probably says:
colon colon 1 localhost
one the line below it, type:
66.197.210.165 www.baseballthinkfactory.org
To save this change use "WriteOut": the keyboard shortcut is Control-O ("Oh" like "Oh my Buddha, B9 is a good customer", not "Zero")
The status line will now say "File Name to Write" hosts" and this is a good thing. Hit the Return key.
The status line will now say "Wrote [ nn ] lines" (nn will be 10, probably, if you've never dicked with the hosts file before) and this is a VERY good thing.
Close Terminal, empty your browser cache, quit the browser and relaunch. This should have you good to go. If it doesn't, reboot your Mac and launch your browser.
From someone else: Haven't any of you bozos ever looked at "Applications > Utilities > Netinfo Manager?" It's Apples GUI interface for modifying etc/hosts. Or not modify it exactly, because OS X uses something called "NetInfo" but whatever.
A2a. Okay, I don't know what any of that means, but I did what you said for Windows XP, shut down, and it still doesn't seem to be working. Is there anything else I need to do, or is this because I'm at work, or what? (Update: Thanks, but the line is still there so that isn't it. Is it because I'm trying to go to BTF and not the IP address? How should I get to the IP address?)
A2a. Open back up the hosts file and see if the new line is in the file. If it is not, then you probably have some type of anti-spyware software that prevents changes to the local hosts file. If that is the case, you will have to shut down that software if you are allowed to make the change.
Q2b. Wait, \windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts looks like the back half of a URL. Is there supposed to be a front part to this? I tried it on its own and it didn't work. I tried it at the faux btf site and it didn't work. I don't get it.
A2b. No, it's not part of a URL. It's a file on your C Drive. I.e. c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Q3. Who's responsible?
A3. I don't know. Jon Daly?
Q4. Since I still can't get on, can you tell me what's happening on the site right now?
A4. Sand.
Q5. How could a loving God allow something like this to happen?
A5. He's punishing us for harbouring so many Jewish agnostic lawyers.
Q6. What the hell is Repoz going to do today?
A6...Well, outside of searching for exiting Christian articles...I've been cleaning my Larry and the Loafers 45's!
Q7. What the hell is everyone else going to do today?
A7. Being economically productive, one would hope. Otherwise, here are some suggestions.
Meatwad is in IRC for those interested in hearing about whatever the hell he has to say. Possibly other Primates might be there too.
Please note that the Dow rose 90 points, or nearly three-quarters of a percent on the day of BBTF's domain-name outage. This can't be a coincidence. It can't be verified, but rumor has it that lawsuit filings were up 2%.
SM in DC has been so productive, he was promoted. (No, seriously.)
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