THANKS FOR THE CONCERN
Commentary #015
September 28, 2006
As many of you may know, this website has been suddenly down without warning for well over a week. Many of you were worried that something may have happened to me and/or this work and expressed your concerns via e-mail. Thank you for all of this concern. It is encouraging to realize that this work is valued so much by so many.
Meanwhile, here is what happened. The host company that has hosted this website for the last several years and did a pretty good job of it suddenly sold out to another firm in April, 2006. The transition to the new owners proved problematic due to what increasingly over the last several months appeared to be some serious incompetence. The negative impact on my website was not as bad as some other customers were experiencing and I had just renewed with the original host just two months earlier in February with a lot of time left on the annual contract, so I wasn't really that motivated to leave and thought to give the new owners more time to get things sorted out.
This proved to be a mistake and isn't hind sight just so wonderful. Suddenly, soon after my last post, I started getting feedback that my website was down. It took several days to come to the realization that this was not a temporary situation but may be permanent and that a great many people and businesses were involved. As it turned out, it seems that the entire host company may have failed and apparently has failed and is completely unresponsive. While others are doing the screaming and venting thing directed at the failed host and hopelessly wanting their money back, I just didn't have time for that and scrambled spending several days doing research on a new and improved host solution.
Meanwhile, some of you as good friends of this work including my old friend and previous associate once again rising to the occasion offered server space. Thanks to all of you so much for this kind and solid support. It is very tempting, especially since I naturally got stuck like Chuck financially on this deal, but it is still just not practical to involve friends. You see, this work is most definitely a target having to contend with some of the most powerful and deepest pocket adversaries available on this world and who at the top do not always have sufficient control over their minions down the line. As steward of this work, I can never loose sight of this fact and do so only at my own and this work's potential peril.
In fact, although I do not really think that is the case here, it is remotely possible that my host may have been the victim of this with someone swallowing them up and trying as an alternative tactic to force this work in a direction that led eventually into a trap. I am reminded of the recent old line famous publication TV offer that may well have itself been such a alternative tactical trap. If so, they would have regarded such an offer as pulling out their really big guns and my not going for it as unbelievable and me as being a troublesome and way too independent idiot that must be stopped, but in such a way so as not to make too much of a overt fuss and thereby draw too much attention to this evidence record in the process. In the world in which I must operate with this work, such things must always be considered whether there is any merit to them at the time or not. One just cannot afford to do otherwise.
With such considerations in mind, I certainly would not put individual friends of this work at risk by accepting server support offers so that they can share perhaps much to their eventual regret my world of defensive move and counter move and in the process tying up far too much of their time, energy and resources in such considerations. Rather, it is prudent that I do my own host research and pick a independent host out of the available general crowd rather than chance getting stampeded in someone else's tactical direction. Further, it is prudent that my choice be behind a larger host company not so easily swallowed up by bigger fish and one with routine but sophisticated defenses in place so that my work is no special burden on them either.
What can I say, it is the unavoidable world in which someone like me must operate if there is any expectation of success of a little truth in our planetary neighborhood being revealed. In any case, the website is back up as of today with a new host and we're back in business again. Thank you all for your concern for my welfare and the welfare of this work and sorry for the down time delay. Now let's get on with the process of moving this mountain.
