This is a very important update, so listen up. We've grown far beyond what I had envisioned as far as a user base over at r.Podcaster... In under four months of operation, we have in excess of 7000 subscribers to various r.podcaster users, and over 500 users! We are the no longer the invisible elite here at rizzn.net.

Unfortunately this also means we are close to busting our bandwidth ceiling! Ever since we did our bandwidth test, our listener count has gone dramatically up, and we are transferring close to 30 gigabytes of traffic per day! As a result, we are going to try some ways to reduce the demand on our server by joining the CORAL CDN. I've read the documentation and consulted with other CDN users, so I think the change should be seamless.

Here's where I need you guys: there's a chance that we may be delivering too much content to be a part of the network. In that case, failed requests should default back to the rizzn.net site when we pop the CDN's bandwidth. If the CDN malfunctions, it will give 403 errors when trying to download podcasts. I need you guys to be my early warning system and let me know if that happens (if it does, I can switch us back and we'll be up and running instantaneously).

Thanks for your help guys.

/rizzn

r.Podcaster problem...

Hey folks... just so you know we appear to be experiencing a little slowdown in posts.

Okay, it's a huge slow down in posts.  Someone installed a stats program on the server that's been using 100% of the CPU for two days.  It's finally bogged down the r.podcaster kernel.

I'll have it fixed by mid-morning.

/rizzn

Day Two of Out in Right Field

Thankfully, I mean, it was a close call, but thankfully I recovered the file after my computer crashed in the middle of recording this evening.

You can download a copy of episode 2 of the new "Out in Right Field" here from the riz podcast stream.

Due to popular demand, I'm going to finish compiling a Best of CD of the Mark and Darrell Show. Additionally, I've almost gotten an OK from our favorite program director to get them into random rotation.  Send an email to smokehouse asking for the BoMaD to be added into random rotation on Rant Radio.

That is all.

/rizzn

Complete and Utter Bullcrap

As I was headed down to the last day of shooting the Fashion Week Miami show, I was pulled over for an expired tag on my car.  Yes, I know I’m an idiot, I should keep up with my car, but I don’t, mostly because I’m lazy when it comes to these things.  What makes it more humiliating is that I was pulled over by a bicycle cop.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, I was informed that I could go to jail, but I was lucky they were in such a good mood (which was a lie – they were acting like jerks). As it turns out Texas revoked my license.  After some sleuthing work today (thank you Leo), we found out that I “ran” a tollbooth in Lauderdale Lakes or something (the official offense was failure to obey a traffic device), and the ticket was sent to Texas, and because I haven’t updated my DL information since I’ve lived here, the DL went into suspension, and then into revokation.

Keep in mind this happenned back in August of last year, and I’m just finding out about it now.

So now, I’m informed, that if I get my junk in order by the time the court date rolls around, all the tickets will be thrown out, but the problem comes in with Texas’s lag time and the need for a license to clear these issues.

In Florida, you are required to have a driver’s license and a fully registered car to get insurance.  Florida won’t let me have a license until my problems in Texas are cleared up. My problem in Texas relies on me paying a fine in Florida (of which I might or might not be guilty in the first place), getting the proof of payment to Texas to clear my license, and then getting all my paperwork in order here.

Sounds relatively simple, doesn’t it?  Here’s where the problems come in:

1) the court date in Florida is in One Month
2) Texas takes three weeks to clear a license of revokation
3) insurance takes One Day to process
4) license takes One Day to process
5) registration can take from Five Days to Six Weeks to process

So ~30 – 21 – 1 – 1 – 5 = 2.  I’m looking at a two day grace period under a best case scenario.

No Bueno.

Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “Life is a festering pit of despair.” (cred to Louis Hebb).

/rizzn

Out in Right Field starts Monday!

Smokehouse and I finally finished recording "Out in Right Field" this evening/morning.  I posted it to the riz feed on r.Podcaster.  I'll probably do that for the first week, and then post it to it's own feed thereafter.

Click here to listen!

/rizzn

Quick Weekend Update

Happy Easter, everyone. In other news - this is the last word on Violet.

I am still editing the video on the 2005 Fashion Week, but if you click here, you can see the highlights of Wednesday and Thursday.

I've got to get going.  Bis spater.

/rizzn

Traffic Spike

r.Podcaster handled it's traffic spike quite well, actually!  Over the last 24 hour reporting period, my stats indicated that we transferred in excess of 40 gigabytes of traffic!

Rizzn.net is still running a tad slow, and you may experience timeouts with HTTP upload, but that will likely go away over the next couple days.  Due to my impeccable mathematics (shutup, Smokehouse!), I set the bandwidth limitations on the exact curve of alleviating slowdowns and not popping our bw contract.

However, our little test did tell me that I'm going to need to increase our capacity soon.  We currently are capped off at 1.2 terrabytes per month of traffic.  On average we use about 6 to 7 gigabytes of traffic per day.  In the event we get slashdotted, or a particular user gets slashdotted (or publicity equivelent), we'll run out of bandwidth in one to two weeks.

Hence we need to think about implementing bittorrent feeds or simply pay for more bandwidth.  Fortunately, I have an inside connection at thePlanet, and I might be able to swing that, so that bittorrents won't become a necessity to consider for a month or two.

SlashDot Review uses bittorrents for it's distribution method.  Those of you who are subscribed to bittorented feeds, please give me some feedback here on the board so I can consider my options.

/rizzn