DreamHost Blog » Like hammer for sidekick.

Like hammer for sidekick.

March 21, 2006 on 6:12 pm | In Funnyish, Hardware, Insider View by tavis |

We go through a lot of sidekicks and some never get returned for one reason or another. We had some fun with one of those un-returned sidekicks the other night.

49 Comments

1

can you please stop microwaving your cell phone and get back to merging my mysql databases onto one server?

thx.

;-)

Comment by Alex — March 21, 2006 #
2

It amazes me that you make so much profit that you can destroy your cellphones. I would have taken it for a few dollars!

Comment by not important — March 21, 2006 #
3

Methinks a Halon system is needed in the tech support department. :)

Comment by bofh — March 22, 2006 #
4

I love the commentary in the background that’s remniscent of older hilarity:

“That ain’t no chocolate!”

Personally, my favorite was “USE THE CLAW,” but I have to ask before anyone else does..

Where was Ted for this adventure? I’m sure his presence would have been appreciated. :)

Comment by phoenix — March 22, 2006 #
5

wow that thing is seriously tough! I want one but i work for a competitor so well that would be ya know.. bad! Plus it would ya know.. cost money! but hey if you ever have one you wanna send my way, feel free if it works :) :D

Comment by pixie — March 22, 2006 #
6

You are fucking crazy.

Comment by Cruppo — March 22, 2006 #
7

Good Idea —> Instead of frying your cell phones give them as prizes to people who refer clients.

Comment by Adam Lenz — March 22, 2006 #
8

It would have been hilarious if the lithium batter caught fire and caused the sprinkler system to go off bringing on another outage. :D I’ve seen them batteries batteries blowup first hand. Shit ain’t a joke.

Comment by dvessel — March 22, 2006 #
9

Why would you guys want us to send you broken Sidekicks?

Comment by Brett — March 22, 2006 #
10

> Where was Ted for this adventure? I’m sure his presence
> would have been appreciated. :)

Ted resides in our DH East office (where I’m at), whereas most of our admin team (and their Sidekicks) reside at DH West. The fact that they don’t have a Ted more or less explains their tendency to break things without repercussions. If Ted caught us doing that…

Suffice to say, DH West could probably use a calming influence… :>

Comment by Jeff C. — March 22, 2006 #
11

Yeah, it bears mention that those sidekicks were already broken before they tortured them… We’re not so rich (or stupid) that we’d just go breaking perfectly good, working cell-phones.

Comment by Pete — March 22, 2006 #
12

I wanted to start a dedicated server plan, and so I emailed you guys at around 1pm today, and now it’s 8pm and I haven’t heard anything from you guys. There is no phone # where I can reach you guys. Now I see this kind of video, thanks! Really confirmed to me what is important to you guys. Maybe I’m a bit of a cynic or something, but I can’t help being extremely frustrated when I can’t even reach a sales person in 7 hours. Goddamnit!

Comment by peter — March 22, 2006 #
13

I don’t expect blogs to have professional content only, but if I can’t reach a sales person in about 7 hours, something is terribly wrong with you dreamhost. Frustrating the hell out of me that’s for sure. Maybe I’m wrong… and maybe it’s ok to not be able to reach a sales rep!

Comment by peter — March 22, 2006 #
14

ooh lookie here.. an F from bbb.org
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13131294

Comment by peter — March 22, 2006 #
15

It didn’t look like much fun. Most people who have fun with a hammer will smash the shit of something.

Comment by Erik Mallinson — March 22, 2006 #
16

yo peter
go somewhere else
wont miss ya

Comment by Jonathan P — March 22, 2006 #
17

Nothing like a good ole smashing to relieve the tension that work brings. :)

Comment by David — March 23, 2006 #
18

A couple things.

1. I can understand the need to blow off steam. You guys are in an intense business with an enormous amount of clients, all of which require a certain level of individual service. So, get stupid and do things that don’t jeopardize your’s or your customers business. That’s cool.

2. But have the sense to not display it on your business web site. I put you in the same pool with Textdrive. I think both are great services (having used both) but I went with you because of the need to host multiple small sites and the want of a simple user interface. But I and, I suspect, many customers would feel more comfortable if you used this space for more professional purposes. Just compare your weblog to that of Textdrive (http://weblog.textdrive.com). Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is comparing the two services.

As a final note. I haven’t had any problems with your service. My very infrequent customer service requests are always taken care of quickly. This is an issue with comfort level. After seeing this post, I started to consider my other hosting options. I’d rather know you’re researching more affordable server options than videoing the destruction of a cell phone.

Clint

Comment by Clint Pidlubny — March 23, 2006 #
19

Sheesh Peter, take your hate somewhere else.

Personally, never had a problem with DH, and don’t understand what you’re so aggro about. “OH NOES MY SELF ENTITLEMENT SENSES ARE TINGLING.”

If a lot of DH customers are like you, I totally understand why they’re breaking shit on their off time. I know what it’s like to deal with self-entitled “gimme what i want now i’m so important why arent you paying attention to my every whim” folks on a daily basis. Makes me want to break things too.

That being said, carry on. Videos like this give me faith there are REAL people, real human beings, behind the scenes over there that I can relate to. :)

Comment by phoenix — March 23, 2006 #
20

Well, at least you can get some satisfaction at the fact that they might not being able to have children… or if they have any now they probably won’t be able in the future.

I’ll say from the poison from the plastic (somebody is probably going to say that it doesn’t any more), and being so close to the microwave that some damage was either done to the brain or to the other area.

Well, they would have to do it day after day for at least 10 years before any real side effects may or may not show up depending on how well the shielding is.

Comment by santos — March 23, 2006 #
21

Yikes. The above people need to learn a little perspective.

Personally, I’d be /more/ likely to host with Dreamhost (I already do), seeing the above videos. Something about a laid back, relaxed atmosphere that allows people to have fun and not be under constant stress appeals to me.

Comment by Rendus — March 23, 2006 #
22

(http://weblog.textdrive.com)

This may be the most boring blog I’ve ever read. I’d RUN from them after reading this…Rock on Dreamhost! It’s good to see real people, having real fun.

Comment by Ben — March 23, 2006 #
23

Fun videos, for sure.

I can understad Clint Pidlubny’s concerns about quality content on this blog, but I can’t understand why he is so worked up about it.

The Dreamhost guys simply take a delightfully crazy method in delivering the information to readers. I personally find reading the dreamhost blog to be much more enjoyable than the textdrive blog. The textdrive one is acceptable, as it has information and all of the sorts of things I would expect from such an organization’s blog. But is it fun to read? Not really, unless you really like that kind of information.

It’s true that this particular post is not very functional in terms of our web service and what not. But to criticize Dreamhost because a few of their blog posts among over 50 in total are silly is ridiculous. The Dreamhost guys have posted numerous helpful articles in regards to what they are doing for the service and so forth.

The fact that they include silly images does not change the fact that they do tell us what’s going on with the service. It simply lightens the mood. To me, the silly images and the very occasional post like this one only reassure me that I’m a client of a company that is handled by real people instead of stubborn businessmen who don’t give a damn about the customers when their money is involved.

This is not to say that web hosters other than Dreamhost are stubbon businessmen. I don’t follow most of them enough to make that judgement. I’m just telling you how I feel about this particular company.

Comment by Eric Curzi — March 23, 2006 #
24

[...] Take a look. [...]

Pingback by Nick Starr.com - Nick Starr dot com » Bust-a-Sidekick — March 24, 2006 #
25

Someone had taken an ipod nano and did just about the same thing you guys did with your sidekick http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/3. (they even threw it out of a car going 50mph)

can we send you guys our old cell phones?

oh, and I think it’s a good idea to keep your humorous side…i may not like you as just boring geeks!

Comment by barbara — March 24, 2006 #
26

Funny vides, not put me off.

But am I the only one concerned by that F from BBB? By the looks of it they only have to reply to 13 complaints to sort it out..

Comment by Joop — March 25, 2006 #
27

[...] Watch - [via DreamHost Blog] Tags: Off Topic, Sidekick, T Mobile [...]

Pingback by Pantsland » Sidekick + Hammer… — March 25, 2006 #
28

thats one tough cellphone! i have one myself and dropped it many of times and its still kicking. Danger Sidekick FTW! ;)

Comment by Dee — March 26, 2006 #
29

Well first to say that my current boss do something similar but to things that actually works! & not broken… but we are not let do that even on discarded things (that acutally go to trash.)

Sayed that… I personally take a lot of FUN from those videos…

One serious objection… don’t use a hammer for things like that use a 4lbs hammer… had GREAT results… take caution on breaking floor…

I know what is work as sysadmin and time from time IS really neded to take frustration our…

Also had a stress ball but had not even similar effect ;D

LOL!

Comment by vicm3 — March 26, 2006 #
30

Lol I destroyed also my cell on video check it out here
http://dernier-exile.com/node/139

But I didn’t tried the microwave…

Comment by Dernier exile — March 26, 2006 #
31

Clearly, what we at DreamHost need to do is start wearing stuffy suits and obsessing over things like “synergy”. Should we find ourselves developing an online personality or culture, it should be stamped out immediately and replaced with soul-less PR-speak.

Or… Maybe we’ll just stick to talking to our customers like the human beings they (and we) are, with the hope that they don’t mind our somewhat “unorthodox” sense of humor - as we’ve done for over 8 years now. Yeah, I like that better. :>

But, yeah, the soul sapping stuffed-shirts-and-cubicles thing has been done to death, and long ago we decided that’s not the type of company we wish to run. While we understand that some people are looking for something a bit more “traditional” (perhaps to help them woo corporate clients of their own), we’ve never really promoted ourselves as that.

As fun-loving as we are, if anyone actually thinks that the occasional bout of goofiness that goes on here isn’t more than balanced by many, many late hours of seriously hard work and effort, they’ve got it all wrong. The thing is, patting ourselves on the back about staring at a terminal and typing for hours on end makes for really boring blogging, and would be seen for the BS public relations effort it would be… In the end we’d have a fraction as many regular readers if we focused entirely on that type of stuff, and be no better for it.

(btw, none of this is a slam against Textdrive - their blog seems like something I’d personally enjoy reading from time to time)

Comment by Jeff C. — March 27, 2006 #
32

dreamhost 4 lyfe!

Comment by taekwondave — March 27, 2006 #
33

The more you guys talk, the more I want to move across the country just to camp outside your offices until you hire me. :(

Comment by phoenix — March 28, 2006 #
34

Netpoint…

Selline uus koduleht avati, vist täna või kunagi hiljuti. Sümpaatne firma, kelle kodulehel veetsin rohkem kui ühelgi teisel .ee saidil (v.a uudistes surfamine) end mäletan. Kuigi nad ei kasuta tekstis kuskil sõna “blogi”, on suur osa …

Trackback by Jaanuse asjad — March 28, 2006 #
35

i like.

I WANT MORE DESTRUCTION!
RARRRRRR! :D

Comment by bren — March 28, 2006 #
36

Go Dreamhost. I am sick of anonymous hot-air blowing empty shell of corporate speak stone-face. Dreamhost radiates life in its communication. For me, this builds trust.

Comment by Martin — March 29, 2006 #
37

The Web Hosting Arms Race…

The web hosting business is known to be very competitive…
A few days after DreamHost posted their Like hammer for sidekick video, Site5 tried to outperform DreamHost by throwing a server off a tall building. I’m scared of the next move! Wil…

Trackback by Unofficial DreamHost Blog — March 29, 2006 #
38

The funny thing to me is that all the lusers take the time to write to you about this silliness…

Rock on. /jad

Comment by Jad — March 29, 2006 #
39

Geez. If people are getting all worked up over a little office fun they will flip on the monthly newsletter! I love the newsletter, makes me laugh every month and, is professional! Having worked in IT for years, a life ago, you find crazy things to do… you have to after working long days or being on call or sleeping sometimes overnight in the office.

Keep blowing things up. Gawd knows you keep blowing up our disk space and bandwidth! Right on!

Comment by Otis Fodder — March 31, 2006 #
40

just want to echo this whole bit from above:

“Videos like this give me faith there are REAL people, real human beings, behind the scenes over there that I can relate to. :)”

smiley and all.

Comment by will — April 4, 2006 #
41

Yeah. This video has me convinced that Dreamhost is the team for me. In fact, I’m so impressed with this video that I’d actually like to work personally with the guys in the video. You’re my kind of guys. At least to help with my hosting.

Comment by Destruir — April 5, 2006 #
42

[...] Watch our friends at Dreamhost issue a beating to a Sidekick. « More Government Gone Wild [...]

Pingback by Surrounded By Clowns » I [Heart] Needless Destruction — April 5, 2006 #
43

What are you using to post this video? I see it’s a flash object, did you just import some video into flash?

Comment by David R — April 9, 2006 #
44

I feel collective embarassment for you lackeys. How completely unfulfilling must your jobs be to receive pleasure from such dysfunctional behaviour. Seeing videos like this certainly helps me understand why Dreamhost has such a notoriously bad reputation. Please reprimand whoever did this and thought it was a smart idea to post it on this blog… oh and while you’re at it - fix my email which seems to go down at least several hours every week.

Comment by jon — April 11, 2006 #
45

Dang.. somebody call the WAAAAAAAAAMBULANCE!

Comment by Chris — April 14, 2006 #
46

stupid video

Comment by Anonymous — August 9, 2006 #
47

@jon

Dude stfu, they work their long shifts, they get their breaks, if you don’t like what their doing… go f*ck yourself :)

@no46

Don’t like it, stfu??

Why they post this on a business blog is hard to understand/misleading, but I did enjoy it and it won’t change my opinion on dreamhost (which isn’t very good but that’s beside the point)

Comment by Justin — August 15, 2006 #
48

I would have want that Sidekick 2 have anymore email me khandles11@yahoo.com

Comment by Prince — August 19, 2006 #
49

[...] From my favorite webhost! [...]

Pingback by matias duarte 3.o » Blog Archive » Tough Love… — September 3, 2006 #

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Like hammer for sidekick.

49 Comments

Categories:

Archives:

Meta:

Like hammer for sidekick.

49 Comments

Categories:

Archives:

Other Sites

Meta: