D is for DreamHost

June 28, 2007 on 10:54 am | In Funnyish, Insider View, Promotions by Josh Jones |

Just now we had this little customer exchange:

I can’t get to one of my sites via web browser. My other sites hosted by you are available.
Happy DreamHost Customer

Hello HDC,

Sorry for the inconvenience.

However, I had no problem viewing your site from this side. I’ve
also viewed your server history and saw that no reboots were done. So
all looks well with your site from what I can see.

Please contact us if you’re still not seeing your site from your
side.

Thanks!
Kacy

Alright, we’ll just chalk it up to this guy:

Is good enough for me!

Heh, that sure caught us off-guard! Hee hee… I almost wonder if he just lied about there being a problem so he could send us that!

Nonetheless, it sort of ties in nicely with the fact that we were thinking about giving away an 8GB iPhone, if only we could come up with a good reason to!

You see, ever since I heard about this guy camping out for an iPhone since Monday morning, I thought it’d be fun to camp out for one myself. Not have one, mind you, just camp out.

I’m perfectly happy with my Nokia 6010 on T-Mobile (although this is intriguing) .. mostly because I can drop it out a third story window, watch it explode into a dozen plastic pieces, and then put it back together and make a call. In fact, that’s exactly what I do every day when leaving work, just so I don’t have to lug it down the elevator.

myPhone

(Aside: when I heard that somebody was already camping out on Monday, I thought to myself: “That’s insane! They estimate there will be 3 million iPhones available at launch. And anyway, isn’t the point of camping out to minimize your time in line while still guaranteeing you get one of the items? In fact, wouldn’t you have to be a little insane to be the first person in any camp-out line? If nobody else is waiting yet, why would you need to?” Honestly, I really did think that whole thing.

Well, this answers my question! There is a benefit to being the insane first person in line.. you get interviewed by the local news!)

Anyway, I was inspired. I promise I’ll be getting one of them thar 8GB iPhone’s tomorrow.. as soon as I see somebody else camped out in front of my local AT&T store, I’ll line up right behind them, with my laptop, EVDO, extra battery, and faithful hound in tow.

Where do the years go?

And then, after taking it out of the box and ogling it for a couple hours, I’m going to just give it away!

But to whom?!

Hmm. How about… to whoever posts in the comments of this post a link to the (photoshopped?) image that best illustrates (in my sole opinion) the cause for mysterious DreamHost downtime! The cuter the better, the cleverer the better, the cornier the better, the DreamHost logo-ier the better.

So far, that Cookie Monster one above is winning!

The deadline for the comment post is 6pm PDT, tomorrow, Friday June 29th, 2007; west-coast iPhone launch moment!

…

GO!


(P.S. The winner will have to activate the iPhone themselves with one of AT&T’s plans. Or re-sell it on ebay or craigslist.)

96 Responses to “D is for DreamHost”

  1. Damien Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:24 am

    Didn’t you get the memo? It was these two guys:
    http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/06/24/donut-worry/

  2. Princess Nix Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:37 am

    I’m not entering the contest. I just wanted to tell you how SOFT that dog looks. Awesomely soft. Damned soft.

    Really damn soft.

  3. Thomas Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:42 am

    Wow! Great contest. Just a shame it leaves all your european customers out of the loop. WTG!

  4. Eduardo Habkost Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:50 am

    Just in case you think that image is the best one, I want to be the first to post the link:

    the link.

  5. Dave Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:57 am

    I hope multiple entries are okay, I have a few:

    http://www.n715dp.com/links/dreamhost/dreamhost_downtime_01.jpg

    http://www.n715dp.com/links/dreamhost/dreamhost_downtime_02.jpg

    http://www.n715dp.com/links/dreamhost/dreamhost_downtime_03.jpg

    http://www.n715dp.com/links/dreamhost/dreamhost_downtime_04.jpg

    I found the images around the web and ’shopped each one a bit - I am not very good at it. No hard feelings on the statements in them.

  6. weston deboer Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    http://www.collegedowntime.com/funnypictures/images/Google_Muthafucka.jpg

    and

    http://www.damninteresting.net/content/tech_diff.jpg

  7. pixie Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

    My puppy pee’d on all your servers;

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/15/19719056_0b5d56f2fb.jpg
    That’s why she is so tired, the sheltie to the left helped as well.

    She’s very exhausted from all that peeing;
    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/16725637_1d65f90544.jpg

    I told her she was bad and put her in jail;
    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/14/17121792_beeeed059f.jpg

    But darn if she isnt cute so I had to let her out;
    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/16725649_add127228c.jpg

    So well, the servers could go down again, but I can’t lock her up again. She’s to cute!

  8. Pete Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

    turns out, it was gremlins hiding in the data center.

    http://www.sabrejack.com/images/gremlins.jpg

  9. Leah Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

    http://www.cmtsministries.com/test/happyservers.jpg

    Even servers need a little action sometimes.

  10. Michael Bleigh Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    http://www.mbleigh.com/dreamhost_hamster.jpg

  11. Horrible Father Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    I am sure his mom won’t mind if I let her use the iPhone every once in a while, right?

    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1437/652964246_27306658fa.jpg

  12. Mike Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

    http://www.mcdevzone.com/images/bugz.png

  13. Michael Bleigh Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    The problem started when my dog joined the Dreamhost support team.

    http://www.mbleigh.com/dreamhost_zoey3.jpg

    She didn’t quite understand the signage around the office

    http://www.mbleigh.com/dreamhost_zoey1.jpg

    And then she started sleeping on the job!

    http://www.mbleigh.com/dreamhost_zoey2.jpg

  14. Jonathan Bloom Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 2:06 pm

    It was a cat looking for his missing catnip.

    http://images.jonathandbloom.com/9335163_3f89c8c7b7_o-20070628-180458.jpg

  15. Will Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pm

    tsk tsk, sleeping on the job :)

    http://dump.th-clan.com/DH.jpg

  16. Fox Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 2:33 pm

    At dreamhost we do everything with extreme precision and devotion :D

    http://storage.mehanizam.net/dh1.jpg

  17. JeremyK@DH Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 2:58 pm

    @Fox: methinks you know MikeH ;)

  18. Fox Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    1 more for now

    http://storage.mehanizam.net/ops-i-did-it-agaian.jpg

  19. bdu Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 3:15 pm

    Having reviewed this picture of your NOC that I acquired through means which I cannot disclose, I must determine that you are suffering from what professionals would call a “multiple-cause failure”.

  20. bdu Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 3:21 pm

    I’m guessing that your addition of the cat and Animal to the NOC team were a measure intended to offset the presence of the giant spiders, but I assure you they will result in a net-negative uptime. I suggest their removal and immedately call an exterminator. I’m not one to moralize, but employees should also probably refrain from illicit substances on the job…

  21. Collin Banko Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 3:47 pm

    http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3821/oopsnv5.jpg

    I KNOW these little buggers are your source of the problems.

  22. jer@nyquil.org Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 4:12 pm

    Your CAPTCHAs are borked. If this shows up twice it’s not because I’M retarded…

    http://nyquil.org/uploads/dreamhost.png

  23. gb77 Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 4:14 pm

    In order to reduce power consumption and go green Dreamhost switch to a more energy efficient method of computing.

    http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l114/monkeyboy7706/abacus.jpg

  24. rob Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 5:42 pm

    http://smoking-room.ru/blog/uploads/ToiletServer.jpg
    http://img.worsethanfailure.com/images/200706/error‘d/orange_cable.jpg

  25. Sam McD Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 5:44 pm

    I am just waiting for one of these to not be accessible because their server is down. That one should win.

  26. Anthony DiSante Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 6:57 pm

    Will’s #15 is the best. Oh man. The text on the screen… priceless.

  27. Raven Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

    Here’s mine:
    http://www.ravenoak.net/graphics/dreamhostcontest.jpg

  28. JeremyK@DH Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 7:28 pm

    yea, #15 is pretty freakin awesome.

    @rob: the worsethanfailure link you posted is 404ing, if you have a new url for it just say and I’ll fix it up :)

  29. Patrick Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 7:41 pm

    Windows-Support at an Linux-Server. That can’t work ;)

  30. Patrick Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 7:42 pm

    Windows-Support at an Linux-Server. That can’t work ;)

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/schreibblogade/139611552/

  31. Garrett Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 8:21 pm

    I got your downtime right here!

    http://blog.garrettvonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/dh-baby.jpg

    It’s hard to stay mad at a sysadmin with a face like that…

  32. Garrett Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 8:22 pm

    I got your downtime right here!

    http://blog.garrettvonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/dh-baby.jpg

    It’s hard to stay mad at a sysadmin with a face like that…

    (fyi - CAPTCHA didn’t work for me either)

  33. jillnojack Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

    Okay, listen, we already know who did it. Your customer just didn’t specify how he knew. Here’s a lot shot of what the poor fella walked in on just before he lost the ability to access his site.

    http://indieheart.com/dreamhostculprit.htm

  34. Justin M Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 8:56 pm

    http://xanthra.com/dreamhost/entry.png

    :)

  35. Ben Karel Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 9:11 pm

    The guys who thought it was a fire problem had it right. Only problem is what KIND of fire…

    http://eschew.org/tmp/happy-dh-invisible-fire.jpg

  36. Ted Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    http://www.forumspile.com/You-Are-Masturbating-Pope.jpg

  37. Robert Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 9:43 pm

    http://banhammer.com/serverproblems.jpg

    Yea… we seem to be having a bit of what you might call an “animal” problem. Dreamhost will be right back!

  38. Unofficial DreamHost Blog » Blog Archive » Win an Apple iPhone Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

    [...] is having a contest on their blog where you can win one of the incredible hyped Apple [...]

  39. Tavis Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:14 pm

    It’s always my fault . . . with a little help from the cage monkeys.
    My Fault Pic

  40. Catherine Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:15 pm

    This man is the culprit. Obviously.

    http://igargoyle.com/archives/fanboy.jpg

  41. Catherine Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:17 pm

    This man is the culprit, Obviously.

    http://igargoyle.com/archives/fanboy.jpg

  42. Rob Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:24 pm

    We all know that downtimes are caused by a variety of unfortunate circumstances (and NOT furry creatures), which can usually be attributed to an unorganized network structure and/or incompetence or distraction of the network supervisors.

    While I don’t want to point any fingers, I think the highly sophisticated Dreamhost Surveillance System (codename “Greco”) speaks for itself:

    http://www.blasko.com/dreamhost_062807_105431.jpg

  43. Patrick Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:32 pm

    Yes, I *completely* blame Tavis, cage monkeys or not!

  44. AJ Kirwin Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 10:53 pm

    Here’s my go at it.

    http://files.basementcoder.com/theheist.png

  45. Jonathan Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:23 pm

    I think Sparta is to blame…

    http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8417/dreamhostwx7.jpg

  46. AJ Kirwin Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:42 pm

    Here’s a second go!

    http://files.basementcoder.com/itallfelldown.png

    Enjoy it.

  47. rob Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:52 pm

    another try:

    http://img.worsethanfailure.com/images/200706/error%27d/orange_cable.jpg

    there’s a quote in the url between “error” and “d” which is causing problems.

  48. AJ Kirwin Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 12:10 am

    And Number Three!

    http://files.basementcoder.com/the_dh_guy.png

    And that’s it, I got a flight to go catch :D

  49. Rita Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 12:31 am

    Here’s my try.
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/zelara/power.jpg
    I am a huge nerd.

  50. Koen Werdler Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:34 am

    Employee-owned webhosting isn’t always the smartest thing :p

    http://stash.dedicational.net/dh.jpg

  51. Fox Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:50 am

    OK, these few are not exactly 100% mine, but they are funny :)

    Psyho cat
    http://storage.mehanizam.net/pycho_but_cute.jpg

    Employee from Sparta - @Jonathan ;)
    http://storage.mehanizam.net/sata.jpg

    A little to much protection
    http://storage.mehanizam.net/tomuchprotection.jpg

  52. Koen Werdler Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:48 am

    Another try

    http://stash.dedicational.net/dh2.jpg

  53. Respiro Media Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 3:19 am

    Do you have fun, gentlemans?… :)

  54. BUGabundo Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 3:19 am

    For one thing this post os good:
    It allows us to test (speed, Online) of several servers from DH clients…
    lol
    There are a few that seems down

  55. Fox Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:23 am

    I can’t get enough of this :)

    http://storage.mehanizam.net/dh.jpg

  56. Nate Cavanaugh Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 6:14 am

    I think we all understand that sometimes, you just have better things to do :)

    http://alterform.com/images/dreamhost_monitoring.jpg

  57. Michael Bleigh Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 6:26 am

    For the sake of my work productivity, I pray this is the last idea I think of.

    http://www.mbleigh.com/dreamhost_comic.jpg

  58. Don Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 8:35 am

    Isn’t is pretty obvious it’s that monkey you have in charge of the networking?

    http://flickr.com/photos/dawholagn/301550642/

  59. Solo Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 9:30 am

    My laid back buddy can make anyone relax and be happy.

    http://www.rexohio.com/solo_dreamhost.jpg

  60. One More Try... Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 9:55 am

    While the guys at dreamhost are partying away, we know who does all the hard work…

    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1210/662270861_220e15f328_o.jpg

  61. Charlie Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 9:55 am

    just made some fast funny ones of your famous tech team:

    http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u87/theplayersociety/godaddi.jpg
    http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u87/theplayersociety/mainframes.jpg
    http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u87/theplayersociety/teck.jpg
    http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u87/theplayersociety/whale.jpg

  62. vinnie Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 10:33 am

    here goes nothing…

    http://www.dreamanxiety.com/images/downtime.jpg.

  63. Zack Coburn Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 10:36 am

    http://zackcoburn.com/images/dreamhost1.jpg
    http://zackcoburn.com/images/dreamhost2.jpg
    http://zackcoburn.com/images/dreamhost3.jpg

  64. Bill Bradbury Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 11:45 am

    Missle Command Version
    http://www.billbradbury.com/misc/DHContest1.jpg

    Godzilla Version
    http://www.billbradbury.com/misc/DHContest2.jpg

  65. Josh Jones Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

    Hmm, these entries are not impressing yet! Good thing there’s still a little over four hours left in the contest!

    Here’s MY entry:

    http://blog.dreamhost.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/myshirt.jpg

    Look at that AMAZING photoshopping!

    The real reason for mysterious DreamHost downtime: josh is 80th in line or so at an AT&T store somewhere in Manhattan. (Although don’t worry, he’s still working thanks to SPEEDY evdo rev a.)

    Find him before 6:30 pm EDT, tell him your domain name, and get a year of hosting FREE!

    I sure hope they have enough phones. Or this is going to be one lame contest.

  66. Chris Cantrell Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

    http://www.hauntedpixelstudios.com/webshots/iraq.jpg

    http://www.hauntedpixelstudios.com/webshots/cow.jpg

  67. Fox Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    I have just “upgraded” my last pic :)

    http://storage.mehanizam.net/withahat.jpg

  68. Michael Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:15 pm

    What’s good for Harry Potter is good for DreamHost :)

    http://mdjohnson.us/images/DreamHost_v_Voldemort.jpg

  69. Bill Bradbury Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    Zombie Attack
    http://www.billbradbury.com/misc/DHContest3.jpg

  70. Ken Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:22 pm

    Is there still time?

    http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f89/schweickism/?action=view&current=dreamhostdowntime.jpg

  71. Ken Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:24 pm

    woops! Sorry for double post, I think I gave some weird kinda photobucket editing-related URL… try this one (and feel free to delete the above post).

    http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f89/schweickism/dreamhostdowntime.jpg

  72. A Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 1:38 pm

    I’m not at a place where I can easily draw up the single-frame cartoon style picture I have in mind. But the caption was “iPhone Drool Deluge Drowns Dreamhost”, with waves filling a room full of servers.

  73. Pete Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    Oh wow Ken.. that one is harsh.. haha

  74. jordan Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:33 pm

    iron shiek meets josh

    http://970skateboards.com/ironjosh.jpg

  75. Unofficial DreamHost Blog Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:36 pm

    Here are my entries:

    Galaxy getting new software

    Monkeys in the Cage

    DreamHost Power

  76. Christian Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:52 pm

    I think your server problems started when you got “powered” by Microsoft
    http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4273/poweredbymicrosoftsw7.jpg

    The Real Cookie Monster
    http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7687/realcookiemonsterqs8.jpg

  77. mumbles Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 3:21 pm

    something like this ?
    http://alt-f4.co.uk/upload/powedbydh.png
    I bastardised the dh logo.

    see http://www.alt-f4.co.uk for more :P

  78. Nels Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

    eh?

  79. DreamHost Blog » Got It! Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 4:23 pm

    [...] You’ve still got 30 minutes to submit a pic! [...]

  80. Ken Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 4:31 pm

    I know the post says pics, but I could not resist the temptation. The ultimate irony is that I could not [link url=http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f89/schweickism/DHerror.jpg]stream this on my DreamHost account[/link]. So I had to use a buddy’s YouTube to do it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InmEGQod4yI

  81. Nicole Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 4:44 pm

    I have no idea who to credit for the picture… I saw it on another website the other day and proper credit wasn’t given.

    http://nicsplace.net/iphone/dreamhost.jpg

  82. Nicole Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    One more!

    http://nicsplace.net/iphone/dreamhost2.jpg

  83. sc Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    http://www.infinitaus.com/contest.jpg

  84. sc Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:14 pm

    wonder why it isn’t posted

    http://www.infinitaus.com/contest.jpg

  85. mahalie Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

    I do believe it was the Janitorial Staff Meeting!

    (http://mahalie.com/photos/dh_meeting.jpg)

  86. mahalie Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:30 pm

    SOB, I was a half hour LATE!!
    http://mahalie.com/photos/dh_meeting.jpg

  87. Nels Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:46 pm

    Umm… so here’s the link so its a little more intuitive… Just put it in the wrong field before…

    http://my.sametz.com/dreamhostdown.jpg

  88. mahalie Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 5:47 pm

    or was I? that captcha, comment lag burns. oh it burns!

  89. Anonymous Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 8:28 pm

    Wow, most of these are so terrible. The winner is obviously either #15 or #64 (Iraq).

  90. Craig Says:
    June 30th, 2007 at 9:41 am

    I have a last minute entry! :p

    http://www.designcreek.com/dreamhost.jpg

  91. pooya Says:
    June 30th, 2007 at 4:49 pm

    How about this one:

    http://www.funpic.hu/hu.picview.php?id=26994&c=5&s=dd&p=12

  92. Better Late Than Never Says:
    July 1st, 2007 at 3:37 pm

    http://gallery.yardley.la/move_pics/macgeeks

    http://gallery.yardley.la/move_pics/mimosas_dallas?full=1

    http://gallery.yardley.la/move_pics/na1?full=1

    http://gallery.yardley.la/move_pics/team_dreamhost?full=1

    http://newdream.net/~wby/cagecam/cagecam4.jpg

    http://newdream.net/~wby/cagecam/cagecam1.jpg

  93. Naomi Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 1:05 am

    http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ato/lowres/aton962l.jpg

  94. DreamHost Blog » Photo Finish Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 10:33 am

    [...] I’ve decided. [...]

  95. Constantly changing, ever evolving. » Blog Archive » How I almost got an Iphone Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 1:36 pm

    [...] few days ago Josh Jones of Dreamhost (www.dreamhost.com) posted this link up online. http://blog.dreamhost.com/2007/06/28/d-is-for-dreamhost/ Anyway, I was inspired. I promise I’ll be getting one of them thar 8GB iPhone’s tomorrow.. as [...]

  96. Most daring corporate blog. Ever. · Helge's Blog Says:
    July 3rd, 2007 at 9:33 am

    [...] again: On the hosting provider’s corporate weblog! (See all the [...]

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