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Development Update 4/20 Thanks to everyone for their well wishes last week -- no ear ache today, no fever, only a slight bit of insomnia! Lots going on in development, but most of it is on stuff that we can't announce yet, so let me touch on a couple of random topics. Offtopic Interesting, totally tangential thing that I read: Many studies have been done on optimism and its influence on your life. It turns out that optimists are happier (which makes sense, I guess; they don't have the stress of imagining the worst!), but in addition, the optimists are more successful, despite the fact that they are slightly worse at accurately evaluating a situation as pessimists. So what seems to be the underlying component? Quite simply, even though an optimist is a little less likely than a pessimist to evaluate a situation correctly, the optimist tries harder -- and by that virtue alone actually ends up more successful. I won't attempt to generalize this to a Law of the Universe, but nonetheless I wonder if an important step in self-awareness is to understand how many of the things stopping you are actual barriers vs. your own inner psyche just trying to convince you that you can't succeed. Database Problems Today There were a bunch of database problems last night and today, and oddly enough they didn't seem to be related to the event. A note of explanation: we have some 30-odd database clusters, with each cluster having a number of individual machines. (Having multiple machines in each cluster gives us redundancy against inevitable machine failure; when machine starts to act up, we just swap it out and designate another one to be the master). We move features around from cluster to cluster to balance the load, so you'll often find totally unrelated features on the same database server(s). What we started seeing Thursday night was queries on one of the clusters stacking up -- basically, there was a queue of computers waiting for the response from the database server. In the process of trying to figure out what was going on, we first turned off arenas, and then further played around until we figured out that it was the marketplace. Today was more of the same: getting problems with the database and trying to figure out the queries that were killing it. At this point everything seems to be okay, your data is safe, and all the database servers are running tip-top. This was not a cheap trick to try and raise donations to the stores, or anything like that. Stores Mini-Event Isn't this the coolest event ever? Great job by our art team + edy + fieryange1, and I find the whole thing very engaging and kind of cool. (And, to answer a question I saw coming up a couple places: yes, the donations actually do increase the bar length; the bar isn't just randomly increased). User reception seemed to be pretty positive, too, with most people understanding that this is a gold sink, but a small minority complaining that we were trying to scam people out of money. New Sponsorship I don't usually mention sponsorships, but I particularly liked this one -- it's about a book! With words, and chapters, and full sentences! And you can download the whole first volume of the series for free! So if you're interested in a free book, go here. (Although, amusingly, a couple of us were really jazzed about this sponsorship because we thought it was for The Alchemist, but it turned out to be a different alchemist. Highly recommended book). Home Page / Aquarium Bunches of experimentation to try and get the aquarium to load quickly on the home page; we finally think that we've got it licked, so please try it out next week when an aquarium is featured and let us know how it works out.

Posted by: Panagrammic Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 09:45am

Read my journal!

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edwardthefmaxxx
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 11:36am


	i do like the Sponsorship too he has bean a New Sponsor for gaia before i love that i now get to read his first book loved the mini stores event

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 11:41am


	I say this every week, but it's always a pleasure to read your journal updates. =) I am glad you are feeling better! I like the stores mini-event! I hadn't been online in a couple days so it's new to me this morning, but I'm doing my best to help out =3 I like your comment about personal limits vs. actual limits, it makes me want to evaluate what I'm doing and how much farther I can go, too. Thanks for the link to the book, I look forward to reading it now that classes are out and I'm done with the semester. I'll probably also swing by my library and see if they have the OTHER Alchemist you mentioned, since it looks interesting, too. I've been looking for some summer reading (until classes start for me again in a couple weeks >< wink and this may just be perfect. Thank you! One last thing: will there be a prom this year? I hope so! =3 Have a great week! heart

Elliandra McTiernen
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morozco024
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 12:05pm


	Yup, loved the SOS event...dropped 223K hoping to get on one of the store's top donator lists but failed...which means people have been dropping some SERIOUS gold...craziness... Also, I own The Alchemist you reference from Wikipedia, and I'm sorry...the book is horrible...I get all the little lessons, self reflections and allegory, but it still sucks...sorry.

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 12:24pm


	This SOS event is the best event ever! whee And thanks for fixing the database problems. biggrin

Necromacide
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Poetic Night
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 01:07pm


	On my gaia when my journal subscriptions come up, liek it said you posted a new entry, I clicked your name. But it went to your profile, not your journal- it sometimes does, sometimes doesn't. Normal?

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 01:19pm


	Glad to see you feeling better, Pan! Thanks for working in the database issues, that sounded frustrating.

Lyca_Watyre
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damn bird ate my C-3PO
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 02:07pm


	The optimism thing is very interesting...

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 02:57pm


	Thanks Pan, updates are fun! ^^ Out of curiosity, does the shop mini-event have anything to do with which clothing shops are going/merging when the shop redesign comes around? I pinned it as a gold sink, but I'm also thinking it may be related to that as well (yes, maybe?). If so, it's a great way to do it. People are really possesive over their Gaia gold, so they'd give the most to the shopkeepers they really like. ^^ shamelessly advertises for Ian and Rufus ^^ The bit on optimism is really interesting. Did you know that optimists generally are healthier, too? Lower blood pressure, less likely to have a heart attack or stroke, all that jazz. >> ( http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/141532.php )

Morteana
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Apocalypstix
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 03:10pm


	I wish we'd get more sponsorships from books and such. I love to read. I slightly hope you all make the book an item like you did with the other one. I like having books to hold. Glad your feeling better, next time you have an ear infection (Orwhateveritwas) just run on over to Ga, my Mother in law will take care of you for free. xd

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 04:41pm


	I love the event! It's a great goldsink and Ivan the GRS Accountant has been getting some more attention lately. biggrin Haha. Your little study on optimism reminded me of the oratorical contest I had in my school a few weeks ago and the topic was 'For me, Optimism is...' xd Always nice to see your journal posts. And I'm glad to see no earache and fever today!

flexistential crisis
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pirhan
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 05:12pm


	Glad your feeling better. <3 I'm currently reading a book called The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things. Optimism is the first chapter. I think you'd find the Risk chapter pretty interesting as it had a lot of out of the box ideas. (The book has a ton of citations to studies.) If you're up for some easy and cheap (it was $4.99 at Chapters) reading, I'd really recommend it. My favourite chapters were Dirt and Plants. :3

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 05:15pm


	... I can see this Store Event as a way to keep inflacion down, since the tanks puts lots of gold in here... but you should have added special items to all shops... stare Also I saw a couple of the highest donators banned from Gaia... why so? That is really unfair to them. talk2hand

Curisco
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Queene of the May
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 05:33pm


	A question or two about the Stores Mini-Event? How long will it last? Until the bars are filled? And when the bars are filled, eventually, will we all be getting a nice thank you gift for saving the stores? Not something based on how much we donated, as we all know all Gaians are not equal in terms of wealth, but something just to say thanks for participating and hurry we made it?

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 05:45pm


	Thank you for all the work fixing issues Pan. I agree with you about the event, and here's hoping for a Pan doll in the next Random Item Generator.

moresugarthanspice
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Panagrammic
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 05:53pm


	@Elliandra McTiernen: I'm hopeful that there will be a prom this year -- the events team is seriously looking at it. @Curisco: I heard this rumor as well, and looked into it. However, there were no users banned just because they were donating too much to the stores. Anyone banned after making it to the top list was banned because of other measures we have always ongoing, not as a result of giving too much gold.

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 06:05pm


	Glad to hear you're feeling better, Pan. And I'll let you know about the Aquariums on the front page. That was actually seriously frustrating for me, but I assumed it was just my crappy computer slowing to a crawl, so I didn't think it was affecting other people. But I'm happy to hear it might be fixed. The home page is lovely and all, but I'd rather not wait three minutes to navigate away from it xP

Gamine
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Ungoliath
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 06:18pm


	I thought it was a great mini event too! Well done and I like the presentation. As a side note...I've lots of issuews on my data lately.. I've one trade with a mule which can't be acepted or cancel because the items are in theory frozen...and they're not. The other one is weird...I can't access my Wishlist from the MP. And everytime I try to check an item from the Wishlist...it can be redirected to MP. gonk

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 06:28pm


	Oddly, my favorite thing from your journal today was the offtopic tidbit. I have been telling this exact thing to people based on my personal experience for years. I am glad that somebody actually put a study together, although, I guess I don't go looking for them either.

Iam WhoIAm
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Morteana
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 06:44pm


	Ungoliath: I'm having problems accessing my wishlist from the MP as well, or searching my wished items from the Wishlist Box in the MP. It's probably just a little bug that'll be fixed next week. ^^

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 07:20pm


	Firstly, a big thank you for the update. It sure helps with a lot of the speculation about the event and other issues at hand. I personally thought this gold sink was quite effective. Some users didn't take to it, but I loved the effort and the cute items. heart Not every item has to be or is supposed to be like an MC or EI. ^^; Wasn't that the reason for the differentiation between those items and gold shop items? As for the aquariums, I notice that there seems to be a lot more lag now. I used to be able to run through a few Booty Grabs and to load my own aquarium with little issue. Now it's become difficult to navigate away from mine, and playing BG crashes my computer frequently. I've ceased playing it for now. Hmm, yes optimism does seem to be handy in dealing with life. smile Why not see the happier parts of life?

Asterisk7
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Digital Puppetry
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Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 08:59pm


	⟣˳Aw, and here I thought it was the same book.... I downloaded it and'll check it out later. I like this sponsorship the best because I don't mind reading a book and I'm a cheap person who would have probably not read the book unless I new a few people who liked it. So this'll give me the chance to check out something new without touching my wallet. Besides, if it's good I wouldn't mind buying the other volumes! x.Cypher, The Cake Pirate☬

Commented on: Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 09:05pm


	Already AdBlocked the homepage Aquarium. Is there any way that you could just dip into a user's settings WRT aquariums in signatures to determine whether the one in the homepage should load? Regardless of how lean you get it, it will still bog down somebody's system. If you've already determined that particular somebody to not be interested in Aquariums (or at least seeing them in normal site context) why not use that knowledge to make their experience better. About the worst thing a site can do is stutter and hang for five, ten, twenty seconds right after a person has logged into it. And when it stutters and hangs, it's not Firefox freezing or anything. Everything's still clickable, so it gives the appearance that your site is sluggish. Not great for morale, particularly for new users. I don't know how much you have to do with this, but please keep the elite level items in RandoBoxes continuous from box-to-box. It looks like the Warmth of Apollo made the transition to the new one, and I understand that the Mercury's Moon has continued on, but the attainability of these items is so astronomically difficult. Some of them cost more than Monthly Collectibles that have been around since 04, by orders of magnitude. I'd have to trade up three Ancient Katanas to get an Ancient Naginata, for example. I don't like to gamble on opening the boxes, so I'll buy a Bundle of whichever Randobox is current and then sell it for the gold, which I then use to buy the items off the vend, but when an item becomes a $100 proposition even with that untraditional method I lose all interest. And as a lot of people have said, I'd gladly buy the items I like with Cash if I could just pick them out from the Cash Shop. You should particularly consider this if an item has been created to satisfy a user petition. It's infuriating to finally see an item you've wanted for years but have it placed out of your reach by a layer of random chance. Glad you're feeling better, and thanks again, as always, for the fixes and communication. Always a pleasure. EDIT: Confirming as others have said that I can't get to Marketplace listings from my Wishlist.

Kunai Jones
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MistyRoseKitten
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Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 01:23am


	Thank you for the update! This event really is a lot of fun, and a great idea for a gold sink. I've read that some users are donating in the millions; the competition for a top spot makes things interesting. Anyway, I'll definitely check out that sponsorship. I hadn't heard of the series until now, but I'm going to download the ebook. It'll be something to do until I can get to Barnes&Noble. heart Also, thank you and everyone else who had to deal with the database errors.

Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 01:42am


	SOS = best Gold Sink ever. I blew over 100k on it ^_^

France Hopper
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Dlen Isolde
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Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 01:57am


	Glad your feeling better Pan! heart I'm glad the database problems were fixable. I still enjoyed posting in my favorite threads. So I didn't mind not being able to play in the MP. The event was a cute gold sink. Though I hope that the shops who got less donations don't disappear. Personally I put more money into the ones with "items" I liked best. Not necessarily because I liked the store best. In fact there was one store I didn't put anything in at all because I didn't like the item. I hope the Aquarium on the homepage works out. It's nice to see, but it was bogging down my page. And I never could play Booty Grab from it because there were always "Too many players" trying to access it. xd I've always had terrible lag with Booty Grab anyway. if more than 3 creatures are tossing coins, I can't move. I've got a screenshot of me with several mermaids and a star fish and blue, green and gold coins filling the entire tank and the game is saving with me having only gotten 25g because the coins never made it down to me. Nor if they had would I have gotten much more because I can barely move. Also aquarium related, I have never, ever, ever, on this or my other accounts been able to play the new Aquarium Quest. I get as far as accepting the quest, putting a fish in my tank, and then nothing. I click on the "Q" several times. But Barret never comes back. sad I know it was said that other quests my be done with the Aquarium Quest. I'd hate to miss out on all the fun. I know a lot of people were having trouble with this quest too. So I hope you guys can fix it. It's a very good idea. 4laugh

Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 03:31am


	Glad to hear you're feeling better! Earaches/infections are the pits. As for the insomnia, well, that's probably to be expected after getting your sleep patterns scrambled from being so sick. gonk Keep a bit of cotton in your ear during the softball game if you go though. If your tympanum is still a little inflamed, a shout that is a little too loud or a bit of a breeze might make you very uncomfortable!

WinterBear
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Lazarus Larkin
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Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 07:25am


	I downloaded the book and will probably read it before too long. As for the Paulo Coelho novel, I borrowed it from one of my professors, read about 30 pages, and really couldn't stand it. It was preachy and boring. ^_^* I really like this mini-event too ^_^ Though I'm disappointed Moira is doing so well. I will never understand why people like her...

Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 08:15am


	I love the gold sink! Some of the items are great! I do have to admit that I'm curious what will happen if any of the shops don't get full bars though. And great work on fixing the database thing! You guys are awesome at that stuff!

rosaleendhu
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Ketira
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Commented on: Sun Apr 26, 2009 @ 02:07pm


	Have you been reading my brother's web blog? Because that's his "good habit of the month"! Thanks for explaining what was going on with the Marketplace servers. Some young'uns here didn't like the hold-up, but I'm glad things worked out all right. Yes, I know the "bailout" is a gold-sink. That's why I gave Liam the least amount possible - just enough to get the item and that's it. (If he had asked me out on Valentine's, he would had ended up in the middle of Bass'ken Lake. Gino, OTOH... but I digress. wink ) hugs Again, thanks for the update, and keep up the good work! 3nodding God/dess Bless America! Draw me if you will - who knows what you may get in return? Just send me a PM with a link to your drawing! and don't forget to tap & grab!

Commented on: Mon Apr 27, 2009 @ 06:18pm


	If you guys do put Aquariums on the home page, I hope you don't have a "redirect" if Flash is not installed on the computer... I can't install or update Flash on my work computer, so there's several pages that, instead of having a broken element, just refresh the whole page to a "lol get flash" page... which sucks, because I really miss the "My Gaia" page. gonk I've noticed from time to time when I log in that I'll get that flash redirect as soon as I do log in--which is possibly some other flash element on the home page. It makes it frustrating to use the site at all from work, because so much of the site these days is loaded with flash elements. sad

Rayinte
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Kunai Jones
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Commented on: Tue Apr 28, 2009 @ 04:37pm


	To clarify the wishlist issue, if I ctrl+click on the Check Marketplace link within the page for a wishlist item, it opens the marketplace listing in a new tab. If I just click on it regularly, though, the little java window comes up with undefined errors. Clicking through from there gives another error page.

Commented on: Tue Apr 28, 2009 @ 10:27pm


	Just noticed Aquariums are back on the front page, and everything seems to be working a-ok now. I went back and forth, clicking links off the home page, and everything loaded quick and promptly each time. Much much better!

Gamine
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Absol - Ruler of Chaos
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Commented on: Wed Apr 29, 2009 @ 02:17am


	The home page definitively improved biggrin the SignatureView.swf is still faster than HomePageView.swf but, is does not have transparent borders; anyway quality low/high has no effect on either eek

Commented on: Mon May 04, 2009 @ 06:24pm


	Hey Pan, can you have somebody kick the Arena server? It still didn't roll over at midnight, and now Week 19 entries are losing a day of their voting time and Week 18's would-be winners are slipping ranks due to downvotes. Please fix this. You can't run a race without a finish line.

Kunai Jones
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