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Slashdot Posting Bug Infuriates Haggard Admins

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the this-is-never-good dept.

Last night we crossed over 16,777,216 comments in the database. The wise amongst you might note that this number is 2^24, or in MySQLese an unsigned mediumint. Unfortunately, like 5 years ago we changed our primary keys in the comment table to unsigned int (32 bits, or 4.1 billion) but neglected to change the index that handles parents. We're awesome! Fixing is a simple ALTER TABLE statement... but on a table that is 16 million rows long, our system will take 3+ hours to do it, during which time there can be no posting. So today, we're disabling threading and will enable it again later tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience. We shall flog ourselves appropriately. Update: 11/10 12:52 GMT by J : It's fixed.

22 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Only one thing to say by bernywork · · Score: 5, Funny

    *Clap clap clap*

    --
    Curiosity was framed; ignorance killed the cat. -- Author unknown
  2. So does a first post ... by AppHack · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... roll over to be a last post?

  3. I for one by MrBulwark · · Score: 5, Funny

    welcome our 2 to the power of X overlords.

  4. Last post! by buro9 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Last post!

  5. who we should REALLY blame by admdrew · · Score: 5, Funny

    Alright, who's the joker who posted the 16,777,216th comment?

    Thanks for breaking slashdot, jerk :D

    --
    LegendMUD
  6. Oh Noes! by The+Mysterious+X · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its like y2k, only worse!

  7. I sense a disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    As if a thousand geeks all made the same damn "last post!" joke at once. . . . . .

  8. seems strange by jihadi_schwartz · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...why wasn't this problem discovered on the dev system in advance?

  9. It's true that... by 0racle · · Score: 5, Funny
    Anyone could have made the mistake
    But it's so much funnier when that anyone is not you.
    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  10. 2^24 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "2^24 comments ought to be enough for anyone" -- CmdrTaco

  11. Digg? by Afrosheen · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's cool, I'll just pretend I'm on Digg, with its 1981 Commodore 64 BBS-style threading.

      Wait..sorry Commodore fans. I know it had better threading than Digg.

  12. Haggard? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Haggard admins? Does this mean that the Admins will go buy some meth and get a massage?

  13. 16 million posts ... by DrJimbo · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... should have been enough for anyone.

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
  14. Holy Chit! by RedCard · · Score: 5, Funny

    No threading? Welcome to Farkdot.

  15. And? by Lars+T. · · Score: 5, Funny
    Sorry for the inconvenience. We shall flog ourselves appropriately.
    And post the YouTube link?
    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  16. It's a joke, kids by Temuar+Skylari · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dupe! I TOTALLY posted this story like, last WEEK man! (I laugh, but I betcha someone might post this in seriousness)

    --
    USE colorful confetti ON heavily-armed clown
  17. May i be the first to say... by zepo1a · · Score: 5, Funny

    Brillant!

    I always wondered where Paula Bean ended up...

  18. RE: 16777217 GET by Stalyn · · Score: 5, Funny

    mod parent up

    --
    The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
  19. Take all the time you need by deaton · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take all the time you need, I'm more than willing to refrain from posting durin.... Oh shit!

  20. Let the flamewars begin... by bigpat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would not have happened if Slashdot used PostgreSQL.

    Let the flamewars begin...

    Unthreaded flame wars are much less enjoyable.

  21. graphic artists by Speare · · Score: 5, Funny

    The number 2^24 is of interest to digital computer artists, as that is the number of unique colors combined in the commonly implemented "True Color" RGB8 space. That color space is looking pretty limiting in some respects, but that is truly a lot of unique colors when you think about it. A 16 megapixel image does not need to repeat any color used.

    If all slashdot posts from the history of Slashdot were sorted into color bins,
    • every post including the -2 trolls would get their own unique color,
    • all the colors which are predominantly blue would be claimed as "first posts,"
    • all the colors which are predominantly green would be unfunny memes like "hot grits,"
    • all the colors which are predominantly red would be complaints about editing or journalism,
    • the pure cyan, magenta, yellow shades are moderated as insightful or interesting,
    • the 256 posts corresponding to completely neutral gray shades are actually insightful or interesting

    Once that were done, people could simply post their replies as a reference to existing posts. "Hey, #938D3A to you, buddy!" "Know what I think of that? #F2C2A9!"

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
  22. Finally, a tale for my grandkids in the new era by voidptr · · Score: 5, Funny

    One day, Cmdr Taco is designing his database, and he sits down at a table with three integers on it. First, he tries the baby bear's integer, but exclaims "2 meager bytes is way too small for my appetite."

    Next, he tries Papa bear's integer, but proclaims "4 bytes is way too big for my little site, I'd just end up wasting so much."

    Finally, he tries Mama bear's integer, and extols "3 bytes is just right," not noticing it was really the same as Papa Bear's bowl in disquise.

    --
    This .sig for unofficial government use only. Official use subject to $500 fine.