Well, it was more than heart attack for me when I found the server status disconnected in the data center’s admin panel. (This site was on my friend’s server earlier)

I did not have any backup and that server had my hard work of 4 years (http://www.tybcom.com/), This site and Techspot (It is still down, in the process of restoring)

I was like almost broke with no backup in hand, I was just praying that “God please bring my sites back anyhow…”

I asked my friend to get in touch with ThePlanet by phone as they were not bothered to reply to my support tickets. And worst part was, they did not talk to him properly so I asked my cousin in US to call them up, I got to know the reason (His credit card got declined for some reason) so instead of sending us the notice they preferred disconnecting the server.

We had to wait for around 10 hours more as their Accounting department had left for the day, so finally I asked my friend to call them up at 730PM here in India (9AM EST) But still I was worried about the data as I was not sure what will be the next move of ThePlanet. The situation was like a student who is waiting for the test results and had attempted 40 marks of paper out of 100 and still expects to pass in the exams.

But I was lucky that I got the server back online and I quickly took the backup and restored the sites on my other server.

So lessons learnt:

1. Backup Backup Backup, always take backup

2. Don’t trust ThePlanet, they are crazy and they can do whatever they want without caring about the customer

I got this email couple of days back…

Was nice speaking to you …Actually the concept is that all these designs that we are making are not sales BUT we will try and sell to clients after the new mockups (Layouts) are made and ready to show them . So there will be 100s of designs we will have to make everyday and hope 1% - 2% get converted . So I will be paying you upfront after my designer approves the design to keep a check on quality . So even if the design does not sell you get paid anyway and later if the design sells we will make the other pages in-house and complete the job .

Each designer will be able to make around 6-7 designs on a daily basis . We will give him the present URL and he will basically have to make a nice design accordingly so the client likes it and buys . He can take design ideas from other similar sites so that he can dish out designs real fast .. Hope you get the concept .. A good designer can even make 10 a day. We will be paying Rs. 150 for a single page design layout NO html needed. Just wanted to know if you can match this quality of mockups or even make better . These are just the examples what we are looking out for ….

I got to know about it from Varun yesterday. And I decided quickly to be there Ashish will also join me.

The event is kind of unconference. An event where all bloggers will meet, discuss and share ideas. Presentations, Demos, WIFI, Live Blogging and lot more to make a geek excited.

Info from the official site:

Blogcamp hopes to provide a forum where bloggers can share their stories and be inspired by innovative and successful blogging experiences. In the spirit of blogging and no-barriers interaction, the two-day event will be in an unconference mode.

Unconferences are immensely popular because of active participation of attendees, where everyone will be encouraged to have conversations around areas that interest them. Chaotic as that sounds, it sparks off many new ideas and is a whole lot of fun.

Useful links: List of topics to be covered (Damn, I would have loved to speak on SEO for blogs), Add yourself in the Attendees list here, List of Hotels in Chennai

Okay, I am done, tomorrow I am going to book flight’s return tickets and might also book hotel rooms online only.

Hope to see some of the readers there (Do reply if you are coming)

Ganesh Chaturthi, a very auspicious day for everyone. I always get excited about this day. I am not a strong believer of God but still I do believe in Lord Ganesha, I do not prefer attending Poojas or Aartis but I make a point to bring Ganesha to our Home every year on his Birthday

So, today is the day, and here he is..

I wish all the readers, friends a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi and ofcourse a very very Happy Birthday to lord Ganesha.

Ganpati Bappa…Morya….

Friends from my Flickr contact list can check Ganesh Chaturthi Pictures here

Due to unprecedented raids on the cable operators for carrying satellite movie and entertainment channels having Adult content, All Maharashtra cable operators have shut down the channels till further directions from high court. Kindly bear with us. - CODA (Cable Operators Distribution Associations)

This is what I saw when I checked my cable operator’s private channel. All other channels are blacked out, nothing works at all.

Okay, I agree these guys did bad to you people but why block News channels? From where do we check news?

Excerpts from the news report:

The raids are in response to a Bombay High Court order last December which banned TV channels from screening A and U/A rated films.

Police say despite the ban many channels were screening films with adult content and went ahead with the raids. 

There is more info on this issue here