LJ: Beware the Casual Host

Another reason I love teh Internet: If a person is an avid and educated internet user, it is never impossible to find them. Eerie and creepy? Perhaps. Useful? Infinitely.

Case in point: my biz site and guild site's host. He's a bit slow to responding to communications, and doesn't really pay much attention to what's going on with the sites he hosts. I spoke to him over the phone earlier in the month (around the 8th) regarding a billing issue, and he did indeed clear that up right away. He also spoke of an upcoming server move, and I asked him to keep in touch regarding anything that might impact my sites.

Several weeks later, the bill was due on the guild site. But even if I wanted to pay it, I couldn't, because the billing page was down. In fact, his entire website is down. But that makes sense to me, as he said he was transitioning from having turned his hosting hobby into a job back into a hobby. (Get that? Hobby -> job -> hobby.) But with his biz site down, I couldn't look up the same phone number I'd called before, leaving me with quite a connundrum. My solution? To verb a noun, I whois'ed his biz site, and got all the info I'd need to contact him. So, I fire up the handset and give him a ring, but the number's been... disconnected? Curioser and curioser.

My next step was to google his name. That is, the name his biz site was registered to, which I could easily find on the whois registry. Google comes back with hisname.com, and I head on over. It's a personal blog about life, work, play, and the like. Hmm, hard to tell if it's the same guy, I think as I scroll around, this is stuff anyone could be talking about, this could be anyone. But then I realize what the newest post is titled: "Server Move Complete". Uh huh... interesting. So I whois the domain for this personal site, and what do I get? It's registered to the hosting company. Splendid!

I tried to leave a comment on his server move post, but had to register to do so. Which was fine, as he didn't appear to be screening those who applied for logins. I left a nice, simple message; one which expressed not only willingness to work with him, but knowledge that he is possibly trying to skirt some of his obligations. It was really hard for me to not type "I can see you!", though, as his updates-every-30-seconds desk cam showed him planted firmly at his computer. Surely, I'll hear response back soon?

There's no reason to run and hide from me, boys and girls of teh Internet. I shall find you..