Note from Bill Whittle: About Website Speed, or Lack Thereof

Hi everybody, Back when I was working as a TV editor on AMC’s Sunday Morning Shootout, movie mogul Peter Guber kept using a term that I just love. If someone would tell him that box-office revenue on a particular film was so high that the cast would be demanding a lot more money to be in the sequel, he would say, “Well, that is a high-class problem.”  Right now we are experiencing something of a high-class problem regarding this website. The software that we implemented well over a year ago has resulted in slower and slower loading times, and that is due entirely to an increasing Membership base. We just had our best growth spurt ever — by far — and that is slowing the site down even more. As I said, this is a high-class problem, but a high-class problem is still a problem.  Starting within the next few days, we will began a series of back-end fixes that should address some if not most of the problem. If these measures return the site to acceptable loading times, then, hooray! If not, we will rebuild the site with entirely different architecture. But we will want to implement these streamlining measures to the existing code first and assess how effective they are before making that decision.  I want to personally thank you for your patience in this matter, as I know it can be extremely frustrating. But we are moving aggressively on it. I’d also like to welcome all of our new Members, and invite you to post and comment on the Member blog. Over the years we have generated many hundreds of close, real-life friendships and even a pair of weddings. So if you are new, just drop a post to say “Hi”, or to discuss anything else for that matter. Our long-term Members will certainly welcome you with the same respect, warmth, intelligence and hospitality that makes me unspeakably proud on a daily basis.  BW