Posts tagged TekSavvy
Tumblr custom domains not working? Try this.
So for the past couple months I’ve been having trouble with my Tumblr custom domain (www.mattdemers.com) habitually breaking. It’ll redirect people to an error page, won’t let me hotlink to my posts and is generally acting pretty dumb.
The solution to this lies in your domain’s DNS settings: in order to get your domain to “point” to your blog, you have to direct it to 72.32.231.8, then set it up on Tumblr’s back end.
By saying (in settings) “hey, Tumblr, recognize that when MattDemers.com talks to you, you better redirect it to mattdemers.tumblr.com”, you can use a custom domain. By placing that IP there, you tell GoDaddy (or whoever) to talk to Tumblr when someone types in your URL.
My friend Matt directed me to this post by Quantum Pie, which offers the solution to my problem.
There are other servers that Tumblr uses to deal with custom domain names, but it does not publish these publicly. The trick is to let the internet know that these other servers can be used to find your custom domain.
To do this you must create additional A records in your DNS settings that point to your site. Just repeat the standard Tumblr instructions for setting up a custom domain name to create an A record for each of the following IP addresses:
- 50.22.53.155
- 50.22.53.157
- 72.32.231.8 (the default Tumblr IP address)
- 174.121.98.156
- 174.121.66.230
It may take a few hours for the changes to take effect.
If you use a custom domain name with Tumblr, you should add these extra records. It will increase the robustness of your website.
THAT blog post takes concepts from other post, which states:
So if the first [address] goes down, your browser will move on to the second server, and if that goes down, to the third, and so on. For the techies out there, this is called a round-robin DNS technique.
Makes sense, right?
So by adding some new addresses, I’ve fixed my problems with MattDemers.com. Now you guys can come appreciate my nerdery all the more often.
And by the way, thank you for that. Your visits and notes mean a lot to me.
Anyways, hope I could help some people.
Hey Canadians; if you use the Internet, you should be paying attention to this.
Giant telecoms have successfully gotten the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to impose something called Usage-Based Billing (UBB) on Canadians who use the Internet.
UBB involves the lowering of Internet caps and the increase of fees involved if you go over them. It also eliminates the cost-effectiveness of offering unlimited packages, which is something Independent ISPs had over the bigger guys.
So instead of a 200gb cap with Chatham, Ontario ISP Teksavvy, customers will be reduced down to 25gb for the same price. Customers who go over that cap (or fail to pay more for more bandwidth) will be charged upwards of $2 a gig.
What is infuriating about this course of action is that these telecoms are partly doing this to dissuade you from using movie streaming services like Netflix, or watching TV shows via websites like iTunes, CTV, CityTV, the Comedy Network, or other unsavoury means.
With many households cutting off their cable services in favour of streaming, companies like Bell and Rogers need to find a way to stop that: and they are, through Usage-Based Billing. If someone has to choose between streaming a HD movie through Netflix (which they’re already paid for through subscription) and going over their cap, what do you think they’re going to do?
This is further compounded by the fact that Bell and Rogers have their own movie and TV streaming services, which are separate from their Internet downloading packages; they don’t count towards your Internet cap with the same company if you use them. In essence, they want your business, and if you don’t buy through them, you’re going to pay out the ass.
I made this post so people can spread the word, and know that there’s resources out there for people to get educated before they start losing their heads. Please, don’t mindlessly protest: do some reading and know that this is something that will affect all of us, and the future openness of the Internet.
