Another great site, by the waste side...

[Simplysheshe]

Yes, you've heard it..I'm sure. CouchSurfing.com, a website providing travelers free couches, has fallen over and died.

Let us all take a moment of silence.

[xanthuos]

That's some bullshit. They were just running a fundraising drive for the "Couchsurfing Collective."

I wonder if they cut & run with the cash in hand?

[juliagulia]

According to Casey, there were two malfunctions, one which was avoidable. I don't really understand something--is there belief that the two admins he was referring to were somehow the cause of it going belly up?

[xanthuos]

What I don't understand is why he's unwilling to start the site again. Couchsurfing became hugely popular rather fast, which can cause the growing pains which likely caused this outage. However, to throw in the towel like that makes something smell fishy to me, especially having recently gotten e-mails from CS asking me to contribute to the Couchsurfing Collective.

[blinkchick2134]

I got those emails too.....makes me glad I didn't donate now.

I've always liked Servas, although you have to pay and be interviewed it seems like a good deal. Never used them for the record but heard many stories.

[Esterina]

Here's the notice from the site :

Dear CouchSurfers,

Two days ago CouchSurfing experienced what could be described as the perfect storm. The database administrators we hired made two critical mistakes. First, we had a major, avoidable hard drive crash. Secondly, the incremental back-ups weren't executed in the correct manner, and twelve of our most important data files didn't survive.

I have been working non-stop trying to repair the data, but as difficult as it is for me to say, it has become clear that certain essential pieces are not recoverable. This crash happened at a particularly vulnerable time, in a transition between two back-up methods. If the crash had happened a week ago, or next week, we would have had a different outcome.

It is with a heavy heart that I face the truth of this situation. CouchSurfing as we knew it doesn't exist anymore. We've had an amazing two and a half years.

Members write "CouchSurfing has changed my life" and I know what they mean, it has certainly changed mine and I am eternally grateful.

My vision transformed. CouchSurfing was born out of a dream I had to meet the most interesting people in world and experience their cultures, and it grew into a living, thriving family of almost a hundred thousand. This community has blossomed in beautiful ways I hadn't even anticipated. It was no longer about what I got to experience, but rather, what genuine, heartfelt good this community can offer the world. We have all opened not only our homes, but also our hearts, our lives. In sharing important moments, deep and meaningful connections have crossed oceans, continents and cultures. I saw in CS, in you, the power to change not only they way we travel, but change the world itself. Thank you, CouchSurfers. You have shown me more than I could have even known. Your generosity and spirit is a gift to humanity.

I have devoted the last three years of my life to CouchSurfing. I have literally poured every cent I have into the site. I've sacrificed my health, my time, and my own ability to travel and meet people. In many ways I've put my life and wanderlust on hold to build this network. I'm not complaining; it's been a fantastic ride. As devastating as it is to consider, it looks like the ride is over.

Life is continuously changing, evolving, dying and being reborn. After a fire, the earth is replenished; after a storm, the air is cleared. It feels to me like this loss of CouchSurfing is how it's meant to be. This crash is like a sign from the universe. Too many random factors aligned to make it as damaging as it is, and though I've tried everything I can and engaged the best and brightest database managers, there's just no way to get it back. In many respects it's heartbreaking, but at the same time, what we've built together is not dead, it lives on in each of us. It lives in the connections we've fostered and the culture we've created. I want us all to take this CouchSurfing spirit and continue the mission out in the world. We've all experienced this common vision and the potential it has to transform the way people relate to each other. Now it is time for all of us to not bury the dream, but rather nurture it's growth in our own ways, in new explorations and ventures. We all own a piece of the CouchSurfing flame, it's up to us to keep the fire going and light the world. So let's do it, let's light the world! What will you do with your flame?

Goodnight, CouchSurfing. May our flames burn bright.

I love you,
Casey

[xanthuos]

This just gets more interesting...an e-mail I received today...granted, it's probably from someone whose first language is not English, but I'm still quite suspect. Emphasis mine.

this email was sent to about 90.000 Humans worldwide, all of them Members of CouchSurfing.com, but this is still NO SPAM!


in case of the escalations during the last 48 hours, it was a need for us to make this unusual step!

Our Lifetime Hero Casey Fenton owns the Respect and prays from all of us now.
We don´t wanna loose to many words about dreams, possiblities and such, just let come straight clear:

INI WON`T GIVE UP!

right now we cannot promise anything else that we gonna try to collect all potentials to built up the site again!

just now Volunteers try to bundle the possibilities! (extra mention for Bontour)


but we will need help, MASSIVE help


what we need for the first steps is:

Super professional PHP and _JAVASCRIPT Coders
Mega professional UNIX/Linux Administrators
Hyper professional Apache Webmasters
Incredible professional MySQL Superstars with Database Cluster Experience

please mailto:contribution.couchsurfing@liwest.at

we really need donations to cover to the Hardware and Software Costs

if you have a chance to contribute us with some money, please do that to the following Bank Account in Austria/Europe

Transfers from BANKACCOUNTS IN EUROPE

* * * accountname: europe.couchsurfing.com
* * * Bankname: Oberbank AG
* * * BIC (Bank Identifier Code) = Swift Address: OBKLAT2L
* * * IBAN (International Bank account number): AT541500000821024114

Transfers from OVERSEAS AND NON EU_MEMBER Bankaccounts:

* * accountname: europe.couchsurfing.com

* * * Oberbank AG
* * * bank code: 15000
* * * bank account number: 821024114

AND

the CSC Europe Meeting will STILL happen in Eisenstadt/Austria please contact EuropeCSC06@gmail.com to get all needed data!
(July 21st to July 30th)

this is a meanwhile google group called COUCHSURFING-PHOENIX which was installed now to have a quick chance to get together.
http://groups.google.at/group/Couchsurfing...x?lnk=srg&hl=de

we cannot answer any email before Tuesday, but please come in with your inputs!

Irie CouchSurfers Worldwide

as mentioned above - we cannot promise anything now and here and how fast we have at least a basic working solution, but i can promise that we gonna try everything to keep it going!

[JeanB]

The website was really good and i think the whole idea was fantastic. Its a shame its gone, but the people who made the site great are still here.......if we lost them then the world would be in real trouble.

[tumblezweedz]

...yeah. Well, I'm glad I didn't send them any $$$, that letter from Casey was just a little over the top IMO. Wonder what he's going to do now, having sunk all his lifetime earnings into the failed site? Take a little trip, perhaps?

[kingcrazylegs]

I don't get why they just don't start it over....

[bluepea]

CouchSurfing 2.0 is coming!
"Participate And Create a Better World, One Couch At A Time"


NOTE: If you are a stranded traveler or expecting a surfer on your couch checkout the refugee camps set up on the hyperboard.

Hello fellow explorer, welcome the CouchSurfing Project!

We experienced a major server crash on June 27 and lost a substantial amount of data.

At this very moment, we are working with the best experts in the field to recover data, we are communicating with the other rebuilding efforts, and we're launching CouchSurfing version 2.0.

UNREGISTERED MEMBERS:
If you are not already a member of CouchSurfing, please click here.

EXISTING MEMBERS:
If you are a member of CouchSurfing, please login below.

[xamantha]

hmmmm... im glad it's over...

[JeanB]

Apparently they've recovered all the data, according to my last email. And so the giant hospitality club continues......

[MeTurk]

They only lost 11,000 inactive accounts, I think they just panicked and put the message on the website before they really knew what had happened.

[Elizabeth]

Looks like its back up at 100% now.

[DJ_VeeeNoM]

I still remeber when The Exe. peeeps got blocked assholes! I hate yahoo for that!

[c0urt]

so yeah, i forgot until yesterday i was a member of this site, and i found places to stay for the next few days, and i got my clothes washed, SCORE