Category: Tech

Downtime

Please note this site will most likely be down for a while. I don’t know when it will go offline, but it may last for days, depending on how much work will be needed behind the scenes.

Why?

This site is hosted by Bluehost, which updated the HTTP service, called Apache. It’s the thing that dishes out Web pages. The new version of Apache screwed up the updated PHP interpreter, and WordPress is written in PHP. So I had to revert to an old version of PHP, but PHP must be updated in order to update WordPress.

But wait, there’s more. Running on old PHP prevents CloudFlare, a security feature, from working. Also you will notice this site comes up as “Not secure” in browsers, and that’s because my SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate to support encryption is also broken. And now Bluehost sent a message saying they want to charge me for three certificates(??).

So despite external appearances, everything is a total mess. Knowing that making any changes at all will break everything is the reason why I am expecting downtime. You have been warned.

Update or Die… Update AND Die!

Warning: I am confronting a technical problem with the site, which may be down for hours or even days. It was caused by Bluehost after I received this message on May 1:

Hi DOUGLAS,

The Bluehost team is dedicated to providing you with the best resources for you and your website. So, we’re excited to announce that we will be upgrading all of our servers to newer versions of Apache and providing newer versions PHP (including PHP 7.1 & 7.2). The upgraded versions provide better data processing, which can improve the performance and speed of your website.

When will maintenance begin? We will start the maintenance process on May 1 at 6 PM EST and will continually monitor your website. We anticipate less than 5 minutes of slowness/downtime during the upgrade itself.

We recommend updating all of your web installations to the latest version–including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or any other Content Management Tool that you may use–as soon as possible. For custom or unique PHP code, please see the PHP Migration Guide by PHP.net.

Questions? If you have any questions, please visit the Bluehost help center.

Sincerely,

The Bluehost Team

Apache is server software that dishes Web pages out across the Internet. After Bluehost updated Apache this Web site went offline. I contacted Bluehost twice about the problem. The only solution they had was to downdate the thing that turns WordPress into Web pages for Apache to send, called the PHP interpreter. It is a very old version that has, in turn, created another problem:

An updated version of WordPress is available.
You cannot update because WordPress 5.2 requires PHP version 5.6.20 or higher. You are running version 5.2.17.

I will soon be starting the struggle of dealing with this problem. I will undoubtedly need a combination of patience and impatience with Bluehost to get it fixed. So don’t be surprised if this site isn’t here the next time you look for it.

Death By a Thousand Clicks

For 36 years I worked on the technology side of medical information systems. Around 2010 it became obvious to me that the HITECH program under ARRA would be extremely disruptive.

Not only did HITECH distort the market in significant ways, it failed to produce the intended benefits. One effect of HITECH was hospitals that were already using electronic health records were able to switch vendors and buy more expensive systems, knowing that the government would reimburse them if they met the “meaningful use” requirements.

Kaiser Health News and Fortune Magazine have published a lengthy report on what went wrong.

At the same time that hospital decision makers were looking forward to their HITECH reimbursements, the big players went on merger and acquisition binges, creating large regional medical systems. Left behind were many small rural hospitals, called Critical Access Hospitals, that rely upon Medicaid and Medicare money. Many have closed, either because they didn’t have a buyer or, as covered in a recent Nashville Tennessean story, they chose to remain independent.