BodySpace Official News Blog

Don’t miss our upcoming Justin.tv video chat this Friday, May 9, 2008 at 1:00-2:00 p.m. MDT (-0600).

Join guest hosts Marc Lobliner and Derek ‘Beast’ Charlebois on the Bodybuilding.com live Justin.tv video chat for “SCIVATION SMACKDOWN!”

Hear them chat about comps, supps, and your momma, LOL! Get your nutrition, supplemention, and training questions answered by BodySpace’s favorite bad boys!

For more info, click here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/justintv.htm

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

Forum threads:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=107688901

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=213812.0

Related chat sessions:

Bodybuilding.com Boise Retail Store

Ask A Customer Service Rep Anything!

All About FAME!

Which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?  Hmmm…  Okay, bad news first:  the ‘friends’ module is currently disabled, and will be off all weekend.  (It’ll be fixed on Monday.)

Also, we’ve been having ’sidebar’ issues all day today.  So if it looks like you’re logged out, you might actually still be logged in.  Confusing?  Yes.  Critical?  No.  You should still be able to use BodySpace just fine over the weekend (it shouldn’t prevent you from logging in or out, you just may need to do so from the main site instead of from BodySpace.)

Okay, time for the great news!  In the BodySpace Workout Tracker (BWT), you can now add/change an exercise on a previous workout (add a forgotten exercise, for example), and also do the same on a saved workout template (in your workout library.)  Kudos go out to Wayne for the BWT added functionality! 

As many people reported, the Advanced Member Search tool has been offline for a few weeks.  This was due to some database load issues, but everything has been fixed, and the search tool is now back online! 

While pretty tame, April 1st was not completely devoid of a few pranks around the site.  Some miscers noticed that every single post on the first page of the misc forum was stickied for several hours, causing some backlash and some lively discussion.

Some wallpaper downloaders noticed that CEO Ryan DeLuca is now in your face, LOL!

On BodySpace, we witnessed a few of the top profiles battling it out whilst pregnant, a never-before-witnessed dog-eat-dog delivery here on BB.com:

Kudos to ChickenTuna, JoshBme and JamerJay for the hilarity! 

BodySpace member RachelBringIt recommends Bodybuilding.com for all your fitness needs (even for girls who aren’t bodybuilders!) 

Check her out here:

To see the full version of this video and her on-going Adventure to Sexy Town, visit her profile:

http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/RachelBringIt/

and her hilarious blog:

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/RachelBringIt

Many of us have noticed (and reported) various BodySpace problems today, and we are working on correcting these issues as we speak.  Thus, please consider BodySpace to be in "maintenance mode" today.  If something doesn’t work quite normally, please just try again later, as we are tweaking some code and server settings to make everything run better.

Some of the items reported today:

Blog comment CAPTCHAs not appearing - FIXED.
Broken images - FIXED.
Workout tracker giving error messages - FIXED.
Long load times and timeout error messages - FIXED.
Report & forum emails not being delivered - FIXED.
Can’t connect error messages - FIXED.
Forums and blogs down sporadically - FIXED.

3/25 - 4/09/2008 UPDATES:

The programming team is working on optimizing our BodySpace code for speed.  Previously, the code worked, but it wasn’t coded in the most efficient manner (too many database calls, not enough caching/data warehousing, etc.)  During this process, some modules will be turned off and on for testing and optimization.  Please pardon our dust!

Slow blog load times - FIXED. 
Visitors counter stalled - Temporarily turned off for performance reasons.
BodyPoints not accumulating - Temporarily turned off for performance reasons.
BodyBlog RSS feeds not working - FIXED.
BodySpace advanced member search not working - FIXED.
Lifting Stats not working - FIXED.
Missing latest blog post on BodySpace profiles - FIXED.
YouTube videos not embedding in blogs - FIXED.

These are some of the error screens you might be seeing:

These will be fixed soon.  Thanks for your patience.  Once everything is back to normal, if you are still seeing a maintenance message, you may have to refresh your profile or blog (CTRL+F5, or CTRL+R in your browser) to see the current version.

Another huge "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our recent Arnold Preview video chat and live Arnold Booth Cam last weekend.

This week’s scheduled live, interactive video chat is with Fitness Model and Bodybuilding.com Affiliate Manager Crystal Matthews and her friend Loni, who both routinely work supplement company booths at expos like the recent 2008 Arnold!  This ninth weekly live video chat will take place Friday, March 14, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MDT (-0600).

Crystal will be reviewing the 2008 Arnold Expo; what it was like to work the Twinlab booth; how working booths for Twinlab differs from working for BB.com, VPX, and other companies; and more.

Crystal will also be answering questions from women who want to get into fitness modeling, supplement company booth work at shows, and Bodybuilding.com’s affiliate program. She also might touch upon her recent photoshoot with Jamie Eason!

So stop by this Friday and chat with fellow BodySpace member Crystal Matthews and her friend Loni live! Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

See also: our Justin.tv Main Page for weekly chats:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=106483441

Coming very soon… the MuscleTech® $50,000 Transformation Contest - you won’t want to miss this!

Do you have what it takes to win nearly 50 LARGE by transforming your body?

Stay tuned for more information!  Contest entry form, and further details are forthcoming!

3/10/08 UPDATE:  Here’s the link to the Official Rules.

3/13/08 UPDATE:  Here’s the link to the Official Forum Thread.

3/19/08 UPDATE:  Here’s the link to the Official Contest Blog.  The entry form will be available on Monday, March 24, 2008.

3/24/08 UPDATE:  Here’s the link to the Official Entry Form.  Sign up now!  Please note the updated Terms and Conditions.

BodySpace experienced a minor hardware failure last night with the server’s RAID disk array, and while no data was lost, some of it was crosslinked between users, which is why a small subset of users have reported seeing someone else’s photo on their profile, etc.  (This was not any hacking activity, but a glitch in the real-time data restore & synchronization procedure when the new harddrive was installed.)

If you were in the middle of writing a blog post during this time period, it’s quite possible that the post was not saved, as the database was not logging new activity during the restore.  Everything else, however, should still be there.

This is obviously being inspected, and hopefully everything should be back to normal ASAP for those users.  If you are seeing anything weird like this on your profile, please report it ASAP:

bodyspace@bodybuilding.com

Thanks, and we’re sorry for the hiccup.  Incidentally, the drive that failed was also contributing to the recent slowness on BodySpace since the weekend, so once everything is back to normal, BodySpace should be faster, too. 

3/5/2008 UPDATE:  frozen profile views are also related to this and will be back to normal tomorrow.

3/7/2008 UPDATE:  frozen visit counters are back to normal, but profile visitor list still being worked on.  Hang tight.

3/10/2008 UPDATE:  profile visitor statistic lists are now being updated again.  Yeah!

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our Iron Man Predictions live video chat last Friday with NGA Competitive Bodybuilder Matt Biss.

This week’s scheduled live, interactive video chat is with industry insider Kris Gethin and his beautiful wife, IFBB Pro Female Bodybuilder Marika Johansson, who will be giving us their Top 10 predictions for the upcoming 2008 Arnold Classic!  This seventh weekly live video chat will take place Friday, February 22, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So stop by this Friday and chat with fellow BodySpace members Kris Gethin and Marika Johansson live, pick their brains about the upcoming 2008 Arnold Classic, and hear their AC predictions!  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

See also: our Justin.tv Main Page for weekly chats:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/justintv.htm

BodySpace surpassed 150,000 active users over the weekend! 

Thanks and welcome to all of our new members!

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our live video chat last Friday with Kris Gethin re: the Iron Man Pro.

This week’s scheduled live, interactive video chat was with BB.com Customer Service Rep and NGA Amateur Bodybuilder Matt Biss, who gave his Top 10 predictions for tomorrow’s 2008 Iron Man Pro!  This sixth weekly live video chat took place TODAY, Friday, February 15, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So stop by and watch the chat video replay with fellow BodySpace member Muscle Mania Matt, and see who he picked to win!  

Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom/68685

Check out the Iron Man Blog for more Iron Man coverage throughout the weekend!

See also: our Justin.tv Main Page for weekly chats:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/justintv.htm

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our live video chat last Friday with NPC Figure Competitor Melissa Johnsen.

This week’s scheduled live, interactive video chat is with industry insider Kris Gethin, who will be giving his Top 10 predictions for the upcoming 2008 Iron Man Pro!  This fifth weekly live video chat will take place TODAY, Friday, February 8, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So stop by in a couple of hours and chat with fellow BodySpace member Kris Gethin live, pick his brain about the upcoming 2008 Iron Man Pro, and drill him on why he thinks the way he does (LOL!)  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our live video chat last Friday with NGA Amateur Bodybuilder Brandon Poe from “The Poe Show.”

This week’s scheduled live video chat is with NPC Figure Competitor Melissa Johnsen, winner of the recent 2007 NPC Rocky Mountain Championships!  This fourth live video chat will take place this Friday, February 1, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So, stop by this Friday and chat with fellow BodySpace member Mel Johnsen, find out which NPC competitions she’ll be competing in this year, talk about her recent win in Colorado at the Carol Semple Figure Championships, and find out what it’s like to train and compete while being a mother of three children!  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

Bonus: here’s a video clip of Mel at last month’s NPC Carol Semple Figure show!

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our live video chat last Friday with WNSO Pro Bodybuilder Kris Gethin.

This week’s scheduled live video chat is with NGA Bodybuilder Brandon Poe from “The Poe Show”!  This third live video chat will take place this Friday, January 25, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So, stop by this Friday and chat with fellow BodySpace member Brandon Poe, find out which NGA competitions he’s competing in this year, talk about his latest episode of The Poe Show, and find out what it’s like to have your own video series on BB.com!  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

After a few months hiatus, this feature is back!  Who was chosen?  Click here to find out:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bodyspace2008jan.htm

Okay, okay - it is KatNap!  Be sure to check her out!  And don’t forget, you could be next! 

Did you miss the previous ones?  Be sure to check out our BodySpace Members Of The Month Main Page.

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our live video chat last Friday with BB.com Dutch Intern Tammo Vastenburg.

This week’s scheduled live video chat is with Bodybuilding.com’s new Editor-In-Chief, WNSO Pro Bodybuilder Kris Gethin!  This second live video chat will take place this Friday, January 18, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So, stop by this Friday and chat with fellow BodySpace member Kris Gethin, find out how his current cut cycle is going, learn more about his fitness industry career, and hear what a real Welshman from Australia sounds like!  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

Those of you who watched our 2007 Olympia webcast most likely saw our roving "hat cam" at the Olympia expo.  That service was provided by Justin.tv, a popular lifecasting site on the web.

We’re going to be using that channel again this year for a few more bodybuilding shows and scheduled chats with various persons of interest throughout the year.  The first of these live video chats will take place this Friday, January 11, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700) with Bodybuilding.com Intern Tammo Vastenburg from the Netherlands.

So, stop by this Friday and chat with BodySpace member Tammo, find out what an intern at BB.com does, see if Dutch people are white (LOL), and hear what a real Dutch accent sounds like!  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

If you aren’t aware, Tammo was recently featured as one of our Wallpapers of the Week! 

"The BodyPoints system is currently down as we fix a few small bugs. Check back soon!"

1/11/08 Update:  BodyPoints are currently broken, but should be back online next week sometime.

1/17/08 Update:  BodyPoints are still currently broken, but should be back online next week sometime.

1/31/08 Update:  BodyPoints are still currently broken, and it turns out that it’s not something we can easily "fix" so instead the whole Points module is being rewritten from square one.  Thus, it’ll be at least another month before they’re available again, I’m thinking March 1st at the earliest.  We’re also working on a way to ‘compensate’ everyone that is currently active for the lost points while it’s off.  Stay tuned.

2/21/08 Update:  March 1st is looking more like April 1st.

Happy New Year to everyone on BodySpace and Bodybuilding.com!  We’re looking forward to another great year helping you reach your fitness and bodybuilding goals!

Wonder who the top BodySpace members were at exactly the stroke of midnight?  Well, here they are:

Congrats to the Top 6!