Based on recommendations from Microsoft and Amazon, we made some changes to our systems at approximately 10:00 a.m this morning. For over 6 hours now, our systems have performed without an incident. There are still a couple of issues we are watching closely. As and when we learn more, appropriate action will be taken. Overall, I am happy to report that our systems are now stable. Your patience and words of encouragement through these stressful hours have been invaluable.

Thanks to your support, we now have the platform to take the Guru.com service to new highs.

Inder

With the federal observance of Columbus Day in the U.S. on Monday, October 8, payments made by Prepaid MasterCard, direct deposit or wire transfer may be delayed in reaching you. Although Guru is open our regular hours and will be processing payments as usual, most U.S. banks are closed on this date.

Please be mindful of the potential for payment delays as you coordinate with your Employers on any upcoming transactions.

Inder

On August 26, we made updates to the Registration, “Create Identity” and Dashboard pages on Guru. Following this update, we received quite a few suggestions for improvement for the Dashboard page. Thank you for your valuable feedback!   We have reviewed your suggestions and made changes to the Dashboard page.  You can now get to Invitations, “Project Matches” and “Watch List” pages by clicking on the links on the right panel of the Dashboard page.

Everything we cook at Guru is seasoned with your thoughts. The Dashboard page will not be an exception. It will also evolve to your taste and liking.

While we are on the subject of updates, let me fill you in on the upcoming changes.

• Improvements to the “Post Project”, “View Project” and “Submit Proposal” pages are currently in the development phase. Details about these changes will be posted on the blog within the next few weeks. You can expect these changes to be released in December.
• We will update the Profile pages and add Multi-User Accounts feature in the early part of 2013. These improvements are currently in the design phase. We will post more details on the blog starting in February.
• Next, we will improve the Billing & Payment interface on Guru. We’re planning the timeline for this project. Let’s just say this change is currently in the inspiration phase.

I am personally most excited about your new Profile page. It has been a sheer joy to plan this page. I cannot help but be reminded of the famous line by George Zimmer…. “You’re gonna like the way you look. I guarantee it!”

Inder

A software glitch within the Level 3 network (our trusted supplier of bandwidth) prevented access to the Guru.com website on July 12, 2012. The problem started at around 4:30 a.m. in the morning, and persisted till 7:00 p.m. EST in the evening, before it was finally diagnosed and cured.

Level 3 is one of the largest, and perhaps, one of the most trusted providers of internet bandwidth in the world today. As you can imagine, a large and complex network requires stringent policies and protocols to maintain. At times, these policies may hinder a quick resolution of what may appear to most  (specifically our Guru engineers) as a simple problem to fix. A collaborative tussle (cannot think of a better term) that transpired between the different groups of engineers is perhaps the most accurate description of what transpired behind the scenes.

We are truly sorry for any slowness and downtime you may have experienced while we were tackling the challenges to access our Guru.com website over the internet.

I was personally engaged with our engineers as they worked tirelessly to get to the root of the problem. It was humbling to observe that the urgency & determination to restore access took precedence over the most basic human necessities. With great joy, I report that the passion to serve your interests is alive and thriving within every member of the Guru team.

We look forward to your continued business with Guru.com, allowing us to provide you with the high level service you deserve from us.

Very Best,
Inder

Inder