Google Code Project Hosting Considered Harmful

I used to like google code project hosting - it was quick and easy to throw up a project, it had a straightforward, minimalist interface, and their bug/issue tracker was easy for people to use - compared to the overcomplicated behemoths like sourceforge, it was refreshing. And I'm a google-slut - I use gmail, google reader, google groups, google apps, blogger, you name it - centralising on google just makes life easier.

For the last few days, however, I have been getting "403 Forbidden" errors when trying to access any project hosted on google code hosting - not just my own. Even the main code.google.com/hosting page returns a 403 error. Initially, I thought it was a temporary glitch, but when it lasted a few days, and no one else in the universe was complaining, I investigated further.

It appears that my IP address - or given it changes every time I connect, the block of IP addresses my ISP uses - has been blocked from google code hosting. I can access my projects again by using an SSH tunnel to another web host and pointing firefox at the tunnel. Yay.

So, the google overlords have made some sort of cockup - should be easy to get fixed, right?

Here comes the dangerous part - there's no way to get this fixed. In typical google fashion, there is no contact address. All problems with google code hosting are dealt with via a google group. You post to the google group, which is moderated, and ... nothing happens. You wait a few days - the post never appears.

God. Damn. It.

Getting something simple like this fixed should not be that hard.

At least I can use an ssh tunnel to get access to my projects, so I can move them somewhere else - inconvenient, but not fatal.

Now, I'm wondering what to do if the same thing happens to gmail, or apps or ...