this time the problem was unrelated to traffic but simply something stucking up in mysql...
the high traffic in the middle of the week was due to the moo3 interview and the publicity it was given(linked for several news sites + the official site)
can we do something about it? yes, last monday, the server would load up at 300 forum users and 2 chat users. today, it does at 500 and 10. how that was done? changes in server configuration and differentation in what is shown at different groups of people at different occasions of traffic
is there more that can be done? we certainly believe and hope so