Robert MacLean
6 June 2011
Update 6 June 2011 15h30 (GMT +0200): All is working now, post left for archival purposes.
Pepper, everyone's favourite Visual Studio add-in for synchronisation of Visual Studio settings, is currently DOWN 
and trying to use Pepper will cause it to crash Visual Studio
Something has gone seriously wrong in the SQL Azure database that powers it and I’ve logged a call with Microsoft to have it investigated and repaired.
As soon as I have any updates, I will update this page. Thanks for your patience.
Updates:
Update 6 June 2011 13h45 (GMT +0200): Testing is showing the database issue is resolved however I am awaiting confirmation from Microsoft Support before I sound the all clear.
Update 6 June 2011 15h30 (GMT +0200): All clear. The cause was the database disappeared! Seriously, just gone. Couldn't see it in SQL management studio or in the Azure management portal and the web services Pepper uses couldn't talk to it either. During the Microsoft investigation the database reappeared and unfortunately support has been unable to identify what happened (or they not telling me... but I'm paranoid).