luke
04-23-2003, 12:41 AM
So... we're back. Let me tell you a little story:
My site (along with my entire server) was hacked by a group known as the USG (Unix Securuty Guards). These clever young rapscallions replaced my index page with one of their own choosing and left a special present on the server: A little virus to play with.
Suffice to say, the virus laid waste to the server and all the unimportant data on it. Good show boys!
Of course, my ISP apparently has never heard the word "Backup." And they really were less than helpful throughout the whole thing. What's really funny is that I looked them up on a host rating site and they got terrible ratings! Yah got me, Sal! Ya got me.
Now don't get the wrong idea, I am really the one to blame! Had a I been a diligent little geek, I could have backed up the forums. But I said to myself, "What could happen to a tiny little server in Michigan stashed in a secure 'data center'?"
How was I to know that it would become another victim of the war? Who knew?
Oh well. So everything was lost... right before this big convention here in the northeast, ICON. (The website is a very important tool post convention, it lets people who heard about us come and learn more, and lets people who played become more involved with our motley crew.)
So though the convention was a blast and we ran a very successful demo, it was also a bust. Because a lot of our efforts were wasted by the website being a smouldering ruin.
Oh well.
So why did it take a month to get the site back?
Well, obviously I wanted to move from that webhost to another service provider. It took time to track one down and test out their facilities. And then it took nearly two weeks to pry my IP from the cold dead hands of my old webhost. Long story, but it was pretty ugly. That combined with crushing depression and a much needed visit from my little brother ate up the body of the month. Oh yeah, and all the reprogramming took a little time, too.
Whenever this happens (and things of this nature have happened quite a bit to me: I've lost two hard drives to hardware errors, my brakes once froze up when I was driving, i've been to the hospital with more head injuries than I can count, i've had more programs crash while saving changes than I care to remember and the website used to crashout on a monthly basis) I like to try to come back a little different and a little stronger. New brakes, new skin, or a new website.
Hence the changes. We are now using a new forum engine. It is more robust and better looking than the last one by leaps and bounds. But it has also changed the nature of the site. Once I get the news side up and running again (a huge fucking headache) you will still just login to the forums. There will be no need to login to the news site; it will be just a flat read only posting with links to the latest downloads.
I am sorry that you have to reregister for the BW. I personally hate registering for stuff, but hopefully this will be the last time. Also, this BB supports cookies! So you'll only have to login once, check Remember Me and then never have to type your crappy password again!
enough rambling here. I must ramble elsewhere.
thanks for coming by,
-abzu
My site (along with my entire server) was hacked by a group known as the USG (Unix Securuty Guards). These clever young rapscallions replaced my index page with one of their own choosing and left a special present on the server: A little virus to play with.
Suffice to say, the virus laid waste to the server and all the unimportant data on it. Good show boys!
Of course, my ISP apparently has never heard the word "Backup." And they really were less than helpful throughout the whole thing. What's really funny is that I looked them up on a host rating site and they got terrible ratings! Yah got me, Sal! Ya got me.
Now don't get the wrong idea, I am really the one to blame! Had a I been a diligent little geek, I could have backed up the forums. But I said to myself, "What could happen to a tiny little server in Michigan stashed in a secure 'data center'?"
How was I to know that it would become another victim of the war? Who knew?
Oh well. So everything was lost... right before this big convention here in the northeast, ICON. (The website is a very important tool post convention, it lets people who heard about us come and learn more, and lets people who played become more involved with our motley crew.)
So though the convention was a blast and we ran a very successful demo, it was also a bust. Because a lot of our efforts were wasted by the website being a smouldering ruin.
Oh well.
So why did it take a month to get the site back?
Well, obviously I wanted to move from that webhost to another service provider. It took time to track one down and test out their facilities. And then it took nearly two weeks to pry my IP from the cold dead hands of my old webhost. Long story, but it was pretty ugly. That combined with crushing depression and a much needed visit from my little brother ate up the body of the month. Oh yeah, and all the reprogramming took a little time, too.
Whenever this happens (and things of this nature have happened quite a bit to me: I've lost two hard drives to hardware errors, my brakes once froze up when I was driving, i've been to the hospital with more head injuries than I can count, i've had more programs crash while saving changes than I care to remember and the website used to crashout on a monthly basis) I like to try to come back a little different and a little stronger. New brakes, new skin, or a new website.
Hence the changes. We are now using a new forum engine. It is more robust and better looking than the last one by leaps and bounds. But it has also changed the nature of the site. Once I get the news side up and running again (a huge fucking headache) you will still just login to the forums. There will be no need to login to the news site; it will be just a flat read only posting with links to the latest downloads.
I am sorry that you have to reregister for the BW. I personally hate registering for stuff, but hopefully this will be the last time. Also, this BB supports cookies! So you'll only have to login once, check Remember Me and then never have to type your crappy password again!
enough rambling here. I must ramble elsewhere.
thanks for coming by,
-abzu