Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: SailorGreg on February 21, 2013, 09:29:45 pm
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Bryan Young's thread on computer backup prompts me to pass on this tale of another modelling forum (yes, I know I should be faithful to MBM, forswearing all others, but temptation is so - tempting!)
Some others here may frequent Model Ship World and have watched this sad episode unfold. For those who don't, MSW is a site that focusses strongly on detailed scale models of, in large part, sailing ships and particularly sailing warships. There is a small and modestly used RC section, but the bulk of the content covers intricate models of craft with complex hull structures and masses of rigging. There are some scratch build logs there developed over several years and covering some of the finest ship modeling in wood you are likely to see.
Or rather, there were. The adminstrators of the site decided a while ago to migrate to a new format for the site (sound familiar?) and did so a short while ago. Just after this, and perhaps coincidentally, they suffered a major hardware crash and lost the entire history of the site. Some of those build logs were works of art in themselves, and nearly all of them offered valuable insight and advice on techniques, tools and the sheer skill and persistence of some great modellers. All gone. Forever. They are rebuilding the site from scratch. {:-{
Of course, the obvious question about backup was asked, but like MBM, MSW runs on subscriptions and sponsorship and backups cost money. And hindsight is, of course, a wonderful thing. We had a few issues here when we moved to the new forum but at least we still have all the old stuff for reference and enjoyment. There but for the grace of God and Martin's care go we.
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Amen to that.
If you are 100% sure you've got backups - you're 99% sure to be wrong.
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I feel your pain Greg!!!
Forum software is a world far out on it's own, nothing like anything else and unless your pockets are VERY deep or you're 'in to' coding, well you're on your own.
When Mayhem crashed last year..... well it was partly my fault but I work in IT and know these things can happen and always do backups, once, twice even three times a week and certainly before I make any big changes... only to find the inbuilt back service is about as useful as steel windscreen, very reassuring but totally useless! >>:-(
I do the backup a different way these days..... that reminds me, haven't done one for a few months, must do a full site back this weekend! %)
PS. Watch this space! - http://modelshipworld.com/
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must do a full site back this weekend!
In that case can I be the first to request being linked back to my posts
{-) {-) {-) {-) :P
Dave
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Did anyone check the WAY BACK MACHINE?
http://archive.org/web/web.php
Here is MBM for August 2007
http://web.archive.org/web/20070822054935/http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?
Sometimes it works sometimes not.
It depends on how deep the archive was led when scanning a website, or how
many requests were made of the "machine" over the the history of a site.
{:-{
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In that case can I be the first to request being linked back to my posts
{-) {-) {-) {-) :P
Dave
Done! :-)
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That's interesting UMI. Thanks for showing us.
ken
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Did anyone check the WAY BACK MACHINE?
http://archive.org/web/web.php
Thanks for the suggestion Umi. I had a look for MSW and there are a large number of links - but most of them give Error 404 or show a single picture. I suspect that the archive is of page addresses, not the actual pages. If the address no longer exists then no joy. I guess the individual pictures are on an image hosting site which is why they are still there. Worth a try though - thanks again.
Greg
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I was talking to some friends that are regulars to the Model Ship World site.
One of them is a participant in the Syren practicum that was being done there.
They said that the new forum was up, all was working, and for some reason,
after loading all the data up to the new server, someone deleted the back up.
... {:-{
Like,... "Ahh, that's done. We don't need the back up anymore." POOF!
Then all went sour.
Sorry to hear of all the trouble. However it sounds like several members were
actively archiving the more in depth threads, and practicums.
Hopefully a good portion of the boards gets reassembled.
8)