Intruder alert! Woop woop...

[Robert_Moriyama]

That's two spam topics ... has somebody come up with a 'bot smart enough to get through the registration process, or do we just have an individual with time on his hands?

RM :-?

[Robert_Moriyama]

Ah, I see that a squad of redshirts have repelled boarders with only a few casualties. Ensign Whatsiskowski and Lieutenant Xavier Pendible will be sorely missed...

RM

[kailhofer]

I didn't even make it to my battle station. 'Port Nacelle Aft Emergency Vent Manual Override'?? Who makes these assignments, anyway? :)

Both boards I joined within the last year had one of those "what letters/numbers appear in this picture" thingies to keep out the bots.

Does YaBB have one of those modules that could be added? If it does, it could be a way not to have 21345 members, most of whom are fake. We'd still have the people who may be fake, but not the bots who are fake.

[Robert_Moriyama]

From 21345 to 21415 'members' (not a penis joke) in ONE DAY? Doesn't anybody out there have anti-bot / anti-spyware software installed? And two more raiding parties... we need the Marines from Archer's Enterprise to post a 24-hour guard.

RM

[Robert_Moriyama]

We could get those Dorsai Irregulars (Dan, do they still do convention security?) -- unless William Shatner has introduced them to All-Bran ...

::)

[Robert_Moriyama]

I'm afraid that my views on the subject of spammers and scammers are no longer within the realm of the sane and rational. My idea of fitting punishments for them would - Well, let's just say that it wouldn't be pleasant for them and leave it at that.

Dan

Hmm -- would it involve a visit from William Shatner (singing his Priceline.com greatest hits) and A LOT of All-Bran?

[doc]

I am seriously considering archiving this board and switching to some differnt software that is better supported. I may yet do just that.

[Robert_Moriyama]

... I could handle the 'policing' function if Rob could provide instructions and the appropriate privileges, at least as an interim measure. I visit the board at least once a day when I have internet access (which, oddly enough, I will lack next Wednesday through Saturday, but this doesn't happen often).

I mean, I haven't screwed up the server -- that I know of -- in spite of having read and write access.

You can trust me -- I'm a profeshanul.

RM

[kailhofer]

Would an update to a newer version of YABB help? 2.2.3 is current, isn't it? With maybe 3.0 soon?? Wish I could be helpful, but don't really know much about how this board (or any) works.

And it's really easy to suggest something when you have no idea how much work it is... ::)

[doc]

Would an update to a newer version of YABB help? 2.2.3 is current, isn't it? With maybe 3.0 soon?? Wish I could be helpful, but don't really know much about how this board (or any) works.

And it's really easy to suggest something when you have no idea how much work it is...  ::)

There are multiple things about YaBB that annoy me -- at times I've regretted choosing it. But none of them were quite annoying enough to make me overcome the inertia required to set up a new system until now.

Don't worry -- I'll find a way to preserve the old postings, even if we start with a new clean board going forward.

[doc]

Just to warn everyone:

There will be a new forum, probably with the September issue.

The good news:

It's a lot more feature rich and a lot easier to manage than our current board.

The bad news:

Everyone will have to re-register.

The ugly news:

There's no import path from this forum to that one. So, come September, this board will be frozen and placed in archive, and the new board will start from zero.

I think in the long run this will be worth the pain of transition.

[doc]

Might as well say it here as anywhere.

Since you're going to do a major re-work of the whole site, can you put in a link to the Flash Challenge from the main page?

This thing has proven itself to be worthy of a category all its own from the site map. I also think it would generate considerably more interest than hiding it in the Forum.

My two cents.

Bill Wolfe

I'm not objecting to the idea, per se. But it is referenced at the bottom of every single Short Stories page (thanks to Mr. Moriyama, who takes great pains to highlight the winners and nudge people in the direction of the forum.

Given that the Fun and Games section of the forum has more or less become "The Flash Challnege" category, I could rename it to better reflect it's purpose.

[doc]

Since this board is going to become an archive, I'd suggest that everyone go to their private messages and copy the ones you'd like to keep into a file you can save onto your own computers. Not being a tech-savy person, I can't say that the private messages will still be accessable to us when the board is frozen. (If I'm wrong about that, I welcome the correction.)

Dan

They SHOULD be, but many things about YaBB don't work sensibly, so this isn't necessarily an unwise precaution.

[kailhofer]

Man, and I had been gaining on Robert in the post count, too. :'(

A flash challenge folder and a link would be wonderful, but I've always hoped more people would invent their own challenges and join in with the flash ones. Perhaps instead of Fun and Games, the folder should be called 'Writing Challenges'. That way it would be open for others instead of what might be construed as a private space. I'm little people, not yet important enough for a private spot.

I'm happy to be very minor cog in the machinery that is Aphelion, even unofficially, and grateful that my efforts seem to have gathered a circle of regular contributors. The goal was always to build customer loyalty, as it were, to Aphelion by providing a means to participate in a different way. That, and keeping one's creativity flowing while practicing skills that may someday help one hit it big.

Question for Rob, and ultimately the writers who have entered:
Since effectively what people have posted will disappear from easy access, is there a way to transfer over the many stories that have been submitted for the many challenges? And if so, is it ok with you writers out there if I (or someone) repost them?

I don't know if this is possible or not. Can the new system have a locked, sticky folder inside Challenges (or whatever it may be called) where I could post every author's entry with their name on it? Sticky so it stays on top, and locked so only I (or someone else) can post there but everyone can read? I think it would be better without a bunch of comments in between. A Flash Archive, as it were, of the 100+ stories so far, each in it's own post so it can be linked to individually. I think that would be nice for the authors to be able to send out links that go to their own stories, and would give Robert a way to put a link to the winner in his gracious announcements each month. Plus I think an archive of over a hundred flash stories by Aphelion authors would be pretty neat.

I don't know how levels of security would work in the new system, but I'm willing to do this work myself, if I can be trusted with some sort of password control or moderator status for that folder only. I'd keep the archive updated, too, adding to it after each challenge. Or if this is unacceptable, I'm more than willing to help someone else who does have access create such a thing. I can easily store all the stories on my home computer as a preparatory move. All it takes is time.

What do you think?

---
Edit:

It just occurred to me... since no one said, will the new forum have polling? Obviously, that would affect how challenges could run.

[kailhofer]

People could, but I'm sure most won't. That's the way these things seem to work.

I'm afraid work will be the operative word. Reposting takes a piece of everyone's time. It's a big pile of stories, and you'd be surprised how many things I fix on behalf of the authors. I'm volunteering to make and maintain this archive. I think most people would not be interested in doing it themselves, because they consider it work.

If you take a look at most other forums out there, a locked, sticky folder really doesn't seem like it should be a big deal. Things are like that just about everywhere. Announcements or rules in every subforum seem to be in locked, sticky folders.

It really doesn't seem like this should be a big deal. It's just a folder.

Even if I won't have any special access, I can still safeguard the 107 stories (including this month) so they can be posted later by someone else. However, I believe that person will think of it as work, and not want to keep it up. This thing was my idea, so I feel duty-bound to try to protect all these stories. I'd hate for them to disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. Those 107 represent a lot of work by the greater Aphelion community. Well, most of the people who participate in discussions, anyway.

All I'd need is some more definite idea when this forum will be locked away so I have them saved in time.

[Robert_Moriyama]

come to think of it, let's say so long to the past and look forward to a brand new future, a re-formatting if you will, a future where hover cars, mile high skyscrapers, Ender's battle room and Mars colonies are finally possible. Bring on Aphelion 3.0!

... where nothing can go wrogn ... go worng ... go wgorn ... go wnogr ...

[doc]

Er.  I may have broken it trying to clean it up.  *blush*

ETA: Ok, I didn't break it. Well, not much.

[Robert_Moriyama]

I have just moved all my PM messages (inbox AND outbox) to 'storage'. The question is, is there any easy mechanism for copying them en masse to some other format (one big text file would be sufficient, if nothing better is available)? The alternative would be to highlight+copy+paste each message to separate files, or into a single file, one message at a time... kinda tedious, when I have 320 messages (combined inbox and outbox).

Or should we just cross our fingers and hope that PMs (including those in 'storage') will be accessible after the changeover to the new Forum?

Re: Challenge stories, I could set up a new folder in the Shorts directory and upload one file per month (for each month from the beginning and on into the future). Then we could provide links to those files that would be at least as stable as the links to regular material... (more work for Carl to archive...).

Of course, we are still waiting to find out whether the YaBB replacement will allow something resembling the PM / Poll mechanism, or we will have to find a new format.

RM