I've been popping in on here and keeping track on the alternate site, and from what I'm seeing it looks like ...
Well by golly,The monkey lives and with that many,many Thanks to those working behind the scenes so to speak. Thanks plenty!!!
""""There is some more "stuff" needing attention. Patience is the watchword; use the parts that work. """ No worries , just so others know that things are not 100% like it was for myself . When BT first did this post , I was just holding on , I did a look to see if the server reported , but then i saw no members were on but bots and robots , so I left . Any idea what went south , seems real weird . S
The issues are being held close-to the vest, by the Site owner and the Hosting Outfit, at this time... His site, his information to tell, or not....
Well whoever did the evil, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest their ass for the next thousand years.
Was not trying to be nosy, just seemed weird . As long as the powers know why , the amount of work it takes is huge . S
I almost forgot to keep trying to come back. Today, Thanksgiving Eve, is the first time I've been able to get in since the "Block Out". At first I thought it might be something I posted that caused a no-notice banning. Didn't think I pissed anybody off at the top of the Monkey Tree. Tried a public library computer and still experienced the Block Out. So, I figured it was a major system issue either from an external attack, or an internal snafu. Glad to be able to read and visit once again.
Yeah, the Lets Encrypt SSL/TLS cert expired about the same time the only one who could renew it got locked out. Then when I asked the host to assist, they rebooted the server. The only one who could bring the server back online through multiple layers of (well intentioned) security was still locked out so we sat down until someone yielded... I found myself in a position of not being able to anything myself to do either. That will change going forward. I apologize for the outage.
@melbo, take a bit to sit back and look at what happened while the site was down. The tree has a life force of its own. We have bonds that are deeper than bandwidth.
I know I loved seeing that and have thanked Brokor for taking such quick actions. Many of us have forged real life bonds too. My concern was that I've been trying to preserve information here since 2004 - was kinda devastating to think of it being lost.
@melbo .... We appreciate your working the problem, and the work you do, in keeping the Service available for all us Monkeys to use... Just wanted you to know that FACT... Whatever is needed to keep this running, there are a dedicated bunch of us Monkeys, that will help with whatever is needed...
No apologies needed. Many of us work IT and know that no matter how well (and redundant) designed and managed no system has 100% uptime. I see this as a lesson learned. I hadn't realized that SM was a single point of failure for the information I access not to mention the many people in this community that I have come to know. I am grateful to those who work behind the scenes to make SM happen and especially to those involved in SM's recovery.
WHAT DO YOU think about making copies of the site and selling them to members.... something on the order of what survivalblog does each year
Site supporters get access to just such a resource. It's not the reason to support the site but a great benefit. Supporting the site helps to cover the costs of running and operating SM. Most forums depend on advertising dollars, which can force a site to police content to prevent loss of revenue. For SM this means true freedom of speech and discussion of all topics. Generally speaking allowing ads also usually means turning on features that compromise site security as well as the security of it's members. Notice how if you click on an ad in other forums that FaceBook immediately starts giving you ads for related products? IMO it's well worth the $10 per month.