Update on Outage, Lost Images, Parse errors, etc.

[Pure]

Photobucket and the like are the worst thing that ever happened to forums. Just go browse threads from 5 years back and you will see threads riddled with holes from missing attachments. It may seem like a good idea now - but it does not persist over time. I either serve my own pictures or upload them to the forum directly.

As far as the hiccups with the forum?
phfffttt... this is nothing








-methods

Those problems are from people who move/delete their images after having linked them. I have images linked from over 4 years ago and to this day appear as they should. I must be an anomaly, you see once I link an image, I never delete it or move it. To this day I get emails asking me questions on thing's I've posted on forums I haven't visited in years. Now that I really think about it, every forum I have ever been on has lost data from both sources corrupted/lost attachments from server issues or PB noobs moving their images. So one is as bad as the other in the long run. For me it's a non issue. PB is easier to deal with when wanting to show images on a forum and I know at least "MY" images will never disappear.







That only took 30 seconds and will never disappear. The best part is I'm not using any of ES server resources on image storage. It really boils down to personal choice, and for the reasons I've listed I personally will never upload any of my images to any forum.

[Hillhater]

Also, using a separate image store keeps control of those images with the original poster.
So if some other jerk tries to take over a forum, you can pull down the images easily.

[biohazardman]

I would have to agree with pure on this one. I have many pics still active on other forums, hosted on photobucket, that are from the mid to early 1990s. I make a conscience choice not to move, re-arrange or modify them in any way so they stay functioning. I have no problems with them at all but then again I also take care of my account by logging in to it on a regular basis so it remains active. Photobucket has been great with the exception of all the advertisements there when I visit but they have to pay for it somehow and that's a small price to pay for what you get.

[dogman]

My only problem was that I stupidly did not back up my own files of photos. I thought, hey why bother they'll always be there on ES if my computer crashes. My computer did die, and then I never went and got the pix back. Then es lost em in a migration.

Happily, yesterdays problems seem to be gone. Yay GRIN.

[mrvass]

My only problem was that I stupidly did not back up my own files of photos. I thought, hey why bother they'll always be there on ES if my computer crashes. My computer did die, and then I never went and got the pix back. Then es lost em in a migration.

Happily, yesterdays problems seem to be gone. Yay GRIN.

Yes, you'll be happy to know that thanks to help from some awesome people, I'm now in the process of restoring the rest of the attachments.

That said, I highly recommend a personal offsite backup solution like rsync, idrive, or dropbox for your own files, as this allows more personal control over their fate. There are plenty of others out there too, I just haven't used them yet.

[GCinDC]

I'm VERY happy about the fixed images!

No pressure, but what's next? Should there be a thread to discuss continuing updates to the forum? FWIW, here are some ideas that I've had...

SOME ES FORUM IDEAS:
- vimeo embed tags? Be nice to be able to embed vimeo vids, like second vid here....
- RSS feeds from forum, as discussed here.
- Email alerts to topic updates - works pretty well, but could/should it include text of new post? (edit: searching phpBB, i don't see that capability but I do see adding user name of replier.
- Search: Ability to (advanced) search on a few characters, such as: "DH" or "FS" and include dashes in searches, though this might prove a performancerisk...
- Support for accents in user names: I've been seeing quite a few funny characters in user names; assume they're accents?
- Privacy settings? Guest access? Robots Enabled or Disabled? I don't have any preferences but might be good discussion topics...


ENDLESS-SPHERE APP ON ANDROID MARKET:
I'm not sure how the endless sphere app came out on the android market, but it's a nice way to read the forum, though it still needs a few updates for automatically refreshing, posting images, etc. But I assume it's using some other forum reader app.

WIKI:
Timeframe for getting that platform up?

[rodgah]

ENDLESS-SPHERE APP

tapatalk script for iphone users please!!! would make it awsome for me because 50% of my time is spent on a phone/tablet as I am away from home alot.

Cheers

[flyinmonkie]

Thanks for restoring the pictures. Awesome job, it is nice to have them back. I am excited to see where it all goes from here.

Clay

[Kingfish]

MRVass, do you know when the corrupted characters will be fixed? Do you need help with that?

Best, KF

[dogman]

A great many of my long lost pics are back. Some not, but many are there.

Dogman VERY HAPPY!

Quite a few are not important, but others are. Just found a pic of my worst ever build, the 5304 fuji wheeliemobile. That's the sort of think I was bummed to have lost, the pics of all the differnt weird stuff I tried in the last 4 years.

Pic of my first ebike.

[vodka]

A great many of my long lost pics are back. Some not, but many are there.

Dogman VERY HAPPY!

Quite a few are not important, but others are. Just found a pic of my worst ever build, the 5304 fuji wheeliemobile. That's the sort of think I was bummed to have lost, the pics of all the differnt weird stuff I tried in the last 4 years.

Pic of my first ebike.

BD 36 on Schwinn trike.JPG

My pleasure!

[dogman]

Still quite a few of em gone, but at least I was able to download quite a few that I did care about. So now I have a copy of a lot of old pics again.

[Kuzumoto]

Thanks a lot

[ebent]

On a personal level I use an external hard drive. Like many people, I have lost lots of file and info due to many crashed computers. External drive resolves issue. I like the idea of not being required to use photo bucket etc. I just don't trust them. If the opportunity to monitize becomes available they will do it. If it can happen here (almost) then why trust a third party. It is the same reason I don't tweet, twat or twittle. Now that the right parties are in control of ES I am not concerned for the future in regards to lost stuff. Looking back, the ES board fiasco may have been a blessing. It gave us a chance to see the weaknesses and with luck our white knight steped in just at the right time. We are stronger and better today!

[Kingfish]

MRVass, do you know when the corrupted characters will be fixed? Do you need help with that?

Best, KF

<yawn>

When o' when will you fix this database? I ask again: Do you need help? It really isn't very difficult. Understand that I grow tired of waiting. You either know how to do this or not. Come on Vass, step up and swing at the plate!

Impatient contributor. KF

[Ypedal]

MRVass, do you know when the corrupted characters will be fixed? Do you need help with that?

Best, KF

<yawn>

When o' when will you fix this database? I ask again: Do you need help? It really isn't very difficult. Understand that I grow tired of waiting. You either know how to do this or not. Come on Vass, step up and swing at the plate!

Impatient contributor. KF

canot promise anything but i'll see if i can bring this to someone's attention !! *pokes mrvass with a pointy stick in the background.

[mrvass]

OK, OK, I think that's sufficient poking!

I've been meaning to set up a quick test server and test some scripts on the content before applying the changes to the server (I don't want to introduce more problems and have to waste time backpedaling or restore the whole database!), but honestly the task was marked as low priority and has been buried under a number of other priorities.

You've reminded me about it at a good time though, as I should have some time to work on it (and likely get it finished) on Monday. I'm sorry that you had to remind me about it, though.

[Kingfish]

Good Kind Sir

Thank you for responding. If I were approaching a problem such as this for one of my clients, the method I would choose would go as follows:

1. Make a dup of the database and website for testing.
2. Check for character corruption: Does it exist? If so, resolve how to dup the dB w/o incurring more corruption (a paramount concern).
3. Once a solid copy can be had, affect mods TO THE COPY via the scripts that were previous submitted, or by using said scripts as a guide, employ your own careful mods. I would do one at a time and triple-check integrity cos I’m just nuts about things like that. A good test topic is “Doing the Math” cos I think that has one of the largest and most diverse use of mathematical characters of any thread on ES (apologies to be a troublemaker).
4. Validate that each mod has worked correctly. Use the other scripts as a guide to get a count of affected occurrences: This figure should go to ZERO after each specific character fix.
5. The scripts I provided likely will not fix every character corruption, however count me in to help find and resolve the patterns of leftover characters and let us work together to develop a script or identity rule for getting this sorted.
6. Once you believe the problems are resolved as well as can be had, make a plan to repair the live site. I would pick a time of lowest activity, stop the web services, and make a good & trusted backup of the dB. Apply the fixes to the off-line dB (not the backup). Start web services local-only and eval various posts for corrections. Once you trust that the fixes have been as good as they can get - make another backup, then go live man, GO LIVE!

If you are a beer-drinking sort of person, I would gladly purchase a pitcher in your honor of your local favorite when we meet… which I hope shall not be too far in the future: I’m near Seattle

Thank you most kindly brave lad:
We all appreciate your kindred help!
Sincerely, KF

[mrvass]

Well, looks like the character fix might take a bit longer than expected. I've been looking at a few topics for character replacement references (those provided in your script are nowhere near comprehensive now that a second migration has occurred with the previous corrupted characters):

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/vi ... 4&start=30
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/vi ... 35#p240035

..And of course the math-heavy topic you noted (though that seems to have gone through both rounds of character conversion errors, and will be harder to parse). There seem to be some nice simple fixes (with an  symbol preceding all symbols in the extended ascii range, like «), but then there are some strange ones (like the ’ for what I presume to be your ´, utf8's 0xc2b3). Assembling the table would be all kinds of easier if people could submit their in this topic or a PM or something, as although I'm sure there's a pattern, I'm finding it hard to get it with the apparent character additions and transformations.

I'm in the process of setting up a second virtual ES server to test script changes on, and would be greatly aided by original content confirmation on those topics with character corruption. A suggested substitution table would be even better, like:

¡ = ¡
’ = ´
­ = -
® = ®
¯ = ¯
° = °
± = ±
² = ²
³ = ³
´ = ´
µ = µ

Please post here, or PM me if anybody has some substitutions like this. Otherwise, I'll be compiling what I can confirm, and getting the test server going.

[Lock]

é = é

 = —

è = è

’ = '

É = é

é = é

è = è

[amberwolf]

And the ü in the middle of Flügelwagen's name is supposed to be an umlaut ü.
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=15426

[andreym]

I'm VERY happy about the fixed images!
ENDLESS-SPHERE APP ON ANDROID MARKET:
I'm not sure how the endless sphere app came out on the android market, but it's a nice way to read the forum, though it still needs a few updates for automatically refreshing, posting images, etc. But I assume it's using some other forum reader app.

I wonder if somebody have this app saved locally?
I had it installed a while ago on my defy, but yesterday after android version upgrade just could not find it on the market.
Please post *.apk file if somebody have it available,
thanks.

[Ypedal]

the app is still owned by the short lived ex-owner afaik, fyi...

I had it on my droid but i did not really like it, used to the browser format i guess.

[pelle242]

Any reason why not tapatalk could be installed/activated? I says its free for forum owners and while its a payapp some may think its worth it.

[andreym]

Please post *.apk file if somebody have it available,
thanks.

Nevermind...
Have not got apk alone, but found QR code for it.
Strange thing that is QR still working despite application could not be found on android market.

use barcode scanner of your android phone to download it