Welcome to the new Unsung Composers Forum, which replaces the old Raff Forums, sadly hacked to death by some mindless moron.
Hopefully a repetition of that attack will be avoided through the use both of modern, more secure software and of a more secure host server. The software itself is a development of the software used to power the Raff Forums and so, although the site has a shiny new look, the way everything works should be familiar to you.
Because at this stage the integrity of the old forum's database remains suspect, it's not possible to carry any member details over from it and so you will have to register again, but that's a one-off chore.
Although we will try and retrieve the old forum's posts to be available as an archive, it may not be possible to do so unless the effects of the hacking attack can be isolated and, in any event, for now the priority had to be to get the forum back online.
Do please read the opening message on each of the other sub-forums. Alan and I are very keen to develop the site the way that you want it to develop and so your feedback is essential.
It only remains for Alan and I to say:
Welcome back!
Mark,
Sad to think there are people out there with nothing better to do than attack such a website as yours!
Welcome back. I look forward to many interesting discussions of 19th century music here.
Steven Eldredge
New York City
Hopefully all will go well
Thomas
Well, the first couple of hours have been incident free... ;)
Glad to see the site back online. The effort of Mark and Alan to get the discussion forum back online has involved a lot of work and dedication. Applause and thanks to you both.
Mark and Alan.
It's good to be back! Many thanks to you both for your hard work at re-establishing the forum and rescuing our unsung lifeline from those spiteful and malicious minds. Now we can pick up where we left off amongst our friends.
Lew
Hi Mark and Alan, and all
Congrats on what must have been a huge effort. Will stop cursing the moron (or morons) in about June 2015
regards
Peter
Great to see the forum back relatively quickly.
It's also nice to see the Raff site isn't being flagged any more either.
Yes, Google have been commendably quick in restoring the Raff site to "clean" status. So, hopefully I can put this whole episode (and the attendant work) behind me now and get on with the music...
Great to see we're there again - even if means I've been relegated to 'new' status...
Hello all,
I have followed and read faithly the Unsung Composer Forum for Years.. But I never gathered the courage to contribute. When our site went down recently I was in total shock!
It is true what they say . "you don't value somebody or something until it is gone"
I am delighted to see the forum is up again.I am eternally greatful to Mark, Alan and everybody that helps put the forum back up.
Regarding all the old post and disccussion archives, are there future plans to incorporate those in this new forum.
Hi All,
Yes, I too am happy to see the forum back again after a brief interruption, as well as some familiar names!
Best regards
Jonathan
Congratulations, Mark, on getting my favourite forums back in business after that dastardly attack. Many thanks for acting so swiftly to cause the Unsung Phoenix to rise from its ashes. Long may it fly!
Cheers,
John
Welcome Izdawiz, after years of lurking!
QuoteRegarding all the old post and disccussion archives, are there future plans to incorporate those in this new forum.
Yes and no. Yes, there are plans in the sense that we're going to try and retrieve the old threads and posts and add them to the site as some sort of archive. No, nothing has been done about it yet because the priority had to be get a working Forum back up and running. I can't promise anything at this stage because a major issue is that the database is still infected with the malware links and silent downloads which caused the site to be suspended in the first place. If the database can reliably be cleaned then it will certainly be possible to restore the old forum. It'll not happen any time soon though.
Whilst writing, I must say how touched I am by all your messages. They really have made all the workof the last week worthwhile. Thank you.
Hi guys!
Great to be back! Good work, Mark and Alan! I wonder if the attack was personal, or if there was a simultaneous attack on other random websites as well? Nusuth, really. The perp had better pray that none of us ever discovers his identity, though. >:( Anyway, I have a bit of news. Carl Petersson, the pianist who recorded the Flotow concertos for Sterling has exchanged several emails with me, starting just prior to the demise of our prior avatar. I suggested he join our Forum, and will continue to do so, so don't be surprised if you start seeing posts from him in the near future. :)
Nice to be back and thanks for the hard work! I can't understand why this site of all the sites out there! How many hackers are aware of this site and why bother with it? But this new one sure looks nice!
Quote from: Steven Eldredge on Wednesday 29 April 2009, 14:00
Mark,
Sad to think there are people out there with nothing better to do than attack such a website as yours!
Unfortunately, in this society and these modern times, NO ONE is immune!
Nice to see the forums back up and running!
The first line is a quote from Steven Eldridge. I messed up somewhere! Sorry!
A big thank you, Mark, for all your hard work in getting the Raff site back up. We are all very much in your debt.
I am back, too!!
Hi all
It is a good question as to why some some moron/vandal/piece of garbage would bother to harm such a site.
I can think of a couple of possible reasons. One, the human malice factor. The Joachim Raff Forums were well-run, generated a lot of interest and - trust me on this one - were becoming rather influential in various ways. Am sure others also know the influence factor to be true.
Secondly, I assert that the site was playing a very solid role in raising the status and concert and recording chances of Raff. I do not like to be rude, but it may have put unknown noses out of joint. For example, noses on people who like ultra-modernist music, such as that of the (hopefully) now forgotten Richard Hayman. Among his more sane compositions was "Roll", which involved the composer rolling, lying down, in the street, covered with bells as a token of Hindu veneration. Enough said.
A more obvious factor which may have attracted vandals was sheer volume of traffic. For example, the Rufinatscha thread had over 10,000 hits. The German Romantic Violin Concerto (parts 1 and 2) attracted over 6,000. Plenty of other threads also achieved mega-hits. A nasty type or two may have become peevish about it.
Such numbers of hits, I think, are also I sign of something more positive. Take a bow for the success of the Forums, Mark. In your shoes I would be a little happy, despite the recent horrors.
regards
Peter
Richard Hayman?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hayman??
Thanks, Mark and Alan. Have been sad whilst the Forum off; one of life's comforts.Easy to use and I hope it continues to flourish.
Steve
Quote from: peter_conole on Thursday 30 April 2009, 15:25
Hi all
It is a good question as to why some some moron/vandal/piece of garbage would bother to harm such a site.
I can think of a couple of possible reasons. One, the human malice factor. The Joachim Raff Forums were well-run, generated a lot of interest and - trust me on this one - were becoming rather influential in various ways. Am sure others also know the influence factor to be true.
Secondly, I assert that the site was playing a very solid role in raising the status and concert and recording chances of Raff. I do not like to be rude, but it may have put unknown noses out of joint. For example, noses on people who like ultra-modernist music, such as that of the (hopefully) now forgotten Richard Hayman. Among his more sane compositions was "Roll", which involved the composer rolling, lying down, in the street, covered with bells as a token of Hindu veneration. Enough said.
A more obvious factor which may have attracted vandals was sheer volume of traffic. For example, the Rufinatscha thread had over 10,000 hits. The German Romantic Violin Concerto (parts 1 and 2) attracted over 6,000. Plenty of other threads also achieved mega-hits. A nasty type or two may have become peevish about it.
Such numbers of hits, I think, are also I sign of something more positive. Take a bow for the success of the Forums, Mark. In your shoes I would be a little happy, despite the recent horrors.
regards
Peter
Hmmm. I'm wondering if there wasn't a more personal vendetta involved. Probably not, but still... Oh, well. I don't like it when my mind goes there. Nonetheless, there have been a couple of former members who exited the old Forums on, shall we say, somewhat less than genial terms...
That sort of speculation, Jim, is unfounded and - frankly - pointless. Let's leave the conspiracy theories to others lest we appear paranoid. After all, there's plenty of them elsewhere on the web.
Hi all
No, am glad to say TerraEpon that it was a different Richard Hayman, not the gentleman born in 1920. The music career of the other - as of 1988 -was outlined in the Concise Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Composers and Musicians, page 538.
regards
Peter
Quote from: Alan Howe on Thursday 30 April 2009, 23:34
That sort of speculation, Jim, is unfounded and - frankly - pointless. Let's leave the conspiracy theories to others lest we appear paranoid. After all, there's plenty of them elsewhere on the web.
Unfortunately in this day and age, you're never quite safe on the internet. As someone who contributes to about half a dozen web sites, I can testify to the fact that malware is just about anywhere. And if it isn't malware or other forms of piracy, it's script kiddies trying to compensate for the problems of puberty by leaving their names all over the place (all of it under the guise of 'testing security', of course).
I'm thanking my deity of choice that Mark chose to set up the Raff.org site in something as undynamic (but safe!) as HTML, instead of one of the CMSes that are in general use nowadays. Although they're great pieces of software to work with, because of their genericness (sp?) their flaws are also general knowledge - and several people are busily exploiting them.
This problem is really eating away at the Web - and if something as harmless as Raff.org is infected, you can imagine what sort of attack more high-profile sites must be under.