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Happy Ten Juna Day!


tenjuna
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First of all, a very Merry Happy Ten Juna Day to everyone! Yes, I have a big enough ego that I made myself my very own Holiday, deal with it.  :D

 

Because it's a special day for me (and the world too duh), I wanted to post a summary of the work to date, and what is going on in the background while I figure out where this beast is headed.

 

Since this is being linked to a mass PM I am sending out, the fact that the site is even running is going to come as a bit of a surprise to some people, so...SURPRISE!  :hysterical: Yes, I am now actively working on the site again, and in fact quite a bit is going on in the background. And for those keeping score, yes I have been "back" before, just to turn around and bail again. Read on, things are different now.

 

- Wrote a history of the site, pinned in the Announcements forum. I plan on adding more to this as I organize my thoughts and put together a better timeline of events. Your thoughts and revisions are most welcome, especially from staff who probably have a much better memory (and a higher tolerance for alcohol) than I do.

 

- After finding that the site would come and go intermittently, I spent most of last week tracking down what the problem was. I finally decided to upgrade my router, as I could not find any other reason for the problem. After the router upgrade, found some other problems and finally just decided to rebuild server rather than burn my house down from rage lol. Since the rebuild everything seems to be working rather nicely.

 

- Decided to put v3 of the site behind me, rather than trying to figure out what I was trying to do 5 years ago when I originally upgraded. There is such a long list of things to fix that upgrading to something new makes a lot more sense. This way I am "enhancing", rather than "fixing". It's all about the small battles people, you gotta make it as easy as you can sometimes. 

 

- I have version 1 and 2 of the site fixed and stable, which can be found at http://www.happyfunbear.com and http://www.sta.kitchen, respectively. That particular chore has been on my personal wish list for years, so I am very happy to have them up and running again.

 

- Because I have the old sites up and stable again, it occurred to me that I can fix a very major error I made when I did a gross purge of the database back in 2011 while prepping for the v3 upgrade. I almost immediately regretted doing that purge, and because of hardware problems I thought I had lost the chance to fix that error. Until now, that is...I am researching how to perform a UNION of multiple databases to try and recover as much of the old data as possible, including messages, posts, topics, pictures, etc. I have no idea how far I will get with this, but there is the potential of recovering about double what you see on the site now. I think this would be very cool from a nostalgia aspect. I very much wish I could do something about the data loss after the move to cloud hosting in early 2012...there is roughly a year's worth of posts and such that are lost forever. However, thanks to the Wayback Machine, I can at least get the forums restructured to match the efforts of IAmNumbaOne and the rest of the crew who carried the torch during some very rough years.

 

- And because of all of the database work, I am now working on cleaning up the databases as well. There are certain tables that contain so many columns that the admin program flat out refuses to work with them. Not to mention all of the bloat from 3 major version upgrades, all of the orphaned skin templates, and all of the abandoned projects over the years (lottery, arcade, etc). Version 4 of IPB is much more elegant than what I am used to, and this seems like the perfect time to fix all of the problems that have come up over the last 12 years. It truly amazes me how the site was still able to keep plugging along after the dozens of database corruptions, hardware failures, and really dumb mistakes by yours truly.

 

- Please keep in mind that I am actively working on the site, and there are going to be unavoidable issues, so the skin might look janky, or something might go down, but these things will be fixed. This is all a bandaid until v4 is up and running anyway, so just bear with me.

 

- Master work list for v4 upgrade is at: http://www.dtrades.org/index.php/topic/433289-worklist-for-dtrades-40/

 

=============

 

So, what will happen after all of the database work is done? Great question, and the answer is, I really am not sure yet. This started out merely as a trip down memory lane, but has very quickly turned into something important for me. I am not sure how long the database work will even take, and it's something I want to get right. Having said that, I have already started the push ahead to v4 of the site, mainly so I can put the last 12 years behind me and start fresh. I am really excited about the possibility of seeing old friends again.

 

After that, I am not really sure. I still have a Masters degree to work on starting in September, but I don't think it's going to be as all-consuming of my life like Nursing School was. I am also still struggling to really enjoy playing video games again, and trust me it's surprising to be typing those words. I have been involved in software development, map creation, community development, server administration, network engineering, pretty much every aspect of video games that there is in one way or the other for almost 35 years. I am not sure if I am burned out, or if maybe I have simply done it all and I'm bored. In any case, I feel like I WANT to be doing this again, but I am missing the PASSION to do it. *shrug* I don't have an answer for that, other than I really miss doing stuff like this.

 

My daughter Ariona is now 16 and a huge video game nerd like her Dad, and this all started because of her enthusiasm for the stuff I used to do in the video game world, especially CounterStrike. So I am for sure going to have a CS server running, along with TeamSpeak and Mumble plus some other goodies I am working on. There is a LOT more to come! You can thank her later.  ^_^ Pic of her and I below.

 

Anyway, this got a bit long-winded, but it was important to me to put all of this down so people can see it later.

 

I am pushing forward though, we will see what happens. What I CAN say for sure though is the site is going to be up permanently, there is no longer any doubt in my mind about that. Well that and I have brand new hardware and a 300 meg internet connection, which does tend to make things a little easier.  :D

 

By the way, I want to say for the record that this effort is NOT about competing with JSP or making money, or any of that hater nonsense. In fact, as I have stated multiple times, I don't even really expect this to go anywhere. This is purely something I am doing for me and those that were very loyal to the site over many hard years. This is really more about following through on some really old promises than anything to be honest. One thing I have learned about getting older, you don't always get a second chance to get it right...but when you do, you gotta take it. Even for things that don't mean anything at all to anyone but yourself. And that's what dTrades v4 is to me.

 

Peace and waffles,

 

Ariona and Cain

 

 

10520096_668871956528512_788328300448440

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  • Site Owner

Happy Birthday.  

 

 

I am glad the site is up.....I hope we can find more of those old guys I spent so much time bs'ing with, can't wait to hear some updates.....we need lugz.  Nostalgia has no price, you have my thanks for bringing the site back up.

 

Hey man! 

 

I am happy to do it, this is something that has been bugging me for years because of the way things ended.

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TeamSpeak server added:

 

servername: dtrades.org

port: 9987

 

Not doing a Vent server, you only get 8 ports for free...totally not worth the time to configure.

Well at least we have TS and Mumble. TBH, you should probably just pick one client so we all show up in the same chat area...

 

I've heard some murmurs of Discord over the past year(?), that might be the new 'it' thing -- probably worth looking into, though I know next to nothing about it.

 

EDIT: What's with the 8 port limit.

 

Also, hopefully you're already doing the right things, but let me know if you want to have a chat about firewall rules, linux 'users' (programs), etc

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Frankly, I have reached the limits of what I know about FreeBSD/Linux. Which is probably the reason why the server was intermittently broken last week. The only way I could figure to fix it was to start from scratch, which worked, but is not very practical. I am sure I have myself open to all kinds of ill behavior due to not using the right users and my heavy handed use of CHMOD lol.

 

I did both TS and Mumble just because they were free and some people like one over the other. I personally like Vent, but I am not paying for it and 8 slots is really weak.

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Yeah it really is just like old times...but better. Lots more to come.

 

Again I haven't really announced that the site is back...the mass pm was more of a soft launch announcement. There is a lot of work to be completed before it gets serious.

i dont think anyone here is bothered by it being outdated ( we all appreciate your work on the site and we'll definitely use it ) i'm just saying we would be happy to jump on and use the site even if its in its current state.

 

if you're happy with it and you get to invest in something thats a passion by all means have at it if one day you get to the point where you cant invest the amount of time you'd like to i know you have some mods that have been extremely dedicated to your site and i know you have a lot of normal users who are happy to help even if its just by keeping their own noses clean so you dont have to play judge judy. 

 

besides its already serious you just dont want to build the hype yet but i'm all aboard the tenj train  B)

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More than the hype train, it's having my time divided between working on updates and catching up with a large number of people I haven't talked to in years. This way I can get the bulk of the work done and behind me, and have more time to spend hanging out and chatting.

 

I am ok with people coming and posting and whatnot, I am just trying to keep expectations down to minimal levels. There is a huge amount of work that still needs to be done. I am shooting for completion the middle to end of August, that way I can have a couple of weeks to hang out with people before I start classes again. This also coincides with the 12th anniversary of me being on the site.

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(I know I'm late, but whatever)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & TENJUNA DAY & LOVE & YES

Also, if you're playing Dota 2 -- I stream that regularly on twitch.tv, offering free Coaching on most streams!
If anyone plays Dota 2, let me know!

Also... I play a ton of Overwatch, and I'll gladly kick yer butt or be your mercy - add me: sKai#1502

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11 minutes ago, sKai said:

(I know I'm late, but whatever)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & TENJUNA DAY & LOVE & YES

Also, if you're playing Dota 2 -- I stream that regularly on twitch.tv, offering free Coaching on most streams!
If anyone plays Dota 2, let me know!

Also... I play a ton of Overwatch, and I'll gladly kick yer butt or be your mercy - add me: sKai#1502

 

Well I just sent out the announcement today, so everyone is "late" technically lol. It's all good though, now that I had the upgrade finished I was excited to get the word out.

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10 minutes ago, Joz said:

Mozelvtov! (To having a gaming daughter!)

 

Glad this place is back, I can't wait to haunt it some more.

 

Gold Members are still a thing ? Really? lol

 

Eh, I considered just lumping everyone back into the Members group since most of that stuff is easily 5+ years old now, but I figured it couldn't hurt to recognize the people who helped out the site when it needed help the most.

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Oh v1 of the site is up again at happyfunbear.com, it's hosted on a free service because the software there is so old the site actually works lol. I can't make it work on my server anymore.

 

That service goes down quite frequently, so I have to fix it every once in a while. Maybe this time it will stick.

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1 minute ago, Adelaide said:

Welcome back Cain and everyone else! Today marks the start of a new era.

 

May we all rise together as one and bring back dtrades!

 

Lol I wouldn't count on this going very far. This is more for nostalgia than anything, but it will be nice to see some old friends.

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On 6/10/2016 at 8:26 PM, lemans81 said:

Happy Birthday.  

 

 

I am glad the site is up.....I hope we can find more of those old guys I spent so much time bs'ing with, can't wait to hear some updates.....we need lugz.  Nostalgia has no price, you have my thanks for bringing the site back up.

One of them is right here :o I'm still in contact with several others whom I can probably get back into logging on here

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Yeah gotta give me time guys, it took me 2 months just to get the site to this point. I am going to fix the sidebar and clean up the forums next, so stay tuned.

 

I also want to get name glows, topic coloring, and all that back as well, so just gotta be patient, I am nowhere near done with this place.

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Just now, tenjuna said:

Yeah gotta give me time guys, it took me 2 months just to get the site to this point. I am going to fix the sidebar and clean up the forums next, so stay tuned.

 

I also want to get name glows, topic coloring, and all that back as well, so just gotta be patient, I am nowhere near done with this place.

 

 

Due to my advanced age, patience is a virtue I have in spades. I'm seriously glad I crushed that awful alter ego of mine years ago.

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2 minutes ago, Adelaide said:

I know right? I forgot all about that until I saw Dylan mentioned it

 

It took me a few minutes to remember it. I just looked at my profile and knew something was missing.

 

3 minutes ago, Joz said:

Due to my advanced age, patience is a virtue I have in spades. I'm seriously glad I crushed that awful alter ego of mine years ago.

 

This will probably ring true for many of us. I was 13 when I joined this site. Definitely have a different outlook now.

 

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Just now, Dylan said:

 

It took me a few minutes to remember it. I just looked at my profile and knew something was missing.

 

 

This will probably ring true for many of us. I was 13 when I joined this site. Definitely have a different outlook now.

 

Wait...you're not 13 anymore? How is that possible..I thought anyone with a Prelude was around that age? Haha for old times sake I had to buddy

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1 minute ago, Dylan said:

 

It took me a few minutes to remember it. I just looked at my profile and knew something was missing.

 

 

This will probably ring true for many of us. I was 13 when I joined this site. Definitely have a different outlook now.

 

We can tell stories about how/why/when we joined!

 

I have a story that'll burn dv_death's and playswithsqurirls ears :P 

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Jesus christ this takes me back. Now I joined this site 11 years ago, which is likely even before my balls had dropped, and I don't think I ended up talking to all that many of you - but I definitely remember some names which is cool. I'm also scared to see just how awkward my posts and messages were, god I was a whiny teenager. Anyways don't play too many games but I do get on rocket league and cs:go occasionally if people are looking to play.

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