If "new messages" comes up blank, it means the message traffic since you last scanned exceeds the 30 second limit on the server. It takes an average of 4-5 days for that number of messages to be posted. If that happens, it's just not going to scan for new messages, and if you try it too many times, I get a nastygram from the server hosting company for excessive load.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 06:44 pm: Edit

If a "Last Week" scan comes up blank (and it will, every time), it is because four or five days of traffic exceeds the 30 second limit the server puts on that script. It's just not going to scan for "all messages in the last week" and never has. If you try it too many times, I get a nastygram from the server hosting company for excessive load. So don't try it.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:12 pm: Edit

If you have previously been a registered user and suddenly you cannot post, don't panic. Look around for announcements and such of problems. (On May 2, 2010, the system glitched and kicked out 600 users, some of whom had been members for years, some for just weeks.) Email us if you don't find an answer. You were not locked out (not unless you got a message telling you why you were locked out, and that comes at the end of a long process of escalating warnings and suspensions, so it wouldn't be a surprise).

Reregister, using your same information and the system will re-synch up.

Jean
WebMom

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:46 pm: Edit

IF YOUR LOG IN DOESN'T WORK then do not panic. You were not kicked out for doing something bad. Something (nobody knows what) happened on 2 May 2010 which deleted 600 of the 1600 user files. This happened before, and nobody was ever able to figure out what happened. (The hosting company is no help, since they hate Discus and would just as soon we stopped using it.) The best guess is that something happened at the host company which replaced the current file with one from two years ago, but that's just a guess.

This has happened at least three times, maybe as many as five, since 1999.

In previous such incidents, if you re-joined the BBS using the same name and password, it linked up to all of your posts.

We're as frustrated as all of you, but we didn't do this, and we've never been able to predict, prevent, or restore it when it does.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 09:24 pm: Edit

An update.

I have spent a bit going through documentation and the Discus forums.

Randomly deleting users has been happening since 2001. They don't seem to know why, they don't seem to have a cure, restoring from a user backup seems to be a worse solution than the one we have now.

It appears to happen more frequently if the server has a space issue.

We do apologize for the inconvenience, but please do re-register. You are important to us.

Jean
WebMom

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 05:13 pm: Edit

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 01:57 pm: Edit

EMERGENCY WARNING! SCAMMERS ATTACK!

Hello, deals@starfleetgames.com.

We received your request to reset your starfleetgames.com password. To confirm your request and reset your password, follow the instructions below. Confirming your request helps prevent unauthorized access to your account.

If you didn't request that your password be reset, please follow the instructions below to cancel your request.
CONFIRM REQUEST AND RESET PASSWORD
Click on the following web address:

<http://sonda.co.kr........deleted, but it "looks" on the surface like a star fleet games site.

CANCEL PASSWORD RESET

Click on the following web address:

<http://sonda.....same thing

Thank you,

starfleetgames.com

NOTE: Please do not reply to this message, which was sent from an unmonitored e-mail address. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

================
OBVIOUSLY, ADB DID NOT SEND THIS, AND IF YOU DO THIS, YOU'RE ALLOWING A SCAM COMPANY TO HIJACK YOUR ACCOUNT AND POST SPAM ON THE BBBs, WHICH WILL FORCE US TO SHUT DOWN YOUR ACCOUNT AND HELP YOU CREATE A NEW ONE.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Thursday, August 05, 2010 - 07:21 am: Edit

The BBS is getting hit by spambots again. This seems to be happening at about three-week intervals.

Some accounts have been deleted which did meet my criteria of "real people". Last time that stopped the spambots. If you are a real person whose account was deleted, please accept my apology, re-register, and send me an email so that I don't delete you again.

Thanks for your patience and cooperation.

Jean

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Friday, October 01, 2010 - 02:06 pm: Edit

Some questions have arisen privately about copying posts from our BBS and posting them elsewhere. We would like to remind people that when they register, they agree to the following rules (among others):

5. Everything posted to this BBS becomes the property of ADB, Inc., immediately. However, if it is used in an SFB or SFU product, you will be credited and compensated under our standard terms just as if you had sent the item in by mail. This is of course subject to standard terms and conditions; if we have had a new ship in the file for years then it really doesn’t matter who was the first to post a similar ship on the new BBS this year.

6. Nothing from this BBS can be posted to any other forum without permission from ADB, Inc. Such permission can never be given to unauthorized sites. No one is authorized to copy email addresses from this BBS and use them for unsolicited email.

These rules from the Board Posting Rules have been in place since 2004.

We have added a copyright notice to the front page of the BBS in case it has been forgotten that these rules exist.

Having these rules in place allows us to publish columns that are questions and answers. It allows us to do development on the BBS. When we are through with a topic, then we close out old and inaccurate posts so as not to confuse our customers. Yes, this also allows us to make a profit when we publish materials, but we need to do that to stay in business.

We also post copyright-protected art and certain columns that are copyright protected. Posting those anywhere else is illegal and could hurt the company financially as customers would not be coming to our site and seeing only up-to-date information.

It also protects the privacy of our customers. A person who posts his birthday on this BBS can ask me to delete the post and it will be deleted. A person with a medical issue might not want that issue to be easily searched and linked to his name. Some people don't want their full legal name to be easily searched.

We've always said that you can repost your own post anywhere else. You may not repost to another forum the entirety (or even most) of a post by another person. We do not even allow the Wayback Machine to archive this BBS.

This is just a reminder of what the rules are and why we have them. They are to to protect our customers' privacy as well as protect the company financially and legally.

Jean
WebMom

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 11:10 pm: Edit

I just blocked an IP address which was spamming us. If you find that you've been blocked, please email me at the address in my profile.

Jean
WebMom

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - 12:06 pm: Edit

DO NOT POST BIRTHDAY GREETINGS on this BBS. (Feel free to send private Emails.) At least not to ADB employees, or anyone who asks not to have that publicly posted. Those who post their own do so at their own risk.

Identity thieves hunt for anything that says "birthday" and do not need a year of birth to break into your files.

This has actually been the rule since the BBS started in 1999, but it was assumed to be self-evident.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 - 11:01 pm: Edit

The system has apparently deleted all of our users. Please re-register and it should link you back up with your old profile.

SVC ADDS: sorry about that. Veterans know that this has happened before and will happen again. If there was ANY software as powerful as discus, we would have changed to it long ago. But sadly, 99% of all BBS software is PHP based and none of it does HALF of what discus does.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 - 11:13 pm: Edit

We are aware that the shopping cart is down. We will work on that as soon as Leanna can get in to work in the morning.

By System Administrator (Admin) on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 - 01:47 pm: Edit

The shopping cart is back up. Feel free to place any orders.

We're sorry for the inconvenience.

Jean
WebMom

By System Administrator (Admin) on Friday, October 11, 2013 - 06:59 pm: Edit

Two IPs have been blocked. If you cannot log in, please contact Jean using the email address in her profile.

By System Administrator (Admin) on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 12:03 pm: Edit

I have deleted some people who may be real. If you register as "Tom" or "John B," be aware that I may delete your account as that is not your real name. If for some reason you have no last name or a single letter last name, please contact Jean at the email in her profile to make arrangements so the account does not get deleted.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 - 03:40 pm: Edit

WHEN THE BBS ACTS STRANGE like it did after midnight and until noon today, the thing to do is to Email Jean and let her fix it.

It is preferable if you DO NOT start running your own experiements posting test messages. They're more likely to make things worse than to give Jean information. If she wants information she will go get it.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Sunday, December 29, 2019 - 10:52 am: Edit

On December 29, 2019, the system glitched and kicked out all users, some of whom had been members for years, some for just weeks.

Re-register, using your same information and the system will re-sync up.

Jean
WebMom