About the hack... my two cents.

[ChinoCharles]

I love this forum. It is the only forum I have ever been an active member on and the only forum that I have helped moderate. Some of the members on here that I have written to, spoken with and/or met mean a whole lot to me as people, although I may have never even seen them. I know a lot of you feel the same.

This whole situation really stinks. We had a lot of good information get wiped out, and I feel bad for anyone who put their time and effort into those posts only to see them gone forever.

However, the solution is not to place blame on the administrators. They have done a lot for the community that surrounds this little vehicle. Did they make a mistake? You betcha. Do they know they did? Absolutely. Do they feel bad? Would you? BUT... they're smart guys, and the problem has been solved. Done deal. Don't let it cloud your understanding of what they do for us.

So where does it leave us? I can say this because I was probably culprit #1. The clocks have turned back a year and I'm #1 in the post count again. :rolleyes: This was back when I was an active, participating member of the forum.

I'll be the first to admit that for the past year, I've done little to contribute... but I'm not the only one. Our knowledge base was so large and so many topics had been covered that it seemed like there was little else to discover.

You know what the best f*ck you would be to these hackers? Pour yourselves into the site. For those of you that have never posted a DIY, post one. Post anything. Post your take of something that has been done before. Think of new things to do with this car. Research, call companies, and make the next year the best year of content this site has ever seen.

Have you been lurking in the shadows looking for information here? SIGN UP! Make yourselves known! A great way to support a good forum is to make an account and increase its credibility by increasing its member count.

Were you established with a huge post count before this only to see it all gone? Worried about your credibility? Forget about it! We still know who here is a source of inspiration, information, sound reasoning... we didn't forget.

Most of all, don't let this stop you from coming here. We have a uniquely awesome forum here, and it will continue to be. Be a part of it!

YW FTW!!!!!!!

[auxmike]

Thanks Chino!
I was really into that Clazzio seat covers thread. Hoped to learn more about them.
That's ok, the people here are very dedicated and I've learned so much from this place thus far.
Heck, I even enjoy the post from Grumpyin NH!:thumbup:
Thanks for the pep talk.

[cali yaris]

So what exactly has been done/changed so the site can't get hacked again?

I'm reluctant to put much into it without some reassurance. Remember, some of us were PAYING to be here.

[Sabretooth]

Well from what I can read, we are on daily backups...in which we were not before, so if we get hacked tomorrow we have what we had today to backup to...I am sure there is more.

[DFA]

This ought to piss off a couple vendors... I hope it won't, but it's a big possibility, considering we should've been running on weekly/daily backups..

But hey, I'm just an underdog in here... There's not much I can do to help with this other than being sorry...

[eTiMaGo]

I agree with Chino, this situation could have been avoided, but what has happened has happened and no amount of moaning and bitching will bring things back exactly how they were. I also agree that the best we can do now is rebuilt and remake this place as good or better than it used to be :smile:

But I can certainly see the point of view of our sponsoring vendors, unlike regular members, they have been paying fees to this forum, with the expectation that this kind of mishap does not happen.

But, I am an eternal optimist... Sometimes you have to face problems like this to really take a good look at the situation and take concrete steps to prevent the same thing from happening again. The Internet *is* serious business after all...

[Astroman]

Might this be of some help?

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.yarisworld.com

[Astroman]

Oh, and will I be a moderator again??? :frown:

[YarisBueller]

I've offered every vendor a full refund of their most recent payments, so if they are upset well they get all their money back. I honestly don't need the vendors, they pay a very small proportion of the costs in time and money that this place takes on and I might simply shut down the vendors area all together depending on how they want to procede. So far 2 of the vendors have gotten back to me and are supportive, I'll feel out how the rest of them want to do. But I can say they received what they paid for in the past and this hack basicly affects their most recent payment obviously for which I will refund each and every one of them 100% of their money (incase any vendors out there haven't gotten my email). I'm not out to screw anyone and am working my best to set things right here, we've all lost alot because of this problem myself included. A tremendous amount of work by each and every member, each and every moderator and each and every admin has been completly lost, the best we can do at this moment is fix things IMO.

[33OH]

I've offered every vendor a full refund of their most recent payments, so if they are upset well they get all their money back. I honestly don't need the vendors, they pay a very small proportion of the costs in time and money that this place takes on and I might simply shut down the vendors area all together depending on how they want to procede. So far 2 of the vendors have gotten back to me and are supportive, I'll feel out how the rest of them want to do. But I can say they received what they paid for in the past and this hack basicly affects their most recent payment obviously for which I will refund each and every one of them 100% of their money (incase any vendors out there haven't gotten my email). I'm not out to screw anyone and am working my best to set things right here, we've all lost alot because of this problem myself included. A tremendous amount of work by each and every member, each and every moderator and each and every admin has been completly lost, the best we can do at this moment is fix things IMO.

Let me just add that we want to keep the vendors if we can. I have only purchased parts from vendors here (with the exception of an RS replica spoiler off ebay) and have spent a little over $1000 with them. :thumbsup:

Just asking the vendors to reconsider if they are planning on leaving.

[cali yaris]

owner of the site says this:

I honestly don't need the vendors, they pay a very small proportion of the costs in time and money that this place takes on and I might simply shut down the vendors area all together

member says this:

Let me just add that we want to keep the vendors if we can...

Just asking the vendors to reconsider if they are planning on leaving.

What should a vendor think about that? That the owner cares? The member sentiment is quite clear. (and thank you for it)

[Astroman]

PLEASE STAY VENDORS!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!! :cry:

[YarisBueller]

The vendors who want to stay are contacting me and letting me know such. The ones who want to leave and want a refund will receive a 100% refund. The ball is in the vendors court as to what they want to do. If they stay or leave nothing really changes on my part as Im shelling out most of the money for this site from my own pocket. I was originally putting vendor money aside over time for new hardware as the site was really getting quite big. Obviously plans have changed and i'm simply going to front all that money from my own pocket and return any money back to vendors who want it back.

[cali yaris]

ok, so it is clear that the owner of the site doesn't care if I stay on or not. Thank you for the clarification. I haven't decided yet.

[33OH]

PLEASE STAY VENDORS!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!! :cry:

Yes. Especially you Garm. I've spent the majority of my money with you and it has been well-spent. You have amazing customer service. Also, it's nice that you interact on the forum. I've seen you post a compliment on almost every single member thread. (and sometimes a well-placed hint towards a sales lead! :wink:)

To the other vendors as well: please stay. This forum just wouldn't be the same without you.

[ChinoCharles]

I don't like this. I don't like it one bit.

[staypuft]

well we will just have to wait and see what happens

[PETERPOOP]

garm, you better not leave. you are my #1 supplyer. Who cares what the admin thinks, he can't even run a messageboard website. ;) Think about us! And you KNOW we NEED you.

[TheRealEnth]

Hes not saying he doesnt like the vendors, hes just saying the vendors aren't everything. We are a community and that is who we are. Garm on the other hand is a big part of the community as well. Just giving them freedom to choose to leave or not, In best respects they are trying to make sure it will never happen again, If they decide to stay it will please many people and help them sell items.

[DFA]

I really hope we can get all the vendors back in... it would suck sweaty monkey balls if we ever lost them..