As a few of you may know, there is some unpleasantness going on over at BME/IAM, the kind and generous people who provide our hosting. This unpleasantness has the potential to spill over and affect the Archive in some nasty ways.

While there is no indication that the site could be at risk, there does exist a chance that the server, site, and contents are at temporary risk, and may potentially be pulled at any time with no warning.

I am making very regular backups of the site, so almost nothing should be lost, however there may be some downtime involved, especially if the site has to change hosts. We are working to secure alternate arrangements, in the event the worst comes to pass, and as soon as possible will be posting an emergency information/contact page address. Once that is running I urge everyone to bookmark it and pass the URL on to any other Archive members you have contact with so that should the EA go down we can get status updates and the like out to as many people as possible.

Thank you IE,

I don't go over to BME very often so it would have come as an unpleasant surprise. It is good to know that you are looking for alternate hosting just in case.

I was wondering if you have the capability vBulletin system to automatically email registered user or at least be able to PM the members. Many of our members only go to certain sections of the site, and I worry they may miss out on the warning.

Thank you and of the Ops for all the hard work you to keep this site going. It is much appreciated.

Huggggs,

Jema

It is good that we are getting some type of warning. I am sure Shannon our friend and host of BME/IAM and our own EA is doing all that he can to keep everything as it has been for years. I know the unthinkable is going on with the sites.

Further know that this is most stressful for our own IEunuch. His frequent backups will pay off big time if the server is lost in the problems. All of our best wishes are with him as we go through this mess.

Thanks in advance IE for what you have done and will be doing in the coming days.

Thanks IE,

Since I don't hang out on BME, this is the first I've heard of it. I know you haven't seen me contribute much lately in the way of posting, but many of you already know the reasons for that. Nevertheless you can count on me to do whatever I can to help out.

thanks for the heads up IE I heard a few rumors on the chat but like Tina I don't go to BME so was very surprised. I hope all works out and like Bobbie said thanks for all the work. Dave the sheep

BossTamsin (imported) wrote: Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:34 pm As a few of you may know, there is some unpleasantness going on over at BME/IAM, the kind and generous people who provide our hosting. This unpleasantness has the potential to spill over and affect the Archive in some nasty ways.

What, exactly, is going on at the BME?

do you have an email list to contact people who will want to know about a site change or move?

emasculateme (imported) wrote: Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:47 pm do you have an email list to contact people who will want to know about a site change or move?

There is no general email address list. Some of us have addresses for a few others with whom we communicate. If anyone wants to be certain to receive a notification of any new access site, you can send me an email at my new archive-related account

j.azevado@yahoo.com

This is a single-purpose address that I created today. I will send out any information only as BCC so that no one will get to see any of the other addresses. Only I will know to whom I am sending information.

I do not plan to keep this address after the current crisis is past, so I'm not worried about attracting to it.

Eunuchist (imported) wrote: Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:39 pm What, exactly, is going on at the BME?

I have had a quick look at BME and can detect nothing amiss on the surface so I guess you need to be a member or in the know as part of the admin. Are there no more details that anyone in the know feels comfortable to pass on as others have asked.

Eunuchist (imported) wrote: Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:39 pm What, exactly, is going on at the BME?

I don't want to go into too much gory detail, as I know very little other than what's been made public at this point, and all such reports are highly subjective and/or inflammatory.

As well, I am absolutely not taking sides on anything going on there. My sole concern is the welfare of this site.

There appears to be a lot of turmoil regarding how BME/IAM is run. One party is even saying there is a hostile takeover in progress, while the other parties deny any such thing is happening. As of right now BME is up and running, but IAM has a notice that it will be down indefinitely. In addition, at some point in the last two-three days, ownership of the 'eunuch.org' domain name was changed to Rachel Larratt.

That is about all I know of what is going on, at least as it relates to our site. Pretty much anything else is speculation, hearsay, and rumour. At this point that does not help the situation at all, and so that is all I will say on the matter.

Regardless of what is going on, or what the outcome will mean for us, the EA will continue on. For now the best thing we can do is work on contingency plans and make sure we are prepared for the worst, while we stay calm and hope for the best. While I don't expect to see it here, I hope we can all refrain from taking sides, and publicly bashing any of the principals involved in this situation.