The Jedi Academy

We need new forums! -solitude- Jul 31 10:50pm -2 comments-

As some of you will have noticed, the forums have had a few problems over the last year. However, it has reached a point where we have accepted that our current forum software is reaching the end of its lifespan. Consequently, we need new forums.

However, the JA site has a number of fairly specialised features. Running a hacked up phpBB/vbulletin/smf (or indeed, any current Open Source/commercial software that I am aware of) is not feasible.

We basically need a new site built from the ground up.

If you have time to dedicate to this, and are interested in volunteering, email me (solitude AT thejediacademy.net)

You will need experience in PHP and MySQL. Knowledge of git/svn/version control would be an asset, but is not essential. This is a great opportunity to collaborate on a small software project, and would make a nice addition to any devs portfolio.

This should be a fun experience for all involved, and I know we have the talent here to get it done.

Well that sure was fun. What the heck happened? -DJ Sith- Jul 24 05:14am -19 comments-

That sure was a fun couple of weeks, wasn't it? Here's the lowdown on what happened. At about 9:41 Central US time on July 12 someone logged into the site admin's account, edited a few users, mainly staff members, hall of fame members, and our newest five students. In addition he changed the names of a few classes, defaced a few articles, and deleted our public forums, making our private staff forums public for roughly 12 hours.

Normally I'd shrug this off and fall back on our nightly backups that have been humming along for about five years. Imagine my surprise when I found that these backups weren't running for about a year and my notification systems didn't tell me. I take pride in myself on being a competent IT admin. I work for a datacenter company that prides itself on excellence. My failure in this is inexcusable, and for all of this you have my most sincerest apologies.

Thanks for your patience while we fixed things. We've gone through and painstakingly restored as much data as we could and were able to restore our missing news posts, articles, much of our forum content, and users. Here's the bad part:

We lost one class. The JAT who made it will have to re-create it.

I've edited the affected users' passwords to a random string and have cleared out all of the saved logins. If you're having trouble logging into the site please contact me, and we'll get things working for you again.

Here's the really bad part. I wasn't able to restore the last year's worth of forum traffic. The forums are now in the state they were in mid August, 2009. Unfortunately that's the best I can do without having a proper backup to go with.

It's been a real kick in the teeth, but we'll bounce back from this. I want to thank Setementor and Solitude whose hard work and diligence have been key to getting our data restored. Thanks also to everyone who's expressed their concern and support. It's greatly appreciated. I'm ready to answer any and all questions you have about this, but I'll start out with the big one:

Who did this? The short answer is "we're figuring that out". The site defacement came from a compromised proxy server at a managed facility, and it's clear that the one who did this has used compromised dedicated servers in the past while snooping around. We have a giant pile of logs to sift through and a few leads on who the guy is. I'll let y'all know

When 900 years you reach, look as good, you will not -Hardwired- Jun 21 07:17pm -20 comments-

I've been a part of the Jedi Academy for close to 7 years now. Most of that time I have spent as a ranked member, and the last 3 years I have spent as part of the Academy Council.
It's been a awesome ride and I come across some incredible people over the years. But at some point you have to face facts and let someone else have a go.

Effective immediately I am resigning as one of the Jedi Academy Council and reverting to a status of retired.
After 7 years of working to further the Academy I feel I deserve a break.
I know that I leave the Academy in capable hands and it will not suffer any decline in service. We are lucky to have so many dedicated people working with this community. And we are equally lucky to have such a wonderful community to work with.

I will however not vanish completely. I will be around on the boards in a daily capacity. Poke in my opinion where I feel it's warranted. That and poke fun at Virtue as I always have.

I would like to thank everyone (new and old members) for making my "time in office" memorable and truly learning experience. You guys are the best.

I'll see you around.
- HW

	Force Unleashed 2 -doobie[stillalive]- Jun 18 01:02am -7 comments-
	I never played Force Unleashed besides the demo, but I will readily admit, this gives me a nerd-on... Video Games \| The Force Unleashed II \| E3 2010: Exclusive Betrayal Cinematic Trailer XBox 360 \| Playstation 3 \| Nintendo Wii

	Weekly Event #25 -solitude- May 19 01:31pm -0 comments-
	On Sunday 23rd May, we will be having the next Sunday Event. Time: 1900 GMT Gametype: Power Duel Location: Classes Server This will be run by Fullmetal.

	Weekly Event #24 -solitude- May 03 11:56pm -6 comments-
	On Sunday 9th May, we will be having the next Sunday Event. Time: 1900 GMT Gametype: Multi Team FFA Location: TFFA Server This will be run by Jaina.

	More tournaments -solitude- May 02 12:04pm -1 comment-
	Kain is organising a series of 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 tournaments.

	Weekly Event #23 -solitude- Apr 20 01:32am -4 comments-
	On Sunday 25th April, we will be having the next Sunday Event. Time: 1500 GMT Gametype: Full Force Tag Team Duels (No Heal, No Drain) Location: Fun Server This will be run by Fullmetal again.

	Weekly Event #22 -solitude- Apr 18 02:23am -5 comments-
	On Sunday 18th April, we will be having the next Sunday Event. Time: 1500 GMT Gametype: Full Force Tag Team Duels (No Heal, No Drain) Location: Fun Server This will be run by Fullmetal.

A friendly reminder -solitude- Apr 15 06:56pm -33 comments-

This isn't aimed at any individuals in particular (nor any single incident), but I would appreciate it if everyone took the time to read this, long as it is.

The JA has been around a long time, and in this time we've seen a lot of different people come and go. However, despite the many changes we've seen had in staff and student, one thing we have *always* tried to maintain is a friendly, fun, atmosphere where people could experience gameplay that they may not be able to find in pub servers.

In order to maintain this atmosphere, we have a set of rules. With the lower activity of the JA, and the fact that most people know each other, we have not enforced the rules as strictly as we have in the past.

We've seen guns being used everywhere, "fun" laming, impromptu FFAs being spontaneously started, and so on.

Now, I realise it is difficult to balance "having fun", and being overly strict with rules. However, in the last few months (yes, I do observe the servers), I feel that we have gone too far in allowing fun to happen at the cost of the rules.

I'm not going to issue any warnings, or direct this at any individuals. However, I would like to warn everyone that the staff will be watching this closely in the future and *will* enforce the rules.

If you want to gun, there is a fort in the map. Use it.

If you want to FFA, ask everyone on the server first if they consent, and definitely do not start attacking anyone who joins the server. We have a FFA server for that. Use it.

Regarding the "fun" laming, consider how it looks from an outsider's point of view, and how it makes the server look if they don't know you. If I have to pick between allowing people to lame, and maintaining the friendly atmosphere we have, I think it is fairly obvious which I will choose.

The JA is here for *everyone* to enjoy, old and new. Take a look at the rules and refresh your memory. Try to be considerate of others when you play, and I'm sure we will have no problems.

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#Jedi-Academy on irc.quakenet.org

Administration:

Chris "" DuBois - Academy Leader
Kevin "" Laude - Academy Website and Game Server Administrator
Gonçalo "" Trindade - European Management
Jens "" Nilsson - The Enforcer
Adam "" Fearn - Community Liasion
Questions? Comments? Snide Remarks? Email one of us.

This site has nothing to do with LucasArts, LucasFilm, Raven Software, or George Lucas. We are simply big fans of the games and the movies, and Star Wars, Jedi Academy, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Knight, and content directly from the game, along with the Jedi Academy name, are their copyrights and should be credited to them and no one else. Thank you, and have a nice day.

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