Rsn

You mean World Soccer News site? I've not been able to post on that all week. Something seems wrong with the board itself though, rather than me just being cack-handed / too drunk.

 

Me too.

 

Yea it's been screwed -- no updates on his website either.

 

The Rising Sun News has been down for two weeks now, because the server was hacked. Unfortunately, it looks like the damage was pretty severe. Although you can still access the old files, that section is read-only, so nothing can be added or updated and the message boards are locked into their condition when the site went down.

Anyway, thats the good news . . . the bad news is that the guy who owns the server is no longer very interested in maintaining it. At first I was hoping that it would be fixed within a week or ten days, but it now looks like this may be a permanent loss.

Anyway I just wanted to let people know why the site is not being updated. I am pretty discouraged at the moment so I probably need to sit back and take a deep breath before I decide what to do next. If I do revive the RSN I will need to find an entirely new host and server, and perhaps even have to rewrite every file on the site. Just the thought of all that work makes me feel like saying "to hell with it". On the other hand, it seems like a waste to just say goodbye to eight years of hard work. . . .

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, expecially if someone knows of a person who would be willing to host the site. Until I decide what to do next, Im afraid the RSN is out of commission.

 

It'd be really sad to lose and/or stop the great work you've already put together.
I don't have a server or know anyone who does, but if you need any manhours to help transfer things over or anything, I've definitely got some free time I'd love to help with.

Gotta agree with Goru on the layout a bit. It might not hurt to have an almost wiki look, and members could add profiles for their team players (which would then be "approved" by you or somebody of your chosing without having to add in the code) -- I know you were looking for some more player profiles in the past. Just an idea though.

 

Oh man, are you STILL on the rag about that one?

I guess I should try harder to get people to see my "softer" side before I start slagging on their teams. I am sorry if you took anything I said seriously. I just have a very sarcastic and sometimes "cruel" sense of humour. Some people "get it" right away but other people have a hard time understanding it until they meet me in person (Im such a sweet guy ). Honestly, you shouldnt take anything I say on a message board seriously, because even when Im speaking very directly and factually, I usually have my tongue in my cheek.

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I really appreciate youyr suggestions. Actually, Ive tried doing something like that in the past. The problem was that it somehow never works out effectively. I suppose part of that was because I have always been trying to keep the Rising Sun News in a very carefully controlled condition. I was using someone else's server (for free) and thought I owed him the responsibility to keep things within the constraints of what his server and business would allow. That made it hard for people who wanted to "do their own thing", and I can definitely understand why their participation faded away to nothing, after just a few months.

Furthermore, I always deliberately tried to keep the site appearance "amateurish". I suppose that is hard to understand, but if you saw the sort of e-mail I get, you might have a clearer understanding. Even with a design that makes it OBVIOUS that this is not a professional site, I still get tons of e-mail from people who think the RSN is "the J.League" (or some team in the J.League). Since the real J.League has very little English of its own, I suppose it isnt hard to make such a mistake.

Anyway, the fact is -- conditions have now changed. If I do move the RSN to a different server, I would no longer be constrained in what I can do, and it would be a lot easier to set up a site that was "freer", in terms of what other people can contribute, and how much control they would have over their own contributions. Also, if we created more of a "community-run" site, I wouldnt have the burden of answering all the messages I get saying "Im a 16y.o. guy from Ghana and I want to play for your team..." or "I am an engineering student from Venezuela. Please send me the technical blueprints for Sapporo Dome... (etc)"

Basically, your suggestion sounds like a great idea . . . . but . . .

The one big problem I have at the moment is organization. I work freelance, and therefore my schedule is impossible to predict or manage. I can be so swamped with work one minute that I barely have time to take bathroom breaks for days at a time. Then suddenly I will have a week (or even a month) where I have almost nothing to do at all. As far as maintaining an existing site, I can usually manage to at least do the bare minimum. But the job of organizing a big team effort, and also moving the existing sections of the RSN to a new server, would be beyond my capabilities at the moment.

If you (or anyone else) are interested in taking the responsibility for chasing down potential contributors, locating a server, configuring it, etc. . . . then I am definitely in, 100%. The setup of a core site and then sub-blogs (like what youve done with the J.League supporters network) would be great as the template for an expanded Rising Sun News.

Furthermore, if we can figure out a way of redirecting the traffic from the old site, it would be a big boost to your individual blogs The RSN gets about 5 thousand hits a day, and a year ago when I was still keeping it very up-to-date, the traffic was twice that. If those hits are all going to a place that feeds into your individual blogs, that would be a great benefit to everyone involved.

Im open to any suggestions at all, at this point. The only constraint I have is the one I mentioned above -- my time and contributions may be limited (at least over the next month or two). If you want to take the initiative, by all means, go ahead. Ill follow your lead, and the existing content of the RSN is all at your disposal.

 

Oh, I should also mention that I can handle any up-front costs in terms of setting up a server and domain name, if someone else is willing to do the footwork. In the longer term of course, hopefully people would be willing to donate (or ad revenues could help), but for the initial setup, thats something Im willing to cover.

 

Gora, I can save you some time. The J.League's media regulations can be summed up one sentence:

If you dont have a print edition, and are only based on the internet, the JLeague doesnt consider you to be "media"

This probably isnt the best venue to be discussing issues like this one, but below are a few comments anyway. I think the best thing to do at this point is to start canvassing people to see who is interested in taking part, and what resources are available. After that, maybe a thread can be set up or an e-mail discussion organized, to discuss details. But I really think it is best to do the ground work in contacting people and judging interest before you rush on to issues that need to be understood by everyone who gets involved.

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Regarding the issue of copyrights, the J.League is unusually strict on some things, but even so, "fair use" doctrines apply. If you write a news article about Nike, or make a Wikipedia article about McDonalds,you can use a graphic of their "swoosh" mark or "golden arches", and they cant complain. The use of logos and graphics that identify a team, a company or a brand is permitted in any news-related or informational setting. The only time this might become a problem is if you start running a pay-site. You cant use someone else's logos if you are making money in the process.

However, while logos and team graphics are all in the "fair use" domain, the J.League has some unusual rules about the use of photos and videos. Unless you take the photos yourself, as a member of the press attending a match, you are not supposed to use any images or video. As far as I know, no other league has rules such as this, and I do not think that the rule has ever been tested in court. Nevertheless, I always assumed that it was best to remain on friendly terms with the J.League, so that is why the Rising Sun News never used photos in its articles

Videos are supposedly illegal to post ANYWHERE on the internet, but as Im sure you realise, that law is not enforced. According to the letter of the regulations, YouTube videos are supposed to be illegal, even though you can find hundreds and thousands of them. Perhaps the J.League will crack down on YouTube videos, some day, but I think its more likely that they will reach an agreement like Viacom did (ie, they can claim ad revenues from any J.League video that ends up on YouTube).

In the mean time, I have spent several years trying to build up trust with the people at J.League Pictures (the J.League's official "copyright police"), and about 18 months ago they indicated that it is OK if I post links to videos on YouTube, as long as I dont actually put the videos (or thumbnail) on the site itself. Their official stance is that linking to the (supposedly illegal) videos is not a problem, only the videos themselves. As long as bloggers stick to this standard, I dont think there will be any problem from the J.League about copyrights.

 

Is it possible for someone to set up some sort of temporary mirror, or at least a page explaining the situation to disconsolate readers of the RSN in the meantime? It looks like the original server is completely down now, unfortunately...

 

Thats an offer that i am DEFINITELY going to hold you to.

I have the entire site backed up on my own PC, so apart from a few minor tweaks that I may have made and forgot to back up, Im pretty sure the RSN is as good as new.

Nevertheless, as EA notes, its time to stop leeching on Anthony's server and set up a site of our own. If you havent already done so, please contact Gora so we can get to work on the new & improved website. In the mean time, the Rising Sun News is back in business (fingers crossed . . .)

 

Matsu, your signature says favorite clubs: Kofu,Cerezo,Reds and Antlers. thats a joke right?

I thought u hated the Reds And i never knew u had a soft spot for Cerezo either That u like Kofu I know, and u're usually very positive about Antlers too soo..

 

well, I guess i can jump in on this one too. As noone will be writing about J2, I can post the small and humble match reports I use on my blog on the new site as well. And of course be the general Cerezo-poster if that's needed.

 

Ha!
Everybody is convinced that I "hate" their club. Ive even been accused of "hating" Ventforet. It simply demonstrates the old saying that when someone makes jokes about someone else's club, they are just trying to be funny, but when they make jokes about your club, theyre being deliberately cruel because they hate your club. The only reason why I seem to have earned a reputation for "liking" the Antlers is that there arent any hardcore Antlers fans on my message board.

Truth be told, I probably have less affection for the reds than I did when I created that profile, but I would still say that in head-to-head matches, whether I root for Reds or whether I root for Antlers is a question of timing and the content of the contest. I suppose that doesnt QUITE apply to matches between Ventforet and Cerezo, but only because Kofu is my local team.

But why strain your brain by trying to understand the nuance? Just accept the fact that I hate EVERY team in the world. How could all those other people be wrong?