Tech: Recovery or find in cache?

Subject: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:34 AM

I'm sure there are some BS threads that could go away forever, and are so long there is no point in trying to load them. But for the few good ones, especially music, there is a way to figure out the name so you can search for the cached version in Google.

The wayback machine (aka Internet archive) has Mudcat as recently as February 12, 2015. You can't follow those links to find the contents, but you can find the thread names to to a Google search on, then look at the cached versions. Copy and paste (if you can take the time to put a horizontal rule between each post, that would be nice).

I know this is probably setting the cat among the pigeons, and if Max can restore it all then these copied versions can go away. But it is a way to restore some of the short good threads in the meantime.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 01:59 AM

That's what I've done with a couple threads that were important to me, Stilly. I plan to do a few more tomorrow. If people add to them, we can move the new messages back to the original threads if the originals are restored.
I haven't figured out a way to identify all the threads that were active from Christmas to now, but I'm looking.
Note that some cached threads may be too long to post in a single message, so watch out for truncations.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 03:19 AM

I think the really long BS threads with nothing but fighting can stay in limbo, they're too much work to fool with for many reasons. If the data is recovered, fine.

The Internet Archive gives several views of Mudcat this month and last, and that should help. Even in that, Google doesn't have every message up to today, they don't capture the threads daily, but beggars can't be choosers.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 10:47 AM

thanks to both of you for your work

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: gnu
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 10:50 AM

Ditto Sandra.

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:28 PM

What happens if/when Max restores the original threads/posts?

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:45 PM

If they come back, I would hope things (like older threads getting new posts now) will automatically merge, and the purely salvaged posts can be dropped out of sight. In a perfect world. :)

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:58 PM

The problem is the newer messages will be indexed (the index field being the message numbers), and if the older messages are restored, they'll over-write the newer message. So either the old ones or the new ones will be lost.

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 01:56 PM

I habitually save threads that interest me to "web page - HTML only" [Chrome Browser].

eg: "mudcat.org Arthritis The End Of Music " saved 19 Feb

I'd guess a few others may do likewise.

Would rars or zips of the saved HTML files emailed to a mudcat admin
be of any use at any time during reconstruction ???

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 02:11 PM

You betcha, Punkfolkrocker.
Zip files are easier for me to work with, mostly because I use them constantly.
I think I've found a way to tweak the Google cache to get it to a daily Forum Menu since the crash and find the names of all the threads active since December 24 (the date of restoration). Then I could get threads from the Google cache.
Restoring from Google Cache isn't perfect, since they don't cache daily - I'm missing a few days from the last week.
We've had this happen before. I don't share Jeri's worry that Max will destroy recent messages by restoring. I think he has a workaround for that, although the messages may not be in perfect order. But maybe Jeri is right and I'm remembering incorrectly.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 02:17 PM

Joe, if anyone could figure it out, it's Max, but the last time this happened, he overwrote the recent messages, and the newer ones were lost. There can only be one message #3688529. Kinda like "The Highlander" without all the swords and atmospheric special effects.

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 07:54 PM

Joe - sending Zip created in 7-Zip to [e-mail],
via disposable email account I set up some time ago and forgot about.

Look out for an email from [e-mail].

I've included all threads I saved since start of December.

Most are "web page - HTML only"

though some are "Web page,complete" from a period when I hadn't realised chrome had reset defaults.

A small number of threads are pre mod censored versions containing deleted 'contentious' posts.
These will have adjusted titles, indicating poster/'offensive'content
to distinguish them from the vanilla threads.

Hope it helps.

If any of this is usable,
I trust you can strip out any of my computer's ID info
if it's been auto coded into the saved files/folder paths...

Let me know in this thread if you got it, or need me to adjust any zip settings.

... best of luck with the reconstruction....

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 08:12 PM

Thank you very much, Punkfolkrocker. It works very well.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: GUEST,punkfokrocker
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 08:20 PM

Ok Joe - hoping enough mudcatters saved other threads and can help with patching the place back together...

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 01:33 AM

Well, I brought back a whole lot of threads, but there are plenty more that haven't been restored. We post to a heck of a lot of threads in a two-month period. I'll keep at it...knowing that my work will be in vain if Max finds a way to recover what we had.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Recovery or find in cache?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 03:51 AM

goodonya, Joe