Deals primarily with the 2009 hack and answers a lot of questions folks have had since then. See my blog. Link from tabs above (Features) or click here.

Most of that tale I was aware of, however the fate of Avsim's hacker did come as a bit of a shock. Wouldn't really wish that on anyone, and it is somewhat sad when things go that way for people, although I'd be disingenuous if I said I was devastatingly upset about it, particularly given some of the other dubious stuff mentioned on that article, which it seems difficult to believe the guy would have known nothing of, although I'll leave it at that.

 

Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to fill everyone in on the story Tom. I should imagine writing that was probably quite cathartic given the nightmare that incident put you through, but it's good to know that in the end, in spite of all the trauma, it has meant that Avsim is in a stronger and more secure state.

 

Al

A lot of AVSIM members were directly impacted by the criminal act committed against this organization. Thank you Tom for telling..."the rest of the story."

Tom. I should imagine writing that was probably quite cathartic given the nightmare that incident put you through

...

 

Well, it certainly brought back a lot of memories of people accusing us of running a scam, defrauding the community, starting the donation campaign ourselves and a lot of other crap that some people continue to spew to this day. I don't know what it is with some people. But, we have put up with the "AVSIM is an evil empire" paranoids since the first issue of our downloadable magazine in 1997. Nothing surprises me anymore in regard to these folk.

 

Ending the speculation was one of the reasons I decided to go ahead and publish that story. The other was to put the facts out there and to give the paranoids even more to be paranoid about.. :LMAO:

 

It also gave me a lot of time to think of all the things we could have done differenctly. Many of those things we have done since; as in no one will ever get "the keys to the kingdom" again, so to speak. There is a lot more, but I can summarize it by saying that those days of innocent faith in people's intentions are gone... and will never return, I am sorry to say.

 

One of the things that still sticks in my craw though is the all knowing, all seeing pundits that couldn't wait to pounce on our "back up" scheme and how we were a bunch of idiots for having lost the entire system. No matter that it was an "inside" job that took out both our primary and backup servers - we should have had an industry grade, off site, halon protected, professionally designed system that was fed backup tapes brought from across town by couriers once every 23 hours and protected by armed guards 24 / 7 / 365. Paying the cost to do all that would have meant that there would not have been an AVSIM to protect... we would not have been able to afford the "industry standard" approach to protection, because we would have been too bankrupt from paying for the guards. Yeah, whatever... :Talking Ear Off:

But, we have put up with the "AVSIM is an evil empire" paranoids since the first issue of our downloadable magazine in 1997.

 

Damn, I thought Avsim was the evil empire, that's only reason I joined, I wanted one of those cool TIE Fighter Pilot outfits. I've been misled! :LMAO:

 

Al

Damn, I thought Avsim was the evil empire, that's only reason I joined, I wanted one of those cool TIE Fighter Pilot outfits. I've been misled! :LMAO:

 

When you joined that far back, we were in the midst of an identity crisis.... You mean you didn't get your Bat Man and Robin interchangable uniforms? Brit Post and Telegraph strikes again. Go file a claim!! :Nerd:

it is good to read about some of the things that go on behind the scenes in this organization, and straight from the horses mouth.

 

As for an evil organization......I just don't understand because people need to go out of their way to visit this house, they didn't even have to come here in the first place.....Amazing to me.

 

Cheers Tom

Hi Tom!

 

Very interesting. Thankyou for sharing it. Although I can understand why you would second guess yourself insofar people are concerned since those events; if it's any consolation; overall I think your jugement is very sound and Avsim remains an achievement on a human level.

 

One of the most important Avsim moments I remember happenned around 2002 as there were pressures in the forums to recognize what was tntamount to a star status for a very profiilic freeware developper. No name is necessary here after so many years. But what you did about it was very important, according to me: you effectively ruled that all freeware developpers would be treated equally at Avsim; and that there would be no super-stars; no prima-donnas and no elite class. That was a gutsy move. Said freeware developper left Avsim bringing his files with him, sadly. But it was the best decision for the community and the hobby.

 

Avsim remains a main worldwide hub for francophones, despite severall regional flight simming organisations here and there. Personnally, I think Avsim's french forum is the very best place for simming, mainly thanks to David Roch and Jean-Paul Mes and the good spirit they have fostered.

 

Vive Avsim!

 

And enjoy your retirement Tom.

 

ben

One of the most important Avsim moments I remember happenned around 2002 as there were pressures in the forums to recognize what was tntamount to a star status for a very profiilic freeware developper. No name is necessary here after so many years. But what you did about it was very important, according to me: you effectively ruled that all freeware developpers would be treated equally at Avsim; and that there would be no super-stars; no prima-donnas and no elite class. That was a gutsy move. Said freeware developper left Avsim bringing his files with him, sadly. But it was the best decision for the community and the hobby.

 

Thank you Ben. Yes, those were interesting days indeed. I frankly had forgotten those incidents, but now that you bring them up, yes, the basics come back to me. Thank you for your affirmation of our long gone decisions. It does feel good to hear things like that.

 

And yes indeed! Dave and Jean-Paul do sterling work! They have made the French forum what it is and we are very proud of and grateful for their contributions to the forum!

I did another donation today as I would like to see another 15 years out of AVSIM......It will be amazing to see where Flight Sim evolves in this time. Future looks bright

 

Cheers