A New Beginning

I had something rather glorious to say, and it was said, but that damn hack attack blew it away. Can you tell I am bitter? This time I made a backup! Lesson learned; I may be ignorant, but I am not stupid.

I will try to recap; after all it is only fair to have a historical explanation to the former staff (Adam, Derek, Kevin, and Ted) and the once loyal readers of that previous entity known as Calvert Games. Besides, it brings about some closure, and helps set the tone for where I am going with this blog.

So the question on everyone’s mind is “why?” Why close Calvert Games?

Three years ago I answered my own call (for “the love of the game”) and started Calvert Games after writing the following:

So it is up to the fans, the true “hard core,” to revitalize the hobby. When was the last time you posted a review to your personal web site? When was the last time you posted a review to a message board or Usenet? Give it a go. You will feel better about yourself, and you will provide a service to fellow gamers.
Reviews used to be free. Freely posted, freely distributed, and free from the Monkeys [banner ads]. Remember, it’s not about the money; it’s about the love of the game.

I am biased, but we (the staff) met the call with a no nonsense approach; those guys were the best. Damn good bunch of guys, and great writers to boot! I would say that my staff was the best staff that money could buy – of course I got off on the cheap! I am sure our friendships will last and hopefully transcend the break-up of Calvert Games.

So we come full circle – why? There are a bunch of reasons – maintaining a website grew tiresome, the hack attacks wore me down, it became a burden to review and analyze games instead of just playing them. Gaming is now mainstream, and “breaking down” games became irrelevant (no offense to Adam, Derek, Kevin, and Ted). In short, it was time for a change.

So where do I go from here? What you are now reading is the new Calvert Games; just call it version 3.0. No fuss, low maintenance, carefree, no pressure; just good old fashion short takes about … well … pretty much anything that I happen to be pondering. OK, I admit that the verbose style will most likely live on, but I think something can be said for brevity.

Calvert Games was officially launched September 27, 2001 – it was pretty barebones, and more or less hit the mark despite the Mickey Mouse look and feel. June 2003 saw a major overhaul of the site – the switch to a php Nuke based site brought about Calvert Games 2.0. The blog you are reading is my attempt at a simpler, more interesting format, that hopefully will provide me with an interesting outlet, and maybe, just maybe, entertain a reader or two.

So you see, Calvert Games continues, just in a new, different format. Lift a cold one or two; I know I will; and as long as gaming remains a pleasure, watermark breasteses (thanks for the laughs Don) and Calvert Games will live on to fight the good fight.

Share

Hackers Still Suck!

This is rather ironic, but my new site has been the innocent bystander of a recent hack attack of another php Nuke site on this server. The end result is that I lost all my work from yesterday; new blog, new mods, and all my posts!

A word of advice for would be webmasters – php Nuke is an unbelievably unsecured script. If you are a using php Nuke, or thinking about using php Nuke, make sure you have the latest version (7.2 or 7.3) and multiple security scripts such as fortress, admin secure, admin tap, union tap, and others.

The lesson I have learned is that I need to setup a cron job to do backups and exports!

Hackers suck. Bloody f’ing bas*ar*%! One of the reasons I pulled down the previous incarnation of Calvert Games was that I was sick and tired or worrying about maintaining (and securing) my site. Of course those of you who read the site yesterday already knew this was one of the reasons for giving up the ghost. Now that post is lost, so I will have to be creative and come up with a cleaver replacement. [sigh]

The previous hack attacks were truly draining. That and I laid out some duckets to pay a Unix admin to help secure the site. And now my new site was blow away because of a hack attack on another php Nuke based site. Hackers are evil – that much is certain; evil and malicious.

Share

A Simple Parting …

With these final words, the face of Calvert Games was forever changed:

I wanted to take a minute to thank the readers of Calvert Games for your support. The last three years have been a heck of a lot of fun for me, and I hope this little corner of Internet sports gaming has been equally as enjoyable for our readers.

I have a lot to write about, but I want to keep this parting fairly short. I have to express my thanks and deep gratitude to the staff – Adam, Derek, Kevin, and Ted. You guys are great, and I sincerely thank you for all the hard work you have put into Calvert Games, and more importantly for your friendship. Kudos on a job well done!

Sometime over the next few days the “current” Calvert Games will cease to exist. I may attempt some sort of historical archive, but that is also up in the air at this time.

At this point I have not decided what to do or where to go next. To quote Bilbo “I need a holiday – a very long holiday – and I don’t expect I shall return. In fact, I mean not to!”

Well, I would be foolish to say never, but I do not have plans to revive Calvert Games in the immediate future.

Calvert Games was founded in September 2001.

Special thanks to the staff – Adam, Derek, Kevin, and Ted – the best damn group in the industry!

Special thanks to Steve at OS – you have always pimped my junk for free; thanks for the help!

Thanks to Matt C. and Paul K. – you guys always encouraged me and helped spawn CG. The original SR was something special.

Thanks to Tonya, my wonderful wife, for always supporting me, and putting up with my gaming addiction.

“Happy trails to you,
until we meet again.
Happy trails to you,
keep smilin’ until then.” – Roy Rogers Show

In Jesus’ name anything is possible. God bless, and good night!

And so Calvert Games 3.0 is born; the adventure begins anew.

Share