Our regular readers are probably wondering what happened to us at the beginning of April 2013. That’s when our site suddenly disappeared from the Internet. Conspiracy theories began to circulate: according to one, the entire Cabal was a pseudonymous effort by Jess Franco, which ceased to exist at the same moment he did. Other rumors said basically the same thing about Roger Ebert. These rumors may be ignored.
In fact, what had happened is this: the brilliant technicians at the B-Masters’ Internet hosting company suddenly started wondering what would happen if they pushed the big, red button marked SELF-DESTRUCT. The results were spectacular. They told us all about it in an email composed by the light of our burning backup tapes — the only email any of us had ever read that came through written in crayon.
OK, OK: venom aside, it seems the very same technology that was supposed to keep our data safe malfunctioned and killed it all instead. Apparently everybody else whose site was hosted by this company was in the same situation… with no site, no backup and no recourse. This means we’re scrambling to reconstitute as much of the B-Masters’s site as we can, while we look for a slightly more reputable host.
If you registered to post on this site after February 2012, I’m sorry to say your account and your comments have disappeared into the void. We’re deeply upset by the loss of so many discussions with our readers. We may be able to restore our posts that have temporarily disappeared; but we will not be able to bring back those vivid and lively interactions we’ve had in the comments. Please do not let this dissuade you from rejoining us and participating in future discussions! We’re going to be much more careful about backing up our data from now on.
Will Laughlin is the Braineater.
#1 by Alaric on April 21, 2013 - 4:34 pm
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I’m very glad to hear that the B-Masters haven’t simply mysteriously vanished into some unknowable hellish dimension, never to be heard from again- though from the sound of things it may seem that way. Sorry to hear about the technical problems. Thank you, all of you, for all the years of entertainment and enlightenment you’ve provided (so far), and good luck. I look forward to whatever new reviews, etc., you send our way.
One of these days, I’ve got to start commenting more.
#2 by Banjoman on April 23, 2013 - 3:38 pm
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Glad to see the Cabal again! I feel sick for y’all and for Nathan especially.
#3 by Braineater on April 23, 2013 - 5:19 pm
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Thanks. This is just a temporary location while we restore as much as we can. The B-Masters domain will be back up before too long.
For the B-Masters site it’s been a manageable disaster, but you’re right: Nathan and his sites got hit hard.
#4 by The Rev. on April 25, 2013 - 4:47 am
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I’m glad to see you guys back. I’ll join in the chorus of sympathy for Nathan as well; I can only imagine the heartache this has caused him.
#5 by RogerBW on May 7, 2013 - 5:19 pm
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Just found this site after guessing the URL from the hint in El Santo’s recent update. Hope things come together, give me a shout if you’re in need of tech help.
#6 by El Santo on May 8, 2013 - 6:05 pm
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I redirected the banner link on my homepage, too, so clicking that would also have taken you here.
#7 by Chris Winkler on May 8, 2013 - 5:30 pm
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Good to see all of you back up. I was wondering if you were just renovating, and am sorry to hear about your troubles. Your site is a much appreciated retreat during and after a long day, and I’m happy to see you still here.
#8 by Jen S 1.0 on May 8, 2013 - 8:46 pm
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Oh, thank God you guys are still around! I was so worried!
Tell your erstwhile hosts to suck an Old One’s tentacle for me, will ya?
#9 by Naomi on May 8, 2013 - 11:02 pm
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My first thought was that something had happened to Nathan, since all of his sites vanished at the same time. Finding out it was “only” a catastrophic hosting failure was kind of a relief– I mean, it still sucks, but at least you can come back from it. And I really appreciate all the effort it must take to get some form of the site running again!
#10 by blake on May 9, 2013 - 8:51 pm
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Glad to see the Cabal back in some sort of organized existence, if that makes sense. Look forward to visiting this place regularly to comment on the reviews and whatnot!
#11 by jason farrell on May 13, 2013 - 1:10 pm
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I felt like the Victorian mother of the kids in PETER PAN…
I was frantic, just frantic, during your absence.
(swoons and collapses)
#12 by DamonD on May 14, 2013 - 8:47 am
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I had wondered, and of course I’m thrilled to see this place back again. I really do enjoy and read everything posted here.
#13 by GalaxyJane on May 20, 2013 - 2:24 pm
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Glad I finally managed to track y’all down, I was having dreadful withdrawals. Glad so much content has been saved as well, I’d worried that everything would be gone for good when you recovered.
#14 by Anne-marie on May 21, 2013 - 1:26 pm
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Whew! At last I know the B-masters are on their way back. Basically I’m a lurker but I’m delurking to say thank christ there’s a reason you’ve not been online, other than it’s all been wiped. I’ve been reduced to watching all sorts of things without having a reliable idea of what I’m getting into. I even watched Eurovision, although I must say it was quite fun…
#15 by kbegg on May 21, 2013 - 1:33 pm
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Oh, no! Somehow this event also ate all the hundreds of reviews I’ve diligently written for my own website over the last several years!
Yes. Yes, that’s what happened.
#16 by RogerBW on May 21, 2013 - 2:22 pm
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Override the firewall!
(Someone starts typing, O-V-E-R…)
#17 by Luke Blanchard on May 24, 2013 - 3:51 pm
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It’s great to see you back. I’ve been reading B-Masters reviews for about as long as I’ve been using the internet. Thanks for all the insight you’ve shared and pleasure you’ve given.
#18 by josé on May 27, 2013 - 4:37 pm
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Glad to see you back, i miss you too much. Good luck in the future, technology can´t stop our dreams! (or something like that)
#19 by Bryan on June 15, 2013 - 4:50 am
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Wow, what an awful hosting company. I, too, was flipping out until I saw a post on Ken’s forum semi-describing what happened. So I kept checking out the individual sites, but… I forgot to bookmark Braineater (sheepish shrug). So glad everyone is back.
#20 by Read MacGuirtose on July 4, 2013 - 7:15 am
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And I find out about this temporary site only two months after the fact, apparently.
I’d been checking b-masters.com fairly frequently to see if it was back up, but not until it included a temporary front page with a link to this site (rather than the error message that had been coming up before) did I discover that this temporary site existed. Now to see what I’ve missed…
#21 by Braineater on July 4, 2013 - 2:55 pm
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We ARE on our way back. Thanks to some help from Stomp Tokyo’s Chris Holland, we’ve got control of our domain name again, and we’re looking forward to a re-launch soon.
#22 by Randy Quick on August 12, 2013 - 3:29 am
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What in the world is a cabal?
#23 by blake on August 12, 2013 - 11:28 am
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According to Dictionary.com:
1.a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.
2.the plots and schemes of such a group; intrigue.
3.a clique, as in artistic, literary, or theatrical circles.
#24 by Randy Quick on August 18, 2013 - 7:46 pm
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Thanks! I’m on a computer, the world of information at my fingertips, and I ask a stupid question. Pity the old:(
#25 by Randy Quick on August 18, 2013 - 7:51 pm
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The Links We love Is great! Thanks guys! If this is as obvious as my stupid question, like I said; pity the old:(
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