Forum name change requests
Posted by Generic Forum Administrator on 03/31/05 01:12 PM
I keep receiving requests for name changes in my PM box. I am not the right person to send them to.
Forum Name Change requests should be sent by PM to dw_junon or by email to forums AT vgmusic DOT com (changed to stop email harvesters from grabbing it), but only after you read the Forum Name Change Guidelines.
I realize that it says to PM an Administrator in the FAQ, but this makes sure that the correct person receives them.
VGMusic.com mentioned in Canadian national newspaper.
Posted by Generic Forum Administrator on 03/22/05 07:41 PM
An article about video game music was published in today's copy of the Globe & Mail, a national Canadian newspaper. While the main focus of the article is on Amon Tobin, the composer for the new Splinter Cell game, the journalist also requested an interview with someone from this site for a general outlook on the industry as a whole. I volunteered. Only a small fraction of what I said in the interview actually made it into the article (as to be expected), but I was very happy to see that VGMusic.com was mentioned.
For those of you unable to find a copy of the newspaper, they appear to have the article available online at their website. I'm not sure how long it will be available there, so read it while you can.
Forums email problem fixed
Posted by Generic Forum Administrator on 03/16/05 01:20 PM
The problem with the forums not being able to send email has been fixed.
I have removed all the accounts registered since February 21st that haven't been activated. If this includes yours, just recreate it.
As for the cause, the mail (SMTP) server's antivirus plugin was incorrectly throwing out message sent by PHP. It thought that they had invalid or missing header parts.
This was caused by a setting I changed a while back to reduce spam, but didn't go into effect until the server was rebooted, following the server problems in February.
Save Orphan Works
Posted by Generic Forum Administrator on 03/11/05 07:00 PM
The US Copyright Office is asking for public comment on the "orphan works" -- any copyrighted works where the rights-holder is hard to find. The Copyright Office has specifically asked for comments from people who have run up against the problem of trying to clear a potentially copyrighted work -- either for use in a new creative effort or simply to make the work available to the public once again. If you have a story like this, check out Orphanworks.org and fill out their form with your story.
Boycott Ringophone
Posted by Pongball on 03/01/05 02:50 AM
There are hundreds, if not thousands of websites on the Internet that are hosting video game MIDI files without the sequencers' permission, and often giving them no credit at all. As a sequencer, this is just something I've learned to accept and live with. However, when I stumbled upon a website the other day that's actually selling our hard work for a profit, I was pretty furious. Meet Ringophone, one of the biggest scums of the Internet today. I recognize almost all of the "ringtones" in their polyphonic video game ringtone section from VGMusic.com. They've taken MIDI files directly from this and other websites without any sequencers' permission, given no credit to the sequencers whatsoever, and are selling them for $0.99US each. I can tell you that the sequencers of the files certainly aren't seeing any of that money, considering that one of my sequences is there.
So, what can we do about it? Unfortunately, sequencers who reproduce other people's music as a hobby have no real legal rights over their reproductions. It looks like the only thing we can do is give this website a bad name and try to get people boycotting it. If you feel strongly about this, send Ringophone a letter telling them how you feel (use this address: legal@epinoisis.com). Please don't send anything malicious such as viruses or anything that would be classified as spam. Tell them that what they're doing is wrong and that you don't appreciate it one bit. Post this news on your webpage or blog and spread the word that this website is taking advantage of sequencers everywhere. And whatever you do, don't buy anything from them.
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From here to Eternity
Posted by Powerlord on 02/28/05 01:06 PM
I decided saying "We're back... again." was too boring.
With the server system dying twice in one week, the Datacenter replaced the entire server, other than the hard drive. This time, it should stay operational.
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...and we're back.
Posted by Powerlord on 02/25/05 10:20 PM
The Server's Power Supply died. The server was down for about 2 hours (1 of which was because I wasn't around).
If you see any odd problems, please notify me (via the webmaster email address).
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Making changes Mark-II
Posted by Powerlord on 02/12/05 10:39 PM
If you look around the site for a bit recently, you might have noticed that not all the music pages looked the same. We have decided to move over to a stylesheet based layout for our newer pages.
Starting tonight, all our sections will be using the newer layout when they are updated.
Newly Submitted Files (AKA new-files) has joined the pages that are now stylesheet based. On the new-files listings alone, the average file size has decreased by 25k.
These layouts are not fixed in stone, and may yet change again as the year goes on.
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Making changes
Posted by Powerlord on 02/12/05 06:02 PM
You might notice some changes in how new-files looks today as I test a newer version of the new-files indexer. Unfortunately, it seems to have a few bugs yet to be worked out.
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Uploads working again
Posted by Powerlord on 02/10/05 01:46 PM
I posted this to the news entry below, but just in case people missed it...
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PHP Upload Problems
Posted by Powerlord on 02/08/05 10:46 PM
Uploads should now be working
As some of you might have noticed, there's a problem with upload processing on both the upload script and the forums today. Unfortunately, it isn't a problem with the scripts. I've contacted the developer of PHP for Debian and explained the bug to them. With any luck, they'll figure out what's going wrong.
Until then... you'll probably find that you can upload with most browsers other than Internet Explorer. If you use IE, you should probably wait.
Progress update:
1. I have added a hack to temporarily fix the problem on our own upload script. The forums are still affected, however.
2. The Debian developer in charge of PHP confirmed that this was an upstream bug pushed down from the PHP team. The PHP team have marked the first bug report as Bogus, choosing instead to blame Microsoft.
Instead of opening a new bug report, I have submitted a new feature request to change it back to the old behavior. Did I mention that you can rate the importance of feature requests and whether they've affected you? Since this PHP change will affect all PHP systems with upload capabiltiies (our upload script, phpBB, Gallery, VGMix, etc...) if they are used with PHP 4.3.11, I encourage you to vote.
3. I've asked the author where I need to fix the upload mod, in case the PHP team decides not to fix this problem.
4. I've downgraded PHP for the time being. Uploads should now be working.
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Just a quicky
Posted by Powerlord on 02/08/05 12:40 PM
Today is Safer Internet Day. They have days for everything!
Edit: Fixed name. The Register had it wrong.
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Attachments and Copyrighted Material
Posted by Forteblast on 02/07/05 02:47 PM
Lately it has come to light that certain users on our forums have been using the boards and private messages to post copyrighted material, mostly MP3 and OGG files ripped from video games, CDs, DVDs, and other media for use as accompanying music in Role-Playing threads, on the Music boards as reference for comparing derivative MIDI files to their original works, and the like. This is copyright infringement and this website can be liable for what you do on it, so we must be fairly firm in dealing with offenders. Please note that MIDI files are perfectly acceptable as long as they are not taken directly from copyrighted sources, such as the MIDI files included with Duke Nukem 3D for PC, and any audio files for which you are the author or have obtained permission from the author to distribute are also acceptable.
If you are caught distributing copyrighted music without author permission on our forums in attachment form, your attachment quota will be reduced to one byte and ALL current attachments you have uploaded will be deleted. If you are caught linking to copyrighted material on other websites (even if it is your own storage space), you will be warned and then temporarily banned. It doesn't matter how long ago you committed the infringement or how small or low quality the audio file may be; it's still infringement, and if discovered, action will be taken against you. Please note that although strict enforcement of this rule is a new policy, the rule itself is not new: this FAQ section clearly states that "illegal" attachments are not permitted, and copyright infringement is illegal. Though it may seem harsh, it's much better than being slapped with a cease and desist order.
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Contacting The Sequencer: A Primer
Posted by Forteblast on 02/04/05 02:32 AM
Hey folks. It's been a while since I've been on the front page. What's up?
Anyway, let's say you're strolling through the archive and you see some song you like. You decide to contact the person who made the MIDI file (the sequencer). So you click on the Info link. The beginning of the Info file says something like this:
Added by: Forteblast <forteblast@vgNOSPAMmusic.com>
Date Added: 2002-10-22
File URL is http://www.vgmusic.com/new-files/some-file.mid
Upload Date and Time: 08/31/2002 12:13:59
Uploaded by: fakemidiguy@fakeemail.com (Fake M. Guy)
Originating IP Address: 127.0.0.1
The person listed under "Added By" is an updater for this website. 99% of the time, we did not sequence the file, we only added it to the archive. The person listed under "Uploaded By" is the person who actually sent the file to us, and (hopefully) sequenced it. If a staff member uploaded the file AND sequenced it, then the names/e-mails will be the same in both entries.
Over the last couple of years I've gotten several dozen e-mails asking me how I made a file, or for sheet music, or other such requests that should be asked of the sequencer, not the updater - especially for the Halo Theme from Halo for X-Box. If you want to contact the author of a file, please use the e-mail address listed under "Uploaded by", NOT the e-mail address of the updater ("Added By").
Also, if you're looking for sheet music, keep in mind that it is copyrighted material that is illegal to distribute freely. If you'd like to learn how to purchase or generate your own from one of our MIDI files, we have an excellent FAQ entry covering that topic.
So, even though I'm not an updater any more, I have the feeling that I'm going to be getting a lot more of these e-mails - just remember, if you're going to write one of the VGMusic.com staff members a question, please make sure that you're asking the right person. We get enough junk e-mail as it is.
Thanks!
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New Staff and a position change
Posted by Powerlord on 01/27/05 12:03 AM
Forteblast has moved from the Update Staff to the QC Staff. We wish him luck in his new position.
Replacing Forteblast on the Update Staff is a well known member of the community: Jarel Jones, also known as Arrow!
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Additional Final Fantasy Concert announced
Posted by Powerlord on 01/26/05 11:08 PM
This news is a bit late, as this was announced a week or so ago, but better late than never...
Square-Enix has announced an additional concert on March 7, 2005 at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA.
The SF concert will be performed by the Symphony Silicon Valley and the San Jose State University Chorale, directed again by Grammy Award Winning director Arnie Roth. It is the first event in this years Game Developers Conference.
Tickets can be purchased online or by phone by calling 415-292-9191 or toll-free 888-849-4255 (888-TIX-4ALL).
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