Wolf--how was the db sabotaged?
I don't know if it was the database or the forum software. I made notes about what I did but i can't remember. someone asked about the "Jack hat" so i will say that my brain works like that - no access to the Jack hat means i can't remember what that part of me did. bash at that as you will, it is what it is.
at any rate, what i remember is that i tried to log in to the site and it wasn't there. i went in and tried re-installing the forum software - it was the phpBB2 with no mods at all. the reason i did that is because the forums were still working, so i thought something had corrupted the software. reinstalling didn't work, so i started comparing the innards. i found something different in the nlands, so i changed it to what it was in the gestalt db - that worked.
i tried same thing with the intensity db - it didn't work so i put up one with the database all cleared out. that worked but only for a little bit. when it went down again i could not figure out how to fix it. i sent copies of the db to bob and one other person (can't remember who) but they said the files were unreadable.
sometime in 2007, i think, i moved nlands to another server and it broke the way intensity had broken. by then i was seriously ill and nothing to do all day so i screwed around with it until i fixed it. i applied the same fix to the intensity database and it worked.
i had used some software to move nlands - it was called big something and claimed to be able to move your software all on its own - no need to zip and move the sql files yourself. it didn't work. so i tried moving each file separately - zipping each of the 30+ files and then unzipping them in the place where i had installed phpBB2. i think i installed a new db and then copied the old files over the new places. as you can see i still barely know what i am doing, much less talking about. remember my recent screwup of my home forum? i fixed that one by messing with things and copying what looked like it would work. i freely admit that with nlands and intensity i was in over my head. hazards of autistic gullibility, i suppose.
so i am guessing that in the case of intensity, both the settings and the sql files were messed with. only three people had access to the server - shima, hermit and me. in one case the files were changed, in another probably the settings. both required server access.
the computer on which i did this stuff had an irrevocable crash so if the old files are anywhere they are archived on a disc - one would hope a CD, but again, i was pretty sick so who knows? i am fairly certain that the whole of the old intensity (the one that was fixed) still lives on my server. i just took it down, i didn't delete it. if you want i could send you the files.