Classical Numismatics Discussion
  Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Expert Authentication - Accurate Descriptions - Reasonable Prices - Coins From Under $10 To Museum Quality Rarities Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Support Our Efforts To Serve The Classical Numismatics Community - Shop At Forum Ancient Coins

New & Reduced


Author Topic: Menorah Coin Project  (Read 3925 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Menorah Coin Project
« on: January 31, 2020, 08:13:57 pm »
The Menorah Coin Project ( menorahcoinproject.org ) has gone offline.  We have been given permission, and more than that, we have been requested to restore the site to our server and to NumisWiki.  We need to save this valuable resource!

Unfortunately we do not have the files.  Fortunately the website has been archived on the waybackmachine - https://web.archive.org/web/20191118150250/http://menorahcoinproject.org/.

Unfortunately there does not seem to be any easy way to recover the site from the waybackmachine and install it on our server.  Does anyone know any secret to doing this seemingly huge task?
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2020, 01:23:07 am »
Fortunately, most/all (?) of the images themselves are located here I believe:     http://menorahcoinproject.org/images/     But I assume you already knew that.

Have you contacted the folks at Wayback and asked them if it is possible to get a copy of the site from their servers?

If Fontanille gave you permission to take over the site and restore it, shouldn't he (or his hosting service) have the code for the site and pages?

It's truly a shame that both MCP and Fontanille Coins have disappeared.  MCP was a very useful resource for Judaean coins.  I know he apparently got hacked, but I'm not sure why that caused him to completely give up.


Craig


Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2020, 07:37:36 am »
When I asked JP about the site going down and asked if I could help. He explained the hacking involved financial damage that was going to be difficult to recover from. He agreed that it would be good if Forum could recover the site and host it, and gave his approval. He told me he had given the site the Israel Numismatic Society and I should contact them for permission and access to the files. At this point, I have been told he is not interested in going online at all and isn't even answering email.

I contacted the Israel Numismatic Society and was enthusiastically encouraged to restore and host the site, but they do not have the files or access to the old server.

So, it appears I must restore it from the waybackmachine and, as Craig noted, recover the images from the old server. The problems are: 1) The waybackmachine modifies the pages for their site and they will all have to be modified. 2) The site is HUGE. Just getting the images from the server will (by the method known to me) require thousands of clicks and saves.

I have not yet contacted the waybackmachine for help, but unless someone else has a great idea, I will.

Anyone know how to batch download the images? 
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2020, 03:50:19 pm »
Several months ago, someone posted a link in this discussion thread for a tool called "WinHTTrack"......     https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=119527.0


Craig

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2020, 06:59:51 pm »
I am using the program now.  It is downloading the image files from JP's old server.  Still...it is going to be a huge project. Every page hast to uploaded. All the URLs must be changed. Hopefully I can hire someone overseas that will do it cheap.
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2020, 09:04:24 pm »
WinHTTrack has been downloading the image files four at a time, with only a second or two per image for over 2 hours...so far.  

I am very happy that I will have the files. I don't know how long they were going to be kept on JP's server.  Thanks for telling me about the program Craig.
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline Jay GT4

  • Tribunus Plebis 2021
  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 6987
  • Leave the gun, take the Canoli!
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2020, 10:55:39 pm »
Quite the undertaking Joe, thanks for all you do for the community.

Offline PMah

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 598
  • Qui risus classe devicta multas ipsi lacrimas...
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2020, 11:59:23 pm »
Yes, thank you, Joe.
I suggest reaching out to ANS.  They have interns and summer seminar students and alumni who might be able to work on this with you.
Be Well, Stay Healthy, Support your Local Numismatic Club

Paul 

My Gallery: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album

Offline Aarmale

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1543
  • Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2020, 11:41:48 am »
Just noticed this thread.

A few months ago, the MCP was sporadically going offline so I decided to request that it be cached at the Wayback Machine. I wrote to J.-P. a few months ago and understood the site may not go up again, so I set in fact set up a mirror of the site here (note the new .com ending): https://www.menorahcoinproject.com/

(For future reference, I used wget to extract the images from the current .org site and wayback_machine_downloader for all the page files.)
Gallery: http://tinyurl.com/aarmale
היינו דאמרי אינשי: טבא חדא פילפלתא חריפתא ממלי צנא קרי

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2020, 01:07:22 pm »
It is a mess with broken links but the files are all (we hope they are all there) on our server.  Someday this will work...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/menorahcoinproject/index.html
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2020, 03:49:13 pm »
So since Aarmale has a full mirror copy of the website, perhaps some arrangement could be made for FORVM to take over hosting of the site? 


Craig

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2020, 03:53:35 pm »
I didn't notice that Aarmale had uploaded to a mirror.  I misread that he added the site to the waybackmachine.  Hmm.

We already have been asked to host the site by JP and the Israel Numismatic Society.

Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2020, 04:09:18 pm »
Since JP and INS have given their OKs, all that seems to be required is for Aarmale to "turn over" his mirror to FORVM to host, should he agree.

I know this may be jumping way too far ahead, but assuming this would happen, would MCP simply remain a static site as it exists now, or would it continue to be upgraded and expanded going forward?


Craig

Offline Aarmale

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1543
  • Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2020, 04:32:24 pm »
Since JP and INS have given their OKs, all that seems to be required is for Aarmale to "turn over" his mirror to FORVM to host, should he agree.

I know this may be jumping way too far ahead, but assuming this would happen, would MCP simply remain a static site as it exists now, or would it continue to be upgraded and expanded going forward?


Craig

It was my intention to continue to maintain the site as usual. In fact, I am responsible for one of the die studies already on the site. Donald Ariel had expressed to me several times over the years that JP told him that intended for me to curate the site after him. Consequently I am surprised by these developments.
Gallery: http://tinyurl.com/aarmale
היינו דאמרי אינשי: טבא חדא פילפלתא חריפתא ממלי צנא קרי

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2020, 05:28:57 pm »
I think it is great that you are hosting it on menorahcoinproject.com.  

I would still like to host a mirror on Forum too since I told the INS and JP that I would.

But if you don't want me to do it I will stop the effort.
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2020, 05:53:25 pm »
Since JP and INS have given their OKs, all that seems to be required is for Aarmale to "turn over" his mirror to FORVM to host, should he agree.

I know this may be jumping way too far ahead, but assuming this would happen, would MCP simply remain a static site as it exists now, or would it continue to be upgraded and expanded going forward?


Craig

It was my intention to continue to maintain the site as usual. In fact, I am responsible for one of the die studies already on the site. Donald Ariel had expressed to me several times over the years that JP told him that intended for me to curate the site after him. Consequently I am surprised by these developments.


Aarmale,

I in no way shape or form meant to minimize what you're doing with the site or infer in any way that you're not capable of hosting it.

It was just that I was very surprised to hear that you had a mirror of the site.  I was usually on MCP several time each weak to verify an attribution or check out a coin, but I (and apparently others) had no idea that it was now available as a ".COM" site.

Again, please know that my intentions were simply to inquire what the plans were with the site so that it remains the amazing resource that JP built it to be, for those of us who collect ancient Judaean coins.


Sincerely,

Craig

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #16 on: September 15, 2020, 04:18:44 pm »
I went out to MCP (the .com version) last evening, and my system's security software gave me a warning that the site may be unsafe.  I elected not to proceed to the site.

I'm just mentioning this in case something happened to again compromise the site.


Craig

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #17 on: September 15, 2020, 07:05:10 pm »
No warning when I tried it and it seems to be normal and OK.
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #18 on: September 16, 2020, 11:23:29 am »
Thanks Joe.

I do have my settings set quite high as related to internet security, so perhaps it's just being overly cautious.


Craig

Offline Aarmale

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1543
  • Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #19 on: September 16, 2020, 11:42:56 am »
Very interesting. The site is static HTML, without any frames to external sites, and it has SSL encryption, so the site shouldn't set off alarm bells to scanners.

Did you happen to catch details of what the safety report was concerned about? I wonder if it was a problem with the SSL licence.
Gallery: http://tinyurl.com/aarmale
היינו דאמרי אינשי: טבא חדא פילפלתא חריפתא ממלי צנא קרי

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #20 on: September 17, 2020, 12:24:23 am »
Here is the exact warning....

It seems strange as I've visited the site often and never received the warnings before until last night.  Again, if it's nothing, I apologize, but I just wanted to avoid another loss of the site and its contents/


Craig

Offline Aarmale

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1543
  • Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #21 on: September 18, 2020, 10:47:35 am »
I double-checked the source code, every looks fine.

I submitted a re-classification request to McAfee which apparently has been processed. Do you still get this warning?
Gallery: http://tinyurl.com/aarmale
היינו דאמרי אינשי: טבא חדא פילפלתא חריפתא ממלי צנא קרי

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Menorah Coin Project
« Reply #22 on: September 18, 2020, 12:41:31 pm »
I just tried it again and it opened right up....no warnings.

Thank you Aarmale !!!


Craig

 

All coins are guaranteed for eternity