Musicbanter outage on October 21, 2026

[Administrator]

As many of you probably noticed, our website was offline for several hours overnight and morning.

We made this decision after critical vulnerabilities were discovered in virtually all versions of PHP, the software that powers MusicBanter.com as well as 70% of the web. Due to the high risk and reports of active attacks, we followed best practices recommended by the NSA and various CERT organizations by disabling all PHP-powered websites until patches were released and we were able to update our servers.

We apologize for any inconvenience, but the safety of your data is our top priority.

[Drjohnrock]

Thanks for the report.

[jadis]

Thanks!

[Mind-D]

[jadis]

Originally Posted by Administrator

As many of you probably noticed, our website was offline for several hours overnight and morning.

We made this decision after critical vulnerabilities were discovered in virtually all versions of PHP, the software that powers MusicBanter.com as well as 70% of the web. Due to the high risk and reports of active attacks, we followed best practices recommended by the NSA and various CERT organizations by disabling all PHP-powered websites until patches were released and we were able to update our servers.

We apologize for any inconvenience, but the safety of your data is our top priority.

Can you please ban befuddledtruffle? It's an AI bot

[mattrixs]

Hmm Joined in October and 289 posts already?

Could be just an active user but with our luck your probably right!!

[Drjohnrock]

Originally Posted by mattrixs

Hmm Joined in October and 289 posts already?

Could be just an active user but with our luck your probably right!!

I honestly can't say. If it's a bot account, it's a very good one, in that it's made a number of individualized replies to other members, which bots aren't usually that good at. And while the account has hyped a couple of obscure musical acts, it hasn't limited itself to that. Could be a human troll, but most of them are jerks just wanting to stir up trouble, and the account hasn't really shown hostility toward other members.

Another possiblity: Mind-D asked beffudledtruffle "Is that you, Batlord?", to which he received no reply. The Batlord is a member who hasn't posted in quite a while but reportedly still lurks. Somehow, I doubt it's him.

The mystery deepens...

[jadis]

Originally Posted by Drjohnrock

I honestly can't say. If it's a bot account, it's a very good one, in that it's made a number of individualized replies to other members, which bots aren't usually that good at. And while the account has hyped a couple of obscure musical acts, it hasn't limited itself to that. Could be a human troll, but most of them are jerks just wanting to stir up trouble, and the account hasn't really shown hostility toward other members.

Another possiblity: Mind-D asked beffudledtruffle "Is that you, Batlord?", to which he received no reply. The Batlord is a member who hasn't posted in quite a while but reportedly still lurks. Somehow, I doubt it's him.

The mystery deepens...

Because as you say it's well made bot

But if you've spent some time bantering with ChatGPT (as opposed to using it to any productive end) you'd recognize the tone.

[Drjohnrock]

Originally Posted by jadis

Because as you say it's well made bot

But if you've spent some time bantering with ChatGPT (as opposed to using it to any productive end) you'd recognize the tone.

I do recognize the tone, but also the fact beffudledtruffle doesn't respond when asked, for example, "what are some of your favorite bands?" I avoid any use of ChatGPT but I've encountered bots on a number of social media platforms.