I didn't miss some aspects of the forum, but I did miss reading tons of different information.
I've been inactive, but apparently the forum has been hacked. Is that correct?
The forum was hacked and I believe was down for 4 days. and a bit. Take a look at the 'meta' section there is some more information there.
Do you know the person who received the 50 bitcoins for solving theymos's bounty?
Theymos listed a few people at the meta explanation thread, I haven't read all the replies as of yet, but I'm sure the people he listed may have received a reward. However, that's just me assuming.