[Coco] forums restore

Wed Jul 8 21:41:49 EDT 2009

On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 9:12 PM, Gene Heskett<gene.heskett at verizon.net> wrote:
> On Wednesday 08 July 2009, Aaron Wolfe wrote:
>>I work in network security and see things like this quite often (and
>>much worse sometimes).  It really sucks that a relatively tiny portion
>>of the population can cause trouble so effectively for so many others,
>>but that's the double edged sword of the internet.  What used to
>>effect tens or hundreds can now be amplified instantly to effect
>>millions, for good or bad.
>>
>>The internet is not the (mostly) friendly place it was 10 or even 5
>>years ago.  I don't think there exists a "set it and forget it"
>>solution for running a web site or other internet facing service.
>>It's literally a daily chore to monitor security alerts, patch your
>>software, update IDS definitions, review firewall logs, etc, etc ,etc.
>>
>>I'm by no means an expert, but sometimes I get to work with people who
>>are :)  I've seen enough to know that securing a website, even one
>>with little commercial or tactical value, is a huge chore that
>>requires considerable time on an ongoing basis.  It's a pity, but
>>running a hobbyist or personal website is becoming more and more of a
>>burden on the good people who give of their time to provide them, and
>>I'd expect things to get worse before they get better (if they ever
>>do).  Companies like Google have the resources to fight and th, but a
>>few guys who just want to share information and have a pleasant
>>community really don't.
>>
>>The old saying "when you can't beat em, join em" comes to mind.  Yahoo
>>groups is one service that offers much of the functionality found on
>>the coco3 site.  Certainly lacking in charm and atmosphere, but less
>>of a headache.   Just a thought.
>
> That I believe depends on ones definition of a headache, and anything yahoo
> matches my personal description of something much worse than a headache.
> Their T.O.S. is a full blown migraine all by itself.  Nothing short of quasi-
> legal copyright thievery.
>

Ok, replace  "less of a headache" with "doesn't require hours of work
just to keep online".
Potential TOS problems are outside of my area of expertise, but of
course yahoo is simply one example of the general idea.

>>-Aaron
>>
>>On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Roger Taylor<operator at coco3.com> wrote:
>>> At 03:15 PM 7/8/2009, you wrote:
>>>> Yup, that's the one I saw.
>>>> I wish slow deaths upon such spammers!
>>>
>>> I can see who's in the forums and what they're doing and their
>>> information. 3 spammers were just deleted. 3 servers that were browsing
>>> the forums wildly and attempting to post were just banned.  This cleared
>>> up the activity log and took a load off the site.  One spammer's IP was
>>> changing (the last 2 numbers) so I just blocked their IP as such #.#.*.*
>>> and they're gone right now.
>>>
>>> The bad part.. when the 7/5 backup is restored, I'll have to do this
>>> again, as I'm working with a site image originally from 2008 with a
>>> handful of new posts added yesterday and today.
>>>
>>> I also blocked all *.ru e-mail addresses.  Soon to follow (sorry, guys)
>>> will probably be gmail, and maybe yahoo.  I don't use anybody's e-mail
>>> address for anything so there's no need for anybody to hide them.  They
>>> don't appear in any posts, either.
>>>
>>> I think a more defensive action in the sign-up process will help a Lot.
>>>  However, this can discourage some new visitors from joining the gang.
>>>
>>> We always snap back after mishaps like this so I expect things to be back
>>> to normal within a week or two, but I'll have to spend more time blocking
>>> known spammer IPs.  The huge list I added that kept the site fairly clean
>>> for a long time is no longer there, so I'll do that again and keep a
>>> better eye on things.  Thankfully, Robert Gault has notified me when
>>> somebody posted spam and it was usually a real person who signed up and
>>> posed as a CoCo user.
>>>
>>> Again, this is just typical stuff we have to deal with occasionally, but
>>> it's painful for the admin to waste days of time at the keyboard trying to
>>> repair what a trasher did.  I still don't know how the PHP and MySQL folks
>>> just can't get it right after all these years.  With each new upgrade, we
>>> have new vunerabilities, and since they're posted on the web for all to
>>> see, the spammers go right for it.
>>>
>>> Microsoft should also be ashamed at robbing the entire planet and causing
>>> more grief than any company has ever even come close to.  Now they're
>>> pushing Windows 7 at the worst economical times since the Great
>>> Depression, and offering 50% off if you preorder.  No thank ya.  Face
>>> lifts just don't qualify for an upgrade these days.  That's why I gave up
>>> on Money years ago when I saw no difference between upgrades, just more
>>> HTTP ads and links in the software's "home page" which they seem to push
>>> into every new program now.  I did try out their newest Money title
>>> (trial) but it deleted my paid copy of Money 2006 and now I can't recover
>>> it, so they stole my software and I have no way to access my money files
>>> now.
>>>
>>> Folks, it's just a huge mess we have and nobody is immune to being screwed
>>> at any given time.  You'll wake up tomorrow and your hard drive will just
>>> quit working or your web site will be on the blitz by a bunch of commies.
>>>  Your $1,000 laptop will become a $5 rummage sale item, with nobody at
>>> fault and nobody to "pay you back".  It's getting worse.  And Google
>>> pretty much owns the web now.  There's nothing on the planet that can stop
>>> them now, I'm afraid.  Get used to it.  If you deal with Google, nothing
>>> is private about your life, and they know what you're doing and what you
>>> like.  Because of this, they know where you're going and what you'll be
>>> doing.  Since they own MySpace, and the entire planet is advertising their
>>> life and every thought and more, we're all screwed and our friends as
>>> well.
>>>
>>> Just some thoughts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Roger Taylor
>>>
>>> http://www.wordofthedayonline.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Coco mailing list
>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>
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>
>
> --
> Cheers, Gene
> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>  soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
> -Ed Howdershelt (Author)
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>
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>
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