[Coco] forums restore

Wed Jul 8 21:12:24 EDT 2009

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.

>-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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>Coco at maltedmedia.com
>http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

-- 
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