WeirdF

[caroljane]

For the past half hour every time I clicked onto OL I got Google Search for Jules Verne instead. Now I am back in and do not dare to go out again. Is this part of your internet marketing Michael? It smacks of Use of Force and does not seem like you.

I don't know how to edit a topic title, the F is a typo and not a comment, you will have noticed I never swear.

Edited February 8, 2011 by daunce lynam

[Mike11]

I have issues accessing the site intermittently aswell.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I also had difficulties. But it seems OK now.

I suspect a hacker attack on the server, or maybe some technical difficulty on the IPB end.

If the situation stays cleared up, that means they fixed it.

If not, I will file a ticket with them.

I am not totally satisfied with IPB for several reasons, but their security is top-notch. That's one of the reasons I have stayed with them so far. I don't dare migrate unless I have a security system comparable to the one they have.

If this was a hacker attack (as I believe speculating from the nature of the problems) and it was under my own steam, I have no doubt our databases would be destroyed. That means all the posts gone. I know because that happened once back when we started and why we went with IPB.

Sorry for the temporary inconvenience, but I am happy we are running along well.

Let's hope whatever it was is fixed by now.

At least we do not have to worry about losing the material here.

Michael

[caroljane]

I also had difficulties. But it seems OK now.

I suspect a hacker attack on the server, or maybe some technical difficulty on the IPB end.

If the situation stays cleared up, that means they fixed it.

If not, I will file a ticket with them.

I am not totally satisfied with IPB for several reasons, but their security is top-notch. That's one of the reasons I have stayed with them so far. I don't dare migrate unless I have a security system comparable to the one they have.

If this was a hacker attack (as I believe speculating from the nature of the problems) and it was under my own steam, I have no doubt our databases would be destroyed. That means all the posts gone. I know because that happened once back when we started and why we went with IPB.

Sorry for the temporary inconvenience, but I am happy we are running along well.

Let's hope whatever it was is fixed by now.

At least we do not have to worry about losing the material here.

Michael

You were attacked and had all your files destroyed? Isn't that some kind of crime? Is it just random destructiveness or did someone deliberately target you? I am sorry I don't know anything about webs and security so I am trying to see it like a burglarized office (as noticed on movie thread I watched GGR last night).Please explain for me if that's OK with you.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Daunce,

There is one thing that many people have difficulty groking on the Internet. In order to have a crime you have to have a law, which means you have to have a jurisdiction where that law is law. If I have a site hosted in Panama and a guy from China puts a brand new pirated USA movie on it, what crime has been committed?

In what court--nay, in what country--does the movie owner file a complaint?

And against whom? Me? The server owner in Panama? The guy in China?

Let's say he goes ahead just to see what happens. Suppose he files a complaint in a court in Los Angeles against the guy in China. How does he get the guy in China to come over so he can put him in jail? Invade China with the US military to get him?

As to vandalism, the sad truth is that if people get access to the actual computers that control your stuff, they can destroy it. If they are using proxies (especially Socks 5 proxies), you will never find out who did it.

So you increase backups, change passwords all the time, encrypt data, hire companies that have security experts and redundant security measures, etc.

There are some attempts at controlling this with laws, but they are very ineffective because of the innate nature of a cross-jurisdiction platform.

Sorry Lil' Sis. No Big Bro around to help you out in the Wild Wild Net. You gotta do your own shootin' at times..

Michael

[caroljane]

Daunce,

There is one thing that many people have difficulty groking on the Internet. In order to have a crime you have to have a law, which means you have to have a jurisdiction where that law is law. If I have a site hosted in Panama and a guy from China puts a brand new pirated USA movie on it, what crime has been committed?

In what court--nay, in what country--does the movie owner file a complaint?

And against whom? Me? The server owner in Panama? The guy in China?

Let's say he goes ahead just to see what happens. Suppose he files a complaint in a court in Los Angeles against the guy in China. How does he get the guy in China to come over so he can put him in jail? Invade China with the US military to get him?

As to vandalism, the sad truth is that if people get access to the actual computers that control your stuff, they can destroy it. If they are using proxies (especially Socks 5 proxies), you will never find out who did it.

So you increase backups, change passwords all the time, encrypt data, hire companies that have security experts and redundant security measures, etc.

There are some attempts at controlling this with laws, but they are very ineffective because of the innate nature of a cross-jurisdiction platform.

Sorry Lil' Sis. No Big Bro around to help you out in the Wild Wild Net. You gotta do your own shootin' at times..

Michael

I'm no wiser, not that that's your fault. I've been progressively less wise since about age 20. Obviously I will never understand this stuff, it will always be Churchill's Russia to me. But I do get a faint glimmer of an answer beneath your sunny smile.

Mom says hi and are you eating right, love Sis

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Daunce,

Here's how your Internet path works:

Your computer <-----> Connection (telephone line or broadband) <-----> Computer somewhere "out there on the Internet"

After that path is established, it turns into:

Your computer <-----> Connection (telephone line or broadband) <-----> Bunch of computers somewhere "out there on the Internet"

Definition time:

Server = a big honking computer.

Most of the computers somewhere "out there on the Internet" are servers. The computer in your house most likely is not a server. That's why people call the computers on the Internet side the "server side."

Big Internet companies have lots of servers. For instance, Google has oodles. In fact, Google has big honking buildings full of big honking computers.

The data files for OL are on the server side, which means they reside in a big honking computer somewhere "out there on the Internet." (Actually in a big honking computer at a company called Invision Power Services, sometimes called Invision Power Board--IPB.)

Here's another definition:

"Out there on the Internet" = No man's land, or Wild Wild Web.

This last is actually "World Wide Web" (abbreviated in an Internet address as "www"), but I prefer Wild Wild Web. It's the siren's call of the romantic in me.

Anyhoo, Big Bro don't do so well out there. Servers and Internet users are all over the world. No passports to get in a country. No customs. No Coast Guard. No nothing. Just lit' ole you and your computer + Internet connection.

That means you gotta learn to protect yourself, or have someone else protect you. For OL posters, that means me. I call myself traffic cop, but it's a bit more than that. I make sure nobody offs this site and destroys all the posts.

Who would do such a thing except for big bad meanies with long pointed teeth? Lots of folks. Believe it or not, even an OL member. If a poster gets dissed, then get's pissed for being dissed, it's entirely possible for him to seek anonymous revenge.

There's a lot more I could say, but I am going slow because I know it's complicated for newbies. You might not believe this, but I was once a newbie myself.

Michael

[Selene]

Michael and Carol:

Sounds a lot like anarchism to me...

Works real well too.

Adam

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Adam,

Why do you think I went there to change careers?

Michael

[Selene]

Adam,

Why do you think I went there to change careers?

Michael

Michael:

I think it is a very intelligent decision.

I am working on adapting aspects of mediation to the internet also.

Your internet/marketing information has been extremely helpful.

Thanks and full speed ahead.

Adam