20 Hour Notice
Moderator: TMAX
20 Hour Notice
Just a bit of warning ahead of time...
Tomorrow night (Saturday, Feb 19th), I'm planning on updating the spam software that protects this forum. The version that's running now is nine versions out-of-date, and it's time to get caught up with the current version.
Since I have made significant modifications to the core of the software (undocumented, of course), I can't be absolutely sure that I have found all of the differences between the old and new versions that allow it to run normally on the forum. As a result, there may be some interruptions in service.
If everything goes as planned, the users will not notice anything, except in the event that a page is requested while the transfer between versions is happening. I expect that this is a random chance and will only affect one or two page views.
If the update goes badly, I will fall back to the current version of software so that disruption to the forum will be minimized.
IF FOR SOME REASON, you are unable to view or post to the forum for an extended period (more than a half-hour or so), send me an email message with a report of your experiences and ~please be sure~ to include the text of any error message you receive. Several users have been added to the "whitelist" so that the spam software will recognize them. These users will continue to be whitelisted. It is possible (although unlikely) that the newer version of the software might determine that one or more of you are spammers and shut you out of the system. The only way I have to remedying this is if you let me know it is happening and include the error messages.
I'll be thoroughly checking the forum for proper operation, but it never hurts to have multiple sets of eyes to proof the pages for errors.
Tomorrow night (Saturday, Feb 19th), I'm planning on updating the spam software that protects this forum. The version that's running now is nine versions out-of-date, and it's time to get caught up with the current version.
Since I have made significant modifications to the core of the software (undocumented, of course), I can't be absolutely sure that I have found all of the differences between the old and new versions that allow it to run normally on the forum. As a result, there may be some interruptions in service.
If everything goes as planned, the users will not notice anything, except in the event that a page is requested while the transfer between versions is happening. I expect that this is a random chance and will only affect one or two page views.
If the update goes badly, I will fall back to the current version of software so that disruption to the forum will be minimized.
IF FOR SOME REASON, you are unable to view or post to the forum for an extended period (more than a half-hour or so), send me an email message with a report of your experiences and ~please be sure~ to include the text of any error message you receive. Several users have been added to the "whitelist" so that the spam software will recognize them. These users will continue to be whitelisted. It is possible (although unlikely) that the newer version of the software might determine that one or more of you are spammers and shut you out of the system. The only way I have to remedying this is if you let me know it is happening and include the error messages.
I'll be thoroughly checking the forum for proper operation, but it never hurts to have multiple sets of eyes to proof the pages for errors.
-
- Posts: 778
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:10 pm
If everything goes according to plan, nobody will notice, not even the spammers. The update to the software is not so much to keep spammers out as to ensure that viewers and search bots can get in. The scripts exclude requests by looking at the headers of each page request. If the request has anomalies, it gets rejected. As mobile devices evolve and search engines are added (Bing, for example), the software has to change along with them to ensure that their requests are allowed. There are also some security updates that protect the software itself from hacking.
The guy who writes the software ~really~ hates spammers and loves giving them a difficult time. I'm considering sending him a contribution for all the spam we haven't had to put up with because of his efforts, about 30,000 trash messages so far on the forum alone!
The guy who writes the software ~really~ hates spammers and loves giving them a difficult time. I'm considering sending him a contribution for all the spam we haven't had to put up with because of his efforts, about 30,000 trash messages so far on the forum alone!
OK, so I fooled everyone. I had some time this morning and decided to give the update a test run. The script worked fine on the user end, but I wasn't getting the necessary logging at my end. Took a few tweaks to the settings file to bring them back.
So... if no further problems reported, I'll let it run.
Also, I sent $50 via Paypal to the developer, I feel this is a valuable addition to the forum and my site in general, so what comes around goes around.
So... if no further problems reported, I'll let it run.
Also, I sent $50 via Paypal to the developer, I feel this is a valuable addition to the forum and my site in general, so what comes around goes around.
- Dennis The Bus Dweller
- Seasoned Nomadicista
- Posts: 1875
- Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:33 am
- Location: Southold N.Y.
- Contact:
-
- Officer Hormel
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:35 pm
- Location: Bellflower, California
- Contact:
You're quite right Dennis. Sharkey does an admirable job at keeping those pesky Russian scratch 'n itch spam pest at bay. This is one itch that I'm happy to scratch.Dennis The Bus Dweller wrote:One good scratch deserves another
Here's to you Sharkey... THANK YOU
Last edited by TMAX on Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Thanks for the donation, Tom. I tend to run "freeware" whenever possible, but the spam software is so useful that I felt compelled to send the developer some support $$.
Seven hours without any new posts??? I know that Chuck is hanging out at the "Bus Gathering", but it worries me after making a change to the site when there are no new posts for so long...
Seven hours without any new posts??? I know that Chuck is hanging out at the "Bus Gathering", but it worries me after making a change to the site when there are no new posts for so long...
I've applied the software version update to the rest of the site, so if anyone notices weirdness that's not connected with the forum (other than the usual weirdness, that is), LMK.
The site pages and the forum use the same spam software, but it's installed twice, so there could be problems with one but not the other.
So far, so good. In testing, I set my user agent string to "Black Hole" and it keeps me out, so I suppose that its working. ("Black Hole" is one of several hundred malicious user agents that the software blocks from viewing pages.)
The site pages and the forum use the same spam software, but it's installed twice, so there could be problems with one but not the other.
So far, so good. In testing, I set my user agent string to "Black Hole" and it keeps me out, so I suppose that its working. ("Black Hole" is one of several hundred malicious user agents that the software blocks from viewing pages.)
-
- Posts: 778
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:10 pm
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests