Resumption of service

The reason I did not completely shut down the server and delete the contents was the possibility at some point of social chaos.

I do this with some trepidation.  The decline of newspapers and TV network news, replaced by clickbait websites, Facebook, and Matt Drudge fear mongering is not serving us well.

I have not listened to any talk radio since January 1st.  That means I don’t know if radio communications is helping to keep people rational or magnifying panic.

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21 Responses to Resumption of service

  1. RebelSansClue says:

    …and there was much rejoicing. Thank you for bringing this blog back. I've enjoyed reading it for over 10 years. Good to have you back, even for a little while.

  2. RebelSansClue says:

    That's a good thought. I thought the blog was taken down again. When I type in the URL, I get forwarded to the closed page.

  3. Fred Stiening says:

    I have listened to no radio in months. I doubt that radio is a rational voice during these unprecedented times.

    • RebelSansClue says:

      There are some rational voices out there. I still listen to Rush a little each day. I've started listening to the "No Agenda" podcast and I'm enjoying that.

    • Parrott says:

      well Fred you havn't missed anything. WFLN is playing country music from the 70's chaos.
      well sorry about your divorce.
      Nothing new here, work still sux, as usual.
      I have missed your website and blog. Now after the plan-demic, now we have this crazy soros-riots.
      They had some riots in Charlotte ?
      they had some down the road in Lynchburg, Roanoke & Blacksburg VA.
      None in Abingdon.
      I have been switching back & Forth with Beck & Plante. Alex jones is info-mercial. I was listening to Tom sullivan at night until John B Wells comes on at ten pm, but WFLN disappeared.
      Hey I hope Chairman is okay, I bet he's back in Michigan. They have a governor like baby killer north-ham here in Virginia.
      CC still around?
      Hope all is well Fred
      Best regards
      parrott

      • TheChairman says:

        Parrott!

        I was hoping you might visit the old virtual stomping grounds.

        Yes, we're back in the Peoples Republic of Michigan… we delayed our return until May 1st. We took a route through as many red states as possible. Most of the sheep are still in face masks here, even in their cars. We went to some stores over in Petoskey on Tuesday, and some liberals glared at me for not wearing a mask, while others would scurry off in fear. There were a few people without masks, and we would nod whenever we spotted each other. 😉 A large power boat went by yesterday, with a huge Trump flag behind it. lol

      • Fred Stiening says:

        Take a look back at the web site. If you good at haxxoring, you might figure it out.

  4. Fred Stiening says:

    As soon as I reopened the directory, I was being hammered with hundreds of servers trying SQL injection attacks. Blocking them was a losing battle.

    • RebelSansClue says:

      This is way above my pay grade, but is this a windows issue? I thought you were using Red Hat for awhile? Or does it not matter which operating system you use?

      • Fred Stiening says:

        Very few people run web servers on Windows.
        The problem is mostly if people are using the php scripting language.

        A deliberately simple example. Say I had a php script that returns radio station information if it is passed a station ID – so the page is requested as
        https://streamingradioguide.com/station-info.php?stationid=12345

        Then the naive code does:

        Select * from stations where id=$stationid

        Where $stationid is replaced by 12345 Giving

        Select * from stations where id=12345

        Assuming that the stationid exists, we get the information, format the page and life is good.

        Until we get this request

        https://streamingradioguide.com/station-info.php?stationid=12345;drop table stations;

        Becomes

        Select * from stations where id=12345;drop table stations;

        And like magic, there goes the data table

        To be clear, that might have worked in 1999, but not today. But computers can and do systematically probe looking for weaknesses.

        I could just ignore these attempted breakins which will not work, but they expose that several of the largest web hosting services apparently have 1000s of compromised server instances (not necessarily physical servers). While the SQL injection attack may not get anywhere, they might be successful with another attack. There is no reason (one exception) why a godaddy web server should be requesting a page.

        • RebelSansClue says:

          Thanks for the info! I think I understand a little better. I'm still glad the blog is back. I need SOME semblance of normalcy whilst everyone is losing their damned minds.

          • Fred Stiening says:

            The apartment manager of my 55+ active adult apartment complex fits that description

            She has threatened me with eviction for bad housekeeping. Among other reasons:

            – I eat too much junk food
            – I don’t socialize
            – I keep my blinds closed
            – I had empty amazon boxes for my rollerstor in my living room, delivered two days earlier
            – on top of my bookcase, I have notepads, empty Manila folders, books too big to fit on the shelves and an amazon box with computer accessories inside
            – I spend too much of my time lying on the bed

            She will be here in 15 minutes with the pest control guy (again)

            • TheChairman says:

              Hi Fred, thought I'd check the blog. I assume they let you back in after your haircut? Did they give you any grief?

              Your apartment 'infractions' describe my home life, except for the lounging… I tend to sit in a daze at my computer. 🙂

            • RebelSansClue says:

              Good Lord. Sounds a lot like the condo board at my place. They're like miniature dictators. Praying for you.

            • Fred Stiening says:

              So yesterday I got the 30 day notice to vacate and termination of my lease. I had already told the (interim) manager that my primary care doctor strongly advised me to move out, so all of us are in agreement that I need to leave.

              I had already made an offer to buy a condo in Greensboro, which was quickly accepted. Closing is tentatively set for June 16th (no mortgage to qualify for). It has a garage with a door that enters directly into a 3 br/2ba ranch on the ground floor.

              Until we sell the condo in Charlotte, that leaves more of my assets in real estate than I want, but at least I won’t have to live in a motel.

            • RebelSansClue says:

              I'm glad you're getting a new place; one that doesn't have a manager looking over your shoulder. Hope the closing goes well.

  5. Fred Stiening says:

    So I am in my new home, have a new iPhone SE, and AT&T vDSL (25/5)

    The bumps in the road – T-mobile LTE inside the place is weak. Unless the AT&T goes out, I can live with that. My wonderful garage is almost too short for my 2001 Oldsmobile. Once the condo is sold, I might look at a new shorter car.

    But all things considered, I am happy. The governor just made face coverings mandatory. I ordered my Trump 2020 face mask from Amazon yesterday. I can see from voter registration data that there is not a single Republican nearby. About half of my neighbors self-identify as Africans. Not a surprise as I am about half a mile from Guilford College, founded by the Quakers and active in the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad.

    • RebelSansClue says:

      Great to have you back. Even better to know you're happy. We've missed you! I have Frontier (formerly AT&T) DSL myself. It's cheap enough and good enough that I can do what I need to do. Enjoy your new iPhone!

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