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Monthly Archives: April 2013

If you’re reading this, it is done…

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If you are seeing this post that means that you are now staring at my new and shiny VPS.

There is a pile of stuff I’m still cleaning up and I’ve got a pile of sites to move over and this one only took me about 5 hours to do.  I’m hoping the others go more quickly but the majority of the time was spent downloading and uploading with a bit of tweaking files here and there.

In the mean time if you find something broken or out of place.  Please let me know so I can get it fixed immediately.

Thanks.

Saying Good-Bye to My Hosting…

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I suppose I could layout the entire email chain that went down yesterday that actually started Thursday night.

Suffice it to say, for those who aren’t aware there is currently a brute force attack against any and all WordPress websites.  Overall this is not the most difficult thing to spot, most of the logins all use the same user name and overall they’re just not that intelligent.  Evidently my current provider, My Hosting, was getting slammed and quite hard.  In an effort to head the problem off at the pass they edited everyone’s .htaccess files to restrict access to the WordPress login page.  This wouldn’t be a problem except they had a default deny so site owners were locked out.  Most definitely that’s not Shiny.

The last email I got in the exchange as I was trying to fix the issues is here, along with additional comments.

Their Text.
Wrong Words My Corrections in Phrasing.
My mental commentary while reading.

Hello Barron,

Thank you for your patience and we are sorry that you are having an unhappy experience with myhosting.com. Because evidently the idea someone would be unhappy about being locked out of their own website surprises us.

Because 90% of our customers are not using Cloudflare for protection or wordpress plugins to stop unwanted access, we implemented this access restrictdecided to treat all our users like idiotic children that know nothing about anything.  Luckily I have experience with being penalized because of the actions of the few.

Because you appear to have a very secure webspaceactually know what the fuck you’re doing and have previously educated our support staff, you would most likely to be safe removing the lines that have been added, but this makes your wordpress website vulnerable to this attacka brute force attack where they just randomly try passwords, so please proceed with caution and make sure all wordpress user passwords are complex and secure.  Why in the name of god do you think I use keypass and generate 20 character password strings, just for the ease in memorization?

We have disabled the .htaccess files on those two websites and they appear to be loading currently, but we broke clean URLs so they’re still not working right, our bad? If you would like, remove all the added code and turn your cloudflare back on.  You mean I can unfuck my websites if I so choose!?  Here I thought you guys were just out to screw me in front of people I support.  And yes I unfucked every one I could as fast as I could, even before I got your permission!

Please let it be known we are trying to protect our customers the best possible way, by nuking the site from orbit by treating our customers like children and blocking their access to their own sites just the same as the attackers. Because of the urgency of the matter, this was the quickest solution, because we were dumb and too lazy to implement deep packet inspection and notice that the brute force attempts always use the same username, admin. We hope this does not ruinare sorry this has completely ruined your experience with myhosting.com.  We didn’t consider the ramifications of how our actions could possible make our customers look in the eyes of their own clients.  We will think about possibly not treating all our customers like children in the future but don’t count on it.
http://statusblog.myhosting.com/
http://statusblog.myhosting.com/#oncloud

Regards,

The same support guy I’ve been dealing with all day. +1 for that.

That final email just kind of shoved me over the edge with absolutely not wanting to stick around.  Seriously, that’s pretty much how I read when it came in.  I didn’t discover the .htaccess issue with clean URLs being totaled until this morning when Sean emailed me.

Seriously +1 to them on ownership for support.  Other than this recent shit storm they’ve been a decent host but I’m biting the bullet and going to a VPS.  Because of my love for Microsoft Exchange I’ll be getting a separate host for email just for the wife and I but at this point I’m downloading sites one by one and moving them to the VPS when possible.

This site will be the first to move and will hopefully be done by early in the evening.  I still need to finish securing the VPS and doing other setup work.

Hosting Issues…

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For those unaware there is a massive attack on all WordPress sites currently.  My hosting provider has taken some actions to “help stop the attack”.

Well their actions have caused me to have to disable CloudFlare and have effectively issued a denial of service attack against me and those I take care of site maintenance for.

I was able to get my blog unlocked, but I have not been able to gain access to the necessary files for the other blogs.  I am now ripping support a new one and calling this a total customer service failure.  Pissed barely begins to describe my attitude on this because their poor customer service has made my customer service look poor.  AKA shit rolls down hill and it’s making me look bad.

It looks like for this reason this weekend I will finally fire up a VPS.  Currently I’m getting a little cash to help subsidize the cost but I’m going to have to find a bit more.  It’s an expensive route but it’s just about the only way I can make sure that “my hosting provider” doesn’t go !@#$ing around under the hood of my websites and screw crap up.  I was going to do this when a friend was looking at me to host a site for him and was going to cover a decent amount of the cost.  Looks like I’m just going to have to bite the bullet.

*Nitty details*  The web-hosting provider has blocked all access to the WordPress Login page resulting in no access.  The fix to this is to edit the .htaccess file and they restructured their “App Services” for security reasons and I can no longer find the other websites I’ve installed.  This has left me unable to alter or change the access for the other sites effectively locking me, and the users out unless they were already logged in.

I did not want to get involved, but…

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A person on twitter decided to make derogatory statements towards me, behind my husband’s back, so to speak. She had the audacity, without knowing me, to call me fat. My husband was in a debate/argument with her about firearms, more specifically the AR 15 platform. She went into PSH and escalated from there.

Her statement makes me believe that she is a bitter old hag who is angry at life for having a disability. The disability she mentions I don’t have much sympathy for.

Especially since she still has her fucking foot. My dad is an amputee. My disability, radial nerve palsy, has essentially rendered my dominate hand useless. I empathize with people who have disabilities. Also, she seems to not have reading comprehension since my husband did not generalize disabilities. He specifically stated that she doesn’t understand MY disability.


Further, the AR15 platform she is freaking out about has provided a way for me to safely and effectively shoot a rifle.

For starters, it has a low recoil and therefore doesn’t kill my muscle atrophied shoulder. The pistol grip allows me to hold the rifle so as to not torque my wrist like a standard rifle. The front post gives me stability to safely fire the firearm without causing strain to my good/working arm. Due to my disability a bolt-action rifle is not a viable option for me.  I can not easily operate a bolt with my injured hand.

This woman is nothing more than a miserable old person intent on spreading her misery to others.  Which isn’t surprising since “Gun Control is a Movement of Old White People.”

I’m not miserable or upset by my disability unlike that woman.  Why?  Because I had one of the best role models in the world for dealing with it.  She is dead set on spreading her misery and ensuring that everyone be as miserable as her.  Heaven forbid they find the freedom and empowerment that comes with shooting firearms.

Lastly, my family hunts to stock their freezer.  The meat is by far healthier for our family and we know full well where our food came from.  You don’t get much more “free range” or “organic” than bagging your own buck.

Then again she doesn’t really care, she just hates anyone who does anything that she doesn’t like.  If you looked up the word “Puritan” in the dictionary, you would find her face next to it as a shining example.

Quote of the Day – Worf (4/11/2013)

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Klingons do not procrastinate. It is a tactical delay.

Worf – Liaisons (Season 7 Episode 2)
Sep 27, 1993

[I’m totally using that from now on. -B]

Our own worst enemies

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Seriously folks, we are our own worst enemies.

image

Pardon my straight face but I spent this morning searching for where the NRA is supporting the compromise.  Seriously  I went through all the NRA-ILA feed again trying to find it.  Tried to find it using Google.  Lastly I sent an email to Sebastian asking him to confirm this stance if possible.

I did find this which I am reposting in full just to illustrate the sheer “WTFO!?” moment I had when I saw the above image on Facebook.

Dear Senator,

I am writing regarding the National Rifle Association’s position on several firearms-related proposals under consideration in the Senate.

S. 649, the “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013”, introduced on March 21, contains a number of provisions that would unfairly infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners.  This legislation would criminalize the private transfer of firearms by honest citizens, requiring friends, neighbors and many family members to get government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution. The NRA is unequivocally opposed to S. 649.

In addition, the NRA will oppose any amendments offered to S. 649 that restrict fundamental Second Amendment freedoms; including, but not limited to, proposals that would ban commonly and lawfully owned firearms and magazines or criminalize the private transfer of firearms through an expansion of background checks.  This includes the misguided “compromise” proposal drafted by Senators Joe Manchin, Pat Toomey and Chuck Schumer.  As we have noted previously, expanding background checks, at gun shows or elsewhere, will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools.  Given the importance of these issues, votes on all anti-gun amendments or proposals will be considered in NRA’s future candidate evaluations.

Rather than focus its efforts on restricting the rights of America’s 100 million law-abiding gun owners, there are things Congress can do to fix our broken mental health system; increase prosecutions of violent criminals; and make our schools safer.  During consideration of S. 649, should one or more amendments be offered that adequately address these important issues while protecting the fundamental rights of law-abiding gun owners, the NRA will offer our enthusiastic support and consider those votes in our future candidate evaluations as well.

We hope the Senate will replace the current provisions of S. 649 with language that is properly focused on addressing mental health inadequacies; prosecuting violent criminals; and keeping our kids safe in their schools.  Should it fail to do so, the NRA will make an exception to our standard policy of not “scoring” procedural votes and strongly oppose a cloture motion to move to final passage of S. 649.

Sincerely,
Chris W. Cox

Tell me, where in that letter does it say the NRA is accepting the “compromise”?  An hour ago the NRA-ILA feed was posting information about the possible filibuster from Paul and the other Republicans.

There was another comment from the NRA-ILA as well, found via Sabastian.

Expanding background checks at gun shows will not prevent the next shooting, will not solve violent crime and will not keep our kids safe in schools. While the overwhelming rejection of President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg’s “universal” background check agenda is a positive development, we have a broken mental health system that is not going to be fixed with more background checks at gun shows. The sad truth is that no background check would have prevented the tragedies in Newtown, Aurora or Tucson. We need a serious and meaningful solution that addresses crime in cities like Chicago, addresses mental health deficiencies, while at the same time protecting the rights of those of us who are not a danger to anyone. President Obama should be as committed to dealing with the gang problem that is tormenting honest people in his hometown as he is to blaming law-abiding gun owners for the acts of psychopathic murderers.

That isn’t a statement to accept it, it’s a statement of, if you’re serious about fixing “the problem” then actually do so!

Why do we need to drive a wedge between gun owners for particular groups?  More specifically why do some people feel the need to spread lies and falsehoods to vilify those who are on the same side?  What service does that do other than damage those who support you?

Seriously folks, don’t believe everything you see, especially on Facebook and even the blogs.  Not everyone spends time and effort trying to confirm or disprove the facts.  Just because it has a thousand likes, or has been shared hundreds of times doesn’t make it true.

Update from Sebastian: The Graham Bill clarified mental adjudication and is perceived,  at least by him, it was an attempt to get Dems to bite on something.  When it comes to vote vs. filibuster, since the NRA will be scoring cloture on S. 649, they would like to put some of these folks on record to hang them in 2014 and 2016.  NAGR is merely criticizing because they don’t have the risks or ability to decide strategically what happens in this fight.

*My comments on the email I got from Sebastian.  It makes sense but I have NOT found anything to confirm that the NRA is against the filibuster either.  Honestly I think this was just a big fat troll to drive a wedge.

SSCC #567-#568: Irving

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CBS-11 has learned two state troopers involved in a controversial roadside cavity search of two North Texas women have been indicted on criminal charges by a Dallas County Grand Jury.

CBS-11 has learned that one of the troopers, Kelley Helleson, who left the courthouse after testifying Friday, is charged with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of official oppression.

Oh but it gets better folks.

CBS-11 has learned the other trooper in the case, David Farrell, is charged with theft after one of the women said her prescription bottle of the painkiller hydrocodone was missing after the search.

They searched the women in public on the side of an exit ramp.  As an FYI, the officers didn’t find any drugs, further validating that they didn’t really have probable cause.  Nothing says I’m with law enforcement quite like violating someone’s rights under the incorrect misbelief that you just can.

State Sponsored Criminal #567: Kelly Helleson

#568: David Farrel

Because when you’re having a boring night, why not sexually assault two people on the side of the highway.  You’re just trying to fight the war on drugs right?

SSCC #566: Kern County

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The victim reported that two deputies went to her home in the Tehachapi area at about 11:00 p.m., to investigate a burglary involving a man who was at her home. 

While speaking to deputies in her home she was handcuffed and led into a room by one of the deputies to be searched.  While being searched she was sexually assaulted by the deputy, according to reports.

Violated not once but twice.  First by the criminal who stole her property and then by the agent of the state sent there to investigate the crime.  This isn’t the first time something like this has happened either.

Not only that but he returned and assaulted her again.

State Sponsored Criminal #566: Gabriel Lopez

Because when a woman reports a crime you can just commit one against her yourself right?