Search Results for: node/SSCC Seattle

Hosting Issues

By | |
4 Comments

So I have had this hosting provider since 2005 and they have been bought out a couple times.  Some of the pluses though include the fact my email is hosted in Exchange, unlimited disk space, and supposed unlimited bandwidth (found that today).  I have never had any issues at all requiring extensive customer support until this past week.

Starting last week Windows Live Writer stopped posting correctly to my blog.  It had happened intermittently previously and I figured it was another glitch.  After the issue didn’t clear in 24 hours to the support console I went.

Date Type
09/15/2011 12:10 AM EDT Ticket Created
09/15/2011 12:10 AM EDT TMM contacted PowWeb
Subject:

Problems with libXML2
Customer Quote:

Earlier this year I started using XMLRPC to post content to my blog. Start in July I had incidents where posts would have the tags brackets(<>) stripped off. I ignored it figuring it was a glitch when it started working a couple days later. 

Starting about the middle of last week though this issue has become permanent. While I was normally easily able to work around it, the work around fails when I am posting images. 

Have there been any changes to the server configuration recently? 

I know it was not caused by a site configuration change because 3 other sites all exhibit the same behavior that are not used as frequently. 

Currently this is still just in the annoyance category, but as I start needing to put more pictures in content its’ going to increase on my ladder. 

All assistance I could find online pointed to server configuration with PHP version and libXML version issues. 

Thank you, 

TMM
09/15/2011 4:00 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/15/2011 7:53 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/15/2011 8:51 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/15/2011 9:50 AM EDT PowWeb contacted TMM
Subject:

[P08757884000000000] Problems with libXML2
Comment:

Hello, 

Thank you for contacting Support. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. In order to further investigate on your issue, please get back to us with the following information: 

1) Exact steps to duplicate your issue. 

2) URL of the page. 

3) WordPress username and password. 

Thank you! 

Sincerely, 

Kaila Pearson 

Customer Support
09/15/2011 9:19 PM EDT TMM contacted PowWeb
Customer Quote:

Drupal User Info: 

Username: TestUser 

Password:

URL: http://www.the-minuteman.org Full URL varies based on post title, it happens when content is published or sent as a draft to the server. Reproduction steps below show how to make it appear on the front page. 

Reproduction steps: 

1) Configure Windows Live Writer for an “Other services” blog and point to http://www.the-minuteman.org 

2) During configuration tell it to identify the blog theme. 

3) At this point configuration will hang because the post displayed on the front page website (http://www.the-minuteman.org) is incorrect. For example I get the following: 

pThis is a temporary post that was not deleted. Please delete this manually. (1eb91935-d1da-4e9a-85fd-82ce1220f24d – 3bfe001a-32de-4114-a6b4-4005b770f6d7)/p 

This should actually be: 

<p>This is a temporary post that was not deleted. Please delete this manually. (1eb91935-d1da-4e9a-85fd-82ce1220f24d – 3bfe001a-32de-4114-a6b4-4005b770f6d7)</p> 

But the tags were stripped, and the inner text passed through as part of the blog post text. 

Alternatively, you can skip the theme detection and attempt to post to the blog through Live Writer. The content within the post will exhibit the same loss of tags. 

Draft posts can be open and viewed from this listing: 

http://www.the-minuteman.org/admin/content/node 

For some reason the tags are being stripped off and every piece of information I have found points to server configuration, not blog software.
09/15/2011 9:30 PM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/15/2011 10:54 PM EDT PowWeb contacted TMM
Subject:

[P08757884000000000] Problems with libXML2
Comment:

Hello, 

Thank you for contacting Support. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Could you please get back us with the exact URL where you are trying to login to Drupal admin page, so that we can assist you further. 

Please reply to this email with the requested information, so that we can assist you further. 

Sincerely, 

Riley Malson 

Customer Support
09/16/2011 12:26 AM EDT TMM contacted PowWeb
Customer Quote:

This is not tied to my Drupal web browser interface but the XML-RPC interface that different external programs use to post content. 

The symptoms of the failure are visible on my blog. Here is an example post that failed. 

http://www.the-minuteman.org/content/2011/September/15/failed-test-post-TMM 
09/16/2011 12:27 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/16/2011 12:41 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/16/2011 12:41 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/16/2011 2:31 AM EDT PowWeb contacted TMM (Resolved)
Comment:

Hello, 

In order to further investigate, could you please get back to us with the Drupal admin login details. 

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console. 

Sincerely, 

Mae Silva 

Technical Specialist
09/16/2011 8:24 PM EDT TMM contacted PowWeb
Customer Quote:

Here is the primary user account information: 

Username: TMM 

Password:
09/16/2011 8:44 PM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/16/2011 9:49 PM EDT PowWeb contacted TMM (Resolved)
Comment:

Hello, 

Thank you for your reply. 

I have checked there is no error logs to investigate further on this issue. Since Drupal is the third party application I suggest you to contact the vendor of the application. 

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reply through Support Console. We are available 24×7. 

Sincerely, 

Neville Kodner 

Technical Specialist
09/17/2011 1:26 AM EDT TMM contacted PowWeb
Customer Quote:

I have investigated the drupal forums regarding this issue and I have gone one step further and mirrored my site on to a local development server I use for updates. 

The mirrored version of my site, a fresh copy of files and snapshot of the database, placed within my test environment works as it should. I fail to see how this is my blog software or site configuration when I can turn the problem on and off by placing it on my test server here or uploading it to Powweb. 

Not to mention the fact that it was running reliably at the beginning of August and I have not done any changes to configuration other than unrelated module updates. The issue also has seemed to come and go, finally becoming permanent over the past week. I initially ignored it thinking it was a glitch because it would come back later. 

All information I have been able to find regarding this type of issue online points again to the web services host, not the drupal software. 

My test server is running PHP 5.3.2 

Apache 2.2.14 

SQL Version 5.1.46 

Here is the exact error in the Drupal forums: 

http://drupal.org/node/415566 

Here is a similar issue in the Drupal forums: 

http://drupal.org/node/347298#comment-1209085 

http://drupal.org/node/347298#comment-1295684 

I’m confused though since you guys are running 5.2.17 and the issues reported were with 5.2.8. However this has turned on and off entirely on it’s own on your servers with my altering absolutely nothing in the configuration or settings within my blog. Meaning something changed in the hosting configuration. 

There are no error logs because it is a function erroneously stripping out data that it should not. Drupal gets a result from a function call that it thinks is correct but is in fact wrong.
09/17/2011 1:28 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/17/2011 1:37 AM EDT PowWeb contacted TMM (Resolved)
Comment:

Hello, 

Thank you for your reply. 

We support PHP version 5.2.17, Apache version 1.3.33 and MySQ version 5.0.45. 

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console. 

Sincerely, 

Ariel Danson 

Technical Specialist
09/17/2011 1:42 AM EDT TMM contacted PowWeb
Customer Quote:

Has your supported versions changed since June? Something has changed and it doesn’t appear to be by my hand. I created a virgin test site and it is having the same problems. 

I have been using Windows Live Writer since January without issue until about the middle of last month.
09/17/2011 1:42 AM EDT Updated Ticket: Work in Progress
09/17/2011 1:46 AM EDT PowWeb contacted TMM (Resolved)
Comment:

Hello, 

Thank you for getting back to us. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We have not changed the supported version recently. Please reinstall the application or contact the application provider to fix the issue. 

Thank you! 

Sincerely, 

Aden Nelson 

Technical Specialist

So maybe I’ve been spoiled by the company I work for by the fact that we think customer service is a big deal.  Ownership of a problem is a big deal.  Making sure the customers problem is solved is a big deal.  Getting to root cause is a big deal.  Notice how it was marked resolved long before anything was actually solved.  Very quickly they blamed it on third party software without any actual proof.

This company has totally shifted the blame for the problem from them to me. Ignoring the fact that this has happened on two independent Drupal installs who’s configurations haven’t changed.  No single individual took lead to deal with this problem and just bounced it around.  I’m stuck copying and pasting the source code from WLW into the submission form in Drupal.  Any pictures I want to submit become an arm twisting game of getting the URL correct to point to the image if I’m uploading it.

I just checked, I have prepaid 2 years of hosting starting in Nov 2010.  That gives me a year to come up with a new hosting solution and a solid game plane for site and email migration.  I will actually probably move earlier because I pay per month for my Exchange hosting and if I can find it cheaper, that’s money back in my pocket that I haven’t spent yet.

In the past I was more than happy to recommend Powweb to friends but given the first time I really had a serious issue and support utterly face planted.

If anyone has any input on what the problem might be, here’s an example of what happens when I submit through WLW currently.  I have disabled the TestUser account, and regenerated a new site password for myself since they think this issue is resolved they no longer require access.  Keypass makes stuff like this much easier to handle.  I am NOT going to close this ticket until I find a resolution to this problem.  WLW worked without issue from January to the beginning of August.  At which point I had a few flaky issues, but they always came back.  Then last week it died permanently.

I am going to continue posting new content, I won’t be putting many of my own pictures up except through my photo gallery.

So I am all ears on good hosting providers that support PHP, MySQL, and Exchange services.  I’ve got time and if I move early I’ve got some side sites that can live out there that can die around November 2012.  I know I could host myself, my bandwidth out in BFE though isn’t that great and I hate general IT maintenance with a passion.  So fellow bloggers, what would you recommend.

SSCC #411 – Seattle

By | | ,
Comments Off on SSCC #411 – Seattle

That’s right folks, the Seattle PD had decided to return to the land of the criminal count.  This one is juicy…

In a complaint filed in Seattle Municipal Court, Donnie R. Lowe, 45, was accused of knowingly violating a no-contact order issued after his arrest in June for allegedly assaulting his wife.

Lowe’s wife was believed to be a passenger in a car when Seattle police stopped him Aug. 14 for allegedly talking on his cellphone while driving, according to sources familiar with the case. But Lowe was not immediately arrested because police were not able to verify the court order as a result of a computer problem, the sources said.

Now initially it doesn’t sound that bad, especially since the judge issued the no-contact order without a request to do so from the wife.  So a judge did something against the will of both the defendant and plaintiff and they possibly violated it, but here’s the real reason this sucker is juicy.

The new charge further clouded Lowe’s career in the Police Department, in which his bachelor’s degree in business and master’s in public administration helped him land a position on the police-reform effort but whose troubling history of bad judgment and misconduct raised questions about his selection.

That’s right folks, the Seattle Police departments first choice to aid  in their reform behaves like this.  It is worth noting that he has since been removed as the team leader and the situation has changed due to this incident.

Since then, the city and Justice Department reached a comprehensive settlement agreement in July in which a court-appointed monitor will oversee broad reforms in police practices.

The most entertaining part though is this isn’t the first time he has behaved in a questionable nature.

He previously was disciplined after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2008. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of reckless driving, later dismissed when he met court conditions. The department then suspended him for four days without pay after an internal investigation.

…

Lowe also received internal reprimands for inappropriate physical treatment of his handcuffed son while he was in police custody in a holding cell in 2006, and over an improper effort to retrieve from a man nude photographs of a female acquaintance in 2002.

Have no fear though, I’m sure he’s on paid administrative leave, pulling down his $148,000 salary.  Seriously you can’t make this stuff up!

State Sponsored Criminal #411: Donnie R. Lowe

Because what better man to help aid the department in reform than a man who is obviously in need of some reform himself.

 

Yesterday’s Missing Post for Seattle

By | |
2 Comments

So yesterday Ry emailed me another incident from Seattle PD.  I didn’t get around to blogging it and forgot about it until today.

There was at least a reprimand from this incident, though there are some serious questions this brings up.

Now we’ve found a chilling case that started as a simple traffic stop that could happen to any one of us. Only this time the dash cam video of the incident was shown to a man’s boss, jeopardizing his very livelihood.

Now why is that so significant, they showed the video to his boss and then did the following.

KOMO 4 News is suing the Seattle Police Department after the department denied our requests for other videos similar to Miller’s stop. Citing privacy laws, the department has denied us copies of any videos less than three years old. Yet the officer who stopped Miller didn’t hesitate to show damaging video to Miller’s boss at school, jeopardizing his job.

Think about that for a second, they’re more than willing to attempt to use that evidence in their favor to ruin your life, but the second they might be held accountable they will refuse citing privacy.

Go read the story, my only real comment is this:

Never, get you of your car during a traffic stop unless you are instructed to do so.  That said, the reaction by the officers was a bit over the top, especially given the number of them on scene.  Overall this was just a bad incident, though this statement right here is telling about the attitude from Seattle PD.

Seattle Police Department Spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said officers respond to over 1,000 calls a day and get 99.99 percent of them right.

And the law exists Mr. Whitcomb to protect the innocent and when you screw up it’s a big freaking deal because you have violated the rights of someone.  As such you should have a boot put up your ass.  If you can’t take the time or be bothered to strive for 100% accuracy you’re in the wrong damn line of work.

SSCC #238–Seattle PD

By | | , ,
Comments Off on SSCC #238–Seattle PD

Seattle can’t make it one week without getting in the count.

The footage shows two dock workers waiting for work get handcuffed. One is hit with a Taser, and both are arrested by police just because the passenger "lips off" to police.

KOMO News uncovered what the American Civil Liberties Union calls a classic case of "contempt of cop." This type of contact, which starts off as a minor stop and quickly escalates to use of force and arrests, is at the heart of what critics say is wrong with Seattle police.

Don’t worry though.  The officers are protected under qualified immunity.  Go read it, all I have to say is I’m hating the Seattle PD more and more.  I thought I couldn’t hate them anymore, but they keep proving me wrong.  Especially since all they did was give him a reprimand.

State Sponsored Criminal Count 238: John Doe*

Because contempt of cop is punishable by a beating and a Taser.

*If you find his name, tell me.

SSCC Honorable Mention–Seattle PD 01/05/2012

By | | , ,
Comments Off on SSCC Honorable Mention–Seattle PD 01/05/2012

Seriously with the way Seattle PD and the Seattle City Attorney are behaving when crap like this happens I’m both happy and pissed off.

After more than a year of bruising news, the Seattle Police Department found itself reeling Thursday after a veteran officer died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound hours after being arrested in an undercover drug sting.

So I’m happy that a corrupt officer has finally been held accountable, doubly so he did it to himself with the barrel of his own gun saving the public the costs of prosecuting him.  Now why would I be pissed off I hear you ask, well that’s simple.

“This is a tremendous tragedy,” Deputy Chief Nick Metz said at a somber news conference Thursday evening at police headquarters.

Know what a tragedy is Chief Metz?  The abuses your department is delivering to the law abiding public, the behavior of your police officers, and the all out corruption displayed by your department.  Then again maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, maybe he was innocent and just caught in the cross fire.

On Wednesday, as part of a so-called “integrity test,” an undercover officer from another agency working in the Rainier Valley approached Nelson and gave him a purse that contained cocaine, Metz said.

Unknown to Nelson, he was under surveillance by detectives watching to see if he booked the cocaine into evidence.

“He did not do that,” Metz said.

The officer was followed in his car after work and stopped by police just outside the city limits.

“There was a search, and we found a quantity of the narcotics,” Metz said.

Well there went the caught in the crossfire theory.  There is a time to stand up and say, “We Fucked Up! Here’s what we did wrong, this is how we’re fixing it.”  This department lacks the ability to air its dirty laundry and continues to act as if for some reason it is exempt from the rules of lawful behavior.  It appears that Deputy Chief Metz is just considering this a tragedy because the guy got caught and then committed suicide propelling the incident to the front page. 

State Sponsored Criminal Count HM: Deputy Chief Nick Metz

Because it’s a tragedy when one of our officers gets caught, doubly so when he does something to cause it to end up in the news.

via Joe

SSCC #258 – Seattle PD

By | | , ,
2 Comments

I knew Seattle couldn’t stay out of the count for long.  Just look at their previous instances in the count.  Five full incidents and an honorable mention.  They barely made it over one month since the last post.

A Seattle police officer has been caught on tape talking about “making
up” evidence while two wrongly arrested men sit in jail. It’s the latest
shocker uncovered by a KOMO 4 Problem Solver investigation into the
Seattle Police Department’s vanishing dashcam videos.

Well maybe they did something to cause the officer to believe they did something wrong or were involved in the initial incident.

But Officer Brad Richardson, the arresting officer, never questions the
two about an assault. Instead, Richardson makes what’s called a felony
stop, taking cover behind his car door with his gun drawn.

Interesting, he claims they ignored his commands yet they continued walking towards him.  Yeah who walks towards a police officer with a drawn gun.  The whole thing stinks to high heaven, doubly so as this is the department that has a habit of disappearing dash cam video or delaying it to protect officers.

State Sponsored Criminal Count #258: Officer Brad Richardson

Because you can arrest whoever the hell you want.  If they’re innocent, just make something up, you’re a cop, who’s the jury going to believe?

via Ry.

SSCC #222 – #225 : Seattle PD

By | | , ,
Comments Off on SSCC #222 – #225 : Seattle PD

A local man called the cops on Seattle officers when he felt a traffic
stop was spinning out of control – and the entire incident was captured
on a police video that shows the man being yanked from his car and
thrown to the ground.

Sound familiar?  Well it should because this isn’t the first time the Seattle PD has ended up on the count for pulling someone out of a car.  It gets better though when you find out that the victim called 911 because the officer was behaving erratically and caught it on the 911 call.  The victims attorney nailed this situation on the head though.

Gebreselassie’s attorney, James Egan, says, “I’m not sure what lessons
are ever learned when the police department can’t police its own.”

Remember, this is the Seattle PD where an officer got away with murder after shooting a deaf man in the back.

State Sponsored Criminal Count #222: John Doe

#223: John Doe

#224: John Doe

#225: John Doe

Because when you’re a cop you can act like a total dick and people just have to deal with it.  If they attempt to verify your authority, beat them into submission.

SSCC #388–Seattle

By | | ,
Comments Off on SSCC #388–Seattle

We all know how hard the Seattle Police department works to get their employees eligible for the count.  Today we get a rare behind the scenes look at how they grow the outstanding police officers that are a shining example that others should inspire themselves to.  (If you didn’t have a clue, that whole last sentence was sarcastic!)

A Seattle police officer caught on video kicking a handcuffed suspect in the head has been suspended for 10-days, but he won’t have to serve the suspension as long as he stays out of trouble.

Some how he escaped the wrath of the legal system, though an internal investigation did reveal the use of excessive force.  His punishment a 10 day suspension with this note:

…Seattle police chief John Diaz ruled that Haynes will not be required to serve the unpaid suspension as long as he stays out of trouble for two years.

How nice.  So that’s out they have groomed so many fine upstanding officers.

State Sponsored Criminal #388: Garth Haynes

Because you know that you only need the threaten punishment when it comes to officers of the law.  Following through does absolutely nothing to drive home the point that what they did is wrong.  Heaven forbid you use the misfit to set an example of.