I think we lost a weeks worth of posts

[aron]

I am really frustrated out how these hosting companies are turning out. This happens for every single host I have used.!!!!!!!!

[mistahead]

Geek onboard - PM if I can assist.

I've seen similar due to BIG threads (pics, valvecasters, etc) causing instability in these types of forums and it could be worth closing the threads "archiving" and starting new.

Might have no connection.

Thank Aron.

[aron]

I got a process list from tech support and it was weird. Every printout was from the word press php file. I wonder if spammers are targeting the blog? I turned off registration, got rid of every user and deleted all of the comments (which were spam). There were tons of spam comments. Hopefully this was the problem.

[aron]

I posted a message on simple machines. Yes it would be nice if I could archive the current forum but still have access to it somehow. Checking on that.

[Jdansti]

Sounds similar to a denial of service attack.

[armdnrdy]

I'm afraid to touch anything! 

[mistahead]

I would also check to see if there is a wpress update - just to make sure you're not having an injection exploit from wpress impacting on the forum.

Jdansti - can you elaborate on the DoS thought? I mean DoS is pretty general - if users can't connect a DoS has been sucessfull, what flavour were you thinking?

[Mark Hammer]

Meh, after over a decade here, I'm used to writing the same posts over and over again.

But I feel your frustration with this.

[mistahead]

Which reminds me, If I have a PNP Rangemaster and PNP Ge Fuzz face but have wired the DC jacks to match the Boss ones (pin/sleeve) and have it all running off a PP+2.... 

[aron]

Yes I do have the latest word press installed. Lets see how things go.

[Jdansti]

Jdansti - can you elaborate on the DoS thought? I mean DoS is pretty general - if users can't connect a DoS has been sucessfull, what flavour were you thinking?

I was just commenting on the similarity between Aron's comment about "tons of spam comments" and what happens during a DoS attack. I know it's not exactly the same thing, but in a DoS, the target is flooded with so many communication requests that it becomes overloaded and can't handle legitimate traffic. In this case it's sort of like my mother sending so much spam to my wife's work email that her inbox fills up and she can't get real work email. (And then I have to deal with the situation.  )

[mistahead]

Yeah - good call mate, the fact it was the wpress file and flooding does look like DoS via spam bot / script attack... not so much a targeted DDoS (think LOIC) attack.

Maybe we should start a debugging page lol.

[Thecomedian]

we lost some really good information from previous posts. also, it's about 3-4 days worth.

[MrStab]

and here's me thinking i'd somehow violated the terms & conditions by one of my topics & a post disappearing! 99% of the things i say are probably inappropriate in one way or another, but i do make an effort to be civil here. lol

probably not much help, but i've noticed intermittent connection problems to this forum stretching back a bit longer than 3-4 days and possibly even more than a week (i don't remember much).

[Jdansti]

Yeah - good call mate, the fact it was the wpress file and flooding does look like DoS via spam bot / script attack... not so much a targeted DDoS (think LOIC) attack.

Maybe we should start a debugging page lol.

Lol, that might be a good idea, but I'm a total noob at this network, Internet stuff. The only reason I know about DoS is because an EE described to me how broadcasting my home wireless router's name could make me vulnerable to DoS, even with firewalls in place. For example, someone could have a program set up to constantly try to log onto my network, and even though they couldn't get in, just the fact that they would be constantly trying to could slow my wireless network down considerably. Of course, the attacker would have to be a neighbor or someone outside my home with a laptop.

[Jdansti]

Here's a noob question: does the forum software have the ability to use captcha security, especially in the areas that are being pounded by spammers?  Would it help?

[aron]

I think it was word press being spammed, not the forum. We will see,

[tca]

There is a pattern here... I think it has to do with the JFET self bias entry 

[samhay]

There is a pattern here... I think it has to do with the JFET self bias entry 

I think you are on to something. It is possible to self-bias JFETs, but it clearly violates some basic law of nature, which in-term knocks the forum over. Either that, or it it has piqued the interest of PRISM.

We can probably recover quite a few of the last week's posts using web caching, but it will be a little bit of a slog.

[David]

Here's a noob question: does the forum software have the ability to use captcha security, especially in the areas that are being pounded by spammers?  Would it help?

Oh, PLEASE let us not go there!  Those things are so annoying to deal with - especially with the small, soft-focused screen of a laptop.