Can someone help get the **** off this site!!!!

[gewb]

If you don't mind, please explain to this Mac illiterate why a Mac is immune. I have had a couple of viruses on my pc and recently replaced the hard drive and I really don't want to do it again. Is a Mac difficult to get used to or could I get up to speed quickly.

No computer operating system is completely immune but Windows (all versions) is the easiest to attack - too many weaknesses in the system yields many attack vectors, even with anti-virus programs running and up to date.

Mac and Linux operating systems are designed to have fewer weak points than Windows thus it's more difficult to "own" unless the user is running as "root" and connected to the Internet (then you deserve what you get).

As to "learning" to use a Mac or Linux distribution, they really aren't too much different than learning to go from Window 95 (or 98) to Windows 7 (or Vista). All the functionality is there, just need to learn where and how to find it...more like learning to drive a 1960 Chevy automatic and then trying to drive a 2009 Genesis Coupe 6 speed manual...all the "stuff" is there, just need to learn "where" and you're off!

There are numerous "Live" CD versions of Linux you can download and burn to a CD - allows you to boot from/run from your CD drive to try it out (runs a bit slow 'cause CD ROM drive are slow).

Regards,
GEWB

Currently using: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 98, Mandriva Linux 2008.1, Puppy Linux 4.2.1, PCLinuxOS 2009.1

Windows user since Windows 2.0
Linux user since 1999

 

[lbgradwell]

...and lets them stay up that late....

.It is viewed by people around the world who live in a different time zone.

What's your point?

His obvious (and well-reasoned) point was drawing your attention to the fact that your stated reason was not universally valid.

 

[kindyr]

on the mac PC thing, in addition to be easier to target, Windows PC are also much more common, so anybody looking to play havoc will target Windows simply because the number of people who will be affected will be higher.

If Mac or Linux were more common, I beleive you would see an increase in the attacks they receive.

 

[Merkava_4]

One thing I did notice by clicking on the links, each link was a post to another online forum like this one with the exact same material posted in each post. GJ was not the only forum hit, there were about 25 other forums hit the same way. Makes me wonder if the perpetrators had some kind of software that enabled them to join multiple forums quickly and then unleash the material on them simultaneously.

 

[Jay H 237]

One thing I did notice by clicking on the links, each link was a post to another online forum like this one with the exact same material posted in each post. GJ was not the only forum hit, there were about 25 other forums hit the same way. Makes me wonder if the perpetrators had some kind of software that enabled them to join multiple forums quickly and then unleash the material on them simultaneously.

I am a moderator on another forum and we have had similar problems. They seem to come in waves. The admin on that site has enabled a capta (random words/letters) you have to type now when you join. That has significantly reduced the spam. It helps right from the beginning, not that we had to wait for them to post and then delete thier posts and threads and ban the IP as they would just show up as another IP. Most of the spam IPs I traced originated in Asia and Russia.

Most of these spam posts are from spam bots, not real people. They are programs that just troll the web looking for forums that they can post too. All forum software (phpBB, Fusion, or VB3...this is what Garage Journal runs on, and others) are constantly attacked but not all of them make it through.

The admin may step up moderation or even add mods if needed but for the most part the problems on this site are taken care of in a timely manner (hours) and not left on the site. I belong to some forums where there have been things left for a day or more until someone gets to them.

With the software on this site, VB3, the admin can grant different power levels to the mods depending on what the admin wants or expects them to do. You can just have them only be able to lock/sticky/move/delete/combine threads all the way to ban or delete members/IPs. VB3 is very configurable and the reason it's one of the most used and popular forum softwares.

 

[J.A.F.E.]

There were a couple of forums I've joined where the first few posts had to be approved by the admin/mod before they would post.

A gigantic PIA no doubt to whoever approves it and it makes joining the community a little more difficult but I never saw any spam either.

 

[Bustawrench]

which excludes them from watching what their young kids surf on the internet? What's your point?

Any young kid looking at **** is doing so at the fault of the parent, or person watching them, not the fault of the people running this website.

What happened to personal responsibility?

So what about the guy who's reading GJ on his laptop, sitting at his dining room table, while his kids play in the same room.

Do you really think he want's full page images of ******** **** popping up while his young daughters are running up to ask daddy something?

The point is, **** belongs on a **** site. NOT a 'G' rated garage site.

 

[nate379]

Yeah because pages of **** pop up while surfing on here.

Sometimes I have to wonder if me and nissan_crawler are the only normal people on here.

 

[Bustawrench]

Yeah because pages of **** pop up while surfing on here.
Sometimes I have to wonder if me and nissan_crawler are the only normal people on here.

Well, they sure as hell did at 0600, this morning. Some really nasty stuff, too, spread across all the forums.

Maybe know what you're talking about, the next time you call me out.

 

[Bolster]

Not this Mac ... it be immune.

You're a Mac-head too? Geez, how many of us are there on this forum? I just assumed no tool guy would use a Mac so I kept my mouth shut. Guess I was wrong!!

 

[nate379]

Well before you say I don't know what I'm talking about, maybe YOU should know what YOUR talking about.

It was on here around 10-11PM (2-3AM your time) actually, so you were a few hrs late.
There was no **** popping up. Just a **** load of **** threads. Threads that you have to CLICK ON to be able to open.

So if kiddos are cruising around the screen, why would a person open it if the thread says "click on here to see giant ****" or whatever?? COME ON!

Well, they sure as hell did at 0600, this morning. Some really nasty stuff, too, spread across all the forums.

Maybe know what you're talking about, the next time you call me out.

 

[Merkava_4]

You're a Mac-head too? Geez, how many of us are there on this forum? I just assumed no tool guy would use a Mac so I kept my mouth shut. Guess I was wrong!!

My Uncle got a brand new state of the art Dell laptop last X-mas. I used it a little bit to help him order a roof antenna online. It felt very awkward. It was like a pilot who is used to flying a high performance F-16 jet and then suddenly having to fly a single engine Cessna. I would much rather have my 5 year old Mac than a brand new Dell.

 

[Merkava_4]

Can I have a punctuation and spelling button too? With the way some of you guys punctuate, I'd be on an OCD feeding frenzy.

 

[nissan_crawler]

What’s your problem? Grow up!!! Who ever said it was the sites fault; I sure didn’t. You don’t even make sense. Not all kids are bad and there are a lot of parents who still trust their children. Their could be a father or mother who could come on here with their kids because they have the same interest and happen to run into it together by no fault of their own. So get off your high horse and stop acting like you’re the authority on PERSONAL RESPOSIBILITY!!!!

They "happen" to run into a thread saying see her squirting #@$@@, happen to click on the link in that thread, and happen to get onto the **** site?

His obvious (and well-reasoned) point was drawing your attention to the fact that your stated reason was not universally valid.

Except for the part about the parents not watching their kids, which still applies.

So what about the guy who's reading GJ on his laptop, sitting at his dining room table, while his kids play in the same room.

Do you really think he want's full page images of ******** **** popping up while his young daughters are running up to ask daddy something?

The point is, **** belongs on a **** site. NOT a 'G' rated garage site.

If he doesn't want those pages popping up, then he shouldn't be clicking on them.

Funny, I was on here, saw the thread titles, didn't open them, didn't click on links, and I don't even have kids. How hard is that?

Good grief. If you don't want your kids seeing big ***** and squirting kitty's, don't open the threads, don't click on the links, don't let your kids surf on the computer alone. It's just not that hard.

 

[Autoguy]

I saw it and wonder may be the guy wanted to show some human tools hhhhh. i support merk .

 

[Stuey]

My Uncle got a brand new state of the art Dell laptop last X-mas. I used it a little bit to help him order a roof antenna online. It felt very awkward. It was like a pilot who is used to flying a high performance F-16 jet and then suddenly having to fly a single engine Cessna. I would much rather have my 5 year old Mac than a brand new Dell.

I don't blame you - Dell computers require a heck of a lot of work right out of the box to get them into decent shape!

I've been often tempted to try Mac, but I just cannot afford one. Then again, I like PCs b/c desktop hardware is standardized and easy to swap and configure. Laptops are drastically cheaper for nearly identical hardware.

I foresee and hope for a future where Mac OS is available for PC installations, but Apple's extremely resistant to that idea. Right now MS has no competition on the OS front. Linux? Hah! Netbooks loaded with linux were returned by the thousands, hence most manufacturers turning to Windows XP.

 

[-B-]

how many of you dunder heads used the report button

how many of you know that a PC can be set up to run like a mac only faster and cheaper

macs only market is illustration and design other then that they are woefully over priced in comparison

 

[nate379]

I didn't report it because I didn't want to open the page... more so since I am at work as well.

 

[35mastr]

I used the report button. It was some time in the wee morning hours when I was at work.

 

[Big_John]

Being an Admin on another forum myself, I've had to deal with the same issues. Its not any fun to deal with the spammers. If you make it harder for them to get through, you make it harder for new members to get in also.

I was deleting 10 or more bogus accounts a day for a while. If you ban, they just come back under a different IP and you go through the process again. It gets old fast.

We finally went to a question and answer mod to our software that asks a couple of basic questions that we set up. In our case its a car forum (69 Roadrunners to be specific) and we ask a couple basic car questions that a spam bot won't be able to answer. That seems to have solved the problem for now.

But... as has been already said.... You see an obvious **** thread or post, don't open it, comment in it and especially don't click on any links.

 

[fomocoforrester]

how many of you dunder heads used the report button

I too used the report button in the early hours of the morning when the problem first appeared, but I guess there is nobody around to read the comment until normal working hours.

 

[Merkava_4]

I have to admit I'm curious as to why some of you guys don't want me to have a thread delete button. I'd just be using it on spam threads; what's the harm in that?

 

[Diesel-Mech]

I have to admit I'm curious as to why some of you guys don't want me to have a thread delete button. I'd just be using it on spam threads; what's the harm in that?

We have all seen how delete happy you are with your own posts.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I have to admit I'm curious as to why some of you guys don't want me to have a thread delete button. I'd just be using it on spam threads; what's the harm in that?

We have all seen how delete happy you are with your own posts.

This. I pretty much quit responding to your posts, as 50% of the time, the post I reply to is gone by the time I reply. Then I end up deleting my post, and wasted several minutes of my time.

 

[walrus]

I have to admit I'm curious as to why some of you guys don't want me to have a thread delete button. I'd just be using it on spam threads; what's the harm in that?

Your OCD might kick in and you'd start deleting posts praising any tool that wasn't a truck brand I'd doubt a thread on Craftsman would stand a chance

Actually I voted for you to have the power to delete any spam threads that appeared. But this ain't a democracy so it really doesn't matter what we think

 

[Jay H 237]

I too used the report button in the early hours of the morning when the problem first appeared, but I guess there is nobody around to read the comment until normal working hours.

The report button will send out an email to the adims and mods and will create a thread in the hidden moderator subforum on here. And correct, if noone is around to see the email or check the mod forum it will wait until one of them shows up. No matter if you have 10 mods or 100 there will be times when none of them are around, just because they are in that position they aren't married to this site 24/7.

 

[wrenchr]

The report button will send out an email to the adims and mods and will create a thread in the hidden moderator subforum on here. And correct, if noone is around to see the email or check the mod forum it will wait until one of them shows up. No matter if you have 10 mods or 100 there will be times when none of them are around, just because they are in that position they aren't married to this site 24/7.

Thanks!! Yes we do have lives and jobs like everyone else!!

 

[caper]

I don't even have kids.
Good grief. If you don't want your kids seeing big ***** and squirting kitty's, don't open the threads, don't click on the links, don't let your kids surf on the computer alone. It's just not that hard.

When you get kids and they turn 12-13 yrs old come back and let us know how well your doing at supervising every minute they spend online.Since most kids I know spend hours per day online it's hard to be over their shoulder for every mouse click.And if you try you'll have major trust issues develop between you and your kid.

 

[LoneGunman]

"When you get kids and they turn 12-13 yrs old come back and let us know how well your doing at supervising every minute they spend online.Since most kids I know spend hours per day online it's hard to be over their shoulder for every mouse click.And if you try you'll have major trust issues develop between you and your kid."

Your post describes the problem, no 12-13 year old should be permitted to spend hours a day online, as was said by others, it's not a baby sitter. I don't know what you consider "hours" but I have seen kids spend 4 to 8 hours a day online. Maybe they, meaning the kids should be given something to do around the house or outside. It's amazing what they find to do when they realize that sitting around in front of the computer for more than an hour or two is going to result in me finding something to do.

I have an 11 year old and a 14 year old, their computer is next to my computer and my wifes computer. No child should have a computer in their room, there is no good reason for it. I'm not saying they may not click a **** link by accident, so what if they do? I guarantee 12+ year old boys are without a doubt LOOKING for **** online if they have the privacy to do it.

I'm by no means defending the posting of **** on here, they should be banned but to rely on moderators to keep your kid "safe" is a stretch.


Trust issues? That sounds like the typical "today" parent who wants to be their child's friend rather than being their parent. Both of my boys are fully trusted to the point where they posses their own loaded firearms on property we have access to, they also have EARNED that trust and fully realize what the consequences are if they betray that trust.

 

[LoneGunman]

"I have to admit I'm curious as to why some of you guys don't want me to have a thread delete button. I'd just be using it on spam threads; what's the harm in that? "

The few sites I "modded" on or was admin on had a policy, anyone who asks to be a moderator or to have the power to delete posts were usually not given the job. I have no problem with it as long as the stipulation is **** links and spam only.

 

[bosskong]

I vote for MORE ****!

Where's that voting option?

 

[Merkava_4]

I vote for MORE ****!

Where's that voting option?

The kind of **** that was posted on here the other night by that spammer what flat out disturbing; you wouldn't have wanted to see anymore of that, I can assure you.

 

[nissan_crawler]

When you get kids and they turn 12-13 yrs old come back and let us know how well your doing at supervising every minute they spend online.Since most kids I know spend hours per day online it's hard to be over their shoulder for every mouse click.And if you try you'll have major trust issues develop between you and your kid.

and...there's the problem right there. No 12-13 year old should be spending hours per day online, or on gaming, for that matter.

Oh, and if I had a 12-13 year old, when they used the computer, it would be out in the open in the living room, with no doors to close, and somebody around.

 

[LoneGunman]

and...there's the problem right there. No 12-13 year old should be spending hours per day online, or on gaming, for that matter.

Oh, and if I had a 12-13 year old, when they used the computer, it would be out in the open in the living room, with no doors to close, and somebody around.

I think I found my long lost little brother.

 

[fomocoforrester]

The report button will send out an email to the adims and mods and will create a thread in the hidden moderator subforum on here. And correct, if noone is around to see the email or check the mod forum it will wait until one of them shows up. No matter if you have 10 mods or 100 there will be times when none of them are around, just because they are in that position they aren't married to this site 24/7.

Thanks!! Yes we do have lives and jobs like everyone else!!

I guess my comment was somehow taken as a criticism of the moderators, when it really wasn't meant as such. Of course I don't expect anybody to be available to action problems 24/7. In fact I'm impressed with the speed with which problems are dealt with when they do arise, and I have only the highest praise for the way this board is run.

I was just replying to the post from -B- which seemed to imply that it was the lack of use of the report button that contributed to the problem.

 

[wrenchr]

The kind of **** that was posted on here the other night by that spammer what flat out disturbing; you wouldn't have wanted to see anymore of that, I can assure you.

Yes because you looked it over real good right!!!
Stay away from the gay midget **** Merk

 

[walrus]

I think I found my long lost little brother.

Was he on the that **** site?

 

[wrenchr]

I guess my comment was somehow taken as a criticism of the moderators, when it really wasn't meant as such. Of course I don't expect anybody to be available to action problems 24/7. In fact I'm impressed with the speed with which problems are dealt with when they do arise, and I have only the highest praise for the way this board is run.

I was just replying to the post from -B- which seemed to imply that it was the lack of use of the report button that contributed to the problem.

No I took it just like you meant!!

 

[Merkava_4]

Thanks!! Yes we do have lives and jobs like everyone else!!

How dare you try to be normal!!

 

[Diesel_Crawler]

and...there's the problem right there. No 12-13 year old should be spending hours per day online, or on gaming, for that matter.

Oh, and if I had a 12-13 year old, when they used the computer, it would be out in the open in the living room, with no doors to close, and somebody around.

Oh man...If they can't find it on the internet you are going to walk in on him with the sears catalog one day

Or start finding them with the pages stuck together.