Speaking of which... by Niki2

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Speaking of which...

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Sunday, October 24, 2010 10:42
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VIEWED: 657
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Thursday, October 21, 2010 6:29 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

...I found PN's post about mental illness interesting, given the timing, so I'm going to speak my piece.

Day before yesterday, I got an e-mail from someone wanting to join the website I run. I closed registration a long time ago because we were being phished and spammed, and because two people from the other Firefly site I was on invaded and posted personal information from there to the Firefly site in an effort to harm me. I made it so people had to e-mail me personally to register. So I let this guy in and left registration open, thinking it's been so long we're safe again.

Yesterday I got up to find a gazillion "new members", all obviously phishes or fakes. It didn't take long to delete them and any posts they'd put up, but it was irritating as I wasn't feeling well and it was the first thing I had to do in the morning before I closed registration again.

Now, this could all have been the kind of auto-phishing which abounds on the internet these days, just waitng for registration to open up again. I can't know, and the guy who asked to come in seems (so far) perfectly okay.

But the timing and the fact that I know I have enemies here and on the other Firefly website made me suspicious, then when I came here this morning and saw PN's post about the DSM and mental illness, it pretty much confirmed my suspicions. The timing is just TOO "coincidental". Also the fact that he's unquestionably familiar with the workings of the internet and could no doubt sic phishing on us in an instant, once registraton was opened.

If "our" new guy is someone unethical, it'll be no problem. I keep a close eye on our site, as do the other two I have made administrators, and we can quickly delete his membership and any posts he put up. It took next to nothing to delete all the new phishing accounts and any posts they put up...which some had, along with one that said "I love this site!" But it wasn't something I should have had to do, and the phishers who posted upset a couple of our members, who I try to keep safe from this sort of thing.

If it was deliberately done, it's a sick thing to do by someone sick, if not mentally ill themselves. Some will abhor my doing so, but I believe it was PN behind this and I'm calling him on it. Obviously I can't prove anything one way or the other, but I firmly believe he was behind this and want people to know what he's capable of.

I won't mention this again unless in response to something someone replies to in this thread, it just angered me enough to speak up.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 6:37 AM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
But the timing and the fact that I know I have enemies here and on the other Firefly website made me suspicious, then when I came here this morning and saw PN's post about the DSM and mental illness, it pretty much confirmed my suspicions. The timing is just TOO "coincidental". Also the fact that he's unquestionably familiar with the workings of the internet and could no doubt sic phishing on us in an instant, once registraton was opened.

...What? PN often posts stories about mental illness, and he and Frem have been on about the new proposed Oppositional Defiant Disorder for a while. And why would they target you? You and your site have nothing to do with DSM or whatever diagnosis setting whatnot, you're a site where people with disorders go to talk and interact.

Secondly, how could your new member have sicced phishing on you? Maybe I don't understand the internet or your site well, but he made an account, and he had to email you to make that account. Wouldn't it stand to reason, unless you were hacked, that phishing accounts would also have to contact you, individually, to make new accounts?

Since you mention phishing scams, it sounds to me like some conmen go around specifically targeting the mentally ill. It wouldn't surprise me. And one of those conmen represented themselves as a candidate for your group, and slipped in.

This really does seem coincidental. I'm sorry about your site, though. I have a friend who also works with MH people, she's told me about how important it is to create a safe environment for them. An intrusion that's specifically looking to defraud them I imagine would be very upsetting for them, and you, who goes Mama Bear in their defense.

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 7:42 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

It's the timing that got me, Byte...that he should post that right when we had the problem.

As to how they'd get in, as I said, I opened up registration when the new guy came in, which opened us up to spamming and phishing.

As to why PN might target me, you've been around long enough to know he's got a chip on his shoulder where I'm concerned...most likely because I decry his idiotic trolling more than maybe anyone else, I dunno. He's called me many names, and more than once said I'm an "operative" working for Jews or the government or somesuch. I think I posted something about his slathering the forum just recently, which might have instigated it, I dunno.

See, nothing would have happened if this person hadn't e-mailed me (previously the only way to register on the site) and I hadn't opened up registration. It may be coincidence and phishers out there just looking for any site to try to register on, I can't know or prove. It was just too coincidental to have all this happen at the same time.

We have to do with the DSM in that it is that which diagnoses people with mental illness. If he made an "attack" on our site, that he might post something about mental illness here that very day seems to me a weird a coincidence.

As far as I know, phishers don't target anything, they just look for any site where they can register. I've not heard of them targeting mental-health sites, it's just a big problem for site managers all over. I don't know the internet either, so I don't know if it's possible to "sic" phishers on a particular site, or if there are so many phishers out there that they would innundate ANY site with open registration and no protection every day. It's just a guess, but one I feel pretty strongly about.

And yeah, it pissed me off, or I wouldn't have bothered to post about it here. I had my suspicions when it happened, but wouldn't have mentioned it except that when I came here, the first thing I saw was PN's post about the DSM, which just seems TOO much of a coincidence, the very day we were phished so badly. And the post about "I love this site!"--I think some phishers put up a post as well as registering, but I dunno. It's just how I feel and what I believe.

Yes, it did upset a couple, one in particular who's big on safety and has experienced flame wars on other sites, and who I've worked hard to make feel safe. I've contacted them personally and hopefully any harm is short-lived; they're safe again now unless whoever it was knows some other way of getting in. I let the new guy in because I don't know, but it'll be easy enough to delete him and his posts in one fell swoop if he starts to "act out". We'll see; I didn't want to reject someone who went to the effort of e-mailing me to join, in case he's legit.

I've also neglected updating our software for some time (pure laziness), and some of the updates have to do with vulnerabilities, so I'm having our IT do that right away as well.

That's all.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:01 AM

KANEMAN

Is part of the mental illness that you suffer from paranoia?

Ever hear of lible? You are accussing PN of a crime......

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:04 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Don't make me laugh, Kane...given the things that have been said to and about me, that's a joke. Weren't you the one accusing me repeatedly of my gulf trip being a con? You're pathetic...unfortunately you're not alone.

By the way, it's "libel".

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:27 AM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
As to why PN might target me, you've been around long enough to know he's got a chip on his shoulder where I'm concerned...most likely because I decry his idiotic trolling more than maybe anyone else, I dunno. He's called me many names, and more than once said I'm an "operative" working for Jews or the government or somesuch. I think I posted something about his slathering the forum just recently, which might have instigated it, I dunno.

Yeah... He's called me an Operative too sometimes, you know? That's just something PN does. He's got some odd ideas and he's sometimes offensive (with the jew-hating, women-hating, and homophobia), but otherwise he seems harmless.

I also note you said that the reason you closed registration, and only open it when someone emails you is because you already were on a hit list for spambots and phishing scams. When you opened it up, why wouldn't they hit you? They're bots, they've probably been trying to get in the entire time you've had closed registration, they don't know that they can't access you and can't take no for an answer, not getting in won't turn them away, they don't get bored, they just keeping trying trying trying. Is this the first time you've opened registration since you closed it?

Maybe something you should consider doing is password protecting your board. Only people who know the password can get on.

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:05 AM

KANEMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Don't make me laugh, Kane...given the things that have been said to and about me, that's a joke. Weren't you the one accusing me repeatedly of my gulf trip being a con? You're pathetic...unfortunately you're not alone.

By the way, it's "libel".

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

I have nothing to do with this. Deflection is what you do..."But Bush did it"...also, I've never accussed you of having commited a crime. Sure, you being born was a crime against humanity and you probably should have been aborted, however that is your mother's fault.

"Libel" got it....

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:17 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Byte...the reason I closed it before was because of a specific person. That person is long gone and no doubt has better things to do and better people to harrass than us. It was over a year ago.

It's neither here nor there; I remarked on it because I wanted to let people know what lengths I believe he would stoop to, that's all.

Kane; if you don't think accusing me of scamming people for money under the pretext of going to the gulf...over and over and over...isn't libel, then you're worse off than we think.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:20 AM

BYTEMITE

Huh. I wonder where I got the impression that you had spambots and phishing scam problems before.

Isn't it weird how our brains fill in gaps like that, regardless of whether it's right or not?

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 11:07 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

No, love, I DID say we had the problem before. That's what I was referencing; someone from the other Firefly board who had it in for me registered--actually two of them--then put up a couple of the posts FROM our website on the Firefly site (!). They didn't have any (diagnosed) mental illness or any reason to want to be members or anything, they just came there to troll.

The other instance was just plain phishing, which happens to virtually all websites which are vulnerable. The two came close enough together that I just closed the site after that. The people there, some of them I've known for ten years and I created the website as a safe place for us; they'd exprienced some pretty bad stuff on another supposed mental-health website. We've been joined since then by others, and it's a pretty close, caring bunch of people. I don't want them hurt in any way.

You didn't get the wrong impression, maybe it's that the discussion kinda lapped into two different threads, trust yourself more ;o) I've never seen your head fill in gaps here, you're one of the saner among us!

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 11:25 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Not so odd, it's a well known phenomenon that lawyers play on in court to make a persons testimony look bad, by encouraging them to fill in the gaps - which their mind obligingly does, subconsciously - and then pointing out that the original statement or evidence is in conflict, yadda yadda.

Between that and a natural tendency to not wanna say "I have no idea." - especially when a lawyer is subtly mocking you about it, is their bread and butter, you see ?

All that said - Niki, although probably not the most respectable or polite of posters, I might consider moseying over to your site (I somehow missed that you even had one) and lingering about, in case some other moron gets ideas - depending on the software in use, might even be able to give you some idea of the culprits.

That is, unless you'd rather I didn't - cause that'd come with it's own issues.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, October 21, 2010 11:48 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Thanx for the generous offer, Frem, you're a doll, but yeah, it wouldn't be a good idea. Even having someone there to watch over them would be having a stranger lurking around, which isn't conducive to a feeling of safety. Would love to track down the actual culprit, but it's not all that important in the greater scheme of things, what's important is that I do my job.

Which includes updating our software, which I've been too lazy to do (mostly 'cuz I hate the workings of the internet websites!), and the new version apparently fixes a few "vulnerabilities". My responsibility, and I'm on it now.

These are rare occurrences; actually, the site is a rebuild. Had to tear it down a number of years ago because a (TRULY mentally ill!) woman from the site we 'escaped', who I'd thought was a good friend, I'd sent money to, been supportive of over the phone when she was in trouble, and even invited to come stay with us to get away from a bad situation!, hacked us so bad there was no way I could get rid of her (long story) and I had to take the entire site down and rebuild it. Was worth it, but made me paranoid no doubt.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Friday, October 22, 2010 5:21 AM

KANEMAN

I'm still waiting for you to tell me which mental illness you have. My guess? Liberalism.

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Friday, October 22, 2010 5:27 AM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Niki,
The spamming and phishing has gone into high gear, even compared to just a few months ago. I must delete vast amounts from the site I admin.

I fear I must discount your claims as paranoia, and you should reconsider that "coincidence" may actually be just that.

It really is getting bad.

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Friday, October 22, 2010 7:46 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Thanx JSF, it's good to get news from someone who deals with this stuff. Our IT (who also runs his own website) told me the same thing this morning when I asked him to upgrade our software, so I'll bow to both your superior knowledge and just let it lay. The guy who e-mailed me to join seems like a really "real" person, so until/unless HE "acts out", I'll accept what you say and there's an end to it.

Given there are no new "registrations" since I put registration under all the protections, I guess what I did is sufficient, at least until they find new ways of screwing with us!

I would say something about how some of mankind always seems to destroy everything good that mankind invents (speaking in general, not about PN), but I'll just say

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Friday, October 22, 2010 2:50 PM

BYTEMITE

Honestly, I feel almost maybe a little bad for PN right now, but I'm also not sure he really minds if you accuse him of stuff either.

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Saturday, October 23, 2010 5:49 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Nah, PN would dislike me just as much no matter what, that's already obvious. Hatred can't be increased, and he's said FAR worse things about me.

I love how he gets sympathy, when I've said I'll accept I was probably wrong (which he NEVER does, that I've seen), when he's attacked me regularly in a very nasty manner, and when Kane accused me of running a scam so many times it got boring. Just sayin'. Grumpy this morning, so it struck me as ironic.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:07 AM

BYTEMITE

You're somewhat more sane than PN is. That's all.

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Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:10 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Gee, thanx Byte, you're so generous. But I'll accept that, little as it may be. And at least I don't smother the list with "Dictator Obama Hussein..." and filthy photos...

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Saturday, October 23, 2010 9:32 AM

BYTEMITE

Hey, I didn't want to belittle your bipolar disorder OR make any kind of assumptions. It wasn't an insult, it was simple fact. PN is less sane than most people here. And most of us here probably aren't entirely sane either.

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Saturday, October 23, 2010 9:48 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
And, isn't sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you're good and crazy, oooh, oooh, oooh, the sky is the limit.
-The Tick

Heh heh heh.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Sunday, October 24, 2010 7:25 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Didn't think you were belitting my bipolarity, Byte, thought it was a general statement about your opinion of me in toto, when I'd like to think there's more to me than just being less insane than PN.

And of course, as I've said before, I don't consider ANYONE anywhere "sane". That's why I call people who aren't officially mentally ill "GUMs": The Great Undiagnosed Masses. I think we've all got our bits of insanity, just some of us got diagnosed and they haven't found enough categories to diagnose everyone

How many truly "functional" people do YOU know?

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Sunday, October 24, 2010 10:42 AM

DREAMTROVE

Niki,

when referencing a thread, it would be nice to post a link. I don't know which thread you're referring to

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