Category Archives: Computer and Online Security

Warning – Fake E-Mails Targeting Shadowdancer Studios Visitors

From Aff:

E-mails have been spotted in circulation that appear to be from aff or shadow -at- affsdiary.com; these e-mails request personal information and promise a prize if that is updated on a profile which looks similar to Shadow’s wordpress.:

To:
From: [email protected] [[email protected]]

Hi there!

I’ve updated the look of my wordpress so all of the profiles were reset! There are now great benefits to having an up to date profile, so if you can please do that it would be great!

Each section of a profile gives points, and you can spend those points for discounts on PayPal purchases! Click directly here!

– Shadowdancer

 

More info is at the Affsdiary page, which I strongly, strongly urge you to read.

My website does not require the kind of information that the data-mining scam is requiring for the supposed ‘update.’ I will never require that depth of information from anyone. The only thing you need to comment in this site is a username and email, or a WordPress/Gravatar ID, since you can log in to comment using either. We don’t ask for personal information, we don’t want it and don’t give it to us.

WordPress gets HTTPS

A good number of my fellows use WordPress so I figured this would be of interest to them.

HTTPS Everywhere: Encryption for All WordPress.com Sites

Better site security is a good thing, especially if it helps you protect your private information. I know some nutjobs would say ‘oh, if you’re scared about the government, then you have something to hide!’ crap, but really, waving the government around like a huge red flag trying to get the bull to charge ignores the other guy sneaking up behind it – namely: computer crime still exists, and it is a good idea to secure your site against those legitimate concerns. I’m not a security expert, just some person who wants to make her living writing, but HTTPS is a GOOD THING – especially if you’re using your WordPress to manage your online business or professional blog. WordPress getting you that bit of extra security built in for your site, if you use WordPress hosting, is a seriously awesome thing, because if you’re the average blogger (like myself) you’re not likely to know much about the latest in online security or protection or even more than basic HTML tags (the ones that give you italics, bold, images and links are about the extent of my HTML knowledge.)

I repeat my statement about not being an online security expert, so please just use the links and my opinion as a starting point for further research from a mostly consumer’s POV, and as someone thinking about wanting to sell a product online (In my case, books/art). If you think I’m an uneducated idiot, spare us both wasting the time and browse away.

Anyone still here, feel free to go on.

So, why is HTTPS a good thing? Instead of trying to explain it and mangle the explanation, I’ll quote and link some of the people who DO know what they’re talking about.

From the EFF:

When does HTTPS Everywhere protect me? When does it not protect me?

Security in 2016

So here I am at o-dark-fuck you am, awake because some fucking dipshit just tried – and is still trying – to hack my WordPress accounts – both the one I use to comment and the one I use to write on my blog, as well as Aff’s account. To the tune of several million password attempts per second. Whoever it is is routing it through China, because that’s what the IP logs on my admin side says, but I highly doubt that I’ve pissed anyone off in China.

So I would advise everyone to use two-step authentication linked to your cellphone on your account, because that’s what 2016 security is going to require, it seems. And believe me, I hate that because nowadays smartphones do not have that oh-so-convenient cellphone strap attachment that used to let me put a lanyard on my phone and hang it around my neck.

I would advise using either the Verify Using SMS or the App.

It’s an extra pain in the neck, but honestly, in this VS the SocJusBullies war, it was probably inevitable since the loss of your online IDs and methods of communication is one of the many ways to silence opinions not approved by the New Totalitarian Howler Monkeys.

 

edited as of before lunchtime: Two Factor Authentication has been activated on my site; I am unsure how this affects users other than myself. I apologise for the inconvenience, but it is an unfortunate side effect of necessary security upgrades.

 

But sheesh, there’s nothing to gain from hacking my little blog. Whoever did this has no life, and frankly, has a pitifully empty existence that revolves around this blog and site.

 

less important edit: Related to my vast annoyance of not being able to attach wrist/neck lanyards / decorative things to my goddamn phone, it looks like I’m not the only one, but it’s an iPhone so that’s a bit easier. Still, most of the folks seeing this probably have an iPhone so I included it here for you crafty awesome folks out there. Yeah, I’m aware there are wrist straps for the ones that make you look like you’re holding a dainty little purse, but those annoy me because you have a book-like cover that flops over the camera most of the time. You’d THINK though they’d put in a strap hole, considering that there’s so much free space at the corners for cases and phones – which is where they USED TO PUT THE STRAP HOLES.

So they went after metal and failed, and now they’re going after Linux?

And Linus Torvalds?

https://twitter.com/hashtag/istandwithLINUS?src=hash

Oh man. I seriously need to buy me that popcorn machine, stat. It is now a necessity.

http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/linus-torvalds-on-why-he-isnt-nice-i-dont-care-about-you/

fml___problem_exists_between_keyboard_and_chair_by_cutelildrow-d89s2yu

First off, you pretentious fucking douchebag SJWs, code, of ANY type will not give two shits of a rat’s ass about your hurt feelings, who you fuck, what you chop off or stick onto you, or what political opinions you hold. You fuck up your code no amount of crying and whining and throwing ickle tanties will make it forgive you and work. I’m no programmer, but just fuck up basic HTML tags and well, we’ve all been there. Type in the wrong command – oh wait maybe most of them don’t even know that. Never mind!

But seriously now, there’s nothing more coldly uncaring of gender, race, social or economic class or any of those silly irrelevant things as programming. Either your code works, or it doesn’t. Either your program works, or it fails miserably and needs debugging – in which case fuck you, find it, fix it. All it cares about is whether or not you have the skill to make it work. It does not care whether the fingers that typed across the keys belong to a white or black or green skinned person, nor does it care whether you have a penis or a vagina, or neither, or both, or like to suck cock or lick twat or dress up in a fursuit. It does not care if you are in a wheelchair or have massive tits and swing both ways.

None of that matters. What DOES matter is the pure, unadulterated unforgiving meritocracy of being able to make the hardware and software interact in the way it needs to, to bring about a result.

Really, it boils down to the simple reality that unmasks SJWs and the left with the cold hard truth: When it comes to true, brutally blind equality, they can’t handle it. They don’t want to deal with meritocracy, or skill, or truly even ground, they want everything handed to them on demand, or tantrums, life destroying and slander shall ensue!

Boo de Q_Q harder.

Linus Torvalds does not care about your fucking little fee fees. All he cares about “is quality and merit comes first and everything else comes second, and he doesn’t care if he offends people in this regard” – and frankly, that’s pretty fucking fair of him. None of this diversity in programming bullshit – I don’t give a crap if the person doing the code or writing the program is a girl or a guy, or likes to fuck a guy or not, or what their political opinion is. I really don’t. All I care about is ‘can this person do the job? Does that shit work? Is that program legit or does it have hidden malware?’

Don’t like that? Then make your own fork or program.. oh wait, no you can’t unless you have the skills, and since there’s more Q_Qing than actual skills to make stuff happen… we’re left with people just throwing massive tanties again.

edited to add this quote:

This is triply true in engineering/development. It’s not like marketing or HR where everyone is special and an all-day meeting constitutes productive work, technical work is very well-defined with quantifiable, testable results where there’s not much room for second place. The winners in this space are those who Get Shit Done, not those who have the most friends or the most politically-correct agenda. And you will not Get Shit Done if you prioritize your team’s DNA over their skillset. Seriously, social skills do not mean a damn thing here–either your robot is the biggest, baddest mofo in the room and it crushes everyone else’s souls with its godlike power, or it’s not and its your souls getting crushed by someone else’s godbot. There’s something to be said for being able to deal with other humans when necessary but it’s a secondary skill, and one not generally used as companies tend to keep engineers as far away from the customers as possible.

Linus is the ultimate non-discriminating manager. He does not care who you are or what you look like as long as you’re good at what you do, and he won’t tolerate excuses. Which is exactly why diversity fanboys hate him so much–they don’t actually want an identity-blind society, they want an identify-focused society which simply flips the discrimination in favor of gender-studies weasels. They have to tear him down because, like Trotsky to Stalin, he vividly shows that what they claim to want is vastly different from what they’re actually implementing.

Yep.

 

 

Troubleshooting…

Or, PSA – my email address is being spoofed

Hi all

Please be advised: at this point in time my gmail is only a forwarding address and I do not reply using that, nor do I send any emails through this any longer. I use it as an initial contact point because it was my email address for years and years but it seems someone out there is spoofing it and sending malicious emails / spam / possibly infected emails.

I will tell people to contact me initially through that email address ([email protected].) but I will not reply using that same email.

If this seems abrupt and cranky it’s because I’ve been dealing with this all night long and haven’t slept yet.

I have asked friends to also pass this on, so if you got a link to here that’s why. Thank you for your patience.

-Shadowdancer / Rory / R.K. Modena

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Completely unrelated to the above, I’ve updated both the PSA Sticky and the Spewdonym List.