Nelson Jenkins: Why Would Anyone Trust These Emerald Guys?
by Alphaville Herald on 24/08/10 at 10:37 pm
[Nelson Jenkins has been awarded the “commie” or comment-of-the-week award for this detailed breakdown of the Modular Systems abuses. The award winning comment is reproduced below.]
@ Jocelyn Pawpad
I’m going to go ahead and cross-post this, just in case you didn’t get the memo.
Why anyone would continue to trust these folks will remain an unanswerable question.
– Fractured collected IP addresses linked to avatars in the Emerald Point sim and the RegAPI. This allowed Emerald devs (most of which used the system regularly) to geolocate specific SL users, among other things one can do with an IP address.
– Someone (let’s call them the third party) discovered this system. Phox and Fractured then hacked their voice account so they couldn’t use SL voice. They then stalked him from sim to sim (without map rights).
– Phox threatened to burglarize the third party’s house and steal his actual computer.
– Fractured illegally distributed chat logs of the third party, laughing at how he trolled him.
– Phox called a phone number that was listed in the third party’s Linden Lab user account. It turned out to be fake, and he only called the parent of a student. Unfortunately, harassment charges weren’t filed.
– The third party confronted Fractured and threatened to release the entire contents of the datamine to the public. They reached a compromise: Fractured would release the names of the accounts listed in the datamine and the people who had access to it, but no other information (such as IP addresses), in addition to removing it entirely from his servers. However, the contents were eventually released in full, and the names of those listed in the datamine were posted to the Herald a few months back:
http://alphavilleherald.com/2010/05/emerald-devs-modular-systems-data-mine-tracks-16740-avatars.html
– Phox and Fractured both conspire to get the third party’s ISP to cancel their service because of the leak, which they also did numerous times to the creator of the NeilLife viewer, but were ultimately unsuccessful. However, Phox still claims he was successful, and brags regularly about it.
– Fractured and several other Emerald devs (which are still on the team) begin work on the Onyx project, an entirely malicious viewer designed to find security holes in SL. It was also designed to harass and stalk users; however, this functionality was not discovered until its source code was leaked. The devs quickly claimed that it was an old copy and that the newer builds didn’t have those features, until the newest source code was revealed, causing the entire Onyx project to stop and the site to be taken offline. The Onyx viewer is still used, but only by spoofing the Emerald tag and channel name.
– Skills Hak begins selling the Gemini CDS Ban Relay, a system similar to BanLink, but instead it is fully automatic. It uses a QuickTime exploit to determine a user’s identifying information (which is technically illegal per SL policies) and hosts the data on the Gemini server, not unlike the incident with Fractured and Phox way back in the beginning. It’s still being sold, and false positives are being reported, despite Skills’s claims. The system has been cloned repeatedly, proving that it’s not a hard exploit, and that Skills is mostly just conning people by exploiting their fear of copybot.
– The emkdu.dll file, a driver that speeds up texture loading times similar to the llkdu.dll file, was discovered to leak information regarding any Emerald user’s window title and installation directory. (This was not original functionality in the licensed copy.) This allowed anyone that knew how to decrypt the simple encryption to view one’s installation directory, which (depending on the user’s Windows username) revealed one’s real life name. It also allowed users to determine which version of Emerald one was using, and, if it was another client based off of Emerald, what client it was (for example, Onyx).
– The Emerald devs claimed to have removed this functionality. However, they only strengthened the encryption, which was also eventually cracked to reveal that nothing had changed. The encryption was changed one more time, and has not yet been decrypted. With the dismissal of Fracture, Arabella claimed that the emkdu.dll file was replaced with the slower, open-source openjpeg library. It has not been determined whether the openjpeg library also includes similar functionality.
– Because of the entire emkdu.dll fiasco, LordGregGreg, a core Emerald dev, decided to voluntarily leave the project. He has since compiled his own viewer, Emergence, based off of the latest Emerald source code, evading any shady additions they may have put into the Emerald binaries as well. The Emerald team disparaged his position within the devs when he left and went on to defame his character, both officially and unofficially.
– Fractured decided to add 32 hidden iframes in a single pixel that loaded a little over 4.3 MB of data from that third party’s website that I mentioned before every time someone opened the Emerald viewer. In total, an estimate based on the number of hits the third party received placed the bandwidth stolen at 2.1 TB, not including the bandwidth stolen from the users (which would also total up to 2.1 TB). This code was inserted into the actual page on their website that all Emerald clients load on startup, so all stable and beta versions of Emerald were affected. This turned the entire Emerald userbase into an unknowing botnet to carry out a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on said third party’s server. It ultimately failed, which prompted Arabella to claim it was not a DDoS (because apparently, an attempted DDoS is not a DDoS in her eyes) and she released news articles stating such. Due to the nature of the DDoS, the server could have sent malware to the Emerald viewer if the webmaster desired, which was very possible since the Emerald devs claimed the website hosted malicious software. The Emerald devs, particularly Arabella, denounced the third party as malicious and a criminal, and refused to issue an apology for their attack. They still haven’t.
– Philip and Soft Linden begin discussing banning Emerald entirely from accessing the grid. The downside would be approximately 20% of Second Life users would be unable to connect to the grid, which may cause problems.
– Two more core Emerald devs left the team. Arabella claims to leave the team as well, however, she never officially does.
– Arabella continues posting to the Modular Systems blog, claiming it was done only by Fractured, and he was disciplined. She also starts up the story that it was only done to boast about Emerald traffic to the third party. Some Emerald users begin circulating the rumor that it was actually done to increase the third party’s website’s traffic, which is an even worse explanation. She also continues deleting comments on the Modular Systems blog that she deems as “negative”, i.e. they tell the truth. This was recorded on a YouTube video.
– Another YouTube video recording reveals that the entire Emerald dev team knew Fractured had been planning on adding the DDoS code, but did nothing to stop him until it was discovered. Arabella herself didn’t want to “scare the users”, so she made up the story about traffic.
– Yet another YouTube video recording shows Arabella debating whether or not to delete Pathfinder Linden’s comment (who is no longer a Linden due to the cuts). The comment asked some critical questions and she deemed it “negative”, but she decided to release (post) the comment and respond to it, confirming the jacked-up story she posted originally.
– Emerald is removed from the Third Party Viewer Directory. The Directory is a voluntary list of third-party viewers that conform to the TPV Policy. Emerald users (or perhaps the Emerald devs) began circulating the rumor that it was only removed to faciliate the change in ownership to Arabella, even though it was removed before that occured.
– Arabella is given ownership of the Emerald Viewer project from Fractured, who resigned from the project with a long blog post explaining how he was sorry for what had happened. Arabella continues to censor comments on this blog post as well.
– Arabella and Jessica (the project leader and support director, respectively) appear on treet.tv’s live streaming show, Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe. Nothing important is really discussed, except for how Emerald will now be in Arabella’s pseudo-control and that it is being totally restructured for transparency between devs (supposedly) and a more democratic system for code changes. The interviewer, Paisley, asks no critical questions, instead opting for “what is going on?” and “how do you feel about this?”. Jessica read from a script most of the time and started to cry near the end of the program, and Arabella seemed angry and vengeful. She continued to beg for mindless faith from her customers. The IRC server was attacked three times by an Emerald supporter, who disconnected everyone not using a standalone IRC client 3 times during the program.
So, you see, the Emerald team – not just Fractured – has quite a colorful history, and Arabella is definitely not as trustworthy as she wants you to think she is. So please, to those of you that don’t know exactly what is going on, READ THE ABOVE.
General Drama
Aug 24th, 2010
Nice timeline. Very dramatic. This just goes to prove The General’s First Law of Internet Drama: everyone eventually pushes the drama far enough to compromise whatever sense of ethics they have in order to achieve their very own 15 minutes of e-fame.
Yep
Aug 24th, 2010
Hey call it what it is. Nelson Jenkins was right and all of the emerald nay sayors were wrong.
emerald didn’t do a DDOS attack because it failed.
Right just like Phillip Linden said Linden Labs removed emerald from the TPV for breaking the TPV policy on malicious attacks. Most certainly not emerald taking it off because they were restructuring like the emerald team would have us believe.
emerald is open source. So take this open source, take all the good stuff out and compile it into a trusted Linden labs Viewer and throw the rest of emerald ( and their team) out the window like a pot of pee.
How can you trust these people? Because they said it is safe, they are sorry, and it will never happen again? I would treat these people like an abusive husband, ever notice how they are always sorry and it will never happen again? Of course this is true until the next time they raise their hand to strike you.
So a few people might have some trouble logging on. If they had half a brain, these people would try another viewer once they read that this viewer is no longer allowed to connect. I am sure the people using copybot clients didn’t have to big of a problem logging on once their bad viewers were banned.
There is no reason, and there is no excuse to continue to allow the emerald viewer to connect to SL.
beaker
Aug 24th, 2010
Should have just placed their kids in a balloon.
You made them/ now you must kil them.
mary shelly linden
Jamie
Aug 25th, 2010
emkdu.dll is still in the latest Emerald build. Nothing has changed.
Emerald Viewer Update « Nalates' Things & Stuff Blog
Aug 25th, 2010
[...] Nelson Jenkins wrote a time line of the dirty deeds of the Emerald team. Several of the events are open to interpretation. Nelson’s is a more harsh interpretation. But, this whole Emeraldgate event has progressed so far down the rabbit hole it is hard to say his is wrong and prove it. See: Nelson Jenkins: Why Would Anyone Trust These Emerald Guys? [...]
Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia
Aug 25th, 2010
You forgot one part of the drama: The stuff they did to Neil. Granted, Neil is a lunatic who makes a seriously malicious viewer (I think he would take it as a compliment that I said that), but he didn’t deserve to be stalked IRL like what Phox and Fractured Crystal did to him, from what I hear.
Gwyneth Llewelyn
Aug 25th, 2010
Fun. The most interesting thing is that this has been going on for some years now, and still people mindlessly trust Emerald and their team. I just finished a discussion with a die-hard Emerald defender, who absolutely believed that all of this is just drama, drama, and more drama to keep users away from using all the nifty features that Emerald has and that most other viewers are not willing to implement (although Imprudence comes close).
Others, by contrast, claim this is a huge conspiracy theory by Linden Lab, to make sure they crush Emerald completely — their biggest obstacle in getting more people to use the SL 2.X viewer. Hah!
Believe what you will. For myself, I can only validate some of the aspects of the drama based on former Modular System employees who are my friends, and, although many are professional enough not to go public, not even to discuss things with close friends, they at least paint a picture that is not really so white and pure as Arabella paints it.
Caveat utilitor.
For Pixie
Aug 25th, 2010
Phox is still on the team. He is the root of all evil helping jay with his shit.
Skills is going to own emerald point shortly.
Arabella keeps winning.
Fractured is still on the team but he is using an alt.
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 25th, 2010
Uhhh… first of all I’d like to thank my friend [moderated]… she’s been a huge inspiration throughout this whole process… and then I’d like to thank [removed], and all the guys from [edited out], they’re just great for moral support… I wanna thank all you guys down there at [content deleted], yea, you know who you are! And, uh… one last shoutout to [the entire newly-redesigned Emerald dev team], for [being such a great, law-abiding group and never lying to anyone.]
Alright, bring on the flamewars. Arabella, I’m lookin’ at you!
Shayna Korobase
Aug 25th, 2010
The shocking part to me is… Linden Labs SHOULD have banned emerald but hasn’t O.o
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 25th, 2010
By the way:
[20:51] Confidential Informant: The two lindens that joined Emerald have both left.
[20:51] Confidential Informant: They wrote Philip and said they had nothing to do with this and wouldn’t be associated with it.
Billy
Aug 25th, 2010
hey nelson i said that
W
Aug 25th, 2010
There’s probably some conflict going on with the lindens right now. I think Phillip WANTS to ban it but can’t just go against what everyone else thinks and do so. I hope it does lead to a ban if all of this is true. There’s no reason why these devs should even be allowed on the grid after making copybot viewers anyway.
If these comments are true it doesn’t sound like emerald is really making things right anyway. Sounds like they’re just helplessly trying to be sneaky again and failing.
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 25th, 2010
@ Billy
lolno
Selene Putzo
Aug 25th, 2010
@ Yep
Quote”…emerald didn’t do a DDOS attack because it failed….”
A failed DDoS is still an attempted DDoS and to all intents and purposes it didn’t fail. It jammed up the target website and ripped it’s bandwidth. Ergo it did not fail. it failed only in the respect that the source of the attack was discovered.
Quote “…emerald is open source….”
Emerald is not open source. It has encrypted code within it. Nobody can read what those bits do.
Othewise the drift of your post appears to be agreeable.
Fire and Rain
Aug 25th, 2010
And Phil Linden reads Nelson’s post above and still does not have the balls to protect his users by throwing these scum bags off of SL? WTF?
PlanetNiles
Aug 25th, 2010
#sigh#
Okay, you can’t physically locate people through their IP addresses, unless you’re their ISP or can persuade their ISP to do so. You can physically locate them via their website if they put their actual location in the Who-Is database. Some web hosts do this automatically. Some people are just foolish. Of course some hosts protect their Who-Is databases.
Where is the evidence for all these allegations? Without evidence it does just remain drama. I want hard concrete proof to base my decisions on and not opinion from questionable sources.
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 25th, 2010
@ PlanetNiles
Yes. Yes, you can. I get random portscans every day and I’ve made it a hobby to track where they come from. How do you think I know the exact city in Russia, or the area in Houston from which someone’s scanning me?
And this post was meant to be “this, this, this, and this happened” not “this happened because this, this, and this, also this happened because of this, this, this, this and this”. It’s called a summary for a reason. If you want proof, just look around the Herald, most everything is there.
Meh
Aug 25th, 2010
Pretty good writeup, Nelson, though citing the Herald for ‘proof’ isn’t exactly a strong selling point. Your own words do a much better job.
Also, narrowing it down to a city isn’t reliable, as many large cities are simply telecomm hubs for the outlying ones. All it does is narrow things down to what part of the country you’re probably in, but that’s it. You’re not going to get a street address that way.
Emperor Norton hears a who?
Aug 25th, 2010
You just can’t snark this. It snark’s itself. However the Emperor would like to make it clear he admires the Emerald’s teams success in turning a sizable chunk of Emerald users into willing zombies hosts for their botnet. The power of jiggling breasts on the fourteen year old male mind is not to be underestimated.
Dave Bell
Aug 25th, 2010
The Philip Linden email is a warning shot. And it’s warning the people who use Emerald. The Developers claim to be taking direct with Linden Lab, which might be true. And they’ll get any warning direct.
If they can’t convince Linden Lab they can be trusted, Emerald is dead.
At best, they were incredibly optimistic about the Linden Lab reaction.
I’ll note that older versions of Emerald have been banned. It’s been claimed it was at the request of the Developers. That’s plausible, as part of the public beta process. For the older, stable, versions, there were questions about whether they complied with the TPVP, and that looks suspicious now. Was it a flaw in copy protection, or some deliberate breach? What did Linden Lab know?
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 25th, 2010
@ Dave Bell
The older versions were banned simply because they were TPVP uncompliant. Whether they were banned at the request of the developers or not doesn’t really matter.
Meh
Aug 25th, 2010
Not just TPV non-compliant, but specifically because they contained features with which people could pull nasty crap on other people with. There are a lot of clients out there connecting to the grid that aren’t on this list. These are just the ones that Linden Lab feels okay about endorsing, it’s not necessarily a banned-if-you’re-not-on-it list.
Though in Emerald’s case, it might be anyway.
Lestat
Aug 25th, 2010
ah well considering the code was taken in the 1st place by PN and then added to by the same griefer group im not at all suprised by the way the crap has hit the proverbial fan – i saw this coming a long time ago and if anyone doubts their intentions its this..to take over or destroy SL any way possible to force everyone back to RL.
emerald was orginally called greenlife if anyones interested in history
Emperor Norton hears a who?
Aug 25th, 2010
Lestat @ “to take over or destroy SL any way possible to force everyone back to RL.”
I doubt it. Any mind thinking they can force people back to reality in the make believe land of the 21st Century is so out of touch they couldn’t organize something like Emerald. It’s clear the Emerald developers are just living out their own Zombie Movie fantasy, most likely because they are into necrophilia. An’t judging anyone’s kink but sex is the only reason people get out of bed in the morning (and yes, I know that is contradictory)
Jocelyn Pawpad
Aug 26th, 2010
Crossposted from http://alphavilleherald.com/2010/08/emerald-flack-arabella-steadham-i-dont-lie.html/comment-page-3#comment-63276
(I bother to provide links for MY memoes!!!)
*NELSON
- “I’m gonna point out that you’re wasting your time, and that I’m not going to respond to every last word (since, frankly, I get the impression that you’re not going to believe anything I say this time around, either).”
Well thanks ever so much for the heads up before we get started. I guess its lucky for both of us my time is mine to waste. Too bad you’re heading into it with such an obvious negative attitude towards the effectiveness of your arguments, but I’m prepared to work with that.
So you crossposted your previous effort from another post here. Well and good. No, I didn’t read it before then and I’m so glad you saught to wave it in front of my face, even if all it did was give you an excuse to go on another round of Emerald dev bashing. My sincerest condolences for your loss of Modular Systems from the equation, I can’t begin to imagine how much it must irk a grand poobah of LLC Fraudular Systems to learn that his cunningly elaborate lampoon of the name is suddenly no longer relevant. Maybe you might start a new group to cater to these changing times. Might I suggest “The Green Bug-Eyed Monster” as a more appropriate group title?
Of course I expect a level of antipathy. You’re obviously far more invested in this crusade than I am, though the “why” is a little difficult to discern at first glance. I don’t think its too much to expect a coherent argument to support your claims. Furthermore, I suggest the real reason why YOU are convinced I won’t believe anything you say is because that is in effect your attitude. You of course are absolutely right and anyone who disagrees with you is wrong, no matter what evidence is presented to refute your arguments. Is that an accurate assessment of your approach?
- “It’s crossposted from another post on AH. Had you done your homework, you would have noticed this.”
Ahh, how gracious of you to “do my homework” for me. So nice of you to look out for for those of us invested with our first and second lives and all. I’ll be the first to admit that wading through the rabidly frothing comment fields of eighty zillion blogs is not something I afford the requisite time for. Certainly nowhere near your level. And with the mixed messages I am getting from Phil’s latest email I am wondering if the decision has not indeed already been made. Doubtless that will put a massive ding in my plans for the wedding this weekend if the hammer comes down, though even in these troubled times I can still find time to share a thought for you. Tell me Grand Fraudulent Poobah, to what will you target the focus of your hatred on when Emerald is gone?
- “If you choose not to believe me, well, that’s up to you, really. Again, why anyone would trust these guys will remain an unanswerable question.”
Then I had better answer it for you, shouldn’t I? Perhaps a little more bluntly than the last time I answered it, since you obviously missed it. For my part, I have been given no clear and compelling reason NOT to trust the Emerald team in its entirety. Spurious allegations of multiple devs involvement in a project devloped by Modular Systems and overseen by Linden Labs (Onyx) is not a compelling reason in my books. I’ve invited you to supply a list of the devs in question, presumably the information is something you aren’t privy to any more than I am. Given that it applies to a project that made regular reports to Linden Labs, I have to figure they DO know who is involved and for all I know the project is underway even as we speak AND with Linden Labs blessing. Or perhaps not. I don’t hear a lot of noise from that quarter, though I *am* hearing a lot of noise from you and have therefore invited you to state your case. If it is genuine and well founded, then it will stand up to scrutiny. Whether I believe it or not won’t make a lick of difference to the grid, though in either case I’ll have at least satisfied my own moral compass in the attempt to either promote your argument, utterly destroy it, or any of the juicy-poosey middle ground in between. Considering that my experience with the Em Dev team and its associates has been on the whole positive, they are already ahead of you on points.
So much for why anyone might “trust” the entity known as “The Emerald Devs”. What of the individuals? I’ve waded through the four character assassinations you’ve so thoughtfully provided me with and while you might find it necessary to make snide remarks about my ability to read, the truth of the matter is I’ve read it a damned sight closer than I think even YOU have. So you have a problem with people grandstanding over events that never happened (like breakins and getting people booted from their ISP’s). Big whoop, I can say the same of you when you scream about denial of services that never took place and start calling people liars. You don’t like Gemini CDS. So what? How does one person’s in world business link them to the Onyx project? Fractured contrives under his own recognisance to spam the site of a person who hacked his and concoct a meta data harvest which has the potential to harvest real life names of imbeciles who’ve employed them as their Windows logins. How exactly does this damn the entire EMerald team in perpetuity? Espeially when a number of them turned their back and said “enough”? Why should I trust the word of one imperfect individual over my experience with a score of others?
You see, I’ve read your screed a lot more closely than you appear ready to give me credit for and am picking the holes I find to see if it unravels. On sober reflection its probably not the wisest approach since it appears to have worked you up into a towering Jesus-based frenzy. That in itself speaks volumes to me. It says you DON’T have the ability to argue your point convincingly and coherently and must instead resort to generous lashings of bias and bullcrap. That will not win you the day, not with me.
- “For a start, I’d invite you to itemise exactly what evils are achievable from the humble IP address. Don’t start spouting a bunch of alarmist propaganda about geolocation either – you ought to know as well as I that it can *at best* only put someone in the general neighbourhood of the computer concerned. I don’t doubt there are people out there committed enough to go doorknocking in the hopes of eyeballing a particular user face to face. In my instance, there’d be at a rough guess some 150,000 doors you’d need to knock on to find me based on the amount of residences serviced by my point of presence. Good luck.”
- “You just proved my point. You can geolocate someone using an IP address. Geolocation doesn’t mean down-to-the-address specificity. Would you want people in-world knowing your hometown without your consent?”
Frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn. I provide far more identifiable information in my bathroom. Having someone peering through my windows kinda concerns me, having them know which particular group of 4 million people to start searching for me in, not so much. Maybe I’m missing something here. Why should I care what hometown I can be tied to? Unless its a wide spot in the road out in the middle of nowhere or some putrid stinking Vegemite Valley villa that inspires endless mockery from everyone else on the planet, I don’t see the concern.
You of course have my commiseration should the latter be the case for you. I am sure your vegemite valley is just fine and dandy.
- “The only person who was kicked out was Fractured, and he’s got alt accounts as lower devs anyways.”
Name them. I can’t for the life of me imagine why any developer would need a bunch of alts with lower access and strongly suspect this is another piece of warm peanutty goodness you’ve extracted from between your cheeks. While you’re at it, explain how him stepping down as head of the project equates to him being “kicked out”.
Your revisionist historical (hysterical?) account of even recent events astounds me. As does your continued unwillingness to join the dots where other Emerald devs’ alleged complicity is involved.
- “Similarly a nameless third party who (lets face it) HACKED a database that was being privately amassed is trotted out with an incongruous agreement which (correct me if I’m wrong here) could be paraphrased as “make your database public and scrub it from your server or I’ll publish it all for you”. Call me old fashioned, but act of throwing all that information out into the public eye is by magnitude a far greater act of irresponsibility than one man amassing the information for a private database in the first place. ”
- “Eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Also, it’s called grey-hat hacking. The “faceless” third-party is Hazim Gazov, but I suppose you wouldn’t have known that”
I kinda already knew, the screencaps being a bit of a dead giveaway, I just wanted to hear you say it. For you to categorically put your hat in the ring in such a manner that makes it impossible for you to back out later without looking like a total ass. And what an interesting cliche you choose to use here. “Eye for an eye… makes the whole world blind”. Tell me, just how BLIND are you to the situation as it stands? You’ll happily squeal yourself blue in the face over Fractured’s involvement both present and past, yet when it comes to friend Hazim’s criminal activities you’re strangely silent?
Throwing your own words back in your face here, “why would you trust this person”? Mind if I supply you with an answer? “Why, because he’s a hacker of websites of course!” Never mind that hacking is considered illegal, never mind that he’s just furnished not just the entire grid, but also any asshole in the world with a database previously only available to ONE person, a database YOU EVEN ADMIT was a bad idea in the first place. No. In spite of everything, you’ll trust Hazim. You will trust this criminal to supply you with true and accurate accounts, you will trust his word they are so, you will trust him because IT SUITS YOUR PURPOSES TO TRUST HIM.
And there you have your answer to your earlier pretended bewilderment as to why anyone might trust the Emerald devs. Because it “suits their purposes to”. As to what those purposes might be is a matter for conjecture, though I’m here to tell for my part the fact that they supply a wildly popular viewer that beats the pants off practically every other one going (at least where I am concerned) is a powerful lure. The fact I have a great bunch of amicable individuals to draw on for tech support and at a moment’s notice is merely the icing on an already rich cake.
- “You then introduce vague threats of Phox threatening to commit a break and enter theft. Presumably this carried as much weight as any schoolyard threat to “blow up someone’s letterbox” or “get their daddy to bash up someone elses daddy”. E-freenis waving, or I am a n00b. I am left to conclude from the reported failed attempt to “harass” someone over the phone using a faked phone number that this database wasn’t anywhere near as damaging as its made out to be, not the least since these evil internet terrorists are in fact walking the earth as free men and *gasp* STILL logging into SL. Then there’s the a concerted attempt to deprive the third party HACKER of his internet connection. To hear you tell it, it was unsuccessful, despite your assurances Phox claimed otherwise.”
- “Again, believe me if you want, I really couldn’t care less if you’d rather put your trust in these shady characters. It happened, and he boasted about breaking into his neighbors’ homes regularly, as well. But right, I forgot, you just want to dispute everything I say.”
Its called “logical argument”. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The ancient Greeks were big supporters of it and its enjoyed a long and colourful history right down through the ages. Ultimately it can be used to great effect, provided your argument hasn’t got FAIL stamped all over to begin with.
“It happened” you say. Very well, what proof do you have of it happening, why are you suddenly according Phox’s boasts the ring of truth you are loathe to grant any of his more tangible qualities and how exactly does this fit into the grand mosaic of why every Emerald dev ought not be trusted? I’m having a little trouble in understanding why this guy is still roaming the suburbs, presumably breaking into houses, ringing random numbers plucked from dodgy database and so on, boasting about it with malice aforethought etcetera etcetera. If I step back from the argument and eyeball the facts, I’m forced to conclude that Phox hasn’t *actually* done anything that his local law enforcement agency feels worth pursuing.
Now, break and enter is something I would call worth pursuing. Harassment as well. I am certain that whatever law enforcement agency polices the area where Phox operates feels the same way. If its a US law enforcement agency, I don’t doubt that just like officers of the law will roam the my space and facebook pages of juveniles to find where the next underaged drinking binge is scheduled for they are more than capable of tying Phox’s internet boasts to real life events. And I am 95% certain that Phox lives in the US. Maybe I watch too much COPS, but the general impression I get of US police officers is that they don’t take very kindly to people who even LOOK like they are about to break the law. Conclusion? Phox has done nothing he can be arrested for and you’re wishing like hell otherwise.
Simply boasting about ones exploits in itself is not a crime. So there’s a loudmouth or two in the team. A couple of them run side projects that have the haters blood constantly on the boil. Until you and your merry bunch of hacker-cuddling friendlies can pony up with some REAL meat as to why the individuals that comprise the Emerald team ought not be taken at face value AND do so with the superior moral platform you have just so eloquently demonstrated you lack, your entire circus might just as easily be tarred with the same “guilt by association” brush that you are so keen to whitewash the Emerald devs with.
Misrepresentation of another is a crime, particularly if it causes right thinking people to think worse of that person. When a person is misrepresented in the written word, it is called libel. Bear that in mind as we consider the following.
- “I can answer that in part for you by referring you to the DDoS that wasn’t. Pure panic-mongering this, since DDoS is an abbreviation of Distributed Denial of Service. And since the “service” wasn’t “denied” in this case, it cannot in the strictest sense be termed a DoS, distributed or otherwise. Then again, calling it for what it is (a spam attack) lacks that badly needed *oomph* required to incite a ruckus. DDoS sounds FAR more impressive, that I *will* admit.”
- “Oh, god, you’re one of these people. Is attempted murder not a crime? A DDoS refers to the attack, not the result.”
No, it doesn’t.
World English Dictionary
DDoS
— abbreviation for
distributed denial of service: a method of attacking a computer system by flooding it with so many messages that it is obliged to shut down
Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Thankyou dictionary.com. What we have here is a definition for the term DDoS, taken verbatim from a respected authority on “words wot mean things”. The definition confirms my stance in a previous comment as being true and correct, it confirms the stance of various IT professionals, presumably it reflects the stance of legal authorities in a wide variety of jurisdictions but MOST importantly, it confirms the stance of one person you outright called a liar for.
I think its high time you owed Arabella an apology for that oversight, don’t you?
And speaking of apologies, I’d like to extend my own for a typo yesterday. You are of course correct to point out it was GB and not MB. An oversight I should have caught in the final proof read, though like you I am anything but perfect. Though it still doesn’t change the figures I used (yours), I’m glad we tidied up that little minutae for the record.
And in dribs and drabs, you keep adding to the figures. 2.1TB I agree is NOT an inconsiderable sum of data and even Hazim’s previous hacking of Fractured’s website cannot be considered an acceptable excuse to go out and exact bloody vengeance on Hazim’s website bandwidth. Whether delivered over the course of an unspecified number of days (spam) or in a concentrated ten second burst (DDoS), its still bad form and every bit as illegal. I’m sure you are in agreeance on all of this, I would imagine that if you set your personal proclivities aside that you would admit fault in both parties for the way they conducted themselves, though I won’t be losing any sleep if you elect to afford Hazim his Get Out Of Jail Free card while denying Fractured his.
One thing that does beg the question though is why was it allowed to go on as long as it did? You say Hazim’s site was targeted over the course of more than one day. Very well, WHY wasn’t it stopped sooner? I’ve been in the unenviable position of adminning sites previously and know that a genuine DDoS attack is hard to beat, even with server level access (which presumably Hazim had, it being billed as his own site and all). Constant low level traffic loading of the type you are so quick to market as a DDoS on the other hand is a different matter. That is so easily dealt with it defies description. If you’re getting repeated hits on the same group of images, change the directory name, fire up an html editor, do a search/replace using the relevant strings, upload the new html. Somewhere in amongst all this you can decide for yourself if theres a bannable address within the stream of image requests AND provided you’ve kept traffic logs you can address complaint to your own webhost and perhaps more tellingly, the offending webhost.
How many days? Why did it take so long for anyone to catch it? I despise having to drag the information out of kicking and screaming people and wish someone would just come clean and ADMIT in simple, basic language even if it DOES make them look like putzes. I’d rather have a putz tell me what the true state of affairs is than someone trying to hide they are a putz by making something out to be something its not. If someone is guilty of manslaughter you don’t charge them with murder one. If someone rockets through an amber light at 80mph, you dont charge them with running a red light. And if someone contrives to leech someone elses bandwidth over the course of a few days you do NOT charge them with DDoS. You sure as hell don’t call other people liars when they refute a fallacious claim you’ve made, you admit your error (kind of like I did with the typo above) and you get on with it. There was no plan to take out Hazim’s site, any reasonable analysis of the events as presented proves there wasn’t and you standing up to rewrite the dictionary doesn’t cut it.
Jesus, the more I get into it, the more pitiful and pathetic this freakshow of chanting clowns becomes. Further along I challenge your assertion of there being 20% of users on the grid accessing Emerald. I reckoned it closer to between 40-60%, based in large part on the amount of Emerald tags I see during the course of my day. If you bothered to “know your enemy” by actually USING the client, this is something you could verify easily for yourself, though I’ve no doubt you’ll tell me Hell doesn’t freeze fast or something.
What I *DIDN’T* expect was for you to offer up the following.
- Oh, I see where you’re going here. You’re just going to base that number solely on your own private study, most likely in sims where noobs with Viewer 2 don’t hang out. And again, this didn’t occur over the course of a day or two.
Are you being strange? In the absence of viewer data from Linden Labs, just where do you expect me to find such a number? From someone who doesn’t use the viewer? Or maybe any one of the security tools that checks for alts?
You might as well know that my travels do indeed include the odd welcoming point. Back when I was perhaps a month old in SL I happened to encounter someone who for whatever reason decided to take me out shopping on her dime. And she sure wasn’t stingy when it came to shelling out the linden. I felt bad about it, like I was getting something for nothing but she just kept saying “shhh, shop”.
Hair from Truth, skin from Redgrave. A bunch of latex from Sintimacy and Latex Station. Neko gear from Urban Dare. Eyes from somewhere that escapes me for the moment (it will come to me later I am sure). All in all not a cheap trip. She bothered to introduce me to employers in SL, introduced me to the people who ultimately found me my dream home.
Now I extend that same courtesy to newbies I feel like helping. It costs a bit, but its worth it to see their smiles and I’ve made a few lasting friendships out of it. Plus I argue its combatting copybotting in my own small way, considering that these newbs are being put in front of genuine content creators work and getting a leg up into the SL metaverse.
Where might I find this raw, untapped resource of newb I hear you ask? Well, pretty much anywhere really. Welcome areas a good starting point. And strangeley enough, you finde a good many emerald tags there.
But you’re right, I should learn not to rely on the evidence of my own eyes. Here’s a pretty number from a non-CDS security system – 53%. An increase, if you MUST know of 4% since last I bothered to check. Taken from a readily avaliable, widely used, purchased off the shelf security system available in-world even as we speak.
You are perfectly at liberty to question the calculations that particular tool made to come up with that number, you can even question that I have access to such a tool or even that I just yanked that number out of thin air. I for one have no idea of how to verify the accuracy of such a number other than “my own private study”. Even if you cannot verify it for yourself (being that you likely don’t use the Emerald client and therefore don’t see viewer tags), you must admit that it would go a long way to explaining why Linden Labs and the present Emerald dev team are bending over backwards to certify the viewer as TPV compliant. I imagine the gentle nudge from Philip Linden for Emerald Users to try different clients, most of which enjoy grid user reaches that can be measured in fractions of a percent.
I don’t envy his position. Philip Linden’s I mean. Not all of the Emerald users will be able to make the transition to other clients (I certainly cannot) and many more simply will not make the attempt. That translates to a massive loss of logins overnight if he hits the eject button on the Emerald client, probably the largest the grid has seen, ever. The knockon effect would be incredible, grid economy would totter and possibly even collapse entirely. Shops closing, landowners unable to make tier, sim shutdowns and most tellingly, a lot of Very Unhappy Stockholders.
No, I don’t envy him. How could I? This is the LAST thing he needs right now. Far better to see Emerald established as a transparent and fully compliant entity, and you can bet the devs and beta testers are busting a gut to provide a clean, robust viewer. You’d have to prove every last Emerald user had horns and a tail at this point before he’d throw caution to the wind I expect.
- “You’ll forgive me if I suspect you of panic mongering. Based on your numbers and simple maths, I am presented with a scenario which defies description – close to ten thousand people simultaneously and repeatedly hammering a website at the behest of some evil DDoS orchestrating overlord… yet barely any of these bejewelled e-acolytes notices? Give me a break! As any IT professional could tell you, there exist tools FAR more effective at shunting the amounts of data claimed AND in timeframes a lot tighter than I expect you can claim here.”
- “No, I won’t. You’re just disputing everything solely to discredit my proposition so you can feel safe when you load up Emerald. But hey, I don’t really care. In any case, I never cited a timeframe, so I’m not sure where you keep pulling that one out of. (Ah yes, your ass, where most of your information seems to come.)”
Riiiiight. Like that figure of 20% you pulled out of yours? Or the claim I am disputing you solely to discredit your proposition? Awwww poor you, I had no idea you were so sensitive to being cross examined. Quit crying. Far from disputing “everything”, I have in fact limited myself in large part to the holes in your argument. I already know what parts work and asking you to explain them does nothing past making you feel good. I am NOT here to make you “feel good”. I am here to satisfy myself that your account of events is true and accurate and if by some miracle at the end you feel GOOD then so much the better.
True, you never cited a timeframe. Given the fact it can be measured in DAYS (not minutes, DAYS) it becomes nigh on impossible to establish an intent on anyones part to DDoS a site and pitifully easy to disprove. It is this inalienable fact and no other that decided me against scrolling past your crosspost earlier. When you called Arabella a liar for stating there was no DDoS, YOU WERE WRONG.
Again, the definition – “a method of attacking a computer system by flooding it with so many messages that it is obliged to shut down”. Obliged to shut down. As in turn off, crash, melt, become a doorstop. You will notice I trust, no mention is made of “dribble a few requests for one pixel images and wet yourself laughing as the bandwidth inches up and your opponents carry on like monkeys on acid”. Waving your arms in the air crying “OMG-DDoS!” makes you look like a cretin, which for the benefit of doubt I will assume is not your intent.
- “But let us for the moment presume we are all wrong and you are incontrovertibly right. Stranger things have happened after all. Well then, mind if I inquire as to what the source code for such an evil tool is doing in plain sight of any yahoo with a passing knowledge of html, access to proxy lists and the coinage required for a GoDaddy account? Let me guess – the readers of the Alphaville Herald are all fine upstanding citizens and would never ever contemplate such a heinous act? Pffft!”
- “What source code? if you’re talking about the Emerald login page, the overwhelming majority of users don’t check the source code for it on the MS website. Unless you’re talking about something else that you failed to mention.”
Pssst. Scroll up. See those pictures at the top of the page? The ones marked “source”? What do YOU think they contain? What do you think might happen if some random miscreant were to type it out, add a proxy list and set it in an infinite loop?
I would hope the offending routine was incomplete. I have not the ability to fully understand the html and would guess a good many people here fall into the same category. But I have every reason to expect that there are those reading this who DO have the knowledge to understand it, of that there will be a smaller subset with axes to grind (motive) which leaves us looking at opportunity. And there is all the time in the world.
There’s even a URL in the address bar, though I have to figure there are those present who know full well how to google a cached page. Taking it down at this point is no guarantee in the short term either. There’s enough people present who know where to look and enough hints for any random surfer to fill in the blanks. You can claim all the culpability in the world for Fractured Crystal and even make a fair amount of it stick, yet infinitely closer to where you are browsing exists something far more potent and dangerous and pretending you have no idea what I am talking about will not make it go away.
Its a catch 22 that faces nearly every journalist. A good many adopt the maxim “publish and be damned”. Want to hazard a guess where we’re at now? I’m sure the Alphaville Herald, its journalists and editors are big enough to weather it, they’ll still be blowing the lid off real stories and drumming up frenzies for others for years to come. I and others expect that, its why we come here. To see a spectacle and to live vicariously through it. It might be a sad indictment of the media for some but that is what they do and I’m adult enough to recognise that Emerald will come under fire from time to time. It makes great press. It certainly got YOU in.
Am I offended they chose Emerald? Hell no! A proper role of journalism is to report the news and where necessary protect its sources. I believe it is possible they could have presented a partial screencap, partial address, omitted the fact it was a cached page and still more than adequately conveyed the proof that Bad Things were afoot. It would have broken the code while no room for reasonable doubt, I’d still have taken it at face value and expect all of us would have too.
Like the database that got hacked, reprinting the very code one finds so reprehensible is like screaming “FIRE” while pouring on the gasoline. Taking something you would have us believe is THAT BAD from one person and putting it in the hands of many is reprehensible conduct unbecoming of the mature and moral guardians you would have us believe you are.
- “Your claims are bogus and it doesn’t take an internet whiz to see through them. The worst you can claim in this case is that a site got spammed and MAYBE there were a small handful of Emerald clients involved. That I will agree with you is an appalling state of affairs, though it falls far short of your rabid cries that Arabella is lying about there being no DDoS. There wasn’t a DDoS. No service was denied, therefore there was no Denial of Service. Quit indulging in character assassination until you have something valid to assassinate a character over, lest you be seen as the boy who cried wolf when something REALLY nasty presents itself.”
- “What the hell? Did you not read that massive list of things I posted?”
Yeah, I did. And before I allow you to run your mouth again I shall remind you of the context of my quote. Your bogus claims specifically in this instance are your assertion of what a DDoS was, also that Arabella was lying when she said there was none. I have repeatedly beaten you over the head with logic, with the word of an IT specialist of some 25 years and most recently the dictionary itself to show you why such claims were bogus. You’re so quick to claim I refuse to read what you say, have you taken a long hard look in the mirror lately?
Now, your rant. I’ll need to break this up since you’re beginning to repeat a bunch of stuff which if blowing my post out into realms that would make even Prok shudder.
- They hacked someone’s SL account and threatened them
Who? When? Why is Linden Lab not taking them to task? Name names and link links, you’ve already given me plenty of reason to doubt your word over the Arabella incident.
- used exploits to obtain your computer’s data (IP, MAC, check your filesystem, etc.)
You mean like the standard data transfer that happens with countless websites and online games? I care, really. 0.0 <–see how much I care? Until you can offer me a single valid reason why I, an Emerald user, should be quaking in my boots that these people are in fact receiving this data that is available to every website I've ever visited, you'll forgive me for comparing you to Chicken Little.
(note: despite your earlier claim of this being a "massive list of things you posted", this is in fact the first mention I recall you making of MAC addresses)
- and stored it on an insecure server, allowed anyone to read your install path and viewer’s title bar
Yeah, as evidenced by the efforts of your friend Hazim who – of wait, I'm getting ahead of you here, do continue.
- lied about it
Yeah, those liars are terrible aren't they? Why, I had someone try to con me about what a DDoS was not so long ago!
- and claimed said functionality removed, did it again, “removed” it again, then removed it for good a third time (supposedly) just recently, then began using ALL Emerald clients – which I explained, but you apparently don’t understand, because you claim only a “handful” were affected
Mmmmm, this wouldn't have been around the time you were proclaiming the DDoS attempt? As has been shown (again and again and again) your understanding of what a DDoS entails appears radically different from the industry term, to say nothing of Harper Collins. Since a single DDoS attempt involves typically a bunch of fragmented requests (see? learn something new every day) at a target in a very short time frame, it is perhaps proper to expect that only a few Emerald clients could have been on hand at the time. Now you have kindly amended your account with the extra detail that this occurred over a period of DAYS, you do indeed satisfy the requirement that perhaps more Emerald clients were affected than your previous, unqualified assurances might have otherwise indicated at the expense of your already tenuous claims that it was a DDoS attack and not merely bandwidth leeching (as would have been a more proper claim for you to make).
– to [attempt to] DDoS Hazim’s website without provocation.
You don't see the act of someone hacking anothers website provocation? Oh dear, your people skills DO need work!
- Then, when they were caught, they lied about it again
You know, for someone who went all out to continue lying after his DDoS lie was exposed, you're awfully free with the epithet on other people. Are you having trouble sleeping straight at night?
- and instructed their users to spread rumors around
This must be another memo I missed.
- then faked a restructure and booted the bad egg
Another lie of yours? I've seen the "bad egg's" resignation letter where he hands control of the project over to Arabella. I can link you to it, though you might not like the amount of nice things that are said about him in the comments field.
- (even though he’s still in as a lower dev using an alt)
You can list those names any time you like. Granted its a ToS violation to do so, but hey – "its only Fractured, he doesn't count", right?
Besides, I feel like asking him myself why any senior dev would need a bunch of lower dev access alts. God knows, I'm not getting a straight answer from you on the subject!
- and bitched at LL for removing their TPV policy compliancy status.
I suspect the term "bitched at" to be a little artistic license on your part. I doubt they'd be making disparaging comments at LL at this juncture and think it more likely they'd be looking to placate the issue.
Maybe I should check your definition against the dictionary's. Are you game?
- How is that just totally ignorable?
Its not and I've bothered to break it down into itty-bitty bite sized chunks this time around in the hopes you might possibly digest it. Are we THERE yet?
- Oh, right… I keep forgetting, sorry.
No kidding? Your pretend apology is accepted.
- “Now, the emkdu.dll. It might please you to know that various Emerald users were coached on how to remove this. LordGregGreg may or may not have been one of these, I have never been privy to any attack on his integrity and I am a member of the Emerald, Emerald Lounge and Emerald Beta Users group. I only know the person who coached me on how to remove it, and this was well and truly *B*E*F*O*R*E* the questions of its leaking of installation folders became a de rigueurmortis for the masses.
- "Yes, some users were coached on how to remove it after the fact got out that it was broadcasting your private data."
Learn to read. I said "before", not "after".
- Sure, if it reports installation folders and there are people DUMB ENOUGH to use their real life full names as logins then maybe there is a problem. A problem which for the record might easily be resolved by more secure internet practices (like NOT using identifiable information for your computer login).
- "some users (particularly as members of educational organizations) are REQUIRED to make their username their actual, full name. I was required to do so all through middle school, high school, and college.
If you are defrauding your employer for playing second life when you ought to be working, I'd say you should be more worried about losing your job. Also, while I am not entirely familiar with your country's quaint little customs, I'm pretty sure that studying hard and getting good grades takes precedence over running a bunch of pixels about a metaverse on an educational institution's dime. Which, if you are in middle or high school, is a breach of that ToS you were waving in my face earlier.
However, I am fully aware that most children pay scant attention to the rules and regulations supposedly mature adults set out for them. Then again a bunch of them use their full names on Facebook and even publish street addresses of parties. Then the cops come along and haul away the underage drinkers, Mom and Dad get all embarrassed at the police station, haul them off back home and in some cases, beat the living crap out of them.
The moral of the story? Do something wrong, you run the risk of getting caught and taken to task for it.
I really want to cut you some slack here Nelson, but you are making it awfully difficult for me to do so, short of turning my back on you and walking away in disgust. A resonable course of action of NOT creating a login that uses your name and you trot out SCHOOLCHILDREN of ALL PEOPLE to make your point??? Fine. Allow me to suggest that if you're so concerned about protecting the little children from Big Bad Fractured and his happy-go-lucky sidekick Hacker Hazim (or anyone matching their descriptions) that you truck on down to the dollar store, buy a pair of sidecutters and spend the rest of your life going town to town like a latter day Johnny Appleseed, snipping the internet cables off computers on the outside offchance there might be any children who haven't learned internet ettiquette yet.
A ridiculous suggestion to make, but no more so than your argument. Your proposing the cessation of an incidence of (questionably) white collar crime so untold THOUSANDS of others might commit little acts of white collar crime of their own and completely unremarked by any third party is ridiculous. It's also purely academic at this point, since the affected DLL is no longer being distributed. With the intense scrutiny it has been subjected to I would be utterly amazed to find it had a parallel in the present release of Emerald.
- "Noone at grid management level seems prepared to bring the ban-hammer down on Skills and I haven’t seen any committed third party hacker linking us to databases either. Another furfy on your account? I don’t imagine for a single moment she would rank as a target on *your* radar if she had never laid eyes on the Emerald client and your whole “guilt by association” shtick falls flat on my ears.”
- "She’s part of the Emerald team. Do your research."
No kidding??? Wow, what newsflash! Stop the presses, the girl who makes the CDS also contributes to Emerald!!!
I belong to my local Lions club, I also belong to the local hockey team. If I break someone's ankle on the field, that must mean ALL the Lions club members break ankles?
No, I didn't think so either. So you cannot honestly expect me to hold the entire Emerald dev team responsible for the side project of one of its members any more that I might claim the entire grid being a bunch of shockingly bigoted alarmists simply because you happen to inhabit it.
- “Until you can categorically and emphatially provide a list of complicit individuals at the dev level AND have it confirmed by someone in a position to back you up, then your blanket allegations as to any imagined evils of the Emerald client and the perils for all who come into contact with it remains pure conjecture. I for one am unconvinced, though open to any smoking gun that blows it all wide open. I have yet to be shown anything remotely approacing this. At the time of writing, Emerald might be delisted, though it has not been outright banned. It might be argued that the net effect on the grid is something Linden Labs is not prepared to countenance and if such a discussion has already been undertaken then I will thank you to link me to it as you were so ready to link me to past Alphaville articles, not airily announce on Philip’s and Soft’s behalf that they have entered into discussions and let it go at that. One wonders why you might adopt such a clandestine approach.”
- "Do the research yourself. Nothing I say can prove anything"
Damn, had I read this abdication of yours first I might have have saved myself the keystrokes.
You are wrong of course, there is one thing you've proven to me. As loud as you rant about Emerald, in the end the courage of your convictions is sorely lacking and your ability to form a cohesive argument to support your claims is quite bluntly non-existant. Of the facts you claim to have presented, maybe a quarter of them I've satisfied myself to have any meritous basis in reality.
My only regret is you lacked the stamina to go the distance. I was only just getting warmed up. I'll pop past later on the offchance you've changed your mind. XOXOX
Jocelyn Pawpad
Aug 26th, 2010
Oh, and for the record, I’m glad to see common sense prevail with the removal of certain screencaps of code. Sensible move, someone deserves to be commended.
Credit where its due and all.
Charity Stohr
Aug 26th, 2010
@Jocelyn Pawpad
TL;DR
General Drama
Aug 26th, 2010
@Jocelyn,
tl;dr, but I will point out that your misspelling “memos” as “memoes” totally discredits anything you have to say from the first line.
Jocelyn Pawpad
Aug 26th, 2010
Cool, I’ve broken the speed concentration in front of my contemporaries.
Now, does anyone mind if I crosspost their white flags into in-world IM? Along with General Wacka’s assertion a spelling error beats endlessly repeated misuse of terms (like DDoS?)
Thought not. Thanks for playing. Ciao XOXOXOXO
Tsunade Aonifall
Aug 26th, 2010
All of you who didn’t read… pussies. Just because Jo systematically makes a concise and perfectly agreeable retort in as much detail as possible, you don’t read it. Pfft. Only takes 50 or so minutes. If you really care, read it. If not, then you obviously don’t care enough too be allowed an opinion. I pity you.
Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia
Aug 26th, 2010
@Jocelyn: This is a comment thread, not a novel. You know that, and I think you posted like you did just to kill the conversation.
IDK, maybe you had something to say that really took up that much space. I’ll never know, because I never read it, and no, you can’t make me.
tl;dr
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 26th, 2010
@ Jocelyn Pawpad
Let me provide one to mine as well:
http://alphavilleherald.com/2010/08/emerald-flack-arabella-steadham-i-dont-lie.html/comment-page-3#comment-63291
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 26th, 2010
Oh, also, forgot to cross-post.
@ Jocelyn Pawpad
The only thing that you proved to me was that yes, you DO have some serious time to waste.
No, I take that back: you have proved to me that I should unsubscribe from all articles you post in so that you don’t crash the gmail app on my phone.
I will, thus, concede to you: you have an extensive future in literature and may, perhaps, become an artist someday. Otherwise, you have no talent and you’re full of shit.
By the way, I did manage to catch your “definition” of DDoS. It doesn’t mention at all that it must be successful, so let’s check out the Wikipedia article (as, generally, dictionaries are not always up-to-date with the exact definitions on tech-related subjects):
“A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users.”
Now…
“Denial-of-service attacks are considered violations of the IAB’s Internet proper use policy, and also violate the acceptable use policies of virtually all Internet service providers. They also commonly constitute violations of the laws of individual nations.”
And, of course, don’t forget the TPV Policy. Hey! Fun little tip. If your ISP was in a bad mood today, it could’ve revoked your internet service over this. Isn’t that neat?
However, let me be frank. Your opinion does not matter. The Lab determined that it was a DDoS, and if you wish to fight that, be my guest. In a practical sense, though, you are still wrong, and it was a DDoS.
In any event! Please don’t bother responding to this, as I simply don’t feel like spending any more time arguing over these things. If you want to be an Emerald fangirl, that’s all fine and dandy. We’ll see what happens, and if Emerald is still around, good for you, your #1 client is still allowed to access the grid. However, when the next Emerald scandal pops up, I sure do hope you at least consider that you’re being shafted once again.
As for anyone else who bothers responding to her, you have my utmost sympathy.
Jayd3n
Aug 26th, 2010
Thank You for making this short and simple I love it, and that is just about right, wish I was good like that =^,,=. Who is going to stop these pricks from screwing up Second Life, and their supporters…
Even with Emerald Gone, CDS is still in Second Life screwing around with people.
bc
Aug 26th, 2010
@joceyln
My eyes glazed over and then my tongue fell out of my mouth lolling.
The information content of your message:
null
Lok Mistwalker
Aug 26th, 2010
@ Jocelyn Pawpad
Wow dude, War and Peace!
I didn’t exactly read what you said… can we say summarize?
Try reading some facts instead of blindly following emerald misfits.
Several of us have warned against this all along and thank-you, Nelson (and other authors), for your excellent comments.
tl:dr
Kiddoh
Aug 26th, 2010
@Joceyln:
Your long-winded post just DDoS’d my dial-up connection. It’s soap on a rope for you~! >;O
Nelson Jenkins
Aug 26th, 2010
By the way, if anyone is seriously interested:
http://emeraldscandal.wordpress.com/
Strayn Janus
Aug 26th, 2010
Hopefully in before “don’t trust what wikipedia says”…
In the world of IT security, CERT are pretty well trusted. Let’s see what they say about it:
A “denial-of-service” attack is characterized by an explicit attempt by attackers to prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service. Examples include
* attempts to “flood” a network, thereby preventing legitimate network traffic
* attempts to disrupt connections between two machines, thereby preventing access to a service
* attempts to prevent a particular individual from accessing a service
* attempts to disrupt service to a specific system or person
(From http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/denial_of_service.html )
You may notice the word “attempts” in there. Intent is important, results are not.
Judge Joker
Aug 27th, 2010
A Poll: Who’s side are you on, in the Emerald Gate Drama?
http://furry.se/poll.html
Vote please, it will give us an overview of what the real situation is in number form, because realistically I still think Emerald has too many fans who are Numbing themselves to any and all situations that the Emerald Dev’s create.
Tomcat
Aug 27th, 2010
80 percent of this post is true, but only 20 percent of the readers believe it
Emperor Norton hears a who?
Aug 27th, 2010
Sigh,
looks what’s happen. All the drama ran out of this. My god, can’t Emerald do the decent thing and build a giant black, suggestively shaped monolith in the middle of Bay City or something so we can rage over that?
John Life Smith
Aug 27th, 2010
@ Jocelyn Pawpad
You really need to do your research. The evidance is out about what Emerald Dev team has done not just from the alphavilleHerald, but from people that were on the development team, and others that discovered the malicious activity this development team does.
I was a Emerald User I thought it was the best, but after this “stunt” i have no desire to ever trust anyone on the development team.
They have not given me any reason to trust them.
They are all to blame and I seriously hope P. Linden gets smart and bans the emerald team from SL and removes their sim.
Enough of the BS they have failed to many times to be allowed any more chances.
Gundel Gaukelei
Aug 27th, 2010
@Jocelyn “I would hope the offending routine was incomplete.”
Translates into “I have no fscking clue what really happened, but despite that I keep lecturing you”
Smells of cats …
Persephone Bolero
Aug 27th, 2010
@Joycelyn
If it’s any consolation, I’ve heard and considered your case. Thanks for presenting another side of this controversy.
Jocelyn Pawpad
Aug 28th, 2010
@ Lok
- “Wow dude, War and Peace! I didn’t exactly read what you said… can we say summarize?”
Sure. I made a brief comment to an Emerald flag burner in a Woodbury Uniform and got dogpiled by over a dozen extremely sore individuals who got even more upset when I obliged their complaints that I was “forgetting things” with more thorough responses.
@Bubble
- “This is a comment thread, not a novel. You know that, and I think you posted like you did just to kill the conversation.
Not at all. Concerns were raised by someone I happened to be talking to (hint: it wasn’t you) that I had been less than comprehensive in my attempts to respond to them. If you’ve an issue with my actions to redress that oversight,
- “IDK, maybe you had something to say that really took up that much space. I’ll never know, because I never read it, and no, you can’t make me.”
And this affects me how? My comments were to Nelson, not some random passerby with the attention span of a newt who thinks it important to get all 68 of their IQ points in my face, not to mention their drool all over my shirt. So you don’t read novels. I get it, really I do. Go sit in the corner with your colouring books and try not to damage yourself TOO much with your Crayolas.
@ Nelson
- “The only thing that you proved to me was that yes, you DO have some serious time to waste. No, I take that back: you have proved to me that I should unsubscribe from all articles you post in so that you don’t crash the gmail app on my phone.”
Try the Opera Minibrowser instead. I mean if you’re making a genuine observation and not merely complaining for the sake of complaining. It doesn’t cost a cent, its incredibly stable and (you’ll like this bit) guaranteed 100% Emerald-free.
Always happy to be of help.
- “I will, thus, concede to you: you have an extensive future in literature”
Hold that thought.
- “By the way, I did manage to catch your “definition” of DDoS. It doesn’t mention at all that it must be successful so let’s check out the Wikipedia article (as, generally, dictionaries are not always up-to-date with the exact definitions on tech-related subjects):”
Firstly, it the 2009 Harper Collins Dictionary definition. Not some open-source project whose legitimacy might reasonably be challenged (sound familiar?), but a recognised and current government approved authority. And it infers success of the attack when it says “that the computer is obliged to shut down.” Don’t mess with me over this, I “have an extensive future in literature” apparently.
As to your invocation of the Linden Lab gods as some sort of final authority on the matter, might it be proper to ask where your voice was when they were in direct and ongoing contact with Fractured over the results of the Onyx project? We all know the answer to THAT. By your actions, you were by proxy questioning Linden Lab’s judgement in the matter of Onyx. How strange that you would so blithely afford Linden Labs nomenclatoiral authority on website attacks, yet when it comes to issues directly affecting their bread and butter like SL and TPV security, YOU of all people know better than they?
And you have the hide to tell me I’M full of shit. I’m smiling Nelson, that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all day.
Now, given that this is the second time you’ve begged me to leave your comments go unquestioned in much the same manner as you’ve avoided questioning the bulk of my previous post, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you REALLY don’t want me to post at you, the BEST way you can demonstrate this is to turn your back and walk away from the argument completely uncommented, without as much as a keystroke regarding me or anything I have said in response to you. Remember who approached who here. I didn’t invite your comment in the first place, however you felt your comment worthy of directing my way and for my part I was prepared to extend you every courtesy for formal argument. I didn’t get where I am today by meek acceptance, I’ve fought hard for the knowledge I have attained.
If you feel your are not equal to the task of educating me further, you know where the door is. Otherwise feel free to continue and be assured I am listening closely and more than prepared to question anything that you say.
*smiles*
And yes, I will be leaving it up to the Alphaville Herald’s disrection as to what is “too long” to bother with. If my screeds, as comprehensive as they are out of the necessity to avoid claims that I “neglected to mention” this and “totally avoided” that were indeed to long, they wouldn’t have set the commentbox character limit so high in the first place.
@ Strayn
- “A “denial-of-service” attack is characterized by an explicit attempt by attackers to prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service… Intent is important, results are not.”
And intent to do so is precisely what is lacking, the methods used pointing to an entirely different intended outcome. I’ve covered this at length previously and am loath to tack a rehash of the proceedings on to this, though I did read through your link and can see more than enough in the omitted portion of the 13 year old document to argue the case against applying the term DDoS to Fractured’s activity.
But thankyou for at least making the attempt to back up Nelson’s argument with a definition from a bona fide authority on the source. Lets just hope he doesn’t make too much of an issue of the fact your source is “not [as] up-to-date with the exact definitions on tech-related subjects” as a wiki might be.
@ John
- “You really need to do your research.”
So I’ve been told, mostly by people who get snarky when I start asking questions. I think that’s funny.
@ Gundel
- “I have no fscking clue what really happened, but despite that I keep [smelling] cats …”
- “@ General Drama – I’m going to say to you regarding Emerald the same thing I said of the Woodbury U group that was slung out on its ear not so long ago. Namely “there might have been the odd pain in the neck associated with the group, but there were also some very talented individuals included too.”
(from http://alphavilleherald.com/2010/08/emerald-flack-arabella-steadham-i-dont-lie.html/comment-page-2#comments )
“Smells of cats” you say?
@ all here
A point you may all like to consider. The link above points to the page where I directed my first comments regarding this affair to someone who said:
“Woodbury warned all you retards months ago that Emerald was up to no good, but NOOOO, none of you idiots wanted to believe that Woodbury would get massbanned by LL for exposing the criminality of their little juvies. Vindication is sweet.”
I notice I was the only person to respond to this particular comment and while neither it or my response invited the rest of you to charge in, a number of you did in fact do so, some of you complaining bitterly when I actually decided to take a greater interest in the matter than I previously would have bothered with. In spite of what you might think from the amount I have said on the subject, in the end it doesn’t matter anywhere near as much to me as it appears to do for a good many of you.
I’ve gained a greater understanding of what has gone down and what continues to go down, but the whole argument for me is purely academic. I called it for what it was in my original comment to General Drama and over the course of the last few days I believe I have given more than adequate chance to be proven wrong. If my challenge to General Drama had gone as unremarked as his analysis that you were all retards and idiots for not listening to Woodbury, I might never have known just how right I was.
Feel free to continue waving your e-freenises. I only have a limited time at my disposal and have many other things to do besides endlessly debate your argument. However the chance to match wits with others is something I enjoy and I will naturally return later to see if anything new has been presented which I might sink my teeth into.
I thank for your time, expect me when you see me. XOXOXOX
Rob "N3X15" Nelson
Aug 29th, 2010
@ Jocelyn
Doesn’t matter. A DDoS is a DDoS, and it’s a felony that carries a maximum of 5 years in federal prison + a $250,000 fine. Intent doesn’t even factor in, even though the intent is clear: The Emerald login page repeatedly downloaded emkdu-related images in the background from the website that outed Emerald’s emkdu privacy leak. These images were hidden by a special HTML tag so that they continued to download without displaying them. JCool attacked the website in question, pure and simple.
Friend of all
Aug 29th, 2010
Yes Rob totally agree with you. James is stupid pulling off a ddos attack like that.
We
Aug 29th, 2010
@Rob “N3X15″ Nelson
Jocelyn is pretty much the only one trying to say it’s not a DDoS. Even Jessica Lyon, one of the PR and head support person for Emerald, refered to it as a DDoS repeatedly on the Rezzed.tv interview.
Want to make Jocelyn shut up and flee? Ask her about Phox telling people to install the emkdu a mere day or two after LL telling them “You are not allowed to distribute or use the emkdu”. She’ll stop replying immediately.