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Monthly Archives: February 2008

Some Changes Ahead

Its time for a site overhaul again …

I’m a bit tired of having to update the sites underlying phpBB forum code the whole time while its hardly being used, so I’m slowly preparing a complete overhaul. The amount of time to apply the updates is more then my current schedule allows. As such I decides to write my own site from the ground up so I won’t have to apply updates on other people’s crappy code anymore ;) Small and fast PHP the way I want it without workarounds.

I’m going to focus on news, which means some functionality will be removed. Adding comments will still be possible, as I think that gives the possibility for you all to provide feedback which keeps me sharp while writing articles, but it will not be done with forum type functionality. For example no updates on new comments added and other such functionality. You will not have to be registered for adding a comment. It will be more like the system you see in use on other news sites, there’s simply the possibility to add comments and read those made by others without the overkill of a forum underneath.

I’m yet not sure whether to add a RSS news feed again. Is there a need for it? If you use it and hate to see it go, let me know!

Most of the articles (tutorials and such) are heavily outdated, and as you have seen, I rarely have the time to write new articles. Same goes for the links page and other sections. Again, focusing on news, and news alone.

If you have suggestions, idea’s, etc, let me know while I’m still coding. I have no idea when it all might be ready, it can be days or weeks, all depending on available time.

Hackers Declare War to Scientology

A group of hackers, who go by the name of “Anonymous” and use IRC as their base, declared war against Scientology. The group has released texts online which Scientology members normally have to pay for. Also DDoS attacks on the 18th of January rendered the church’s website unusable.

The attacks followed after Scientology tried to censor a mockup movie picturing Tom Cruise, one of the most known members of the church. In the movie the actor laughs hysterically and makes claims Scientology members are the only people able to save life’s after car accidents.

Scientology has since protected its website against DDoS attacks. Anonymous plans real world protest actions and have set February 10 for a wave of protest at Scientology locations worldwide.

“The so-called Church of Scientology actively misused copyright and trademark law in pursuit of its own agenda,” an Anonymous member said in a press release last week. “They attempted not only to subvert free speech, but to recklessly pervert justice to silence those who spoke out against them.”

Since then the group released a new video featuring a computerized voice saying: “Anonymous has therefore decided that your organization should be destroyed. For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind and everywhere. You will find no recourse in attack, because for each of us that falls, ten more will take his/her place.”

At the time of writing this article, almost 2 million people watched the video.

Anonymous also released a home phone number and social security number of a couple who they believed where pro-scientology hackers. The couple received an anonymous apology over phone when the error was recognized.

Although being another organization against the Scientology church, Operation Clambake does not agree with the methods used by the Anonymous group. Webmaster Andreas Heldal-Lund explains: “People should be able to have easy access to both sides and make up their own opinions. Freedom of speech means we need to allow all to speak – including those we strongly disagree with. [...] Attacking Scientology like that will just make them play the religious persecution card … They will use it to defend their own counter actions when they try to shatter criticism and crush critics without mercy”

QuakeNet Updates IRCd

“It is with great pleasure and much fanfare that we can now announce that the recent maintenance to the entire QuakeNet network was completed successfully” meeb announced on the QuakeNet website. QuakeNet uses an IRCd based on Undernet’s IRCu, and the current modified version named Snircd replaces the previous IRCd in use on QuakeNet named Asuka.

The new version includes new, or updated channelmodes: updated +m (regular users (no op or voice) can not change nick), updated +r (regular users can’t send anything to the channel or change nick), new +M (users can join the channel, but not speak or change nick) and finally new +T. “The NEW channel mode +T disallows any multi-target messages that are sent with PRIVMSG (normal messages) or NOTICE. This blocks (for example) anything sent by /AMSG with certain clients from showing in channels with +T set” according to the website.

Other changes can be found in commands /auth, /silence, /who and /list, and a few changes in the ident.

All changes are explained in depth in this post.

IRC: "Virus-like Behavior"

Something this site has always reacted against is the general publics’ conception (actually more the mainstream press I guess) that IRC is by default something nasty, a place full of crackers, a place where your credit card details are being sold for next to nothing or a way to control a drone net.

Each morning I visit a fairly long list of sites related to IRC, and one of them includes Google News to see what “IRC” bring me.

This morning another hit that made me frown. WebKnowHow.net brings an article about a new software package called Threat Expert. So far, cool cool, you probably all know as well that I am a HUGE fan of safe computing practice, and try to promote such practices here on this website (as on others I manage) as well. Despite realizing that the average IRC user that visits IRC-Junkie knows his stuff. Yes you are above average! ;)

But then it goes wrong when they quote the developers: “Threat Expert is embedded with sophisticated behavioral search technology that analyzes previously unknown threats, including rootkits. It knows the specific behavior of spyware, malware, adware, dialers, downloaders, worms, viruses, etc. It even looks for virus-like behavior that includes: mass mailing, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), exploiting Windows bugs, backdoors, and network distribution/replication.”

So there we go again: IRC must be something very nasty by default.

Funny thing is, I’m involved with IRC since ’94 or so. First to discuss 3D graphics with friends all over the world. Later as well as an oper on a fairly sized network. And I am even using this network to host a realtime chat for people interested in spaceweather. In this channel we feed realtime satellite data during severe storms that can lead to the display of northern lights well below the arctic (or above, when speaking of the southern hemisphere!). I can assure you, the people joining there vary from academics to the general public interested in the lights and are far from being trouble makers.

All in all, yes I engage trouble makers in my role as oper now and then, and have actually had my share of troubles with the type you rather would stay away form as much as possible. But does this minority make IRC virus-like behavior? If it was not for me being an oper, I would probably never have engaged them anyway. In my eyes, IRC is still a fun place to meet and chat with friends, family or mind-a-likes. It just needs common sense, just like any other type of place (virtual or not) where people meet.