- Greetings cadets,
It's been an interesting year for the Solar Guard web site. As most of you are aware, the final blow to the Solar Guard Bulletin Board occurred Thanksgiving Week when the site was completely overloaded with spam. The directory filled up with spam at the rate of a Mb per minute resulting in the directory shutdown. The site has had a running battle with spam on the BB since 2003, but the last attack was too much too fast. In answer to many who have asked, yes, we will have another BB online. It may be a little different and it may be under a different domain name, but it will be back.
Dec 4, 2005
Update: Hang in there cadets, we hope to have the SGBB back on line within the next two days. A complaint is being filed about the spambot. If anyone is interested, I've made a listing of the sites that were part of the spam.
Cadet Ed
DEC 2, 2005
Update. The Message directory has been cleaned and there is a watch for any return posts from outside. I will make an attempt to restore the Board this weekend, but there may be more work to do. The removed posts will be screened for clues to how and when the spasm bot arrived, one problem may be sites that we link to from the Bulletin Board. The spambot posted three messages a minute and was adding about 4200 posts a day that corrupted the basic program,added junk to the directory and crashed the board. The posts had to be removed via FTP and was very slow with dial up. If this page disappears again, it will because the site is still in the spambot's sending program and we will have to work on an alternate plan. Stay tuned... Cadet Ed
November 25, 2005
Update on SGBB. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday. I've tried to open the main message directory but the directory is still inaccessible to me. Several attempts have been made to restore older versions of the SGBB without success, I need to use the message directory for any new message board file, and we may have to start with a new SGBB file. Work is continuing and as we were told in the "Golden Days of TV" …. Please Stand by …. Cadet Ed
November 24, 2005
Cadet Ed
|.. Tom Corbett ..|.. Space Patrol ..|.. Solar Guard HQ ..|.. Site Map ..|
February
15, 2006- a new Solar Guard BB forum is now available at Starlog.com
Thanks to fellow Cadet Tom Powers and associates on the newly formed Starlog Message Board, the Solar Guard has a Forum for cadets to post their questions, comments and general discussion about all things related to our favorite subject ... the space shows of the 50's and related Space Opera topics. The Starlog board started beta testing on the 14th and the Solar Guard cadets have been invited to join in as charter members. See link below.
This is a temporary bridge board until we can establish a new Solar Guard Bulletin Board on a revised Solar Guard web site. The link to the forum is at the end of this post. You will have to establish an ID and Password to view and post on the board. The Solar Guard forum is midway down the board in the FANTASTIC TV section. The Starlog Message Board will afford may extras that the old SGBB did not have. Remember it's the CONTENT of the posts that is interesting, not how you post them : - )
There are set rules for the board that everyone is asked to review and follow. Please read the guidelines and regulations as outlined in the moderators opening post. There are other interesting forums available on the board that will be enjoyed by cadets and may help introduce other SF fans to our favorite slice of the SF world.
Keep the Solar Guard tradition of good fellowship associated with good memories going. I will moderate the board to assure we stay on topic and stay within the guidelines set forth by our hosts.
Don't forget the SG
Reunion in March and I'll see you on the SG Forum.
Solar Guard Reunion - March 8th - 11th ,
2006 web page
Solar Guard Forum - Starlog
message board URL
There were other problems with hackers and spam bots that resulted in the solar guard mail and site being placed on a global blacklist. The blacklist caused lost, bounced or non response emails from and to the site. The spoofing of the solarguard.com email began in the spring/summer of 2005 and still occurs, although not in the volume it has in the past.
IMPORTANT: As of this time, there is only one official email address from me or any solar guard email ID and that's cadeted (at) solarguard.com. If you receive anything from webmaster (at) solarguard.com, admin (at) solarguard.com or any similar type of email, it is a spoof, do not open, delete right away.
I have received complaints about the spoofed ID and have taken steps to remove the site from the blacklist. My ISP has assured me that the international "black hat" global group somewhere in Europe is aware of the spoof and has (is) taking the site off the black list. I still get bounced emails from some of the smaller email domains, which I hope will be corrected soon.
I apologize if I have not responded to your email, my response or your email may have been bounced due to the "global blacklist". The solar guard email has been functioning properly since the first week of January and I have received responses from some of my emails that were bounced during the blacklist period of time.
The damage to the site could not have come at a worse time. Both work and the holidays did not allow the amount of time I needed to restore the bulletin board or the site problems. I truly miss the Season's Greetings page we have had for the past 6 or 7 years, but could not get the problems caused by the hackers resolved in time to work on the pages. You may find some dated pages or broken links on the site that will be corrected soon.
Finally, work on the upcoming SOLAR GUARD REUNION in Williamsburg, Virginia, has taken the remaining "spare time" I had to work on the site. Check the 2006 Solar Guard reunion pages for an update on the events and shows that will be at the Williamsburg Festival, it's going to be a good one.
In summary, the Solar Guard web site will have to have a complete overhaul which will included a new Bulletin Board, a larger download area, a newsletter program and a maybe a few other surprises for the Academy Cadets.
So hang tight cadets and we will continue to advance the interest of the early shows, share memories from the past and look forward to new adventures … till then…
Spaceman's Luck,
Cadet Ed Pippin
Solar Guard Academy
Yes, the Solar Guard site has been hit with a deep spam worm that is
proving very difficult to remove. I have to suspend the Solar Guard
Bulletin Board (SGBB) until we can work out a way to block the worm
and continue the SG BB.
This what I
can tell you now:
1-Early in the am on 11/22/2005 a post by Home Base Business made it's
way into the board's message directory.
2-While there it established it's own spam bot.
3- The spam replicated about 8,000 posts to the SGBB in a 24-hour period.
4- The posts blew away the main page - headers, posting etc. so what you have seen for the past few days is a shell of the posting file.
5-The worm has blocked my efforts in removing it from the message board. It has taken me two days to gain access to the main SG directory.
6- I have asked my ISP Administrator to remove the post - number 16359 - which, I hope, will allow me to back up the legal posts and reestablish the BB.
7- I'll post updates to the BB as frequently as I can. I hope we con resolve this by the weekend, but this is Thanksgiving ;-) and I'm thankful we have had 10 years on the Internet with 7 of those years meeting and discussing "space issues" on the SGBB.
I'm sorry for the problems and the busted board, but the Solar Guard seems to be on a hit list of some type. I hope to have a solution worked out soon… till then hang in there and wish us Spaceman's Luck.
Ed Pippin,
Cadet Commander
Solar Guard Academy
Email: cadeted (at)solarguard.com