How-to/FAQ
well, i had a ROCKIN’ how-to/faq page ready, but as i said in another post, it somehow got lost, so i’ll have to try, try again. this time, maybe i’ll let the professionals handle it for me, though.
i’m going to break this up into two sections: writing posts and writing comments.
Writing Posts
The way the system is set up currently, not too many of you will actually be writing POSTS. Posts are sort of like ‘topics’, or ‘articles’. They are the ‘meat’ of the site. To write a post, you have to be an “Author” on the site, not just a user. Currently, there are only a handful of folks who are authors. If you’d like to BE an author, send me an email at dave@morganminute.com, and I’ll get you set up.
For those of you who ARE authors and need a little help, here is a GREAT how-to, from the folks at WordPress: click here to read all about it
Writing Comments
The majority of folks will be adding “Comments” to the site. Comments are just your thoughts about something you’ve read on the site that you’d like to share with everyone. You don’t have to be an “Author” to write a comment. You simply need to create an account (always free), and then use the Comment box at the bottom of the post or page you’d like to comment on. You can use HTML to mark up the page, making it easy to write bold text, or add images and links.
Here is a site that has a vast array of HTML tags (click here). However, most of you will only use the most basic of tags, such as bold, italics, images, and links. I will come back and add some basic rules about HTML shortly, but I wanted to get at least this much posted for folks as they start to show up today.
Here’s a nice little banter between myself and nighthawk and myself about adding an image that you’ve got hosted on photobucket.com.
July 27th, 2007 at 10:13 am
FAQ: “Rogue Sites” on the Internet?
—FAQ BEGINS—
Last updated: January 12, 1997
Author: ricardo@paranoia.com (Ricardo H. Gonzales)
NOTICE: This text may not be reproduced in any form for profit without
the permission of the author. It may be reproduced in any
form provided that no money is being charged.
The question of so-called “rogue sites” on the Internet has recently
become a popular topic of discussion. This FAQ was created in order to
cover frequently asked questions about the “rogue site” label and to
discuss related issues of interest.
1. What is a “rogue site”?
A “rogue site” is the title that in the past was assigned to Internet
sites that were operated by individuals who were intent on harming
the net. The sort of net-abuse they practiced included
packet-sniffing, network floods, and account cracking. Recently,
the title “rogue site” has come to mean any site in which an
individual has an email account with which they can express
opinions anonymously or state an unpopular opinion without the
approval of certain people who would like to restrict these forms
of expression.
Each of these behaviours and methods of dealing with them will be
discussed below.
2. I am a system administrator. Why is my site being called a “rogue
site”?
What likely occured is that one of your users posted a message that
someone else didn’t agree with. What could have happened is that
the reader may have been in such strong disagreement that he posted
a message in one of the news.admin.* groups claiming that your site
is a rogue site.
It is also possible that a user on your system posted to several
newsgroups with a message that was unpopular. Or maybe a user on
your system sent unwanted email to people. If one person doesn’t
like the opinions or behaviour of your users, then you may
be labeled a “rogue site” by this person and their friends.
3. What is the UDP?
UDP stands for the USENET Death Penalty which is handed out by
an offended person and their friends when they don’t like the
user opinions or behaviours that come from your site. It is
a tactic of revenge by use of censorship to try to cut you off
from the Internet. It is an attempt to assert the values of
a person and his friends over free expression.
4. Who are these people who control “Netiquette” and the Internet?
Netiquette is a term that some people use when they mean to
say that there is a type of manners that you must adhere
to when using the net. However, this concept has lots of
problems in practice. There are a myriad of different ideas
about how manners on the net should exist. Some people would
like to keep things like a church where nothing confrontational
or strong may be expressed. Others would like to speak freely
and let others know about what they are thinking, even if it is
unpleasant or not socially conforming. There are of course all
ranges of personality types between this. Because there is not
and single definition for the type of manners that all people
should follow, there is no way to define netiquette, and it
effectively does not exist. Those who claim it exists will
cite a document that someone wrote, but that document only expresses
the netiquette of the author and there will be millions of people
on the Internet that disagree with that opinion.
When it comes to people trying to control the Internet, this is
an easier problem to solve. Because of its distributive and
democratically cooperative nature, no one really owns the Internet.
But there are people who would like to think that they did and try
to control people in various ways. Some controllers try to stop
people who post messages containing certain ideologies, political
thoughts, or that are even critical of the controllers. In some
cases the controllers send forged messages to cancel that articles
that offend them. Often they try to have other people’s accounts
removed. But there is a way to stop many of these offenses.
Because many of these people usually have this power through their
jobs, it is proper to have them fired for their abuse of their
position. Going through email to an administrator at their machine
is not likely to be seen by anyone but them. You will need to contact
a person who is in power at that organization and that may take
more work. A possible approach to finding this information is
to post your grievance and a request for information on one of
the news.admin.* groups where there are watchdogs who document
the net-abuse of cabal members. For long time offenders there is
a good deal of public information available about their employers
and private life.
5. Why are certain harmless behaviours deemed illegal by “Netiquette”
standards?
If you understand the fictional “Netiquette” as nothing more than a
system of morality that represents a small number of clamorous
people, you can understand how they tried to make it seem real.
They were effective in coming up with rules and propagating them, but
their netiquette system has no further basis than this. Adding to
the comedy and tragedy of this system is the fact that additional
arbitrary rules have been invented to rule alongside it. An example
of this is the “Breidbart Index (BI)” which is a made-up formula to
determine whether or not a person has posted “too many” messages in
a 45-day span. If a person has exceeded the BI level, people who
want to control the Internet will step in and begin to forge messages
as the sender to cancel the posts that their baseless formula
indicates are in excess. The disastrous thing about this system is
that the formula means nothing because it was simply made up by a
person so that they could claim a reason to control USENET. Anyone
could come up with any other formula and push it was a standard,
thought it would be equally as meaningless. Recently, a newer version
of the BI, called BI2, is being pushed as a stricter limit that will
allow for even more cancels of posts that this group dislikes.
Peter da Silva has recently been pushing for even stricter USENET
article cancellation rules. He wants to cancel anything posted to
more than 3 groups, though in some cases posting up to 2 dozen groups
may be an appropriate distribution method. This doesn’t seem to concern
him, nor does the extreme unpopularity of his opinions and actions,
which are seen as a threat to USENET by many.
The actions of the people who send forged cancel messages have
severely harmed the net. In reaction, several organizations are
looking for ways to bypass their actions to keep free expression
possible, while adding features such as ad hoc moderating/advising
to increase the value and openness of USENET.
What must always be remembered is that the responses to net abuse
that are being used now (forged cancels, following the Breidbart
index or other arbitrary scemes, etc.) only address symptoms
and never the cause of the actual problem. Any reliance on them
only serves to make the actual problem worse while no methods
of stopping abuse are being developed. Those who attempt to
enforce their methods on the net remain fixated on an old and
useless paradigm and do not see the larger picture. They end
up causing more problems than they solve and should be avoided.
6. How can I stop the cabal so that my users and I may speak freely?
The first thing you will want to do is to remove the power that
certain individuals have claimed for themselves. They have no
right to this power and should be removed from their positions
because of their abuse and harm to the Internet.
David C Lawrence (tale@uunet.uu.net)
He attempts to control all aspects of USENET group creation
and deletion. This means that he decides whether or not to
send approval for a group creation or cancelation of a group
that he does not approve of. This stifles attempts by interested
people to have a “Big 8″ group created to discuss timely matters.
His control limits or completely destroys all attempts to gain
decent message propagation across USENET, confining group
discussions to obscure “alt” groups that are rarely propagated
well, or at all, on most systems.
Chris Lewis (clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca)
He sends thousands of forged cancels a month to destroy posts that he
and his friends dislike. He claims to be doing a service and gets
very angry when people point out that he is cancelling articles that
they wanted to see or that he had no right to cancel.
John E. Milborn aka JEM (jem@xpat.com)
He’s another person who is proud of his forged cancel messages and
thinks he is a crusader for content control. In a strange sort of
way it is true that censorship and cancelling other people’s articles
is content control, but that’s nothing to be proud of. He has
recently claimed to have ceased his forged cancels, though forged
cancel messages continue to flow from someone using his address.
Robert Braver (rbraver@ohww.norman.ok.us)
This guy joined the bandwagon and loves to send forged cancel
messages too. But I bet he’d be upset if someone sent forged
cancel messages in his name if they disliked his posts.
Jan Isley (jan@bagend.atl.ga.us)
As a major USENET vote keeper, he was exposed for vote fraud and
shamefully stepped down from that position. Since then he has been
less of a public threat to USENET though he still operates behind the
scenes. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of resistance to the idea
of having new elections for all of the newsgroups that were created or
denied because of the massive vote fraud he perpetuated. He also
has proclaimed himself the only authority on what posts are not
permitted in the local atl hierarchy which resulted in another count
of Isley being called a censor and control freak.
7. As a user, how should I deal with users’ behaviours at a “rogue site”?
It is possible to act appropriately to each of the behaviours that
label a site to be a “rogue” one. Sometime it is most appropriate
to not act at all. Here are common recommendations:
Symptom: User expressed an unpopular opinion in a USENET group.
Solution: Discuss the opinion instead of trying to label that site
as a “rogue site” or having that user’s account removed.
Symptom: User posted a “disruptive” message in a USENET group.
Solution: The definition of a “disruptive” message seems nearly
impossible to achieve in practice. There has never been a
message posted that could not be skipped or ignored, therefore
there hasn’t ever really been a “disruptive” message.
Disregard the message or email the user if you feel
compelled to communicate. This is not an indication of
a “rogue site”.
Symptom: User posted a useless message, such as “MAKE MONEY FAST”.
Solution: Sadly, most of USENET consists of useless messages. This is
just one example of the sort of message that is useless to
some people. It is not permissible to cancel a message
simply because it serves no pragmatic value to you. Others
might find it useful. Disregard the message or email the
user if you feel compelled to communicate. This is not an
indication of a “rogue site”.
Symptom: User posted an unpopular message to several groups.
Solution: Use a filtering service for USENET content (see “How
do we fix USENET” below)
Symptom: User mailed unwanted messages to several people.
Solution: This is not a USENET problem, so should not be discussed
in any news.admin.* newsgroups. However, to keep this
sort of question from being asked in an improper group,
it will be answered.
There are several approaches to dealing with this problem.
The first thing you will want to do is demand that you
be removed from this person’s mailing list. If this does
not happen, you will want to complain the administrator so
that you will be removed. If this still does not work, you
might be able to arouse more interest in your request by
bombarding the offending system with megs of garbage email.
Several programs exist to automate this task.
To prevent the annoyance of unwanted email, you might want
to try either or both of these popular approaches:
1) Never post USENET messages that show a legitimate email
address. While this approach is enough for some to label
your site a “rogue” one, it will ensure that no companies
who collect email addresses from USENET postings will be
able to fill your email box with unwanted and unrequested
mail messages.
Since there is usually no legitimate need for anyone to ever
email you from a USENET post you made, this should cause no
problems for you and will prevent future annoyances.
2) Use a mail filtering device that only allows certain
pre-approved addresses to pass through your mail system.
Posts that are not approved can be approved by the sender
if they reply appropriately to an auto-reply that this
software generates. This will filter out all mass emails
from automated software and auto-responders. Software
to do this currently exists or can be created in a few
minutes using procmail, filter, or other mail stream
parsing software.
8. How do we fix USENET?
A major step towards fixing USENET would include removing the people
who control it and have led it into its current condition. But this
is only part of the solution. More toleration, freedom, and
intelligent and thoughtful approaches are also necessary.
Long time net-guru David Hayes (dave@jetcafe.org) has organized a group
called the Freedom Knights which is dedicated to the task of stopping
true net-abuse and supporting free speech. You can learn more about
this group by reading his FAQ for USENET Sites of Virtue
at http://www.jetcafe.org/~dave/usenet/virtue.html or you can join his
valuable mailing list by sending a message with
“subscribe freedom-knights” in the body to majordomo@jetcafe.org
Dr. John Grubor is heading a team of experts who have proposed the
idea of bypassing human biases by letting a set of intelligent
programs perform all important USENET functions. This will include
all vote taking (to stop the fraud from the controllers), all
new newsgroup creation, and other functions which have run poorly
because of the lack of ethics from the people in charge. Naturally
since programs would run the net (Gruborbots), the people who try
to put themselves in charge now feel very threatened by the
possibility of being powerless and are reacting negatively, even
slandering Dr. Grubor in hopes of smearing his name. However,
people have realized that his proposals remove human bias entirely,
support free speech no matter the topic, and are technologically
superior to current methods. Best of all, they need no individual
to monitor and run them. They serve the will of the people, whatever
that might happen to be, through an automated application of public
votes.
There is also a method of USENET filtering that is far superior
to both the forged cancel messages that certain people send and
the proposed NoCeM method. There is at least one company that
is developing it commercially and I do not wish to discuss
their efforts. It will revolve around something that is completely
different from the current USENET operations in that it allows for
any number of ad hoc moderators. It will allow a diverse set of
opinions instead of permitting the noisy and hostile crowd on
news.admin.* to effectively run USENET with their arbitrary and
self-serving policies. It will allow anyone to create any USENET
group they like instead of requiring approval from David C
Lawrence (tale@uunet.uu.net). It will prevent forged cancels from
being sent (a popular approach used by several people to stop
messages they don’t like). It is the natural evolution away
from the behaviors that are clearly abusive and disruptive
in their intent.
The future of USENET is in our hands and we must stop the people
who are trying to control it my holding all of votes and often
committing fraud, directing its path so as to keep them in power, and
acting openly hostile towards watchdogs who point out their ethical
oversights. A more open system without the same small group of
people fighting for control would be better for everyone involved.
—END OF FAQ—
July 27th, 2007 at 10:15 am
I dont know where my usenet faq went… unless…
July 27th, 2007 at 10:27 am
That is ok because it is at http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/nana/mirror/rogue_site.txt
October 26th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
I have a question,I don’t know where it should go,but please help me.
I was still a kid in 1957/58 and went around asking grownups to please sign a petition and vote for Rowan Co. to have a public Library.I’m not sure whether it was downtown by the Eagle’s nest or out on 32 by what’s now Long John’s in a little white building. My question is why even have a Library if it isn’t in walking distance for kids.If there is a need for a new one out in New Town,hasn’t anyone ever heard of a branch Library,or is someone afraid of losing some control and power? Horseman…Let the voters decide…..They decided to build one in the first place…
October 27th, 2007 at 6:08 am
KROGER DOG SHELTER FOOD DROP OFF! As I was coming out of Kroger yesteday I saw a large barrel for the Rowan County Animal Shelter. You could drop in food, etc. for the animals. I wished I had known about it or seen it sooner as I would have donated to it. Please remember this the next time you go to Kroger.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:21 am
Gather a couple of friend and go to city council and fiscal court and ask to be put on the agenda for the next meetings to openly discuss this future of the library; I cannot remember where it is supposely being moved to? out to replace mall wart might be a compromise that could be hoped for and help stop the implosion of that shopping center?
October 28th, 2007 at 5:25 am
The library board will at least ceremoniously make the decision right? Find out when their next meeting is and record your visit using a small $35 audio cassette recorder if you feel intimidated; just having a tape recorder in your pocket for the odd confrontational/interogatory meeting can be a impowering placibo for confidence. You might still be able to get a little cup phone microphone to record phone conversations more easily as you talk.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
call me “out of the loop” if you like, but it is my understanding that the new library has already been built behind that garage where they sell tires… out between the ksp post and a soon to become vacant walmart building approximately.
on the bright side the old library does fit the scheme of a university building, and if MSU doesn’t want it, it can be torn down for conference center parking.
i have been telling some of you that these things would come to pass for years, and the only thinks that i get, is having my writings deleted/destroyed/banned.
but on the bright side, some of them still exist in a few cellars.
October 28th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Dear OUT OF THE LOOPY,
I received a call today asking me to tell you that you are 100% OUT OF THE LOOP. That was you think is a library is actually an EYE CLINIC and that the library is scheduled for DOWNTOWN. Where ever that is. I didn’t know we still had a downtown.
Anyway, don’t shoot the messenger, just passing along what a city worker that’s IN THE KNOW, told me to tell you.
October 28th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Dear OUT OF THE LOOPY,
I received a call today asking me to tell you that you are 100% OUT OF THE LOOP. That what you think is a library is actually an EYE CLINIC and that the library is scheduled for DOWNTOWN. Where ever that is. I didn’t know we still had a downtown.
Anyway, don’t shoot the messenger, just passing along what a city worker that’s IN THE KNOW, told me to tell you.
October 28th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Sorry, computer hiccupped
October 28th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
don’t you mean dental clinic? that dental clinic would be a wee small to house a new library. i was talking about the large library type building beside of it.
so you “received a call” from “a city worker” “today”? hum…
why didn’t the “city worker” just post this information instead of sending a “messenger”?
if the “city worker” has internet access to read what i had written, then why didn’t they reply?
if you will go back and reread what i had written “but it is my understanding that the new library has already been built…” then you and your “city worker” contact might just see the words “…it is my understanding…” shall i translate those words into “i heard that the new library had already been built”?
no need to come on here and insult me by calling me loopy.
October 28th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
a quote from horseman’s comment above “If there is a need for a new one out in New Town,hasn’t anyone ever heard of a branch Library,or is someone afraid of losing some control and power?”
so i suppose that you consider horseman to be loopy?
don’t worry too much about your insults, for after all, you know not whom you are insulting.
speaking of horseman… he’s right about branch libraries being the better answer.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
If the city is really interested in tourism dollars, then I could see them trying to get a Kmart into the soon former Walmart building.
On the new library discussion,
I heard some people were given a tour of what was represented to them as the new library a few days ago.
I have been trying to get hold of some folks on the phone to verify that I heard them correctly, but I believe that they were describing that new building behind Major Brands.
Out of the loop,
Where have you been writing at?
I have been speaking of New Morehead (or New Town) for several years myself.
October 29th, 2007 at 3:47 am
No K-mart likely :
I know what has happened in other towns, there is usually an aggreement that no competitor to the all mighty Mall Wart can go in the vacant building, in Paints’vull the old one’s parking lot has lots of grass growing in the cracks of the blacktop and the strip beside it is slowly dieing out. In Mt. Sterling it sat empty untill a JC Penny went in that somehow got around the agreement but they lost the Food Lion down the strip and a Jewelry store et cetera…
October 29th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Dearest Out of the Loopy.
The ‘city worker’ did not want to be ‘known’ on here for the same reason that YOU don’t use YOUR real name. Dr. Tingle and Loy’s DENTAL CLINIC is BESIDE the new EYE CLINIC! Period. The city has nothing to do with the library and as a matter of fact, the LIBRARY still hasn’t received their grant money so NO ONE knows exactly where it is being built at the moment. By the way, KAT is part of my LEGAL name now. Oh and also by the way, I called you Loopy, the same way I call David Hunley-Dudley, it wasn’t an insult, wow are you thin skinned or what? Straight from the litter box. I don’t hide behind a moniker and change it every other day.
October 29th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I’m surprised K-Mart is still in business. It seems so ‘passe’ now. In Chicago, everyone went to Target. We don’t need another big box store. I’m also surprise that Costco hasn’t tried to get in here. Also what about the Cracker Barrel that was suppose to be built where the Knight’s Inn is now? I never minded driving to Mt. Sterling or Ashland for other stores but I would like a multi-plex theater here. THAT is something that is badly needed. That’s need the college, why don’t they shove that to the ground for a couple more parking spots?
October 29th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I used Kmart as an example, but they could just as well try and get a Target in here, even though I don’t see it happening due to city and county population.
I think that multiplex is pretty much committed to the space behind Advance, since they are allegedly paying late fees for being behind on the project.
As far as not needing another big box stores,
If they are wanting to attract interstate shoppers, then they will need another __mart kind of place, and I would rather see it go into the old WalMart building than see yet another shopping center built. Unfortunately E.V.C. is most likely correct about some type of agreement or contract being in place to prevent the old building from being used by a so called competitor.
Personally though, I would rather have the old business’ of yesterdays main street in operation today. At least I could get what I wanted back then, maybe for a few dollars more, but for those few extra dollars, I could get an item that would last for decades instead of months or a couple years.
Oh, and I did speak to a teacher on the phone last night after my last post, and that new (eye clinic) building is being touted as the new public library to at least a few people.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
To continue on about the New Library, Kat,
I don’t know exactly where they could build one in the Downtown area. I just don’t know where they could find enough room to build one that fits the description published in The Morehead News a month or so back. Unless they are going to build next to rodburn school.
I do wish that your friend would come aboard and publish his/her views under a nickname, no need for us to know who s/he really is or who they work for.
We need the fresh writers on here, and I for one would welcome them. I have basically written so much, that I am beginning to boar myself… let alone the other readers.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
i could have well been misinformed on this library deal, but let’s wait it out and see.
i still say it will be inside newtown, somewhere within a few minutes walk of i64 boulevard.
November 18th, 2007 at 3:13 am
Buy adderall no prescription….
Adderall and migraines. Adderall….
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
DOES ANYONE HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT SCABIES? I HAVE RECEIVED A CALL FROM A PARENT/FRIEND WHO IS CONCERNED. SHE CANNOT GET THE NURSES AT THE HIGH SCHOOL TO ANSWER HER CALLS. HER SISTER -IN-LAW KEPT HER CHILDREN HOME TODAY FOR FEAR OF CONTACTING THE CONDITION. I LOOKED IT UP IN THE DICTIONARY AND WEBSTER SAYS THAT IT IS A CONTAGIOUS SKIN DISEASE CAUSING ITCHING. I HEAR IT BURROWS UNDER THE SKIN AND IS VERY HARD TO GET RID OF. I WOULD CERTAINLY LIKE MORE INFORMATION IF ANYONE CAN HELP. LOOKS LIKE THE PARENTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED ON THURSDAY SO THEY COULD MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION ABOUT EXPOSING THEIR CHILDREN TO THIS CONDITION???? DON’T YA THINK?????????????
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
The school nurses work out of the Health Department, so if your not having any luck calling
the school, call your local Health Department or a Doctor…
The Health Department *should* have information brochures/pamphlets containing
some very basic information at the least.
I haven’t heard of any scabies outbreaks in the schools, so any follow-up information would
be appreciated by many people I am sure.
Is there some kind of outbreak at Rowan County Senior High School in Morehead Kentucky?
I would like to believe that the parents would be notified of potential exposure, but I can’t
say that I trust them all that well.
All I can say is that IF there has been any exposure to scabies in the school,
We’ll know about it in about 2 to 4 weeks (one way or another)… and can go from there
by writing an inspector over in Frankfort.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
scabies. I thought was a form of mange that humans can get (fungus)
pretty much requires direct contact to transfer, but may be contracted
by contact with clothes/hats? IF, as one post suggested, some
were sent home and some were not allowed to leave school
someone would likely have called and Lexington media would have
been all over a story like that.