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Friday, June 27, 2008
Hotlinking to images
Hotlinking policy of this web site...
I occasionally get a person out there in the world wide web that uses google image search to pick out a signature line image for messages, then he posts HUNDREDS of one line and one word messages just to display his new signature picture, sometimes to make a political statement.
The current pest is a Russian Immigrant (immigration/student-visa status unknown at this time), living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who picked an image here and has 70 or so friends on a "My Friends" type network called LiveJournal.com. His messages are posted all in Russian. Apparently he came here back in the 90s and attended high school and some college at Moo-U in East Lansing but currently resides in Ann Arbor.
The picture he tried to use as his signature pic has been computer electro-magically changed, using redirection. Requests for that image from an outside referrer site, see the image I want him to display instead. I feel honored each time one of these people gives me the power to select for them what will be the image associated to them. They are stealing MY bandwidth so I get to have some FUN!
Click [HERE] to see what all of his friends see now.
===
note: This image is on my server, but I can redirect a request to elsewhere on the web. Do a Google search on hotlinking.
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Edited on: Sunday, June 29, 2008 12:56 AM EDT
Categories: ...and your point is?, annoyances, nuisances, and telemarketers, Blogs, Forums, and The Media
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Tuesday, April 01, 2008
IRS Phishing Update
Have you noticed any increase in your spam and junk mail lately? I just received this notice about a fake IRS phishing email that is going around. I have seen several of these in my junk mail folder but just emptied the folder without looking at it.
This info came to me in email from:
Lt. James “EMO” Tichacek, USN (Ret)
Director, Retiree Assistance Office, U.S. Embassy Warden & IRS VITA Baguio City, RP
http://post_119_gulfport_ms.tripod.com/rao1.html
IRS Phishing Update 02 (3000% Increase in JAN)
IRS Phishing Update 02: E-mails that fraudulently claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service to trick taxpayers into giving up personal information have increased significantly this tax season, according to the IRS and a security vendor. For two years, the IRS has warned consumers about the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo in "phishing" attempts" in which criminals try to gain access to consumers' financial information to steal their identities and access banking accounts. In 2006, the agency established the e-mail address phishing@irs.gov for victims to report incidents along with guidelines on how to do this at http://www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=179820,00.html As of March of this year, almost 34,000 emails were identified as phishing attempts -- 611 in the first few months of 2008. Of those attempts that occurred in 2007, the IRS was able to trace the code from the e-mails back to 862 individual phishing schemes. But that number is likely just a small portion of the total. "This is a self reporting group," said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Lamishaw. "The group of people actually receiving them is much larger." The total number of phishing incidents that have occurred this tax season is difficult to estimate, and those vary according to the source. Internet security software vendor Secure Computing says the number of phishing Web sites targeting the IRS increased 3,000% in January compared to JAN 07. Secure Computing, based in San Jose CA declined to provide the specific number of phishing attempts, saying they are proprietary.
The company also reported an increase in the number of phishing Web sites that are targeting the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. The majority were traced to locations in the United States. In terms of phishing attempts, Secure Computing identified 583 different fraudulent IP addresses sending e-mails on behalf of IRS.gov between 1 JAN and 5 FEB and more phishing scams in January than for all of the first six months of last year. "We're also noticing other sites that offer tax-related services getting targeted -- accountants and tax service businesses, for example," said Paula Greve, director of Web security research at Secure Computing. "These [scams are coming] at taxpayer citizens on all sides, gaining hold of their information." Phishing schemes have become more sophisticated, now including links that lead to fake but professionally designed Web sites and bogus interactive applications from the IRS. In one example, a link takes consumers to what appears to be the IRS "Where's My Refund" page, which asks taxpayers to check on the status of their tax refunds. The real IRS application asks for customers' Social Security number, filing status and the refund amount; the bogus page typically asks for additional personal information, including a bank account number.
Some phishing scams pull from current
events, such as claiming to relate to the economic stimulus package
approved by President Bush or targeting organizations that distribute
funds to other organizations or individuals. Often the scam e-mails
claim to be sent by the director of the exempt organization's area of
the IRS, asking recipients to click on a link to access a form that is
typically a phishing attempt or download information on tax law changes
that, in fact, downloads malicious code onto a taxpayer's computer that
then can take over the hard drive and access files containing personal
information. "Anybody can spoof a Web site," Lamishaw said. "It's not
that hard. They just capture all of the graphic elements and the font
and so on, and then manipulate the information and questions." No matter
how sophisticated the e-mail, Lamishaw warns consumers not to be fooled.
"IRS is not in the habit of sending unsolicited e-mails," particularly
those that ask for any account-related information. "The few e-mails we
send are of the newsletter sort -- where we're sending info to
stakeholders. No one should expect anything, no matter how legitimate it
looks."
[Source: GovExec.com newsletter 26 Mar 08 ++]
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Sunday, January 20, 2008
Hotlinkers are at it again
A real nut job whacko conspiracy theorist, Tom Heneghan from Williston South Dakota, has decided to try to link to an image in one of my messages and has been bitten by my little protector that swaps in a substitute image. What he is getting is an image that says Tom Heneghan Bandwidth Thief. He refuses to take it down, showing what a total idiot he really is. He is a really prolific whacko from what I turned up on him on Google. Look like he has been off his medications for some time.
UPDATE: He JUST NOW (5:00 pm EST) took the hotlinked image offline but posted the URL to the image so this is one very determined head case.
UPDATE: The hardass decided to try again to steal bandwidth. He is an
experiencd thief. Just look at his page and all the stolen images using
other web pages bandwidth.
He is a THIEF pure and simple and as much of a crook as are spammers.
Almost all of his other images are hotlinked from other sources and he
seems to think that he can do this while we just take it. WRONG!
Hey Tom... No the NSA did not hack my blog. You are a hotlinking bandwidth thief. When you hotlink to an image at a site other than a commercial image hosting site, you are giving the affected webmaster free license to post any image we choose in your name under your byline. Think it over and don't be an ass.
Normally I just let these things die, but this guy is such a nut job that it is almost laughable to see what his fevered mind has whipped up. Since he is posting my URL, I will reciprocate.
http://blog.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel
Whoa... get back. Tom Heneghan is a hard core anti-Semite and an Algore
fanatic. He still believes that Algore had the election stolen from him.
His theory revolves around a Clinton- Bush- NSA- CIA- MOSSAD- Diebold
conspiracy to keep Algore from his rightfull position in the White
House. This brand of insanity needs a heavy canvas jacket with really
long arms, and heavy sedation! All these years of paranoia and
schizophrenia untreated. He has never gotten over it. WOW! 
Monday January 21, 2008 - Heh heh heh... the jerkweed tossed in the towl at his MySpace page this morning. The image has been removed from there and he claims that it was all government NSA or FBI hacking, changing the image that he had hotlinked to. The image of his affections has been removed and the one you see above substituted for it. So if he links to it, it is self abuse!
However he also maintains a forum where he still claims the FBI and NSA are after him. He has a URL to the hotlinked image posted:
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/ discussion.cgi?disc= 149495;article= 116676; title=APFN
Tuesday January 22, 2008: He still has the link at the url above. I think that Tom is in South Dakota to hide from the FBI-CIA-NSA-MOSSAD.
NEWSFLASH! To Tom Heneghan: That image has been removed from any access to YOU from this site!
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Edited on: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 11:24 AM EST
Categories: annoyances, nuisances, and telemarketers, Chuckles and Snickers
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Latest Email scam - 419 scam from Iraq
From: B.G.J.K <bgjk01@yahoo.com>
Subject: It's important
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 12:36:55 -0800
Hello,
I am a private security officer attached to one of the security companies in Iraq. I require your expertise on a project. I will explain more when I get a response from you. It's quite important.
John.
===
Does anyone doubt that this is just another of the recently updated Nigerian 419 scams. This one probably wants my assistance to smuggle out a recently found cache of money that was hidden by Saddam Hussein. The latest scams come in the form of a fake check and the request to wire transfer a portion of the amount to another address. Since i am not a security professional (or even a security amateur) and I have been retired for over 4 years from my previous profession in the telephone industry, I can not figure out which expertise he is referring to: golf, blacksmithing, dowsing, geocaching, ham radio? Hmmm Maybe he is going to offer me an all expense paid golf membership to the golf club in Dubai??? Naw!
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Edited on: Thursday, January 10, 2008 1:36 AM EST
Categories: annoyances, nuisances, and telemarketers, Random Thoughts and Comments
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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Spam in the junk mail box
Have you taken a look at the spam in your junk-mail folder lately? Normally, I just delete it without a glance but today I decided to hold my nose and take a look...
Message Titles:
No Pumps! No Surgery! No Exercises!, online rx no prescription, Need help finding Top quality Replicas?, Sidekick, Razr, iPhone - Yours Free!, Winner!!! Claim Your Prize Inside., Get $1500 in your bank account IN ONE HOUR, Fill Out Surveys for Cash - Get Paid Weekly, Get 10 Ringtones Instantly!, Hawaii SKI Vegas Bermuda and Much More!, free on line slot machines, Worldwide viiagra delivery., Verizon vs Cingular - Which do you prefer?.... and many more. Usually upwards of 1000 a day.
All gone to the bit bucket.
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The "New Computer" season
...brings more noobs online with a new toy, a virgin, unprotected computer. There ought to be a law that an out-of-the-box, internet capable computer must ship with firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware installed and active on power-up. If the noob disables it, OH WELL!
It is that time of year once again! People are getting new computers and are putting them on the net with no protection. A person can buy a car but is very dangerous if they do not know how to drive it. A person can buy a gun and can be unintentionally deadly unless they receive instruction in its use. When they get a computer, they become a loaded gun (figuratively) within minutes of connecting to the net with all sorts of nasty virii and assorted internet nasties, spreading them on around the net. According to the latest urban legend, the hackers can detect and begin infecting a new unprotected computer within minutes.
This is the time of year when the hackers rub their hands with glee. More computers to take over and add to the bot farms. In the mean time, the rest of us see a new onslaught of hack attacks via the bot nets. Some of them succeed for a time because of unpatched servers or new exploits before the webmaster becomes aware that something is not right with his server. Time to make sure the firewall, anti-virus, anti-spy, anti-rootkit, and other software is up to date and start hunting for the trouble.
In my case here, something I had installed a while back opened port 21 (the ftp port that it used to update itself) and the port was still open when I uninstalled the software. It was slowing everything on the server. My bad! I know better and usually scan the server to see that unnecessary ports are closed but got lazy because I do NOT use the web server computer as a FTP server. I have a seperate computer that is used as my ham radio files ftp server on a different internet connection from this one (not networked, different IP address). Before I discovered that port 21 was open, someone managed a hack to make a couple changes. I have cleaned things up and hope that no one was inconvenienced by the time I had to take to do the server maintenance.
On a side note... hotlinkers are another seasonal pest that increases sharply this time of year. The "new computer user/kid with a gun" relation stands here too. First thing, they open a MySpace page and populate it with images hotlinked from EVERYWHERE!
Has there been a sudden explosion of jackalope sightings? I have had hundreds of hits on the image I have posted here in the April 2007 article about Mitt Romney and his conversion from a rabid anti-gunner to a Life Member of the NRA, all so he can convince us that he is really a conservative at heart. About the jackalope: I've been receiving hundreds of hits on the image in a VERY short period of time and thought I was being flooded. These yahoos are not linking the article giving credit for where they got the image, so the web page gets no hits at all.
OHMYGAWD!!! Another damned hotlinker on a high traffic closed forum! These FaceBook, My Space, and other "member only" creeps think nothing of bandwidth theft. I've stopped tracking them down and just fight back. I refuse to try to talk sense into another bandwidth thief. Mostly they do not give a damn and see nothing wrong with bandwidth theft. They are usually surrounded with like minds and apologists. I even received indignant email from one bandwidth thief.
Do you want to see a jackalope to see what was the object of this thief's posting?
Take a look at the article [Romney's new NRA life membership...] to see the jackalope image in its original context here.
As a reading assignment, google "hotlinking" and "bandwidth theft". Read up on it. There might be a pop-quiz!
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Edited on: Sunday, December 23, 2007 5:39 PM EST
Categories: annoyances, nuisances, and telemarketers, Blogs, Forums, and The Media, Random Thoughts and Comments
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Sunday, November 04, 2007
Letter to Editor via congress.org generates phone harassment
[ed: A letter to the Editor sent via congress.org media contact page resulted in phone harassment from the managing editor of one of these publications. It happened to me tonight (Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007) starting about 11:00 pm, last call at about 4:00 am (Monday, Nov. 5, 2007). Below (inset) is the message sent to the media that seems to have set off the drunken antics of the managing editor of one of the publications listed (and linked) below.]
===
Message via congress.org sent to the following recipients:
Clover Herald & Yorkville Enquirer
Greenville News
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Sun News
To the Editor:
In this primary election coming soon, how can anyone still be undecided?
Only liberal to moderate voters could be undecided, as the choice for a conservative candidate is limited to only a couple of candidates, none of whom are named Giuliani, Romney, McCain, or Thompson.
Anyone who votes for a candidate out of the four listed above wants increased immigration, legal and illegal. Giuliani, and Romney are known for their pro-sanctuary stands from governing a big city or state. McCain's record stands on its own as a primo panderer to illegal aliens. Thompson is willing to take a tough sounding stand to increase the number of H1-b visas and green cards by millions.
Only Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo are the real conservatives in this race.
We need employer accountability and sanctions, border control, and a viable ID system to control immigration and vote fraud. If none of the above works then we need deportations!
Q: Does South Carolina issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens?
===
Since posting this message via Congress.org to the above listed news organizations (sent today - Sun, 4 Nov 2007 13:45), I have been receiving harassing phone calls from a cell phone (803-331-xxxx - the rest of the number available on request) in South Carolina. The individual said his name is Mark (last name sounded something like baloon) and he sounds very drunk or high on drugs. I am doing a lookup to see which town this is from and will be contacting the police there to file a complaint. The nearest my whitepages.com lookups take me is Columbia, SC. He keeps calling me back. The article above could not have been published by any of the papers yet so "Mark" has to be connected to one of the above listed publications in an editorial capacity.
Detective work pays off... He is Mark Bellune, MANAGING EDITOR of the Lexington County Chronicle (803-359-2059). He made 10 or 12 harassing phone calls in the space of approximately 1/2 hour. I will be contacting the phone company tomorrow to get call records to document this and then will be following up with a police report of phone harassment. I have one of his calls on my answering machine.He is rambling and sounds very mentally confused or deranged.
UPDATE: I contacted my local law enforcement agency (Kent County Sheriffs Department) and Deputy Deboer came out to write up the complaint (72253-07).
- 1:30 am - Mark called while the deputy was here. The deputy spoke to Mark and got him to identify himself. He sounds extremely intoxicated and Deputy DeBoer told him to stop calling or they would have his local sheriff pay a visit.
- 2:40 am - He called twice in the last 5 minutes. I let the calls go to the answering machine, but I notified the deputy of the calls.
- 3:38 am - another call. Does he never sleep or is he still drinking?
UPDATE: Here's some of his emails this morning... Do these sound like they come from the editor of a newspaper? These are the FULL texts of seperate emails he sent with caps and lower case as he sent them.
- MarkBellune@yahoo.com: CALLED, BUT YOU ARE A ??? call?
- MarkBellune@yahoo.com: all the Mothers I just hugged, of the troopers who died, and the guys from the FYND! i just tried to say sorry.
- MarkBellune@yahoo.com: don't send me any calls
- MarkBellune@yahoo.com: idiot
Looking at number two email above... it had me head scratching. Does he mean the New York Fire Department (NYFD)?
The above emails are quoted verbatim, nothing left out, and look more appropriate coming from the Lexington Looney Bin and Dogpatch Dispatch. Or the wall of the crapper at Barney's Tavern!
I do believe that he is still drunk or VERY hung over. He was still lit at 3:30 am this morning when he was placing his drunken harassing calls, as witnessed by a deputy of the Kent County Sheriffs Department, and the rambling drunk-talk he left on my answering machine. This all goes to show that the title of MANAGING EDITOR must be ceremonial in his case. If it is a truly operative position, that publication must be a joke and a madhouse. I found out that it prints once a week, so this is making a little more sense. He only needs to sober up long enough to get the weekly paper out. It is not a daily newspaper. Also, anyone wanting to get the word out about something in their county is well advised to seek other means. Posters on trees and power poles might be more effective.
I was just looking over the web site of the Lexington Chronicle... on the editorial page are several articles that seem to be coherent, with the email address of Mark Bellune as a signature. SO he does sober up occasionally, or those articles are ghost written for him.
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Edited on: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 1:15 PM EST
Categories: 2008 election info, annoyances, nuisances, and telemarketers, Blogs, Forums, and The Media, Random Thoughts and Comments
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Friday, September 21, 2007
The National Do-Not-Call List is ready to Expire!
If you signed up in 2003 when it started, then it will be expiring early this coming year. Here is more info!
From Yahoo! NEWS
Do Not Call listings aren't forever
By JENNIFER C. KERR, AP Writer
WASHINGTON - The cherished dinner hour void of telemarketers could vanish next year for millions of people when phone numbers begin dropping off the national Do Not Call list.
The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the list, says there is a simple fix. But some lawmakers think it is a hassle to expect people to re-register their phone numbers every five years.
Numbers placed on the registry, begun in June 2003, are valid for five years. For the millions of people who signed onto the list in its early days, their numbers will automatically drop off beginning next June if they do not enroll again.
"It is incredibly quick and easy to do," Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, said in an interview with The Associated Press this week. "It was so easy for people to sign up in the first instance. It will be just as easy for them to re-up."
People can register their home and cell phone numbers or file complaints at http://www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222.
The registry prohibits telemarketers from calling phone numbers on the list. Companies face fines of up to $11,000 for each violation.
Organizations engaged in charitable, political or survey work are exempt. Companies that have an established business relationship with a customer also may call for up to 18 months after the last purchase, payment or delivery.
But Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., says people should not be forced to re-register to keep telemarketers at bay. Doyle introduced legislation this week, with bipartisan support, to make registrations permanent. (H.R. 3541)
"When someone takes the time and effort to say 'I don't want these kinds of calls coming into my house,' they shouldn't have to keep a calendar to find out when they have to re-up to keep this nuisance from happening," Doyle said in an interview.
The FTC built the five-year expiration date into the program to account for changes, such as people who move and switch their phone number.
"Just like a regular person who needs to clean out their address book every so often, the commission felt that was something that was important to do with the registry," explained Parnes.
Doyle, however, points out that the list is purged each month of numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned to new customers. He called the FTC's position on the need for an expiration date "completely bogus."
Eileen Feldman of Needham, Mass., thinks the expiration date is "ridiculous."
"If you wanted to keep your numbers on there for a lifetime, you should have that option," said Feldman, who placed her phone number on the registry when the program first began. "There's no reason I should need to remember to register every five years."
On the Net:
Information on the House bill, H.R. 3541, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov
Categories: annoyances, nuisances, and telemarketers, Cross Posts (Yahoo, VDare, etc.)
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