Slow Forums: PF Under DDOS Attack

  • Thread starter Borek
  • Start date
In summary: I'm not getting the 503 errors I was getting last night.It's Tuesday morning, March 6th, about 7:30 am EST.In summary, the Physics Forums website has been experiencing slow loading times and errors, particularly the "MySQL server has gone away" error. This is attributed to a DOS attack that occurred on March 5th and is still ongoing. The site moderators are working on fixing the issue and have contacted their data center for assistance. The attack is believed to be from a disgruntled individual or group, and the site is currently being monitored for any further attacks. The site's speed has improved since last night, but it is not yet back to
  • #246
dlgoff said:
At least you didn't have to punch cards to get a connection like I had to. :frown:

Heh, this is true, I had floppy floppy discs, and I remember no HD, but punch-cards are mercifully not in my retinue. My uncle however recounted a time when he dropped a stack... I gather it's not a desireable outcome.

@Fit: Yeah, I guess I can too... *sigh*
 
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  • #247
nismaratwork said:
Heh, this is true, I had floppy floppy discs, and I remember no HD, but punch-cards are mercifully not in my retinue. My uncle however recounted a time when he dropped a stack... I gather it's not a desireable outcome.

Yeah, but it was a better excuse that "my dog ate my homework".

Believe it or not, we used to ship computer programs to customers around the world by courier as packs of punched cards back in the 1970s. It was much more reliable than messing about with 12 inch diameter reels of magnetic tape.
 
  • #248
nismaratwork said:
Heh, this is true, I had floppy floppy discs, and I remember no HD, but punch-cards are mercifully not in my retinue. My uncle however recounted a time when he dropped a stack... I gather it's not a desireable outcome.

At least if you drop a stack you know you have a problem.

When I was writing a program directly on cards in about 1973 I didn't realize that the IBM card reader had a a clever trick by which it would occasionally switch two cards round in the output stack, so I'd correct some problem elsewhere and gain a new one, and I couldn't at first get anyone to believe me that my deck had come back out of sequence. By staring at it very hard we eventually worked out that if the card happened to be slightly curved backwards, then sometimes one would catch on the edge of a clip on the way out of the punch and bounce back in such a way that the next card would overtake it. (The out of sequence card also had a slightly flattened edge at the level of the clip which confirmed it). Easily fixed by moving the clip once we knew, just in time to prevent a nervous breakdown.

We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.
 
  • #249
Jonathan Scott said:
At least if you drop a stack you know you have a problem.

When I was writing a program directly on cards in about 1973 I didn't realize that the IBM card reader had a a clever trick by which it would occasionally switch two cards round in the output stack, so I'd correct some problem elsewhere and gain a new one, and I couldn't at first get anyone to believe me that my deck had come back out of sequence. By staring at it very hard we eventually worked out that if the card happened to be slightly curved backwards, then sometimes one would catch on the edge of a clip on the way out of the punch and bounce back in such a way that the next card would overtake it. (The out of sequence card also had a slightly flattened edge at the level of the clip which confirmed it). Easily fixed by moving the clip once we knew, just in time to prevent a nervous breakdown.

We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.

Wow, now THAT is true hacking. What a miserable experience it sounds like, but thanks for helping to get us *waves hands around PF* here.
 
  • #250
Jonathan Scott said:
We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.

Couldn't you tell me that 30 years ago :grumpy:
 
  • #251
Jonathan Scott said:
We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.
That's the only reliable way of protecting your hours and hours of coding and punching. It was important to get it right the first time, because the university's computer was VERY busy night and day, and homework assignments did not get priority. Re-do's could be hectic, especially if the instructors put you on short deadlines.
 
  • #252
Jonathan Scott said:
We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.

Back in those early days, I had an EE course where the instructor passed out of box of IBM punch cards (100s of cards/box) to each student. Each box contained a working program, without deck markings, that had been purposely randomized. The whole class was based on getting them back in order so the program would run without errors. :mad:
 
  • #253
dlgoff said:
Back in those early days, I had an EE course where the instructor passed out of box of IBM punch cards (100s of cards/box) to each student. Each box contained a working program, without deck markings, that had been purposely randomized. The whole class was based on getting them back in order so the program would run without errors. :mad:

Did you get extra credit for making them into a program that did something more interesting than the instructor's?

We all used the "diagonal lines in felt tip pen" trick, but we also took the boring step of getting the computer to punch a new deck of cards with sequence numbers on them. That took all the fun out of accidentally knocking a tray of 2000 cards off somebody's desk onto the floor.

"Real programmers don't need abstract concepts to get their jobs done: they are perfectly happy with a keypunch, a FORTRAN IV compiler, and a beer."
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/hack/realmen.html
 
  • #255
Jonathan Scott said:
We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.
Ah, that takes me back.

So does slipping a 3 card loop randomly into the class stack:

Code: 
while (true) do
   print "Jim is a dork!"
enddo

Good times. Good times.
 
  • #256
Jonathan Scott said:
We used the trick of drawing sloping pencil lines on the side of the card deck to make it easy to spot cards out of sequence and even to help put them back in sequence after dropping them.

Didn't anyone put sequence numbers in the last eight columns of the cards? That's why Fortran compilers only used columns 1-72, after all. The computer lab where I learned to program had a card-sorting machine which you could use to re-sort a deck that had gotten out of order, provided of course that the cards had those sequence numbers on them.
 
  • #257
jtbell said:
Didn't anyone put sequence numbers in the last eight columns of the cards? That's why Fortran compilers only used columns 1-72, after all. The computer lab where I learned to program had a card-sorting machine which you could use to re-sort a deck that had gotten out of order, provided of course that the cards had those sequence numbers on them.

Ooooooh... someone had it good. :wink:
 
  • #258
DaveC426913 said:
Good times. Good times.

Snoopy calendars and Playboy Playmates in ASCII art on the line printers. Those were the days. :!)
 
  • #259
jtbell said:
Snoopy calendars and Playboy Playmates in ASCII art on the line printers. Those were the days. :!)

………………..,-~*’`¯lllllll`*~,
…………..,-~*`lllllllllllllllllllllllllll¯`*-,
………,-~*llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll*-,
……,-*llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.\
….;*`lllllllllllllllllllllllllll,-~*~-,llllllllllllllllllll\
…..\lllllllllllllllllllllllllll/………\;;;;llllllllllll,-`~-,
…...\lllllllllllllllllllll,-*………..`~-~-,…(.(¯`*,`,
…….\llllllllllll,-~*…………………)_-\..*`*;..)
……..\,-*`¯,*`)…………,-~*`~.………….../
……...|/.../…/~,…...-~*,-~*`;……………./.\
……../.../…/…/..,-,..*~,.`*~*…………….*...\
…….|.../…/…/.*`...\...……………………)….)¯`~,
…….|./…/…./…….)……,.)`*~-,……….../….|..)…`~-,
……/./.../…,*`-,…..`-,…*`….,---…...\…./…../..|……...¯```*~-
…...(……….)`*~-,….`*`.,-~*.,-*……|…/.…/…/…………\
…….*-,…….`*-,...`~,..``.,,,-*……….|.,*...,*…|…...\
……….*,………`-,…)-,…………..,-*`...,-*….(`-,…

:wink:

God I miss ASCII art...
 
  • #260
jtbell said:
Snoopy calendars and Playboy Playmates in ASCII art on the line printers. Those were the days. :!)
The Comp-Sci jerks gave us Engineering types all kinds of crap about how much access we could have to "their" mainframe, but they all seemed to have tons of ASCII "art" and other frivolous stuff in their dorm rooms. When I could buy my own computer (decades later) I jumped at it!
 
  • #261
nismaratwork said:
………………..,-~*’`¯lllllll`*~,
…………..,-~*`lllllllllllllllllllllllllll¯`*-,
………,-~*llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll*-,
……,-*llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.\
….;*`lllllllllllllllllllllllllll,-~*~-,llllllllllllllllllll\
…..\lllllllllllllllllllllllllll/………\;;;;llllllllllll,-`~-,
…...\lllllllllllllllllllll,-*………..`~-~-,…(.(¯`*,`,
…….\llllllllllll,-~*…………………)_-\..*`*;..)
……..\,-*`¯,*`)…………,-~*`~.………….../
……...|/.../…/~,…...-~*,-~*`;……………./.\
……../.../…/…/..,-,..*~,.`*~*…………….*...\
…….|.../…/…/.*`...\...……………………)….)¯`~,
…….|./…/…./…….)……,.)`*~-,……….../….|..)…`~-,
……/./.../…,*`-,…..`-,…*`….,---…...\…./…../..|……...¯```*~-
…...(……….)`*~-,….`*`.,-~*.,-*……|…/.…/…/…………\
…….*-,…….`*-,...`~,..``.,,,-*……….|.,*...,*…|…...\
……….*,………`-,…)-,…………..,-*`...,-*….(`-,…

:wink:

God i miss ascii art...

I have a pretty good ASCII Half-Life 2 lambda.

Code: 
[B]                 ?MMMI                  
            MMMMMMMNNNNNNNN             
         OMMMMNNN.  . ONNNNNNN          
        MMMMN.            .DDDD+        
      NMMNN                  DDD8       
     NMNN      DDDDDD         D888      
    MNNN         8888.         ,OOO     
   .NNN           8OOO          OZOO    
   NNNO           OOZZ.          $ZZ    
   NNN           ZZZ$$$          777    
  .NDD          Z$$$7777         :II=   
   DDD         $$77 III?         ,??~   
   DD8        $77I.  ??++        =++    
   D888      77II.    ===.       ~~~    
   =88O     7II?      ~~~~~::   ::::    
    8OOZ   7I??.       ::::,.. ,,,,     
     OZ$$                     ,,,,      
      $$7I?                  ...       
       :I?++=             ...        
         +==~~::,,    ...          
            ::,,...            
                ...            [/B]
 
  • #262
Lancelot, that's fantstic!
 
  • #263
jtbell said:
Snoopy calendars and Playboy Playmates in ASCII art on the line printers. Those were the days. :!)

nismaratwork said:
………………..,-~*’`¯lllllll`*~,
…………..,-~*`lllllllllllllllllllllllllll¯`*-,
………,-~*llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll*-,
……,-*llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.\
….;*`lllllllllllllllllllllllllll,-~*~-,llllllllllllllllllll\
…..\lllllllllllllllllllllllllll/………\;;;;llllllllllll,-`~-,
…...\lllllllllllllllllllll,-*………..`~-~-,…(.(¯`*,`,
…….\llllllllllll,-~*…………………)_-\..*`*;..)
……..\,-*`¯,*`)…………,-~*`~.………….../
……...|/.../…/~,…...-~*,-~*`;……………./.\
……../.../…/…/..,-,..*~,.`*~*…………….*...\
…….|.../…/…/.*`...\...……………………)….)¯`~,
…….|./…/…./…….)……,.)`*~-,……….../….|..)…`~-,
……/./.../…,*`-,…..`-,…*`….,---…...\…./…../..|……...¯```*~-
…...(……….)`*~-,….`*`.,-~*.,-*……|…/.…/…/…………\
…….*-,…….`*-,...`~,..``.,,,-*……….|.,*...,*…|…...\
……….*,………`-,…)-,…………..,-*`...,-*….(`-,…

:wink:

God I miss ASCII art...

Uummmm...

In my day, Playboy Playmates were much prettier than that. Much less ... Cthulhu-esque.

Heck, Snoopy was prettier than that...
 
  • #264
DaveC426913 said:
Uummmm...

In my day, Playboy Playmates were much prettier than that. Much less ... Cthulhu-esque.

Heck, Snoopy was prettier than that...

Hey, you don't have to tell me G-rated twice! :rofl:

Still, an ASCII facepalm is generally more useful than low-res breasts.

Snoopy, I just don't have in my collection... good pup though. :wink:
 
  • #265
jtbell said:
Didn't anyone put sequence numbers in the last eight columns of the cards? That's why Fortran compilers only used columns 1-72, after all.

When you (student) have been up all night punching cards and waiting for your output to debug, those last columns don't seem too important. :redface:
 
  • #266
nismaratwork said:
... an ASCII facepalm ...

omg, the moment you said that I looked back and now it jumped out at me.

I swear, all I could see in it was a nasty squid-skull thing crawling across the screen on stumpy little tentacles.
 
  • #267
davec426913 said:
omg, the moment you said that i looked back and now it jumped out at me.

I swear, all i could see in it was a nasty squid-skull thing crawling across the screen on stumpy little tentacles.

Here's Captain Picard:
.........______ __......
.......,.-‘”......``~.,.....
.......,.-”.......“-.,...
.....,/.........”:, ...
.....,?...... ......\,...
....../......... ...,}...
..../......... ...,:`^`..}...
.../......... .,:”.../...
.....?...__...... ....:`.../...
..../__.(...“~-,_........,:`.../...
.../(_...”~,_...“~,_......,:`... ..._/...
...{.._$;_...”=,_...“-,_...,.-~-,},.~”;/...}...
...((...*~_...”=-._...“;,,./`.../”...../...
...,,,___.\`~,...“~.,......`... }...../....
...(...`=-,,...`......(...;_,,-”...
.../.`~,...`-......\.../\......
....\`~.*-,........|,./...\,__...
,,_...}.>-._\.......|... ...`=~-,...
...`=~-,_\_...`\,.......\... .....
......`=~-,,.\,......\.... ...
......`:,,..... ....`\.....__..
........`=-,......,%`>--==``...
......._\... ..._,-%...`\...
.......,<`.._|_,-&``...`\.....
 
  • #268
Captain Picard seems to be having a skull malfunction...
 
  • #269
DaveC426913 said:
Captain Picard seems to be having a skull malfunction...

Nobody said ASCII was perfect.
 
  • #270
Lancelot59 said:
Nobody said ASCII was perfect.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's a proportional font thing.
I've been trying to take the image, drop it in CODE tags, and remove the dots to see if that fixes it, but no joy yet.
 
  • #271
DaveC426913 said:
Actually, I'm pretty sure it's a proportional font thing.
I've been trying to take the image, drop it in CODE tags, and remove the dots to see if that fixes it, but no joy yet.

Are you using a replace function to replace all the periods with spaces?
 
  • #272
DaveC426913 said:
omg, the moment you said that I looked back and now it jumped out at me.

I swear, all I could see in it was a nasty squid-skull thing crawling across the screen on stumpy little tentacles.

You referenced Lovecraft, all is well. :biggrin:
 
  • #273
Lancelot59 said:
Are you using a replace function to replace all the periods with spaces?
That was the idea, yes.
 
  • #274
dlgoff said:
When you (student) have been up all night punching cards and waiting for your output to debug, those last columns don't seem too important. :redface:

Try editing input data on paper tape, and then watch a high speed tape reader "stress-test" your splices.

Punched cards were for wimps.
 
  • #275
jtbell said:
Snoopy calendars and Playboy Playmates in ASCII art on the line printers. Those were the days. :!)

And writing programs to make the line printer play the William Tell overture. (Or the "Dick Barton Special Agent" signature tune, in the UK).

Dada dum dada dum dada dum dum dum [repeat 3 times] dada DRRRRRRRRdadada dum dum dum...
 
  • #276
AlephZero said:
Try editing input data on paper tape, and then watch a high speed tape reader "stress-test" your splices.

Punched cards were for wimps.
:rofl: Never spliced paper punch tape before. Dang, I must be a wimp.
 
  • #277
Some pages won't open, others will do within 5 minutes for me. Strangely I can reach PF much faster than days ago.
 
  • #278
Several minutes ago I got 502 Bad Gateway error - I believe that's the same one I have seen when DOS attack started. Luckily seems like it was temporary, it stopped right after I contacted Greg to tell him something is wrong, but I guess it may be worth checking.

I was able to access other sites, so it wasn't on my side (or at least it wasn't close to me).
 
  • #280
Borek said:
Several minutes ago I got 502 Bad Gateway error ...

We are on the same side of the lake, and it looks pretty OK for me, almost as fast as google.com in SF... :smile:

Code: 
[FONT="Courier New"][SIZE="1"]C:\Windows\system32>tracert physicsforums.com

Tracing route to physicsforums.com [74.86.200.109]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    26 ms    26 ms    26 ms  *********.****.telia.com [***.***.***.***]
  3    31 ms    68 ms    31 ms  s-b1-link.telia.net [80.91.246.230]
  4    31 ms    31 ms    31 ms  s-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.249.70]
  5    39 ms    39 ms    39 ms  kbn-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.247.161]
  6   128 ms   127 ms   128 ms  nyk-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.247.115]
  7   163 ms   162 ms   162 ms  dls-bb1-link.telia.net [213.155.130.65]
  8   164 ms   163 ms   164 ms  te3-3.bbr02.eq01.dal01.networklayer.com [213.248.102.174]
  9   165 ms   165 ms   165 ms  po6.dar02.sr01.dal01.networklayer.com [173.192.18.213]
 10   163 ms   163 ms   164 ms  po2.fcr03.sr04.dal01.networklayer.com [66.228.118.190]
 11   171 ms   170 ms   172 ms  physicsforums.com [74.86.200.109]

Trace complete.

C:\Windows\system32>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [74.125.77.104]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    26 ms    26 ms    25 ms  *********.****.telia.com [***.***.***.***]
  3    31 ms    31 ms    30 ms  s-b1-link.telia.net [80.91.248.195]
  4    31 ms    31 ms    30 ms  s-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.249.70]
  5    46 ms    46 ms    45 ms  hbg-bb1-link.telia.net [213.155.130.159]
  6    51 ms    51 ms    51 ms  adm-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.252.16]
  7    50 ms    49 ms    73 ms  adm-b4-link.telia.net [80.91.247.67]
  8    55 ms    55 ms    55 ms  google-ic-126116-adm-b4.c.telia.net [80.239.193.182]
  9    51 ms    51 ms    52 ms  209.85.251.14
 10    55 ms    55 ms    55 ms  216.239.49.38
 11    70 ms    71 ms    71 ms  209.85.255.106
 12    55 ms    58 ms    56 ms  ew-in-f104.1e100.net [74.125.77.104]

Trace complete.

C:\Windows\system32>time
The current time is: 14:43:05,38[/SIZE][/FONT]
 

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