Outlook mail is under some sort of attack – see here
And also here. (Scroll down for the comments)
As a result I am not receiving all emails sent to my Outlook account.
Not everyone seems affected. Hopefully things will return to normal soon
Technical Difficulties
Attack Log
Hi Everybody!
We have a determined attacker that has caused significant outages and disruptions for the past 24 hours.
If you experience the dread “Too Many Redirects” screen or variations of that screen please leave a comment and also leave the time it occurred.
I am going to unstick this post as a new fix has been applied and I need to see if the cache does what is intended.
Oops! Spoke too soon! Attack is back. (Attack By Forces Of Evil On BCF Foiled Again!)
Sad to report the attack is back.
Some of you were experiencing this screen (Below).
It has been determined that a significant DDOS attack coupled with a new to me type of chicanery (Cache poisoning) is the cause of the “Too many redirects” error messages.
Hopefully matters have been resolved and a shout out to our Tech support for isolating and defanging the attack.
What have I your mild mannered blogger done to attract such determined enemies of freedom?
No fear! We shall endeavor to persevere against all odds!
Let me know in the comments if you have run into issues.
Thank you for your patience.
Blog Issues: Your patience is requested
Hi All!
We have had some cache issues with the blog which we hope are solved as of this writing. For the last several hours the blog was not presenting the latest posts, a cache reset fixed it, I hope.
Please let me know in the comments if you think you are not seeing the latest posts.
In other blog matters…
20 years of posts (Over 226K of em) make for a very unwieldy blog, it’s causing problems for my host.
Our solution: We will truncate the blog history at the last 5 years and see if that doesn’t make BCF a better Blog citizen. I will look for a low cost host to store a full version of BCF for posterity. Fingers crossed.
Thank you for your patience.
BCF
WAR! DDOS ATTACK & 429 Too Many Requests Error Message
Attention Readers: Enable Java Script In Your Browser And Pause or Whitelist this site in Your Ad Block Program Or You May Be Caught in The 429 Too Many Requests Error Vortex
Hello Everyone,
My most excellent web host was called in to provide an answer for those running into the dread 429 Too Many Requests Error Message you’ve been receiving.
BCF has been under a prolonged DDOS attack lasting several months. The 429 error likely arises from this however my host also suggests that you turn your Ad Blocker off and enable Java script in your browser or you may not be able to land onsite.
The pic below shows the level of Allowed versus Blocked requests. Somebody out there doesn’t like us.
From my web host:
Those 2 reader IPs we tested, that’s some funky behaviour there, and they are being caught with a javascript challenge, I assume they have javascript disabled on their browser or have some adblocker installed. So check to confirm, and let readers know that adblockers and disabling javascript will get them blocked while you are under this considerable ddos, vigilance needs to be high.
But those requests really are funky, are you sure they are legit users, 30 requests to the homepage in a second looks like ddos, I don’t know of a legit reason that would be happening.
I don’t see a dramatic drop in visitors, DDoS has been at the current load for a while now.
Thank you for your support and patience.
Tech Note: About last night … World order has been restored.
Plesk sent my blog and many other sites off-line for several hours last might due to an Apache Update. Galactic security has been restored BCF is up.
Thank you for your patience.
Tech Support Issue
Hi Folks
The site was not loading properly but we seem to have it fixed now!
It’s possible the site may be working for some but not everyone.
If you suspect the blog is not loading the most current posts use this link to break the cache – https://blazingcatfurca.dreamhosters.com/?something-random
Let me know in the comments if anything weird is going on.
At any rate the blog is nearly 20 years old and the current theme has an ongoing php issue.
I hope to have a new theme soon, but unfortunately I may have to leave 20 years of content behind in an archive site as it will be very difficult to transfer.
At some point early tomorrow morning we will reach 215,000 published posts.
2026 will be year 20.
Thank you all.
Howdy Y’all!The Site Migration Is Complete!
Hooray! The site Migration is complete!
Well mostly.
Some backend stuff has to be re-examined. But it is for the most part done.
If you notice anything glitchy, please let me know.
Thank you for your patience.
BCF
PS. Post is a sticky new posts will appear below.
If the Plesk screen comes up – Clear your browser cache, and bookmark this link to break the cache and get to the site https://blazingcatfurca.dreamhosters.com/?something-random
Tech support ask re: Disqus “Email Verification” Pop-Up
Hi All!
Some readers have complained that Disqus is throwing up an unresolvable “email verification” pop up that has effectively shut them out of commenting on my site and others.
This entry from the Disqus support blog sums up the situation:
“I am getting the same popups asking to verify my email. That would be fine except that I need to change my email on my account (the one I signed up with 15+ years ago isn’t valid anymore). When I go to my profile and enter a new email address, it will not save the change. The “save” button goes grey and no error message pops up with a correction or solution.Any ideas? Do I need to start a new account with the current email address?”
If you have encountered this let me know if it went away on it’s own or if you found a fix.
Thanks. BCF