Yahoo Forum Archive
This is an archive of the MEFA Yahoo Group, which was shut down by Yahoo in 2019. The archive can be sorted by month and by topic ID. You can use your browser to search by keyword within the month or topic you have open.
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | - | - | - | 182 | 1042 | 655 | 89 | 25 | 263 | 362 | 316 | 285 |
2005 | 189 | 56 | 107 | 538 | 347 | 446 | 97 | 276 | 194 | 358 | 565 | 136 |
2006 | 231 | 66 | 27 | 76 | 117 | 139 | 127 | 56 | 67 | 66 | 159 | 79 |
2007 | 20 | 25 | 7 | - | 29 | 72 | 99 | 143 | 3 | 185 | 83 | 103 |
2008 | 56 | 13 | 3 | 54 | 240 | 141 | 274 | 77 | 51 | 60 | 90 | 106 |
2009 | 28 | 3 | - | 39 | 194 | 101 | 72 | 27 | 22 | 15 | 36 | 24 |
2010 | 67 | - | 1 | 4 | 103 | 138 | 129 | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 30 |
2011 | 1 | - | 17 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 90 | 61 | 32 | 7 | 5 | 8 |
2012 | 30 | - | - | - | 8 | 122 | 76 | - | - | - | - | - |
2013 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2014 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
2015 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2016 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2017 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2018 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2019 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - |
Msg# 6791
IPLogging, security, etc. on the MEFA2006 site -- a thought Posted by Ainaechoiriel February 03, 2006 - 17:17:17 Topic ID# 6791I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of not requiring membership to this group
yet. Just entertaining a thought on security and sock-puppets, etc. on the
MEFA2006 site.
We wouldn't have to log IPs of every vote, because voting does require you
to login as SOMEONE to the MEFA2006 site. Thus an admin of proper security
level could pull up a list of votes for a particular user. So what would
need to be logged are IP addresses for user accounts.
Would that be harder or easier? Just hypothesize with me. I have a cable
connection, so my IP address stays stable for months. But then it suddenly
changes. It could change during the many-monthed MEFA year. A dial-up
connection will show more changes. But would that be a problem. It's not
multiple IP addresses that would be a problem, but multiple IDs. So would
it be suspicious to see 2 IDs with created with the same IP address?
Could it be flagged for further investigation, even if the IDs were created
months apart? But then how could you even get a flag if Mary Sockpuppet
decided to join with her real name in May, from a dial-up connection, and
three separate IDs with three separate e-mails in three consequetive
(spelling? Ah the last vestiges of my aphasic symptoms still creep up now
and then.) months from dial-up? 4 different IP addresses. How could we
spot her?
I will now continue reading posts as time allows.
--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder
"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.
<http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa> http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The
Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: <http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com/>
http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
yet. Just entertaining a thought on security and sock-puppets, etc. on the
MEFA2006 site.
We wouldn't have to log IPs of every vote, because voting does require you
to login as SOMEONE to the MEFA2006 site. Thus an admin of proper security
level could pull up a list of votes for a particular user. So what would
need to be logged are IP addresses for user accounts.
Would that be harder or easier? Just hypothesize with me. I have a cable
connection, so my IP address stays stable for months. But then it suddenly
changes. It could change during the many-monthed MEFA year. A dial-up
connection will show more changes. But would that be a problem. It's not
multiple IP addresses that would be a problem, but multiple IDs. So would
it be suspicious to see 2 IDs with created with the same IP address?
Could it be flagged for further investigation, even if the IDs were created
months apart? But then how could you even get a flag if Mary Sockpuppet
decided to join with her real name in May, from a dial-up connection, and
three separate IDs with three separate e-mails in three consequetive
(spelling? Ah the last vestiges of my aphasic symptoms still creep up now
and then.) months from dial-up? 4 different IP addresses. How could we
spot her?
I will now continue reading posts as time allows.
--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder
"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.
<http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa> http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The
Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: <http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com/>
http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Msg# 6801
Re: IPLogging, security, etc. on the MEFA2006 site -- a thought Posted by Marta Layton February 04, 2006 - 12:49:37 Topic ID# 6791> Message: 6Based on what Sulriel said (and remember, I don't know that much about
> Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 17:16:53 -0600
> From: "Ainaechoiriel" <mefaadmin@earthlink.net>
> Subject: IPLogging, security, etc. on the MEFA2006 site -- a thought
>
> I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of not requiring membership to this
> group
> yet. Just entertaining a thought on security and sock-puppets, etc. on
> the
> MEFA2006 site.
>
> We wouldn't have to log IPs of every vote, because voting does require
> you
> to login as SOMEONE to the MEFA2006 site. Thus an admin of proper
> security
> level could pull up a list of votes for a particular user. So what
> would
> need to be logged are IP addresses for user accounts.
>
> Would that be harder or easier? Just hypothesize with me. I have a
> cable
> connection, so my IP address stays stable for months. But then it
> suddenly
> changes. It could change during the many-monthed MEFA year. A dial-up
> connection will show more changes. But would that be a problem. It's
> not
> multiple IP addresses that would be a problem, but multiple IDs. So
> would
> it be suspicious to see 2 IDs with created with the same IP address?
>
> Could it be flagged for further investigation, even if the IDs were
> created
> months apart? But then how could you even get a flag if Mary
> Sockpuppet
> decided to join with her real name in May, from a dial-up connection,
> and
> three separate IDs with three separate e-mails in three consequetive
> (spelling? Ah the last vestiges of my aphasic symptoms still creep up
> now
> and then.) months from dial-up? 4 different IP addresses. How could
> we
> spot her?
>
IP), IP addresses using the same ISP and the same physical address
might change, but if we logged them every time this person logged in,
we'd find the same numbers repeating. So it wouldn't tell us 100% that
someone was a sockpuppet, but it could be used to validify or discard a
suspicion. Just like if I suspected a sockpuppet, the first thing I'd
do would be to go check when those Yahoo IDs were created. If three
people are voting for the same stories, none off which I've heard of
outside the MEFAs, and all three created their IDs just a day or two
before joining MEFAwards, I'd say that's a circumstance that needs
explaining or at least further investigation.
For this reason, I'd say we need to log IP addresses every time someone
logs in. The more data we have, the more sure we can be that someone is
or isn't a sockpuppet.
Marta
Msg# 6819
Re: IPLogging, security, etc. on the MEFA2006 site -- a thought Posted by elliska67 February 06, 2006 - 3:21:34 Topic ID# 6791Frankly, another problem with logging IP addresses as a means of
id'ing sock puppets is false suspicions. Here's my example on that:
two of my assistants at the college where I work love LotR. My beta
is a professor at the same school. We are all MEFA members. We often
are bad employees and look at stuff while at work. (My assistants
only have Internet access at work--they are students/work studies
and neither can afford Internet at home). When we log in to MEFA or
any other site, we are all going to show the college's IP. The
college has 40,000 students--I'd be willing to bet there are other
LotR fans there that use the school's Internet access to surf LotR
sites, including this one (in fact, since I am on the IT team at my
college, I know that there are--I see LotR URLs all the time in the
firewall logs.) So when all of us log in, are we going to look like
sock puppets? Yeap. In fact, I make a point of logging into sites
that I know log IPs only from home because I am worried about things
like that.
My point: tracking sock puppets can't depend on something like
logging IPs alone. You have to have other ways to be able to
investigate suspicions.
Just to weigh in on the major issue of whether membership to this
site should be required: to me the biggest point in this is making
sure that we have a way to communicate with members/let them
communicate with other members and voice their concerns. If we can
have a forum on the voting site, great. If not, I think the awards
will lose connection/validity with its members if there is not an
open, public place to discuss issues.
id'ing sock puppets is false suspicions. Here's my example on that:
two of my assistants at the college where I work love LotR. My beta
is a professor at the same school. We are all MEFA members. We often
are bad employees and look at stuff while at work. (My assistants
only have Internet access at work--they are students/work studies
and neither can afford Internet at home). When we log in to MEFA or
any other site, we are all going to show the college's IP. The
college has 40,000 students--I'd be willing to bet there are other
LotR fans there that use the school's Internet access to surf LotR
sites, including this one (in fact, since I am on the IT team at my
college, I know that there are--I see LotR URLs all the time in the
firewall logs.) So when all of us log in, are we going to look like
sock puppets? Yeap. In fact, I make a point of logging into sites
that I know log IPs only from home because I am worried about things
like that.
My point: tracking sock puppets can't depend on something like
logging IPs alone. You have to have other ways to be able to
investigate suspicions.
Just to weigh in on the major issue of whether membership to this
site should be required: to me the biggest point in this is making
sure that we have a way to communicate with members/let them
communicate with other members and voice their concerns. If we can
have a forum on the voting site, great. If not, I think the awards
will lose connection/validity with its members if there is not an
open, public place to discuss issues.
If you have any questions about the archive, or would like to report a technical problem, please contact Aranel (former MEFA Tech Support and current Keeper of the Archive) at araneltook@mefawards.org or at the MEFA Archive group..