Random Mailbag
WalterFootball.com's Archive
Walter of WalterFootball has been WalterFootball'ing since 1999'. Older Content is being kept around here. Thanks for reading.
These are random/interesting e-mails or Facebook posts I've received. The e-mails are italicized and left mostly unedited. My responses follow them.
2/8/10: Hackers and Dog Killers
From Dozens of E-mailers:
Whoa, what happened to your forums? Why did your home page keep re-directing to some weird Web site on Saturday night and Sunday morning?
--> Hackers.
I created an FTP account for my former college roommate a couple of years ago. It hasn't been used in a while, and I completely forgot about it. Unfortunately, some hacker from Israel (IP Address 79.177.184.218) discovered the password, and kept changing the home pages of the main site and the forums to re-direct to his site.
To temporarily fix it, all I had to do was upload the pages back to my server. This was easy to do for the main site. Unfortunately, I didn't have a backup home page for the forum. So, I went to vbulletin.com to download a new one. I had the choice between Versions 3.8 and 4.0. I was running 3.6 before, and they've continuously nagged me to upgrade to 4.0, so I figured I might as well do it now.
After I re-installed all of the forum files, I noticed the forum looked a lot different. "No big deal," I thought. "I'll just change it back to the style I had before."
Unfortunately, the style I had before, according to them, is no longer compatible with Version 4.0. So, we're stuck with this new, crappy design until I can call VBulletin on Monday. FML.
Meanwhile, the hacker kept changing the home page. I tried contacting my host, but he's in Haiti for the week doing relief work. I had no idea what to do until Sunday morning, when a tech guy from Fantasy Sports Ventures helped me out. We found the hacker's IP address and blocked it, and discovered that he was logging in with the user name I gave to my college roommate. So, I deleted that account.
And that's where we stand now. Hopefully that's the end of the hacking portion of my dreadful weekend. Now, if only I can fix the forum skin and have the Saints cover the six points.
From Luke M.:
QB Dog Killer has a name. It's Michael Vick. You're disrespecting him by not even calling him by his name, what he did was wrong, but it makes you look insecure by calling him a name. It's your website, so you can do what you want, but how would you like it if people on their websites called you a name? They should refer to you as "The guy who said this'In my opinion, Leinart is far and beyond the best quarterback in the 2006 class.'"
For the record I don't like Vick, but I call by his name because I'm not pety and insecure.
--> Thanks for the e-mail. I appreciate it.
Hey, if I ever do anything inhumane like torture dogs by holding them underwater and taking bets to see how long they can go without drowning, feel free to call me whatever you want. Here are some suggestions:
1. Web Site Owner Dog Drowner
2. Pretentious Fat Slob Web Site Owner
3. Web Site Owner Douche Bag Matt Leinart Lover
You can probably do better. Those are just to get you started.
QB Dog Killer lost the right to his name when he committed those actions.
From Kevin B. (via Facebook):
There are an obscene amount of Buffalo Bills fans that are trying to tell me that the team needs to make a trade for Mike Vick. I'm totally opposed to the idea, not because of his extreme lack of moral character, but because I just don't think he's any good at football anymore. He did nothing this year in Philly to prove me that he's still worth a starting qb position.
--> I don't get it. Forget the fact that he'll alienate some fans. I don't think he was good before he went to prison. As a starter in 2006, he had a 52.6 completion percentage and went 7-9.
I still think the Bills need to draft a quarterback. If they can't get Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford, then someone in Rounds 3-4. But going with QB Dog Killer would be a huge mistake. Aside from the backlash, he's just not that good of a player.
From Eric V.:
"The Rams are one of the dumbest organizations in the NFL." Really? Based off of what? With statements as such, you wonder why people send you "hate" mail.
--> Perhaps because they've won six games in three years. Or perhaps because their franchise has depreciated in value by $250 million in that same span. I don't know.
From Robert F.:
Obviously, you are an idiot; making personal comments about teams you absolutely know nothing about.
--> I didn't know I was an idiot until I read your e-mail. Now I know I am an idiot. Thanks for the heads up.
Jerks of the Week
2/8/10: Hackers and Dog Killers
Whoa, what happened to your forums? Why did your home page keep re-directing to some weird Web site on Saturday night and Sunday morning?
--> Hackers.
I created an FTP account for my former college roommate a couple of years ago. It hasn't been used in a while, and I completely forgot about it. Unfortunately, some hacker from Israel (IP Address 79.177.184.218) discovered the password, and kept changing the home pages of the main site and the forums to re-direct to his site.
To temporarily fix it, all I had to do was upload the pages back to my server. This was easy to do for the main site. Unfortunately, I didn't have a backup home page for the forum. So, I went to vbulletin.com to download a new one. I had the choice between Versions 3.8 and 4.0. I was running 3.6 before, and they've continuously nagged me to upgrade to 4.0, so I figured I might as well do it now.
After I re-installed all of the forum files, I noticed the forum looked a lot different. "No big deal," I thought. "I'll just change it back to the style I had before."
Unfortunately, the style I had before, according to them, is no longer compatible with Version 4.0. So, we're stuck with this new, crappy design until I can call VBulletin on Monday. FML.
Meanwhile, the hacker kept changing the home page. I tried contacting my host, but he's in Haiti for the week doing relief work. I had no idea what to do until Sunday morning, when a tech guy from Fantasy Sports Ventures helped me out. We found the hacker's IP address and blocked it, and discovered that he was logging in with the user name I gave to my college roommate. So, I deleted that account.
And that's where we stand now. Hopefully that's the end of the hacking portion of my dreadful weekend. Now, if only I can fix the forum skin and have the Saints cover the six points.
QB Dog Killer has a name. It's Michael Vick. You're disrespecting him by not even calling him by his name, what he did was wrong, but it makes you look insecure by calling him a name. It's your website, so you can do what you want, but how would you like it if people on their websites called you a name? They should refer to you as "The guy who said this'In my opinion, Leinart is far and beyond the best quarterback in the 2006 class.'"
For the record I don't like Vick, but I call by his name because I'm not pety and insecure.
--> Thanks for the e-mail. I appreciate it.
Hey, if I ever do anything inhumane like torture dogs by holding them underwater and taking bets to see how long they can go without drowning, feel free to call me whatever you want. Here are some suggestions:
1. Web Site Owner Dog Drowner
2. Pretentious Fat Slob Web Site Owner
3. Web Site Owner Douche Bag Matt Leinart Lover
You can probably do better. Those are just to get you started.
QB Dog Killer lost the right to his name when he committed those actions.
There are an obscene amount of Buffalo Bills fans that are trying to tell me that the team needs to make a trade for Mike Vick. I'm totally opposed to the idea, not because of his extreme lack of moral character, but because I just don't think he's any good at football anymore. He did nothing this year in Philly to prove me that he's still worth a starting qb position.
--> I don't get it. Forget the fact that he'll alienate some fans. I don't think he was good before he went to prison. As a starter in 2006, he had a 52.6 completion percentage and went 7-9.
I still think the Bills need to draft a quarterback. If they can't get Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford, then someone in Rounds 3-4. But going with QB Dog Killer would be a huge mistake. Aside from the backlash, he's just not that good of a player.
"The Rams are one of the dumbest organizations in the NFL." Really? Based off of what? With statements as such, you wonder why people send you "hate" mail.
--> Perhaps because they've won six games in three years. Or perhaps because their franchise has depreciated in value by $250 million in that same span. I don't know.
Obviously, you are an idiot; making personal comments about teams you absolutely know nothing about.
--> I didn't know I was an idiot until I read your e-mail. Now I know I am an idiot. Thanks for the heads up.
Jerks of the Week