Incidentally, in the screen cap I cut off the rest of the comments attributed to Steve M — all from this same IP.
So if his claim that he’s only commented here twice is true, then he has to deal with the fact that someone is running around the interwebs using his footprint to leave little smears of shit around other people’s comment sections.
Also, just to answer his commenters over there: no, this is not the same comment left by the furry diaper eater, David Brown. That comment brought my son into things — all the more disturbing once I learned that this guy likes to sniff diapers and keeps a collection of little boy clips on a foreign youtube.
The particular comment in question now just wished me a malignancy and pain.
Whereas those Guantanamo detainees? They should be treated with human dignity.
update: Steve M emails me:
I said that I’d mentioned you in posts on my blog exactly twice. That’s accurate. The comments from me in your illustration were in response to one of your colleagues, not you.
Okay. All true.
But what does his having mentioned me on his blog “exactly twice” have to do with the number of times he’s commented on my site — in response to whomever it happened to be.
After all, it’s the IP address of the comments matching the IP address of the comment Steve M says he didn’t make that’s at issue here.
I emailed Steve back and asked him to fill me in on how Random House keeps track of computer use. Perfect way to find out who left the comment and remove all doubt. Because if it wasn’t Steve — but rather it was merely someone else at Random House using the company’s computers to wish malignancy and pain on someone with whom they disagree politically — I’d like to know.
After all, I am a fiction writer. It would be nice to know going in which houses are not only going to reject me, but are going to reject me, in their minds, at least, with extreme prejudice.
update 2: Courtesy of Pablo, for reminding me.
When Steve M emailed me, he emailed me from X-Originating-IP: [170.171.1.5] — the same IP the mystery commenter used, and the same IP Steve himself admits to using when he commented here previously.
Of course, big company, Random House. Probably just another coincidence.
Curious, that.
Dunno. There’s always the possibility of multiple people behind a single proxy, but the consistency is suggestive.
My money is on one of the cabana boys.
Anyway, if it ain’t him, it ain’t him. I can’t really prove anything; all I can do is point out that every other time that IP has been used here it was by Steve M.
On those occasions, he signed his worked. But then, on this occasion I can see why the author wouldn’t.
Maybe Mr. Nice has a theory?
I don’t give a fuck about his theories. As I said in the post, if he’s commented here only twice, then he has somebody on the web using his name and linking back to his site.
I can’t really prove any of the comments were left by Steve M. I can only show that the comment left by anti-matter guy used the same IP as all those comments attributed here to Steve M.
The simplest answer is probably the true one. He’s a big fat drunken liar. Or has a really mean secretary or cabana duster.
Named Jodi. With shingles. I hope she’s cured fast and that it doesn’t hurt.
By the way, we have a times stamp and the IP from the company computer. Is it possible from that to determine who was using a particular computer at a particular time?
Steve emailed me to note that “it’s a big company” and that I shouldn’t be making threats before I considered that it might be someone ELSE in that company who happened upon that particular well-documented (here) IP address.
So I’m willing to go that extra mile if some of you IP whiz-types can help me out with what to ask and whom to ask.
The comment was left 2008/07/29 at 7:50 AM MT, 9:50 AM EST from IP 170.171.1.5.
Unsurprisingly, now that Steve M has mentioned it on his site, I’m getting visits from other kind hearted souls wishing me the same kind of pain and death.
BECAUSE OF THE PROGRESSIVE COMPASSION!
The world is full of assholes.
I’m guessing that Random House isn’t allowing open access to their server.
The response is awfully Gleenwaldian. Though I don’t know if this cowardly twatwaffle is really worth the effort. The furry I’d be flensing, metaphorically, of course.
Somebody should ask Al Gore about this shit, because everybody knows he invented the intertubes.
Random House’s IT geeks could likely tell you, but I don’t think they’ll be inclined to do so and I don’t see where you can force them to. Perhaps old Steve M would enlist their help in order to clear himself.
*breathing quite normally, not holding any breath at all*
Flensing is an underused word conversationally in this country, Pablo. Thanks for the reminder.
Occam’s razor. It’s him.
Are you guys gonna fight? Will it be up on YouTube? Do it, man. Take it to the streets. Make blogging history.
You should always be careful about who you threaten – because no matter how much of a badass you think you are there’s someone badderass somewhere…
Is he saying Random House is teeming with hateful leftism? I think he probably has a good point. The seem a little barackified over there, plus they’re lousy with Germans.
You shouldn’t ever write something on the internet that you wouldn’t say to your mothers face. Unless you hate your mother, in which case maybe the bitch has it coming.
In this case I can’t fault Jeff for wanting to hold people accountable for their hateful words.
Random House publishes the Dr. Seuss books.
I haven’t threatened anyone. In fact, I told Ouroboros on another thread that I’d just like to meet the guy face to face to see if he’d be willing to offer me the same wishes of a malignancy and pain.
Flensing is a great word. I flensed a coconut the other day. I drank a little milk and ate a little but threw it away mostly cause it seemed to have some weird fleshy not cocunutty texture. I don’t know coconuts very well so I don’t know if it was old or defective or just some variety what you just use just for the milk. It made a big mess of the kitchen.
I see death wishes has been labeled “mild insult” by the bleeding heart tolerance crowd. I seem to recall them loosing their cookies when a righty blogger made reference to rope and liberals judges was it? Pattirico busted them hocking t-shirts and mugs with rope and conservative theme themselves. Enlightenment in action.
update: Steve M emails me:
From what IP address?
X-Originating-IP: [170.171.1.5]
What does that tell you, Pablo?
Here’s the rest:
Message-ID:
Return-Path: nomoremister@hotmail.com
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary=”_0daf3804-55e2-45d1-9b55-defdef28751f_”
X-Originating-IP: [170.171.1.5]
The originating domain of that email is from Random House, which you already knew.
Dude, why don’t you take some of your aggression and go beat up Muslim terrorists? I mean, Jesus, they actually want to destroy your country, your way of life, your entire civilization! Somebody saying they hope something horrible happens to you seems to pale in compaarison.
Or maybe you didn’t.
whatsa matter, Jeff? Can’t take criticism? Your site complains about liberal sites shutting down comments and you ban anyone who hurts your feelings?
[Actually, no. You didn’t hurt my feelings. I mean, you call yourself “hoot.” I just no longer feel the need to allow my site to give voice to any drive-by fuck who happens along to drop a load, but who doesn’t have the sack to put his or her name to it].
Hey nate, why don’t you take some of that condemnation and point it at a person who would hope for pain and suffering in another, or better yet, go fuck yourself.
The real question, nate, is why would those who routinely agitate for the rights and human dignity of Muslim terrorists turn around and wish malignancy and pain on a countryman with whom they happen to disagree politically?
You got me. But if I had to guess, I’d say something like, BECAUSE OF THE HYPOCRISY!
The usual suspects are starting to bitch because one of their own is going to get taken to the woodshed.
Nate, you are so wrong. Muslim terrorists want nothing more than to cure cancer and give ease to non-believers. That’s why they blow themselves up in crowds. The pain relief.
We monitor and log activity. Workstations have “leased” DHCP addresses which adhere for a defined period/or not as the protocals dictate. It is possible that a lease expires, and the dates from your screen-capture indicate a sufficient lapse of time. Can’t help more than that.
Diana —
Check the second update. The email Steve M sent me is from the same IP again. Is that a coincidence, or is he maybe sharing a workstation with the person who left the comment?
It tells me that Steve M is lying or he has a cabana boy infestation.
You do realize by pointing this out your are just as bad as the guy who emailed it to you? (Channeling SEK)
Hoot, you can’t turn that crap remark into any kind of anything decent.
#34 was in response to #23, natch.
It’s either Steve M or his cohort. No question.
This is going to come as a shock to you, Jeff, but people sometimes– indeed, oftimes– use anonimity to be total assholes and say terrible things. I first noticed this problem many years ago, when usenet was all the rage. The things people posted on alt.fan.piers-anthony… very unkind.
This comic pretty much says it all.
I guess most people fantasize about confronting people like that. Seems kind of counterproductive to me, but what do I know?
I hope you’re having a great day. You too, education guy.
bite me. I can’t help but notice you have this habit of trying to ruin the lives of people who “threaten” you. You’ll forgive me if I choose not to open myself up to attacks from your legion of idiots.
I’m happy to use my original handle but I thought it was filtered. Like my IP.
SarahW
The right always has it coming because we drive them to the actions that they take. When they finally decide to fight back they know the only way to be effective is to use our methods against us.
My guess is SteveM is who left those comments and now he’s just lying about it cause he’s embarrassed for people to know that he’s sort of a petty person, what with the wishing cancer on you and all that.
I hope your day sucks nate, and I hope any attempt by you to seek out others to be cruel to is met with the sort of lesson that will teach you to never do it again.
Trying to “ruin” = attaching the correct persona to comment they chose to leave?
Ruin the lives of who? When? How?
Fuck you and your outrageous outrage. God forbid that someone should have to own up to making threats. After all, https://proteinwisdom.com/?p=13060
Responsibility is pretty fickle in your world, ain’t it, hoot? Again, fuck you.
I think you can compare some of those comments to the children’s prank where you light a bag of dog sh@t on fire, leave it on someones doorstep, ring the doorbell, then run away. A big haha moment for the little boys afterwards as they delight in their “revenge” consequence free, and a good time was had by all. Well cept the dude that has to clean dogpoop off his shoe but who cares about him he is one of teh oppressors.
See? You expect access to places in which you rush in with things like “bite me”? Who provided you with this sense of entitlement, hoot?
For the record, I have never — not once, never, ever — contacted anyone’s place of employment. I try to deal with the people individually who leave these kinds of comments.
How is trying to make them accountable as REAL HUMANS for the garbage they spew trying to ruin their lives?
Fact is, hoot, you believe all the bullshit you read about me, without having the first clue about what I do or what I’ve done. The only person I’ve ever pursued any kind of case against was a rather notorious stalker — and even then, it was only after the, what? Fourth, fifth time she returned — and when she threatened to call child services on me?
So why don’t you bite me. I mean, you go by “hoot,” and don’t open yourself up on a daily basis to the kind of shit I get leveled at me and my family. Which means you don’t know squat.
Poor hoot, doesn’t understand he lives in a world in which actions have consequences.
“The things people posted on alt.fan.piers-anthony… very unkind.”
I’m assuming that it was filled with Piers Anthony fanboys of the sort that think he’s better than or even comparable to Herbert, in which case I would have been on that thing issuing so many death threats in such quick succession that you’d have to have a hundred Mentats chewing a thousand rations of spice with six Bene Gesserit witches operating a dozen contraband Ixian thinking machines to keep up with all of the sheer RAAAAAAGGGGEEEE!
OrgTechName: Domain Admin
OrgTechPhone: +1-212-782-9000
OrgTechEmail: domainadmin@randomhouse.com
They’re also required to have hostmaster@ and abuse@ email addresses.
You can also take it a hop upstream and complain to their ISP, Abovenet:
OrgAbuseName: AboveNet Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-888-636-2778
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@above.net
Of course, as Pablo noted, there’s no real way for you to force any of them to do anything.
Hoot’s. well, a hoot. Seriously, hoot, you should probably just try to shut the fuck up. You’ve already been humiliated once. But, I guess some more whining to Jeff could be entertaining.
This is going to come as a shock to you, nate, as it likely has to Steve M. Anonymity isn’t an absolute shield. People who realize that might be inclined to grow the fuck up, don’t you think?
One external IP address could resolve to a huge number of networked IPs inside the company. Most of the time, computers do not have an “external” IP assigned to them, mostly because getting that many static/”real” IPs is expensive. Most likely that IP is a gateway IP. Hundreds of computers probably connect through it, if not all the computers in the building.
“This is going to come as a shock to you, Jeff, but people sometimes– indeed, oftimes– use anonimity to be total assholes and say terrible things.”
This may come to a shock to you, too. Sometimes they are found out and dealt with accordingly. Shocking, I know.
Education Guy: Yowch! I take it you’re not a Christian. Or you’re the badass warrior kind. I always thought it was cool that Buddhism had different aspects of the Buddha and thought Christianity ought to have a warrior Jesus for times like now.
Barret: Actually, it was overrun by people who hated Piers Anthony’s guts and said mean things. The fanboys mostly whined about how the group was supposed to be for fans, not haters.
Pablo: It’s your party. I’m reminded of my friend who screams at motorists who cut him off. I just don’t believe you could ever kick enough ass to solve the problem, and it seems like an awful heavy emotional burden to bear all that rage and desire for revenge when you can simply ignore it and be no worse for wear.
Total assholes sometimes don’t learn to be anything other than total assholes until they are given a reason to do so. I would doubt that if someone spray-painted ASSHOLE on the side of hoots or nates car that they would shrug it off as a sign that the world is full of assholes.
Damnit, Protein Wisdom is going to make me lose my job by being too interesting.
Education Guy, buddy, what you’re describing is actual physical damage to someone’s property, or as I like to call it, the real world.
You’re comparing it to someone talking shit on the web. You see the difference, right?
Anyway, I guess if Jeff teaches one asshole, or the half-dozen he seems to be lining up– to be a better person, that’s a pretty noble outcome.
This kinda rage would be better directed with the application of toilet paper on a neighbors house. Some people just have not matured to that level I guess.
I’m thinking that if your point is to demonstrate that no one is really ‘anonymous’ in the internet world..
And…
..to make SteveM’s bowels go all watery at the thought that you might actually report his… cyber-indiscretion .. to Random House Security.. who would in turn make short work of confiscating his ID badge and escorting him off the premises..
..then I’d say, mission accomplished!!!!!
.. then again, if that’s not your point… nevermind…
Apparently, the biggest beef the left has with the right is that we expect them to act like adults.
nate
My religious preference are really none of your concern, but thanks for asking. Now, do you think that Christ would approve of allowing evil actions to go unnoticed, or in your case, defended. I’m just going to assume that you have never actually read the bible, because you seem to have this idea that Jesus was just this totally cool dude who would totally share his weed with you.
This isn’t part of the real world?
“Damnit, Protein Wisdom is going to make me lose my job by being too interesting.”
We share a common affliction.
“Actually, it was overrun by people who hated Piers Anthony’s guts and said mean things.”
Good.
“and it seems like an awful heavy emotional burden to bear all that rage and desire for revenge when you can simply ignore it and be no worse for wear.”
Nate, that may work for you and if it does, then great. I mean that. But it doesn’t work so well for others. Sometimes, people need their asses kicked. I’m sure you disagree. I’m not even convinced that is Jeff’s goal, though. I think he would just like to give this pussy the option of saying it to his face. Then, and only then, would there be a chance of an ass kicking.
And the comparison to road rage are kind of bogus as those aren’t really personal.
nate, buddy, assault needs nothing other than a verbal aspect. buddy.
Fairly easy test of Cranky-d’s thesis at 53, send an e-mail to RandomHouse to some entity other than SteveM designed to elicit an e-mail response from RH, look at the IP address.
Your commenters have contacted the employers of people in the past.
I’m no lawyer, but wishing someone would die, even horribly, doesn’t seem like a threat to me.
Which clearly makes Jeff responsible.
@ #53 … I was wondering about that, but the whole range of IP is “Random House”.
And you know this how, hoot?
Your commenters have contacted the employers of people in the past.
And you defend those who write on Jeff’s property, which he pays for, that they hope he gets cancer and that it hurts. For fucks sake why?
nate, you seem to believe that shifting words around on a screen can change reality. So I’ll ask you what I asked hoot, why are you defending this person who wished painful cancer on Jeff?
nate: “what you’re describing is actual physical damage to someone’s property, or as I like to call it, the real world.”
Are you suggesting that spoken and written words inflict no damage in “the real world?”
Likewise, do you imagine that Random House wants this sort of comment tracking back to them? Might they have a concern that someone’s “talking shit” might reflect poorly upon them?
Have they? Maybe, maybe not.
Thing is, I’m not my commenters. We aren’t a hive mind. They can do as they please.
Interesting, though, that when I pointed out the tenor of the comments at DailyKos and other places in response to Tony Snow’s death, I was lectured on how you can’t judge a site (or an ideology) by the commenters it attracts.
I’m hungry. I think I’ll chew on that bit of complexity for a spell…
nate, you seem to believe that shifting words around on a screen can change reality.
WTF? Is swearing allowed here? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I do not believe that in any way, shape or form. I believe quite the opposite: A person wishing you harm on a comment page can only harm you to the extent you allow him or her to do so, i.e., by your reaction to it.
I’ve got no brief for whomever said that, EG. I’ll even go so far as to say that was a despicable thing to say, and the person who said it is an asshole.
So why do you give a rat’s ass about the reaction to it? Why’d you even comment here, particularly with a dumb-ass chicken-hawk argument?
I’m reminded of a girl I met in Fresno with a pet monkey and a fistful of anti-depressants. But since that recollection is as irrelevant as yours, let’s not spend any more time on them. Your beliefs, be they what they are, are not based on much. And they lead you flying past the point, which you are simultaneously complaining about as you miss it completely. What sort of badass I am or am not is not a fact in your knowledge set and is quite irrelevant to this discussion. What is important to note is that that’s all you’ve got in the way of a response. HEY PABLO! AD HOM! TAKE THAT! I am cut to the core by your statement of belief.
Go away, loser.
See that road you’re stranded in the middle of while evil gas guzzling SUV’s nip at your heels from both directions? That’s a two way street.
Because, Rob, I think the reaction to it is so incredibly out-of-proportion to the comment as to be dumbfounding. Yes, I was being snarky about it, trying to point out that according to you guys, the world is full of nearly demonic forceson the verge of destroying all that is good and right. Going after somebody being a dick on a comment page bespeaks misplaced priorities. In my opinion.
I’m hungry too. So far it’s either Mexican or Thai or Chinese. NG is all over the place. They’re all fine with me though.
I’ve got no brief for whomever said that, EG. I’ll even go so far as to say that was a despicable thing to say, and the person who said it is an asshole.
It may have been wise to lead with that, because at this point it seems like something you would say so as not to give up your believe in moral superiority. As a Christian I forgive you.
You are right, Jeff is not his commenters. But his commenters have made it so people have to be anonymous here. With Jeff’s help of course, like when he posts their IP addresses. Also – please grow a pair.
Shoulda said that and left it at that.
And they lead you flying past the point, which you are simultaneously complaining about as you miss it completely. What sort of badass I am or am not is not a fact in your knowledge set and is quite irrelevant to this discussion. What is important to note is that that’s all you’ve got in the way of a response. HEY PABLO! AD HOM! TAKE THAT! I am cut to the core by your statement of belief.
I can’t claim to be a semiotician, but I cannot parse that in a way that makes any sense at all. I get that you’re angry, though. You convey emotion well.
Nate, you really think it has to rise to the level of “threat” to constitute a gratuitously nasty remark?
Some jerk who didn’t like his blog wishes him cancer, and you think that jerk ought to be able to count on having his authorship of that concealed?
What sort of priority is being a major asshole on the internet from work? Or, perhaps I should say what does it say about your priorities when you decide to go to Jeff Goldstein’s blog and wish him cancer and a painful death for no apparent reason other than that he put up a(nother) “Goodbye” post? What kind of priorities does that fool have, and instead of trying to correct the response to that misprioritiztion, ought you not be pursuing the “root source” of the problem?
Going after somebody being a dick on a comment page isn’t a question of priorities. If you think so though, imagine how startling this must be for that SteveM person. Waking up to a steaming cup of accountability. It’s nice when that happens, whether it’s Ted Stevens or SteveM or Baracky, but not Winona Ryder. That was way extreme I though what they dragged her through.
Yeah, corporate security people are kinda touchy when it comes to people using their computers to
spew hate and filth… Appearances and all… They have little patience for it and pretty much no sense of humor..
That being said I will state my opinion that it’s chickenshit to turn people in to their employer unless there’s a serious, clear and present threat involved… Just talking smack doesn’t meet that standard.. Getting someone sacked over
an insult , no matter how vile, just isn’t right… I’ve had it done to me and came about a inch from getting walked out.. all without cursing or threatening at all.. just called bullshit on bullshit.. and the person involved didn’t like having their sheets pulled…
End of my two cents on the subject..
The idea of the proportional response is misguided in any case. If a man walks up to you and knocks you down, you get up and teach him in a way he will understand that he is never to do that sort of thing again. That lesson is rarely ‘proportional’.
*thought*
No, they haven’t.
Weird… that’s my real name, and a little sleuthing would lead to a wealth of information on who I am. Of course, I don’t come here to threaten Jeff’s family or wish a painful death upon him.
Maybe that’s the key…
Okay, guys, good luck. Nail that motherfucker to the wall.
There’s really no emotion in that post. It’s a statement of facts. But I notice that you still have no answer, other than ad hom. Loser.
Is anyone else having trouble understanding my #78, or is it just nate?
OK, thanks nate. See ya.
“I’m reminded of a girl I met in Fresno with a pet monkey and a fistful of anti-depressants”
I lived in Fresno for years.. I think I know that girl..
Pablo, I just don’t understand what your question is, hence I cannot answer it. I am fully able to accept that it might be my problem, not yours. Toodles, I have many loser things to do on this, a most auspicious day for a loser like me.
“But his commenters have made it so people have to be anonymous here. With Jeff’s help of course, like when he posts their IP addresses.”
If you don’t like the rules…don’t post…this ain’t a democracy. It’s not like you bring anything to the table, or have succeeded in making anyone go, “Well he’s sure got a point there.” Why do you feel to urge to write in the first place, other than I assume, your need piss people off to satiate your “I upset someone I disgree with, give me a high five”.
Nail him to the wall?
Well, as has been pointed out, jelly don’t stick.
I think it would be nice to put a name on the tupperware container though. And WARNING: KIMCHEE OR MOLDY CHEESE, YOU DECIDE!
But jelly, as I learned last night, you just can’t nail it to the wall. Can’t be done. Even by Baracky I’ll bet. But you can wrestle it to the ground.
Nate —
Until you’ve had this same kind of thing leveled at you a daily basis for years on end, you have no idea the toll it takes. I AM able to shrug this stuff off. But has it occurred to you that I believe perhaps it’s time that I stop shrugging it off, and holding people to account for the vile shit they say?
— That is, that I’m not doing this because I’m hurt by it so much as because it is a behavior that I find repugnant and worthy of being addressed directly?
So, you don’t understand my comment at #87? Is anyone else having this problem, or is it just nate?
I understand your questions, Pablo. Nate’s just not that into doing much more than whining about people objecting to dickheads on the ‘net.
LOL! Hoot is telling someone to grow a pair? The same hoot who begged Jeff to NOT get him into trouble with his company? That’s perfect. Words/actions have consequences you fucking twit.
Was that “hoot”?
Shit, man. He knows first hand that I said I wouldn’t contact his employer. What a little fuck.
I reflected on the jelly too. I was thinking this is probably same as yogurt and most kinds of pie. Creamcheese, maybe you could, if it was really really cold.
Let’s say SteveM came on a blog and posted his “I’m Happy I’m A Liberal, Hope You Get Cancer Screed” – unbeknownst to him the bloggers mother/sister/father/child etc. just died a very painful death by cancer. Does that change the tenor of his hate? Would anyone question the bloggers desire to expose such hatred? Would the company that owned the IP address feel good about such vile coming from their company? I’m not saying this is JG’s situation, but it damn sure could be. That might be why sane people think about the harm their words might instill, and seek to stop it when it happens.
OTOH, you’re dealing with a tiny dick(head)using his back up brain cell at full trolling capacity. Nothing new in Leftard Land.
Jeff,
To answer your question, yes it is quite possible for the Random House to check which workstation posted the offending comment, given the fact you have a time stamp. Most network environments host an internal DNS server which logs each request within a series of log files, whether internal or whether it checks/refers against an outside DNS server – starting w/ their ISP (which has full records of each request by Fed Law) – all transactions are logged. Generally this is handled by one of the domain controllers assigned the task of DNS server within a particular network structure. The in-house DHCP server assigns or leases an internal I/P address for anywhere from 1 minute up to a week at a time. Most set the lease period for 24 to 48 hours, so the workstation can have the same localized I/P even if the workstation is logged out over a weekend. Some have it set for smaller amounts of time for security reasons.
Since Random House is a fairly large company, I’d guess that they’d have at least one router & possible a MICROSOFT IIS/ISA server in place, each w/ its own logging scheme & most keep records for at least a week, some for months or years at a time.
I’m not sure what requirements are for publishing but several firms I work w/ are either required by law or choose to backup the log files so that browsing & mail sending can be reviewed later. MICROSOFT ISA server & Cisco have several tools that run & place the logs in defined locations or run a compression routine to shrink the size of the log files themselves.
Also if the company s running any kind of filtering software to prevent certain questionable pages from being loaded or to discourage porn or inappropriate web browsing, these programs generate log files showing the page requested, from which I/P & so on & so forth.
A good rule of thumb is that any company that has had to terminate an employee for questionable web/email activity generally will be running some kind of logging, in order to protect themselves from future ligation.
While I know just enough to be dangerous in this area & not in a good way, if you have any further questions please feel free to contact me. You have my email address, I contacted you during the “she who shall not be named” era.
Most IT short of a court order will confirm the type of firewall, servers run, filtering in place, etc. But almost all companies take threats made via their resources seriously… especially during work hours. Contacting their IT & H/R departments generally will get a quick response. Especially, if you contact the dept. heads.
I’m starting to really sort of associate Random House with petty maliciousness. Almost like they’re the media or something.
Thanks, PMain.
As I’ve said in all other situations such as this, I don’t want to cost anyone his job. At the same time, I do want to force accountability on people who leave these kinds of comments.
Tough balancing act. But then again, if Steve M says it isn’t him, then he wouldn’t be losing his job. It’d just be some random asshole.
Just to be clear, though (because I admit, I’m not well versed in this kind of thing), should I wish to try to find out who left the comment, I’d contact:
OrgTechName: Domain Admin
OrgTechPhone: +1-212-782-9000
OrgTechEmail: domainadmin@randomhouse.com
…then give them the IP (170.171.1.5.) and time stamp (7:50 AM MT, 9:50 AM EST)?
Anything else I might need?
Anything else I might need?
The IP address of Protein Wisdom. They gots to know source AND destination. And that it was on a blog, so they’ll know the application.
And if your log has any other kind of number that mean nothing to you. They might mean something to the techs.
But even then, it depends on the logs they keep and how inclined they are to parse the logs to find that one connection. Technically, they should be able to trace the connection back to the station, but like others have said, techs usually aren’t inclined to care about that stuff. Trust me, I can’t get anything out of them either.
You’d also have to include your I/P address & they can simply compare the sequence to their logs. The sequence generally goes like this: their internal I/P makes a request to the internal DNS sever for https://www.proteinwisdom.com, which it recognizes as an outside address… which it refers to their ISP’s DNS server, which in turn finds your I/P & then passes the information back to the internal DNS server & back to the workstation making the request. Depending upon what filtering & logging they have in place – website/domain blocking, porn filter, etc – they should have it listed to one singular internal I/P address & to one particular individual log in for their internal domain.
However complications can arrive if it is a common workstation, left logged into their network or if there are several users browsing your page at the same time. But, & I’m not totally sure of this, once a posting is made, that should refer to a particular request to the specific comment location, thus differentiating between a user browsing/reading the comment section vs. one posting in the section. Also your logs should show the exact time period spent at your I/P. Given the reader’s I/P (most likely their router/firewall or ISA server’s public I/P address), your I/P address for website &/pr comment section, they should be able to differentiate between the poster & any casual observer from within their domain.
The benefit is that most DHCP servers lease their I/P internal addresses via MAC address, so they can tell which workstation indeed made the request, browsed the site & made the post.
While Dicentra is correct, if they are using a Server 2000 to current the internal DNS records are kept up to the size allowed for each log file. If they are using Microsoft ISA server, the log files are fairly large & can hold several weeks worth of data. Depending on router used, that information isn;t kept too log, unless they are referencing or keeping it elsewhere. Theiur ISP has a full & complete log of everything that occured outside of Random House’s firewall & nothing short of several court orders will get them to release that information.
Also,
This information is in-house, so I doubt the domain admin, unless also in-house, would have access to the internal I/P stuff. That would follow under the Operations/IT dept. You can start at the admin for the domain, but more than likely they will refer you to Operations/IT. In similar circumstances, I found contacting the head of H/R generally gets the ball rolling the fastest & cuts through internal strife/red-tape that can occur in larger companies.
Thanks.
Sure would be easiest and less messy if the person who left the post would just, you know, fess up.
But alas, cowards carry their cowardice out til the end.
Visualize whirled O! crap.
My sense is that there is some very genuine distress what people who maybe made some mean and petty comments are in today. So there’s that.
I have no interest in what any of these people have to say anymore, Dan. Just going to do what I have to do.
You see, once you no longer care, you get to let it be all about you. And I’m at that stage. Fuck the furry diaper sniffing perverts with the offshore youtube little boy vids (hi, David Brown!), and fuck the assholes who want to wish me cancer.
I can’t fight every battle, but then, I don’t have to: I’m don’t subscribe to Alan Colmesean logic that if you can’t fight every battle, you are unjustified in fighting one.
Nope. Confronted with 5, I go after 1, hard.
Jeff G.: “But alas, cowards carry their cowardice out til the end.”
The brave never really die… and cowards never live.
HappyFeet,
I have got to tell you, you are flooring me. The coconut episode is frickn’ hilarious. But I saw your comments over at that other dudes place, “all the women except the one from Texas” you are disarming them with your wit and they have no idea what has hit them. Well done, sir.
Oh, and while we’re on that topic, I’d like to thank Eliot F for all his help with getting Tony’s new stuff branded. I think the DVD art and cover work is top notch, and the web design looks fantastic.
For those of you interested in martial arts or catch wrestling in particular, once the new site is up and running I’ll pop in to post an introduction. We’ve developed a lot of advanced online training tools for coaching feedback and the like, so both Tony and I are very excited about the revamped endeavor going forward.
Also, in addition to the BJJ class where I was rolling exclusively, I now have a training partner 3 times a week with whom to practice catch (both the striking and throwing game and the ground game and rips) exclusively. Which should really fast track my advancement. Although I gotta tell you, I tire of constantly grappling guys who outweigh me by 40-55 lbs. Is everybody 230 and above these days?
Jeff G: “Nope. Confronted with 5, I go after 1, hard.”
Sounds like my TKD instructor, discussing self-defense scenarios.
“No, Ace. Just you.”
One of the better methods — break up the mob / herd mentality — individualize and personalize the impending mayhem.
Jerry always suggested tearing off an ear — unexpected, doesn’t require a great deal of effort and has the tendency to make an impression on the rest of the group.
Jeff,
For a lefty blog, it’s pretty civilized (as opposed to Kos, etc).
But screw that. I have seen no threat of violence from you, and left a message over there that says “two and two usually equals four”, or something like that.
I can’t blame you for being pissed, because I can’t imagine reacting any other way if my little boy was involved.
Screw that idiot – whoever it is. It’s obvious that whoever it is doesn’t have the balls to ‘fess up, so we know who the real pussy is here.
As I said, two and two usually equals four, and the cretin that posted that message is not worth your time. New York is chock full of idiots who think it’s cool to live and work there. How stupid can you get? Sorry to any PW ers that live there, but I’ve been going there all of my life, and have come to think of it as a yuppie’s bad joke. My sister lived on Twelfth Street (near Sixth Ave.) for years in the 70’s, and I just slowly came to hate the place.
Anyway, good luck, and I hope this fades away soon. Your time is too valuable to waste on an immature little pussy like that. Whoever it is, they have proved just what a stand up person they really are, and even more importantly, how mature they are.
Fuck ’em. If you find him, send him a box of sparklers.
whatsa matter, Jeff? Can’t take criticism?
Wishing painful death is just being critical? Huh.
IP hints:
Typically, a big org like that with their own class-B range uses a “pool” of IP addresses for outbounds. You’d need access to their firewall logs to see who had what outbound IP at a particular time/date.
Show up at his door, invite him out for a beer. Be nice, smile, say see ya around. Let him figure out the essentials.
A person wishing you harm on a comment page can only harm you to the extent you allow him or her to do so, i.e., by your reaction to it.
Isn’t that true of all speech, nate? So wouldn’t people having other people arrested and thrown in jail for words be a bit more of an over reaction than what you see here?
So true, B Moe. I’m not sure nate’s a lefty, but that’s one of them thar inconsistencies of hate speech and hate crimes the left loves so much.
Cranky-D, while many companies do use NAT (Natural Address Translation, for the uninitiated), in the case of Random House, they “own” a Class B Network IP address (had it since 1994), and all of the host addresses, all 65,532 of them. I would say that even Random House would have a hard time using up so many of their host addresses as to need to resort to NATing. That being the case, if one really wanted to push the issue (assuming you could in this case), it would not be hard at all to find out whose workstation that IP address was assigned to.
As to the issue at hand, what the barking moonbat apologists like nate, hoot, etc don’t get is that there is indeed a sad simple difference between the average leftie and the average rightie.
Oh yes, if you sufficiently piss off a conservative, he may very likely come back at you with some serious invective. For instance, he might say that Barking Moonbat Jones is a “goddam commie pond-scum sucking frog fornicator (that right, he FUCKS FROGS!)”, or some similar term of endearment.
But wishing a wasting illness and painful death on someone….meh, no so much.
Your average leftie though, he doesn’t seem to have such a problem with that sort of thing. Or of celebrating when someone they disagree with politically becomes seriously ill or dies (the recent passing of Tony Snow being an excellent case in point).
In the former’s case, such disgraceful behavior very seldom happens, whereas in the latter’s case, it happens all too often.
Why? Because most proggies have no class. Because in the main they are a bunch of lowlife motherfuckers who can dish it out (such as wishing Jeff G. would die of cancer), but they damn sure can’t take it (such as when in response to such a crass comment, somebody sits up and says “Say what, douchenozzle?”).
Deal with it.
NAT (Natural Address Translation, for the uninitiated)
Er, that would be Network Address Translation. For the uninitiated, that is.
Actually, it’s probably to trot out the righteous indignation. Pissed me off so bad now I’m gonna have to go to the bad words, you effing wingnut. And because I’m enlightened enuf to be an atheist, you goddamn godbotherer.
Of course, this naturally goes, oh, miles to making whatever moonbat point logic then immediately refutes, but there you have it.
“When Steve M emailed me, he emailed me from X-Originating-IP: [170.171.1.5]  the same IP the mystery commenter used, and the same IP Steve himself admits to using when he commented here previously.”
A check of the mx records for randomhouse.com shows the first four as Postini hosting their mail services. In that case it would not be a surprise to see the NAT device show up as the originating email IP address and also the browsing source IP address. They would likely exit the internal network the same way, though not necessarily.
Without internal Random House IT help you are not likely to determine the source, however if you email me the complete header of the email I’ll take a look for anything identifying. It’s doubtful, but I’ll look.
Tracking back the IP addresses will only get you to the machine from which it was posted. They’d probably also have to take a look at directory service logs (AD, LDAP, whatever) and probably some logs on the machine in question to determine who the user logged into the machine was at the time in question. A firewall or proxy log might get you that user info, though, if such is in use and if it gets its information from the client OS when the user connects to it.
Your mob wasn’t threatening to get me fired, that was some other poor schlub.
Oh. Then why don’t you mind your fucking business then, hoot.
By the way, people close to me know why I’m taking time off, for how long I’ll likely be gone, and the conditions of my return (should there be one).
I am running no thinly-veiled fundraiser; in fact, I have been giving the time I’m not spending with my son almost exclusively to a friend of mine who has been the victim of similar kinds of internet smear efforts. How ironic!
Several people have contacted me about covering the Dem convention; so far, nothing concrete has come of any of this, so I’m not holding my breath any longer for that.
Beyond that, I have my training, my kid to enjoy before he’s off to pre-school in the fall (how the time does fly!), my wife to spend time with, and — if all goes as planned — a book to start, labor through, and finish.
— Although I’m pretty certain I can scratch Random House of the list of possible publishing houses…
So it really is that simple. My announcement, as I noted at the time, was mostly an expression of guilt over not being able to give the site my time or best efforts — and to give those who’d been propping it up the choice of either keeping it going or letting it sit idle.
I left once before for 18 months and set a test pattern and some elevator music here as a kind of virtual bookmark; I was prepared to do so again should it have come down to that.
Thankfully, there are those here who’d like to see the site continue on in my absence, as well as those here willing to carry it on while I’m away.
“Nate, you are so wrong. Muslim terrorists want nothing more than to cure cancer and give ease to non-believers. That’s why they blow themselves up in crowds. The pain relief.”
Thank you, Sarah, Even though I’ve ruined another keyboard, that comment relieved much pain!
Actually, I’ve now been in contact with one of those who’d been carrying things on here. I’ve expressed my appreciation before, and it was sincere. But now he has requested I ban someone whom I’d rather not ban — basically, a “he goes or I go” scenario.
All this drama after I’m supposed to be stepping back so I can write a fucking book. I can’t take it any more.
Yes, I need the money this site generates, little as it is. But it’s just not worth it if stepping away doesn’t really mean stepping away. So if you see a test pattern here later, you’ll understand what happened.
Later.
That’s not exactly Cabot Cove mystery wise I don’t think. This is one of those thingers where a win-win approach works best I think.
Also, I’d just say it’s sort of… quixotic to think some people can be banned when for real they have crazy skillz that would frustrate that sort of thing without much problem at all I don’t think.
Jeff, you know what you’d do if you were the target of the abuse in question. thor can be every entertaining, but you’d put him in the Timmah!/IJS/monkyboy/alphie file if he were so constantly, baselessly attacking you.
If you’re gonna let the guy pilot, you’ve gotta let him use the lasers the same way you would. Blogging without the ability to do anything about being abused seems like not much fun.
There’s more to thor than just that, though — and all I did was ask Karl to return fire until the elections.
I know it ain’t fun. Still, I put up with a helluva lot more for a helluva lot longer. And I asked Karl to put up with it as a favor to me. He would rather not. His call.
I can’t get involved anymore, lest Wolcott might actually have himself a point — instead of all that rounded flabby jowel dripping he’s been toting around like some sort of crazily misplaced knapsack.
Thor sure didn’t bring in any Instalaunches. Or Hotairlaunches. Or any other type of ‘launch, unless you count the one that’s gonna pilot Karl on to (hopefully) a nice, new, greener pasture. He’s earned that much.
Screw Thor. Launch him in this.
And what about Dan? I’ve seen few people who have his style and character depth. Dan’s priceless.
The things he’s done for this place shouldn’t be swept away in a fit of pique.
As Jeff has stated his view, I hope he will allow me this. I have helped Jeff out here for months, and people seemes to enjoy it.
I began not to enjoy it, mostly because I don’t like being smeared as some closet racist.
Jeff has put up with that and more, but as he notes, some people have less tolerance for it. (And Jeff’s leniency, I might add, may be one reason that certain dramas have spiralled out of control here, but ymmv).
In my initial e-mail to Jeff asking that thor be banned, I did not issue any ultimatum (and I will gladly provide the e-mail to all who want it, except thor). Jeff asked me to put up with it, in part because of the already existing site drama. Banning thor would have reduced that drama for me, and Jeff recently mulched someone (LaDonne) for less than what thor has done (imho), but whatever.
Between the guy who has been helping and Jeff, and the guy smearing the guy helping Jeff, I would have picked the guy helping Jeff, had I been Jeff. That he did not suggests that my altruism may have been misplaced, but live and learn. It is Jeff’s site and his call.
serr8d,
Thanks for the kind words. I don’t have any blogging plans beyond my regular web gig, which is much different from this.
I didn’t “pick” anyone. I merely noted that I didn’t want a long time commenter banned.
But fuck it. Enough is enough.
I can see you at Hot Air, Karl. You’d be perfect for that.
Oh, and serr8d? The reason I announced my retirement was PRECISELY so that those so inclined could move on to greener pastures without feeling obliged to keep this place going.
I did my part.
And I never said that Karl’s initial email provided me with an ultimatum. It was his follow-up, after I asked him to do me a favor and just weather the storm for a bit:
Let it be known that I never said anyone was more valuable than anyone else — though it is (I should think) obvious that Karl has been more valuable than thor.
At the same time, thor has been commenting here a long time, has as very good relationship with Dan (see, serr8d? I do notice Dan’s contributions!), and so I was trying to play mediator.
— When what I wanted to be doing was getting away.
Seems this place can’t really run without me. But I’m not available for it, and I won’t let it end up as some kind of internet joke.
Either you want to continue or you don’t. What’s left to say?
I never understood the KK thing. I must have missed something.
And you’re right, serr8d. I’ll put in a word for Karl joining Hot Air. They’d probably like him there — he is perfect for it — and they pay pretty well, too, I understand.
Man. I am so sick of all of this. Unbelievably so.
I think y’all have sealed the deal for me. Thanks.
Hey now with the bad feelings. We had a lot of fun.
And LaDonne has been banned under 4 or 5 different identities, incidentally. Not remotely the same.
Another thing: the “favor” people did for me here goes both ways. I seem to recall having a pretty big readership when I invited anyone interested to guest blog here.
I’ve said thank you countless times. But I won’t be beholden. If you continue here, do so because you want to, and because you reach a great big audience. Otherwise, don’t.
The real ironic thing is thor is voting for McCain most likely. Not Baracky.
Karl is not a racist.
Affirmation of that?
Thor is using a little needle, Jeff. Because Karl doesn’t have any broad internet targets painted on him, Thor is trying to paint him with that tired, old spray can. Karl’s kept his walls freshly painted. Thor is simply a graffiti artist with a spray can.
A lawyer can’t afford to have that sort of innuendo stick without a permanent injunction.
oh. So there might could be some continuing? That changes the complexion of things. The tumbleweed thing, I took that maybe too much to heart. The Jeff Karl thor thing is sad because these are all good people. Really good people. The kind you want on your team.
I can think of exactly one person here who thinks Karl is a racist, and he’s been taken to the woodshed over it a thousand times.
Would you like me to do a Photoshop of Karl making sweet sweet love to Pam Grier to PROVE he isn’t a racist? What kind of fucking affirmation do you need?
Listen: if you want to go work for Hot Air, do it. Fill out a fucking application. I’ll give you a great letter of recommendation.
Thor —
If you’re reading this, please don’t call Karl a racist on this site again. It’s not amusing, and it is hurtful.
Hey, I wanna be in that pshop~!
Let Karl find his own pie…
196, here, but striving to get down to 185. I now know enough to avoid getting totally killed in striking, but I know just barely north of bupkus about grappling.
My Wii Fit says I need to get my BMI down to 22, which would put me at about 153 lbs. I haven’t weighed that little since I was a junior in high school; I weighed 175 when I was in college and swimming four or five miles a day (plus weights in the morning), which my Wii Fit, in its infinite wisdom, insists is “overweight”.
The Japanese are sneaky bastards, ain’t they — trying to get us all smallish so they can jump us again, no doubt.
I’m at about 178-185, depending. But I have an injured shoulder, so my lifting has decreased the last two weeks. I hope to eventually get up to 200 with a diet heavy with protein.
I do, however, know how to ride heavy — which is why I’m always getting paired up with the 230-240 pounders in class. Everybody seems to think I weigh about 200 or so after I grapple with them, so I’m at least doing some things right.
Thing is, Jeff, thor doesn’t think Karl’s a racist. He just likes saying it over and over, shit with which up you would not put. thor is funny, but not quite as funny as he thinks he is. Maybe if thor would vow to give up the griefing, and Karl could zap the griefing into oblivion if he fails to do so, everyone could get back on the same page.
#163 is diplomatic. So is a big stick.
Tell you what. If Dan agrees he should be banned, we can ban him. Unless he promises to lay off the Karl as Klansman shit.