Date: March 2nd, 2007 11:33 AM Author: titillating drunken corner deer antler
I am a regular/lurker with many monikers, none of which are the least bit (in)famous. I created BCB in December 2006 because I thought that I could create a better forum.
Things didn't catch on, and I fully expected it. The board was a proof-of-concept. To that extent, I think it was a success.
At any rate, BCB became popular last night when GTO announced new mods. The mods spooked some board regulars, who (unfairly, in my estimation) accused GTO and the mods of exercising too much control over the board.
Late last night rachmiel contacted me, asking if I would work with this board to improve it. I agreed that I would.
I shut my site down at the risk of being outed. Rachmiel knows my name, which probably wasn't difficult to figure out if he is able to look at all the posts from my IP under various monikers.
At the creation of BCB, I vowed to shut it down if I were ever outed or risked being outed. That's what has happened here.
Although I have agreed to work with this board, I am not a mod and I do not want to be a mod. So that's the story. I'm accepting insults, questions, and flame...
Edit: in response to another thread--the site was not created to mine information or anything of the sort. Take your tin-foil hats off.
Edit: there was no money or the promise of money exchanged for shutting my board down.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 11:42 AM Author: Big Internet-worthy Stead
this entire board is run by a bunch of thought police. don't let them bully you into shutting down your site? I believe in free speech and free markets. The great GTO and his cronies - the mods - obviously don't agree.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 1:28 PM Author: olive stage becky
Jesus, dood. I really believed in that site. You deliberately said you're not interested in working for XOXO because of differences in philosophy. And certainly, with that transparency and the initial moderation, you did have vast differences in philosophy. That board was really going to take off one day.
So what if somebody "outs" you? GTO and Rach are well known, and they're still capable of leading a normal, professional lives outside the board. The consequences of being outed are so overblown it's not even funny. Unless you are flame and have posted a million "nigger" threads, you have nothing to fear. Caving into the two very sketchy admins because of that fear is just not cool.
I was your biggest fanboi and I couldn't be more disappointed that you went this route.
it was going to take off yesterday and so GTO/rach shut it down. the mods are still here; just look at what GTO said about keeping it quiet in another thread. if it wasn't all so pathetic, it would be an excellent anti-trust case
Date: March 2nd, 2007 1:48 PM Author: olive stage becky
The worst part of GTO/Rach acting like total shitbags is that they are not profiting from this site. They use the Google Ad money to buy out other competing and otherwise informative sites. Neither of them see this site as a business enterprise; it's really just a hobby to them before their IRL career takes off. So why even give a fuck about suppressing competition if you're not that interested the long-term success of this site?
These two knuckleheads are so caught up in dominating the law admissions/law firm circuit that they've completely ignored improvements this site at all. This site has pretty much ceased to be a law admissions board and morphed into a law firm board - interesting that it parallels GTO's legal career. All the while, the college admissions side of the board (which had more traffic on PR) is not completely conceded to College Confidential.
I don't know about rach, but I wouldn't say GTO has a "normal" life. From what I understand, he is pretty unpopular with his peers and is seen as something of a weirdo. Also, I think this site has had negative consequences for him in terms of his academic/professional career.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 3:26 PM Author: olive stage becky
"I don't know about rach, but I wouldn't say GTO has a "normal" life. From what I understand, he is pretty unpopular with his peers and is seen as something of a weirdo."
That could just as easily be GTO being GTO.
If he has a Biglaw job as you say, then obviously it wasn't negative enough.
I think he has been ostracized because of this board specifically. This is my understanding from some people I know who have some konwledge of his personal life. Let's just say that I don't think the board has done wonders for his reputation.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 3:37 PM Author: olive stage becky
Again, I don't think it's so much because of the board. If Boondocks ran this shit, I doubt he would be a lightning rod for so much negative attention.
A lot of the bad rep this board gets is because of the actions taken by GTO himself (publicly attacking professors because they insulted his board, letting select people be outted, allowing racist spam to exist, etc.)
I think there's a decent chance he's in a basement somewhere with GTO holding a gun to his head. I'm trying to see if he's encrypted some kind of message in his post, like the Vietnam POWs who blinked out messages in morse code.
Look, champ. You just plain surrenderin' here. You gotta be able to take it to him! At least you gotta try! So he found a weakness, you just gotta use that against him. Remember what I said, champ, you gotta use his momentum against him. Make him lean into your punches!
Look, I'm a good coach, but I can't fight this fight for you! You gotta take it to him! You got this belt, you wanna keep it? What about your pride? Come on, let's go out there and really show him that this title belt you got ain't no fluke. Alright, champ?
It was very easy (for me, an amateur net detective) to find his name, but none of the information came from the database. I didn't even look in the database, because none of the information in his account would be useful. I didn't even threaten anything, though. I just removed the comfortable cloak of anonymity from the terms of engagement, and I think the outcome is positive.
As I said several times, the database doesn't store IPs, and tracing somebody's name through an IP is beyond my ability. The database is actually quite secure--even passwords are encrypted so that they are kept 100% private, even from me. It was designed that way on purpose, but unfortunately people don't seem to give me credit for having the foresight and the consideration to set it up that way.
All the database stores is username, encrypted password, alias name, and the fake city and zip code you put in when you registered. It would be useless to anyone even if they did have malicious intent.
Frankly, I'm just excited to be working together with him. Also, I consider the BCB episode to be something of a wake-up call for me which, while perhaps not wholly deserved, will ultimately benefit the board and I have to appreciate on some level.
EDIT: To clarify, I was able to get Leiter's IP way back because back then, because I had server IP logging turned on back then. Not in the database, but for the actual server access. I turned that off shortly after that because the log files kept getting too big. If somebody spams, I can turn IP tracking on to retrieve their information, but ordinarily it's off.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 7:49 PM Author: Sadistic Depressive
So, wait, you admit to contacting him directly to threaten him? Basically, all you did was threaten to out someone and force him to take the board down. Not cool.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:03 PM Author: Tan Fragrant Wagecucks
You don't get it.
Let's say the encrypted password is 432979iuroiweoirewur984375984uo4eirjewoiri and the real password is GTOsucks32 (though there's no way of knowing what the real password actually is due to the encryption).
432979iuroiweoirewur984375984uo4eirjewoiri is all that shows up in the database. If you see multiple monikers with 432979iuroiweoirewur984375984uo4eirjewoiri as the password in the database, you know they have the same password, even though you don't know what the real password is because it's encrypted.
When there's a serious spamming issue and somebody's really disrupting the normal flow of discussion on the board, that's when I might turn it on. And if I can't find any information, then oh well. Then it gets turned off again.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:28 PM Author: Vivacious Ratface Famous Landscape Painting
I did a search for the thread. You mean at the exact same time when the Milbank thread went up on November 29, 2006, there was serious spamming going on, that enabled you to IP log? Can you point to the spammer?
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:00 PM Author: Beta Cracking Address Jew
The whole "passwords are encrypted" line is such nonsense. The passwords probably really are *encrypted*, which means that given the right algorithm and key, they can be decrypted. Since they built the board, they probably know the algorithm and the key and have the ability to decrypt passwords at will. I wouldn't be suprised if they even have utilities to streamline the process.
If they really wanted to make passwords secure, they would hash.
The password issue is really a red herring, though. Who cares if the mods have our passwords? It's the IP addresses that worry me. Anyone who's read the leiter page knows they log IP addresses, and the repeated statements to the contrary only add to my skepticism.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 7:55 PM Author: diverse new version
"I didn't even threaten anything, though. I just removed the comfortable cloak of anonymity from the terms of engagement, and I think the outcome is positive."
-------
This is hilarious. It's like entering negotiations by presenting pictures of someone's wife and kids going about their daily routines. "I didn't even threaten anything, I just introduced the fact that I could hit the guy where it hurts to the terms of engagement and I think the outcome is positive." Not that I mind this, I think strongarm powergrabs are amusing and I enjoy the spectacle you guys are creating.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 7:59 PM Author: Bateful kink-friendly center
how about GTO's tracing IPs during the milbank flame? server logging miraculously turned on back then?
i don't think most people care about the (admittedly fairly important) distinction between tracking ips in the database v. logging ips at the server level. the important point, i think, is that sometimes you guys are correlating ips with board behavior, pseudo-outing people (leiter, BCB guy) and splitting hairs when people are bothered by it ("ip tracking in the DATABASE?! who us?! why i never!").
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:02 PM Author: diverse new version
The IP stuff is irrelevant to peons like us. Don't cross the boss and you have nothing to worry about. It's a lot like the Patriot Act. Yeah, they're gathering information, but it's only being used for the greater good of XOXO. Call me when they start actually abusing their power and then maybe I'll care.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 10:34 PM Author: swashbuckling disgusting heaven
I don't believe you. During the period when GTO was being a spaz around the time BCB started, the next day (maybe two days later) he specifically said that he looked up some IP's and realized that some of the people taunting him were using multiple monikers.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:08 PM Author: Beta Cracking Address Jew
Loller. I don't know what's funnier--that you thought BCB was a flame, or that you haven't gotten xoxo java working yet. Just update your jre and clear your IP cache.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:12 PM Author: painfully honest vibrant coldplay fan
This is a date that will live in infamy. All the controversy of the past week didn't phase me - until this. I feel truly disappointed that xoxo bullied BCB into taking down the site. I feel like xoxo is the Chinese government, quelling any attempt at an uprising so that it can maintain its stranglehold on the law firm/school discussion market. I'm also disappointed in BCB - he was once the MLK of law firm/school discussion boards, and he started BCB with a dream that someday every law student could visit a site without mods, with a better layout, and with less racism. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, but this was a lesson never learned by BCB, as he succumbed to the fear inside of him. Perhaps, sadly, he represents the fear in all of us. So where do we go from here? Will xoxo be able to make the transition from a 1980's layout? Will BCB fit in under the new regime that he once vehemently protested? Or will he secretly sabotage GTO at every turn? Perhaps the only true challenger of xoxo now, my friends, is Brian Leiter. God help us.
>I didn't even threaten anything, though. I just removed the comfortable cloak of anonymity from the terms of engagement, and I think the outcome is positive.
I found out (from Google) who he was, and where he went to school, and I wanted him to know it. Because people are pranksters when there's complete anonymity, and they actually have to act like reasonable human beings when their identity is out in the open.
I just made sure he knew I knew who he was. And then I asked him if he'd help me improve the layout on XO (and LSN, because we are going to bridge the two sites). This way, he wouldn't think of leading me on, and then using anything I had told him against me somehow. I trust him now though, because I think he has honest intentions. My intentions are to make the board better but I *really* suck at design.
Don't you think your method was at least a little suspect? This guy spammed the board with ads for BCB, that's a given. What happens the next time you find out one of our identities (through google, or xoxo, or whatever) when we're doing something you don't like? It seems completely unprincipled.
There was nothing that I was empowered with by virtue of running the board that would have been of any use in "tracking" BCB's identity. In other words, even though many of you seem to think that since I created the board I'm some sort of evil wizard who wants to own your soul, I really don't have that much power in the grand scheme of things.
In other words, if there were some dispute between two other individuals on the Internet, they would be on the exact same playing field as I was.
And you can't fault me for fighting for the board. I simply reached out to somebody that was supposed to be an adversary and made peace.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:40 PM Author: Bateful kink-friendly center
exactly. so you didn't use your special xoxo powers this time, but why wouldn't you next time?
as i said below, your board thrives on anonymity. outings/pseudo-outings that might be ok if perpetrated by a regular poster are a lot more damaging when you carry them out.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:34 PM Author: Narrow-minded Awkward Sex Offender Associate
Were you legitimately concerned that BCB could ever challenge XOXO's hegemony? I must admit...having Notorious defect was reminiscent of the day Hulk Hogan showed up on WCW.
No, I wasn't concerned in the slightest. I didn't like the message it could send to the community--namely, that I don't want to improve the board. I'm just not entirely equipped myself to do it, nor is GTO. I have decent technical abilities but not design. I really could use help in all departments, though.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 11:26 PM Author: Supple Meetinghouse
was his "spamming" the board with BCB notices (to be honest, i only noticed like half a dozen threads very infrequently posted once i awhile... it was hardly a spam effort) really so awful that you needed to confront him in this manner?
that is a roundabout way, i guess, of say, why didnt you just ask him to stop nicely?
maybe if he decided to be a prick about it at that point, your efforts to be a bit more draconian with him would have been understandable...
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:36 PM Author: Vivacious Ratface Famous Landscape Painting
BCB was never a serious threat. I don't think you're evil or want my soul. I just hope you and GTO remember that continuing to be decent and open almost always works out better in the end.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:35 PM Author: Bateful kink-friendly center
considering this place thrives on people not acting like "reasonable human beings" you might want to reconsider doing shit like that.
outing is the only thing people are really concerned about. that's why there is some sense to the idea of losing protection for yourself when you out others.
when you guys fucked with leiter it didn't bother anyone much because he was openly and aggressively fucking with you guys, he's a prof and everybody already knows he's a douche. but BCB guy could be anyone of us if we got inspired and had $15 to give to godaddy. so he was trolling for his board? bfd.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 8:50 PM Author: bistre boyish son of senegal nursing home
"I found out (from Google) who he was, and where he went to school, and I wanted him to know it."
Anyone else NOT buy this? I'm pretty good at searching and mining the interwebs to find and out people and I know others are even better (many here taught me all I know, in fact). So am I to suppose Rach, a person that can't even keep his own site looking better than some sissy yahoo's parody site, has better google abilities than anyone here? Doubt it.
Date: March 2nd, 2007 9:07 PM Author: bistre boyish son of senegal nursing home
True, although he might be here under an alternate moniker. Still if he can find out who he is through google, we should be able to also (unless he used IPs, monikers, and other tools he claims he doesn't use).
Considering how many of us hate that low piece of shit, I would think he's identity is only a few hours away... unless Rach is lying.
Date: March 3rd, 2007 3:00 AM Author: INSANE 80S MUSIC LYRIC GUY
This is some weak shit. There is no reason there can't be other boards, even if the other boards had no chance. The way you tracked down BCB is shameful; obviously it was just an anti-competitive impulse.
Tracking a guy down like that is pretty shitty. I have no concerns about outting since ive alredy been outed, but that kind of behavior doesnt sit well with me. I have to think about whther i want to keep posting here.
Date: March 4th, 2007 4:06 AM Author: Fluffy Marketing Idea
since you're already outed, you should start your own board.
Ironically, what would have taken a long time (if at all)--getting people to leave xoxo for a new board--will happen exponentially faster now the next time a new option comes up.
Date: March 4th, 2007 4:06 AM Author: Tan Fragrant Wagecucks
No one was "tracked down." The whole thing is being blown out of proportion. The guy did something stupid to out himself in an email, and rachmiel noticed it.
Date: March 4th, 2007 4:29 AM Author: Fluffy Marketing Idea
you need to add ", lately" at the end.
You think you deserve the benefit of the doubt, LATELY?
As far as what did I think rachmiel knew in order to google...like everyone else, i assumed it was based on things he posted. And, like everyone else, this is what I was supposed to infer based on some half-truth bullshit.
Date: March 4th, 2007 4:36 AM Author: Tan Fragrant Wagecucks
Absolutely nothing to do with any of his posts. It was purely an email screwup on BigChanges's part. Sorry that rachmiel wasn't clearer on that, though I guess a lot of the ambiguity is because going into explicit details about what happened would make it very easy for anyone who has exchanged emails with him to out him (assuming emails he sent to other people had the same mistake).