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#like there should be more nb people here - more people like bot here - but there aren't :'D like hello
smile-files · 11 months
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clover spotted!!!
also i just have to say it: i really liked cabby and bot as a duo in this episode - they play off each other well and make for some interesting character moments - so it's a real gosh darn shame that they eliminated bot!!! like seriously you're gonna give me one relationship that i actually enjoy and then you break it in half??? thanks a lot animationepic :'DD
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trensu · 3 years
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Tagged by @kailmursher! i honestly don’t remember if i responded to this already /facepalm
Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better.
Name: trensu or xio
Gender: nb
Star sign: virgo
Height: 5′4″
Time: 23:17
Birthday: September
Favorite bands: ...i’m completely blanking out. honestly, i have pretty eclectic taste in music? more often than not i like a song as an individual than for the artist or genre.
Favourite solo artists: see above^^
Last movie: We Can Be Heroes
Last show: working my way through The Wolf and am being horribly reminded how little patience i have for Heterosexual drama purely for Xiao Zhan. And I binged Cherry Magic a couple days back, which i LOVED
When did I create this blog: Sometime in 2011. April maybe?? idk.
What I post: anything that catches my interest tbh. there’s no rhyme or reason to my posts and my blog definitely doesn’t have any theme lol.
Last thing I googled:
Other blogs: @xiao-zhans-waistline and it’s all @theuntamednarrator‘s fault!! now THAT blog i’m attempting to keep to a theme. the theme being xiao zhan’s beautiful face. it’s been hit or miss so far bc i keep stumbling onto other attractive actors’ pics (xuan lu, zhu yilong, etc etc)
Do I get asks: hahaha *guiltily kicks unanswered asks under a rug* um, no? I’M SORRY, I’LL GET TO THEM EVENTUALLY, I WILL!!
Why I chose my url: okay so i was on a doctor who and star trek kick back in, like, ‘08 (’07 maybe??) and i had found “vulcan dictionary” on a random fansite. supposedly trensu is “master” in vulcan (i actually have no idea if this is accurate or not, it’s been over a decade, okay?) and the master is my favorite dw villain, so here we are.
Following: too lazy to check lol
Followers: i don’t bother checking this bc i’m pretty sure at least 60% of them are spam/porn bots.
Average hours of sleep: 6
Instruments: i played the flute in highschool but i was AWFUL at it.
What I am wearing: night shirt and boxers bc i should be sleeping rn
Dream job(s): anything that pays enough to allow me to quit my second job and not have to worry about affording groceries and medical bills. Ambitious, i know.
Dream Trip: i’ve made a few friends in the untamed fandom that i’d like to visit who live in other countries! so that would be a fun trip, i think. like a world tour lol
Favorite food: my mom’s pozole and enchiladas, but my stepdad’s chili and spaghetti is a close second
Nationality: *sigh* do i have to? ugh, American unfortunately.
Favourite song: see previous response to music questions
Last book I read: The Disasters by MK England
Top 3 fictional universes I'd like to live in: TARDIS, Etheria, and the X-men universe
...i’m not tagging 20 ppl, that’s too many and i don’t think i actually know that many people lol. But I’ll tag a few. As always, don’t feel obliged to reply!
@livenarrator, @elvencantation, @dying-redshirt-noises, @absolutelynogravitaswhatsoever, @theoldwalkingsong, @bookbutterflies, @hildahuffle, @ibijau, @sagiru,
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danetobelieve · 4 years
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Short Circuit || Jane and Winston
NB: This happened before the eye potw.
Ping. Jane swore quietly as another chat message popped up onto her computer. Admittedly, she wasn’t great with technology, but she knew how to use google like any other asshole. Except her work computer wouldn’t even let her use google. This had to be some sort of virus that Marley installed as a prank. It wouldn’t even let her force the machine to shut off and it hadn’t even run out of battery yet. Damn, she really regretted getting that replaced. She glanced over the message from KindledSpirit29. 
Why won’t you talk to me :’-(
She was certain that Marley had to have done it because her user name was SexyDetective. Nope, that did it. Jane slammed the laptop closed and tucked it under her arm as she went straight for Winston. She had an appointment with them to drop it off anyway, but this was getting ridiculous. “Hey Winston,” Jane said. “Here it is. Sorry, I swear I’ve tried everything, and the stupid thing won’t even shut off properly. It just starts flashing.” 
Winston had gotten permission from Roland to take the time off of work but they’d found themselves going in anyway. They’d wanted to be here with everyone else because at least then they weren’t alone with their own thoughts and they weren’t alone to crumble under Bea’s loss. Looking up, they shakily reached out and scooped up their mug of coffee and swallowed the cold dregs of it with a wince. They didn’t care enough to actually heat it up. “Hey Jane,” they said a little glumly but they could get away with acting as if they didn’t want to be at work, “don’t worry about it, from everything you’ve said to me it sounds like malware or something. I’m sure I can fix it. Let me take a look.” Winston had their recovery USB ready for this,  having all the software you needed in one place was a much more convenient way to do it. “Did you have to call yourself sexy detective though?” 
Oh shit, the kid looked pretty glum. Maybe Jane should have rescheduled or bothered her nephew to help her. He may be twelve, but that kid could do way more than her any day of the week. Maybe they just didn’t want to be at work. That tracked for a lot of twenty-something year olds. Still, she handed over her laptop, and shrugged. “I hope it’s that simple.” Computers were the devil - well, not really, but sometimes it seemed like every damn update they had were meant to muck up whatever older version was on there before and just cause more trouble. She frowned, looking at them. “I didn’t! At first it said DetectiveWu but it changed! Stryder must have changed it to be annoying.” Another ping from KindledSpirit29. 
Who is that? What are you doing?
Jane frowned. “Look at that. That’s creepy.”
 “That is really creepy,” Winston agreed with a frown as they plugged the USB drive into a port and began running various command lines to ping different functions and see just how deep the problem lay. “You think that Marley did this?” No offence, but Winston could already see from the sophistication of the design of the chat that this was not something that someone was just going to be able to pull up. This looked like a very specifically and deliberately designed function that someone had clear plans for. “Well, DetectiveWu, or sexydetective, I mean who am I to judge?” Winston was trying to be their usual sarcastic and jovial selves but right now it was hard. “I think that the problem is that whilst this just looks like a chat it is actually something more, i’ve heard that if you can talk to the bot it can give you answers which are clues on how to turn it off. I’ve never actually tried it but my only other idea is to entirely wipe the harddrive, so we might as well try that. Have you responded to any of the messages yet?” 
“You know, because of the prank war.” Jane looked over Winston’s should, watching them as they typed incoherent things onto the computer. Winston sounded like they doubted it, though. Jane frowned. “I don’t know how else it could have gotten on there, I have an airtight anti-virus on it. Or, well, it’s supposed to be an airtight antivirus…” Maybe someone had scammed her. That could always be a possibility but that was kind of annoying if that were true. Jane balked slightly when Winston said other than talking to it, the other option was to wipe her harddrive. Shit. She was sure she had a backup, but that was a lot of work. “No, I thought it was just some spam bot or something.”
I am not a spam bot! Talk to me :) Get rid of the kid. 
Jane wrinkled her nose. “Okay, maybe we should wipe the harddrive. That’s really freaky. How does it know - is it using my camera??” 
“Oh, right, yeah that was pretty funny for a few days although I’ve got to say you guys weren’t as imaginative as you could’ve been.” Winston didn’t want to brag but they were sure that they were more then capable of coming up with something better then the variety of pranks that Marley and Jane had played on one another. “Sometimes even if you’re really careful these things can happen, it’s fine, we can clean it up, I’d just rather not wipe everything if we can help it.” Winston examined the computer and frowned at the message. “I don’t think the camera’s on, but just in case.” They pulled a piece of masking tape off and firmly stuck it over the camera. “We can wipe it if you really want, but it’ll get rid of everything you’ve got on there, so if anything isn’t backed up….” 
“Are you saying I lack imagination,” Jane said, a grin growing on her face. Bold kid, funny too. “I thought the popcorn filled office space was imaginative.” And really annoying to clean up. “What would you have done  if you were in a prank war?” She was still considering gluing Sarge’s stuff to the ceiling. Or at the very least, paw patrol’s stuff to the ceiling. Maybe not the skulls though, he seemed a little too creepily attached to them. She watched as Winston stuck a piece of tape to the camera. “My father has a stamp stuck to his at home. Used to tell me big brother was always watching.” Jane considered a moment, before shaking her head. “Alright, alright. We can try responding to it.” Jane reached over, pulling the computer a little closer so she could type. What should she say? 
SexyDetective: How do I remove this from my computer? 
KindledSpirit: YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ME?! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME YET!
There screen flashed. “Ah! See, this is what happens when I try to emergency shut down!!” 
“The popcorn stuff was very freaks and geeks,” Winston replied with a shrug, “I’m not saying that it wasn’t cool. It was. I just think you could’ve been more imaginative. Besides, did you think that Marley’s computer just started playing a Nic Cage soundboard spontaneously?” Winston shrugged gently. Getting involved in the unfolding prank war hadn’t been something that they had been planning but it was something that they had been roped into by Sarge and Winston couldn’t say no to him. “I mean, they can gain access to your camera, normally you don’t have to but I guess there’s no harm in always having one there and just taking it off when you need it. Winston watched everything that unfolded and frowned. “That’s weird, maybe ask it if you can get to know it in person? Worst comes to the worst you arrest a creep right?” 
“That was you?” Jane said. “She thought that was me! Ha! That’s hilarious,” Jane snickered. She didn’t know what the deal was with Nic Cage, but there was something about his face that and over all vocal intonations that made him especially annoying. God, when did she get to be a Nic Cage Hater? “I’ve had a few cases like that - back when I worked in Portland,” she told Winston. “Where people would gain access to the camera in a computer to spy and be overall disgusting.” Her nose wrinkled, and she didn’t elaborate farther. “You think this is a real person and not some… artificial intelligence?” Ping! Jane looked at that screen. 
I am not artificial intelligence! 
Jane frowned. “Can it… hear us too? I didn’t even know my computer had a microphone. Stop that!” 
You don’t like me! It accused them.
The screen started to flash again, and she swore she saw something spark. Jane placed a hand on Winston’s shoulder. “Uhhh, I think we should get away from it. I think it’s broken.”
“Technically, and you can’t tell anyone, but Sarge actually asked me to do it, not sure why. I don’t really ask questions when your boss asks you to do something like that.” Frowning gently, Winston shrugged. “There’s a chance that this is a bot or something like that, but AI doesn’t really exist to a level that is sophisticated enough to think independently. At least, not yet. Maybe in the future but not currently.” Winston shrugged and squinted at the screen. Winston reached out and placed their hand on the computer, reaching out with magic and examining it to the best of their ability. Interacting with technology like this was complicated. But it was something they were getting used to. Something felt wrong here, and Winston frowned as a new set of messages flashed up on the screen.
“What are you doing?” Jane asked as Winston reached out, putting their hand on the screen. “Winston, I don’t think you should -” More messages flashed up onto the excreen, and from what she could see there was a series of expletives. The computer’s charging port sparked. “Winston, get away from the computer right now.” Jane’s voice turned authoritative as she realized it was dangerous. She didn’t want them to get hurt. Jane was just considering the pros and cons of firing her weapon at the laptop in the precinct, but didn’t get the chance to think further when the laptop flew off the desk and crashed into the wall. Jane stopped and stared at the empty spot where her laptop was, before looking to where the broken pieces were on the floor. “What the hell was -” 
A burst of electricity was coming from the broken pieces. Sparking in strange ways. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “Winston,” Jane said, slowly. “Get…. behind me?”
“It’s just a … trick that my tutor taught me,” Winston lied unconvincingly. It was a flaw that until recently they’d been proud of, being unable to lie had never really been a huge problem until now. Now that they were risking their life on their inability for deception more and more however they were starting to think that they might have to get better at it. “Ah, Jane what’s the plan here?” Winston asked as they obligingly stepped behind Jane. “I’m not sure that shooting your laptop because it’s threatening to pretend to be an EMP is really going to help…” Winston’s mind was racing as they did everything that they possibly could to think of a way to fix this without magic. “You ever seen anything weird like this before?” Winston really hoped that Jane was one of the cops that was cool with the supernatural because otherwise they were going to be a bit concerned by all of this. “I can definitely do something about this but if you’ve got a better idea I’m all ears.”  
“I’ve seen some strange things, yes,” Jane said, glancing back at them. She hadn’t exactly seen anything like this before, with the flashing and sparking for the laptop getting worse. “Speaking of ears - cover your ears.” Jane said flatly. She drew her gun and swiftly shot the laptop 3 times in a row. The laptop shattered into more pieces, a loud whirring voices coming from nothing. She didn’t understand, shooting it should have worked. It was probably overkill, but come on, it was just a goddamn laptop! What was it, a laptop zombie? Wait. Jane stopped, frowning as she lowered her gun. Electric zombie? Were electric zombies things? Was it an electric zombie that was trying to be her friend? She just barely got the thought out when the damn thing, whatever it was, tried to attack. A flash of electricity had Jane jerking backwards, elbowing Winston out of the blast. “Sorry. Sorry. Crap. Okay, so my method didn’t work. Maybe we should get the fire extinguisher? What the hell is that thing? It’s definitely not a zombie.”
She shot it anyway. Great. Anything that Winston might have been able to do might as well now be useless. “I was being nice when i said I wasn’t sure it was going to help, now what are we meant to do?” Winston frowned gently however at the fact that it was still sparking as if it might explode at literally any minute. This was not what they had expected when there had been a problem with the chat. “You know about zombies?” Winston asked frowning, maybe Jane wasn’t one of the people who were completely oblivious to the supernatural anyway. “That definitely isn’t a zombie, I don’t know what it is but I would guess some sort of spectre from all the electricity and the sparking and the fact that you shot it and it’s just freaking out even more.” The laptop began levitating. “I am not an exorcist, but I have an idea, I need you to and seriously be really super careful, but grab a chair, break it so you’re holding a bit of wood and when I tell you I need you to hit it out of the air and then maybe I’ll be able to get it to stop freaking out for long enough for us to get a professional in here to deal with it.” Winston looked at Jane expectantly, “Okay?” 
“Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” Jane said, frowning. She had hoped that destroying it would prevent it from doing anything else, but guess not. “I do know about zombies.” Jane replied back, happy enough that her hair was blocking the scar on her neck. She was more than a little concerned that the kid seemed to know about zombies too. “Spectre?” Jane was immediately reminded of the stupid step stool her and Marley had trapped in a dog cage in her living room. How irritating, had something gotten her work laptop too? “I have some familiarity with those too, just not this. There isn’t any salt in the breakroom is there?” Jane muttered, more to herself than Winston, as she went to swiftly break a chair into two. She supposed that she was going to have to trust them. Sorry to whoever’s chair that was, but if there weren't exactly many other options. She grabbed the chair leg and nodded. “Let me know when you’re ready. And be careful.” 
“Yeah, I get that,” Winston honestly had seriously considered buying a hand gun until someone had told them that they were a literal human handgun. Not that that had made them feel better, but sometimes you wanted to shoot something dead. “You do?” Winston was a little surprised. They kind of just assumed no one else knew. Maybe that was a mistake. Their own ignorance getting the better of them in this case. “Uh, salt is a good idea in case this doesn’t work, I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to encase the computer in salt or iron to keep the ghost in there until we can get an exorcist out here, I’m just hoping this will work for a bit, like a bandage.” Winston cracked their knuckles and took a deep breath, ready for action. “Whenever you’re ready,” as Jane smacked the chair down onto the laptop Winston darted forward and to their pleasure and extreme displeasure they caught the still sparking laptop. Fortunately they had a spell planned for this, unfortunately the energy wasn’t exactly something that they had planned on. Wincing as they smelled the electricity burn their hair, Winston extended their will into the technology as they had before, it felt completely different from any other magic Winston had ever used. The electricity coursing through them and the laptop as if it were blood in a vast circulatory system, pumped onwards by a beating heart. Groaning with exertion, Winston forced everything quiet, the electricity stalling to a halt before disappearing momentarily, though Winston knew it would be back. “Oh, fuck,” they muttered before collapsing to their knees.
“I do.” Jane made a note to rush for the breakroom after Winston did whatever they were about to do to grab the Morton’s salt she knew was in there somewhere. She wondered if Marley was also allergic to iron too, since she avoided salt. Things to take note of and ask later. Now she waited for Winston to give her the signal and she swung the the chair leg hard down onto the laptop. “Winston, no!” Jane just about rushed forward to yank the possessed, broken-beyond-repair laptop out of their hands, when she realized they were actually doing something. Jane froze, staring at them like they had many heads. “What are you - oh -” The electricity in the air seemed to disappear as the vague smell of burnt hair filled the air. Shit. What the hell was that kid doing? She was reminded, as Winston fell to their knees, of when Otto had saved her from falling off that cliff. She shook it off, running to their side. “Winston? Are you alright? What the hell did you do to it? Here, come on, let me help you up.” She would take them to the breakroom, stick a snack in front of them, and then run back to dump salt on the computer and lock it away in a filing cabinet. 
“Woah,” Winston replied somewhat slurred. That had taken a lot out of them. They were really feeling light headed. They were sure that their vision didn’t normally swim in and out like that, and there weren’t normally dots in front of their eyes. Don’t fuck with electricity and magic. Seemed to be the lesson. “I’m -” they took a breath, “okay I think…” frowning gently, Winston accepted Janes help and staggered over to the table they’d previously been working at, riffling haphazardly through their bag they pulled a candy bar from it and ripped it open, biting into it. “Sorry,” they said through a mouthful of chocolate, “it really took a lot more out of me then I thought it would…” wiping sweat from their forehead they looked at the laptop, “Breakroom?” they asked, “we need to salt that and I need more food if I’m going to be able to drive home. I don’t really want to get my room mate to pick me up because of ma- exhaustion again.” Had they really just said the word magic in front of Jane?
“Are you sure?” Jane said, doubtfully as she practically carried Winston back to the table. She leaned back against it, examining them as they grabbed the chocolate bar. “What exactly did you - oh. Right. Here, stay right there.” Jane left their side for just a few minutes. It took her a bit to find where the giant thing of salt she had gotten too, and she swiped her lunch box from from the refrigerator as well. Lucky for Winston, she was planning on working overtime tonight, which meant she had packed a lunch and a dinner. Maybe a little less lucky, she really had only made a roasted chicken sandwich along with a thing of chips for dinner. Not exactly her most spectacular display of cooking. She came back, sliding her lunch box in front of him. “Do you eat meat?” she asked, worriedly. “Eat that, if you do. It’s just a roasted chicken sandwich. I’ll deal with the laptop. I figure I’ll empty out a drawer, line it with salt, dump salt on the actual laptop, and then stick it in there. It shouldn’t be able to get out after all that.” Jane knelt down on her knees and immediately went to work doing just that. She would question Winston  when they were feeling a bit better. She had caught their ‘ma-exhaustion’ slip up, but maybe now wasn’t an appropriate time to grill them.
“I’m sure, I -” Winston was so far from sure what the next appropriate thing for them to say in this instance was, they were 100% certain that a trained officer like Jane wouldn’t have missed the fact that they had always said magic, “it has happened before and I am bad at managing my blood sugar levels because I sometimes forget to eat,” they had forgotten breakfast, “so I am sure that this won’t be the last time that it happens either.” Winston looked at her food sadly and sighed. “Are you sure? I don’t want to eat your food if you haven’t got anything else…” deciding that it was that or passing out, Winston slowly bit into the sandwich and chewed on it thoughtfully. “That’s probably a good idea,” Winston looked around, “I am going to buy an iron lined box next time, I think that if another ghostly thing tries to attack me then I’m going to be pissed, because that really wasn’t my idea of fun.” They looked up at Jane. “I don’t think you missed the laptop once though, which is cool, Sarge would not be happy about bullet holes in the wall.” 
“Right. Blood sugar levels,” Jane said in that type of tone that meant she didn’t believe them. She used that a lot in interrogation, but she still maintained that interrogating Winston on whatever they had done to the laptop that had caused that level of exhaustion. For the second time, she was reminded of Otto and his bloody nose. Ma-exhaustion… Magic. Hm. Noted for a later conversation  - at least until they had eaten her dinner. “Oh, don’t worry about it, I just feel bad I didn’t cook anything exceptionally yummy other than a chicken sandwich.” Jane opened a drawer, and took everything out before she started lining it with salt. “If you had told me this kind of thing existed a few years ago, I would have laughed my ass off at you,” she muttered. She glanced at them as she grabbed the broken pieces of the computer and carefully put them in the drawer, careful not to break the salt line. “I have great aim, usually. I’m sure Sarge will get on my ass about the paperwork I’m going to have to fill out about the three shots I fired into it in the precinct.” She laughed. “Or the paperwork I’m going to have to submit to get my laptop replaced. Are you attacked by ghostly entities often? You wouldn’t happen to know an exorcist would you? I have a possessed step stool at home that I’ve affectionately named French Fry, but it unfortunately very much wants to kill me.”
It didn’t take a world class detective to tell that Winston had been rumbled by Jane. But unfortunately Winston was exhausted and drained and not really thinking about how clearly it was that they had used magic. In fact, they would silently congratulate themselves on their subtlety after. “Well, if we ever have to do this again I’ll make sure that you make me a full meal, I’m joking really, my room mate Ricky is the best cook I’ve ever lived with outside of my own mother and he usually keeps me pretty … you know sorted.” Winston nodded along as they finished the sandwich. “If you had told me this six months ago then I would have joined you and the worst thing is that I have been in White Crest my whole life and never ever seen anything like this. I guess I was just ignorant or in denial? Who knows.” They smiled and nodded. “You really do have great aim, but if you want I’ll try and get your paperwork through without getting anyone who’s too much of a stick in the mud to sign off on it, I have my ways you know.” They paused for a second. “Yeah, I know several exorcists. One is more reliable but I haven’t heard from her in a while and the other I haven’t heard such good things about.” 
Jane grinned. “Well, I do like to cook - I’ve been told most of my food is pretty great. Sounds like you have a great roommate, though. Good to see kids not relying on instant ramen.” She thought of Dario then, a grown ass man relying on instant ramen, and then of Sarge and his lean cuisines. God, she should teach a cooking class or something, this was pathetic. She looked at Winston. It was clear that they were far more in the know than she originally anticipated, zombies and ghosts and magic and who knows what else. “I couldn’t imagine growing up here,” she said with a frown. “I’ve always been more of a city person, but I swear this small town is more active than Portland ever was - it’s hard to see a whole town so wrapped up in denial.” She stood, brushing the salt off her pants. “If you could do that, I’d owe you definitely more than a sandwich. I’m still new, and I don’t want to cause too much trouble trouble, you know? I’ll take both exorcists names, though, they’ll probably take French Fry off my hands.” 
“I have the best room mates actually,” Winston replied with a shrug, “ I guess that I just really lucked out with them or something like that. Otherwise, yeah, I’d be relying on instant ramen or just going home for dinner every night or something like that.” Winston shrugged gently and smiled. They were blessed in someways. “Believe me, I couldn’t imagine growing up in a city and I don’t think that I will ever leave now that I know the truth about this place because there is way too much shit going on to do that, like I think if I did leave I would come back and there would just be nothing left of this place.” Winston shrugged gently. “I need to … check that they don’t mind me giving out their names, I assume that they won’t and I can’t imagine that it’ll be an issue but once they’re fine with it then I’ll put you guys in contact, it’s just the whole supernatural thing is complicated with ‘outting’ people.” Winston stood and glanced at their watch. “I’ll get your new laptop ready tomorrow, is it okay if I head home? I’m pretty exhausted…”
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sawthefaeriequeen · 6 years
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*cracks knuckles*
The ban on “adult content” is stupid as fuck, and I can’t even tell you how much it insults my intelligence. And I can’t even tell you how unconvinced I am by Tungle’s so called moral stance, when we have been begging them to remove pron bots and actual offenders for years, and they are now only taking action because of MONEY.  Real moral, hellsite.
Action that…wipes out a great deal of their userbase in the process.
So that’s one can of worms.  I have another issue:
The thing is, with their reportage system,  they’ve effectively given the reins of fandom to the ant/is.
Aka people who, in my current main fandom, in the past two years have:
-for “shipping the wrong ship”, harassed a voice actor and his wife and children to the point where he begged them to stop threatening to hurt his family and announced he was withdrawing from fandom talks
-for “shipping the wrong ship”, leaked private pictures of the lesbian nb voice actor and tossed slurs at them every time they were on social media
-sent threats of violence to the showrunners, specifically gendered threats to the female showrunner, because a  ship didn’t happen
-threatened fans, to the point that they had to get different mailboxes to drop zines in so that theywouldn’t get doxxed, had to erase social media  accounts entirely so their jobs wouldn’t be in jeopardy
-am I even gonna start in on the fucking ridiculous, an/ti-typical p/ed/oph/ile  accusations they’ve flung at people for daring to ship a fictional 21 year old and a 25 year old together?
-and much more. So, so, so much more. These are not “sad minors uwu”. They’re misogynistic, ageist, homophobic, racist, ableist, who-knows-what-else-ist right-ing bullies wearing a ‘progressive’ hat.
And Tungle has just given them free rein over fandom content.
^I didn’t list down all that for like, shock value or anything. My point is, I blacklist and block a lot, yes. “Curate your own fandom experience” – should be golden rule on here
But I can’t, in good conscience, use a fandom platform, on any site that lets fucked up people like ant/is take over the helm.
(That’s not even going into how Tungle cannot keep its rules straight; how they will keep on modifying until they render  this site unusable. And they will. We know they will.)
-the only reason I’m not deleting (why I didn’t delete in the first place) is I have a lot friends here, old and new, and I really, really don’t want to lose touch
-but yeah, I sense a real fandom exodus coming. I’m gonna see about paying for pillowfort and I’ll probably finally make a Twitter (it’s NOT my ideal platform, but eh, can’t be choosers right now). Tell me about your accounts wherever, okay? We might as well keep track of each other while roaming the desert
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loveaningenue · 7 years
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Taylor Swift’s 2005-2006 MySpace Comments
Taylor’s alleged MySpace comments in a chronological order from 2005 to 2006. (Time of posts on 24h). Pictures of the comments were too blurry, so I didn’t add, but if needed, I have them saved in a file if anyone needs proof. 
NB: All the comments are replies to unknown posts by her friends, so the context is unknown. 
Sep 3, 2005 13:08
I am obsessed with you.
If you look out your window and down the street about 200 yards, you may see a big white van parked on the street. I am inside the van with a telescope and computer. Just trying to catch a glimpse of kelsey dammmnnn morris.
haha. end of story.
Sep 5, 2005 1:37
AWWWW brittany I miss you so much. And yes, I can verify that you do know every word to that song. I love you for it. :-) . Prom was incredible and thankyou so much for everything you’re ever done in the past to make me feel welcome into that whole group. You have always been so nice to me. Thankyou for everything. You may not have noticed but it really meant a lot to me. 
Sep 6, 2005 3:26
LACEY LACEY LACEY
I’m in love with you.
There’s no other way around it.
hehe
Sep 10, 2005 2:01
Pretty girl.
I could away twenty and knock on your door and ask you how you’ve been...
But I think I’ll just sit here and type it. Tell me how you’ve been, child. taylor
Sep 11, 2005 21:09
I have the same name as your boyfriend.
Therefore I am better than everyone and you should like me more.
taylor
Sep 14, 2005 20:43
HOMECOMINGQUEENHOMECOMINGQUEENHOMECOMINGQUEENHOMECOMINGQUEEN
{haha i love you and your pretty crown}
taylor
Sep 18, 2005 11:56
Kelsey’s awesome. And got best smile. And should have gotten everything else. Hahah iloveyou
Sep 17, 2005 11:30
uhhh..
“I shot some guy with a flare gun” -sahara
best line ever.
Sep 21, 2005 23:26
WE NEED ONE MORE SCANTRON
Sep 30, 2005 17:06
I have one word for you.
Chorttle.
{bitch}
Oct 11, 2005 23:13
Everybody watch Kelsey’s scrolling pictures of her friends until you get the one of shelby.
Her boobs look AMAZING.
hahahahahahaha
Oct 18, 2006 16:36
RELINQUISH THIS TOME FOOLERY YOU ELFISH KNAVE.
- a prime example of the shit we OUGHT to learn in English class.
Oct 31 2005 8:12
i read your complaining comment about how your not abigails tip 8. well, how could you be? I’M THERE. TAKING YOUR SPOT HAHAhAHAHA. (evil laugh, you know the drill). Well, anyway, listen my queer fellow. I thinketh we shall hangeth out sometime soon, eh? yes, i do believe i am growing fond of this idea. drive over in your sex van and come pick me up. farewell knave. -T-
Nov 6, 2005 0:03
If you were a guy I’d probably date you.
Just a friendly reminder
<3
Nov 26, 2005 17:54
My darling.
18 days till I get my license and  I think we’ll gave to go out in the hummer and shoot people we hate with a paintball gun out the passenger side window.
Abigail and I have been planning this for a while.
You should totally come.
We hear you have good aim.
lovelovelove -T-
Nov 26, 2005 21:50
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
{i like your headline}
and yes, I do.
lovelovelove -T-
Dec 4, 2005 22:07
Here’s a little limerick for you to solve while I waste my life away on the couch with a godforsaken migraine that is threatening my life eating ice cream out of the gallon container watching war of worlds wondering why I was fat as a 10-year-old and not cute like dakota fanning and thinking, “hey, this wouldn’t’t be so bad, everything getting blown to shit and half the world dying.. Life pretty much sucks anyway.”
I don’t want what I can get.
I fuck up what i had so i shouldn’t want it
I want what doesn’t want me Therefore I can’t get it Therefore I can’t be happy Therefore I sit in class writing notes t my equally psychotic redheaded best friend about how to achieve ultimate happiness when honestly we’re just dreamers because no one is ever permanently happy.
I have blonde hair and my name rhymes with sailor.
What am I?
Oh, fuck. It’s me.
Have an equally joyous night fa la la i love christmas
-T-
Dec 16, 2005 2:59
I’m Grant Motherfucking Wood.
I do what I want
and say the word “durr”.
iloveyoubutnotsomuchgrantwood hehehe -T-
Dec 21, 2005 0:17
I’m in England and this whole country is weird.
They’re all weird. Except for me. Who, as you know, is completely normal. 
Hey man we need to hang out when I get back. How about we combine me, my car, grant wood’s house, shelby, ally, some boys, lily and perhaps whitley, some drinks because you might get thirsty, and new year’s eve.
yeeeaahhhhhh
-T-
Dec 28, 2005 14:57
Just a little reminder to you that, even though the semester may be over..
I’m still quite obsessed with you.
haha fuck sewing machines.
lovelovelove -T-
Dec 28, 2005 
WOW I LOVE YOUR PICTURES
( i haven’t been on here in a while and technology alone fascinates me)
Hey I love you and now I know exactly where your house is, and also that Grant Wood plays guitar? Yes, he does. 
Why?
Because he’s Grant Motherfucking Wood, That’s why.
We’re hanging out New Years and I’m driving the Hummer and it will be amazing.
-T-
PS: Hi, Kelsey’s mom!
Dec 29, 2005 2:44
Lil’ Kels.
hahahhaha
I looove love love your new pictures. You are pretty, 
You’re right.. you better watch out.
Because I do what I want.
-T-
Jan 4, 2006 22:37
IM ONE OF KELSEYS BEST FRIENDS HA HA HA HA HA HA.
I’m sorry. Now that I said that I’m probably going to get kicked off the list for disorderly conduct or just simply being a loser in a public place such as the internet. 
But just to let you know. That’s pretty freakin awesome. lovelovelove -T-
Jan 8, 2006 8:53
My name is Taylor. I am not clingy. I do not want a boyfriend.
I do not show signs of wanting a boyfriend.
I do not make hints leading on to the fact that I may want a boyfriend.
So how, tell me, on EARTH is it possible for someone confuse this issue and IGNORE me because they don’t want a girlfriend.
(%(* ..)%([IOJENTI..OWI$...]WO -T-
Jan 10, 2006 0:30
Umm how about DONT listen to addie.
That’s like the most amusing picture I’ve ever seen.
Take it down?
I think not.
Jan 18, 2006 0:14
JORDAN YOU IDIOT.
The term is quite obviously FEM-bots.
Not THEM-bots..
I don’t know what goes in your clouded mind sometimes..
maybe I’m just too sexy and it distracts you. mmm i think i am correct. -T-
Jan 18, 2006 0:16
Oh P.S.
Boys with your name are not exactly as great as you.
I have had much experience with them lately.
hahaha and their girlfriends get mad ;-)
Feb 4, 2006 21:01
THAT PICTURE OF ME UP AT THE TOP IS GROSS.
THAT IS SICK TAKE IT DOWN.
It serves NO purpose other than to make me look FUGLY.
I want it off NOW.
but i loove you
Feb 5, 2006 8:14
Guess who as a thing for you.
The hottest guy in the world.
Whats the mixture of a tiger and a lion?
A WHORE.
think about it.
Feb 28, 2006 5:30
“I definitely just deep-throated the lollipop.”
Hey little girl.. do you want to know a seeker-ett?
hahaha thanks for helping me with my computer troubles. I know you bend many way for me. i like dat.
Mar 21, 2006 7:54
“Kelsey y dont u just LEAVE US ALONE.
WE R TRYIN 2B HAPPY. OMGGGGGG.”
hahahah. See, I had to write the original message with punctuations and vowels-- but I had to translate into the way SHE would write it.
But she’s not immature. She’s just not fond of correct spelling.
i love you -T-
Apr 5, 2006 7:51
LoL i KnOw!!
ExcLamAtiOn PoIntS aRe THIRD GrAdErS !! !! !!
(also notice this super cool signature I’m going to add in to the ending of this comment)
::sWiFt::
hahahah
Apr 22, 2006 18:39
PUT UP PROM PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!
And as soon as I get my laptop back, I’ll be leaving you a certain picture that I think you’ll like.
Because a certain girl might see it. lovelovelove -T-
Apr 23, 2006 14:19
(Picture)
(Picture)
(Picture)
(This is you quite obviously staring at my boobs)
Apr 24, 2006 17:56
Lyrics we live by:
And it hurts to want everything and nothing at the same time I want what’s your and I want what’s mine
I want YOU, but I’m not giving  giving in this time.
haha i love you you’re really pretty. -T-
Apr 30, 2006 19:33
Kelsey.
I love you and I’m sorry about all the “distance”.
Distance = stupid and unnecessary.
Dude. The truth us, i miss you. Starbucks tomorrow? 
May 2, 2006 22:10
Yeah, I remember I have that photoshoot today and tomorrow. Well, its good to know I was missed. haha. Speaking of missed, I really wish you didn’t work so much because I wanted to hang out today.
lovelovelove -T-
Call me.
May 27, 2006 1:44
Dude.
The scrolling picture of your car is mad cool mannnnnn.
sweeeeet.
I stared at it for like an hour. hahaha
no really. the sad thing is, I did.
Jun 9, 2006 20:30
I CANT FIND MY PHONE.
errrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Kelsey. My lovely best friend. YOU CAME TO MY SHOWWWWWW! I didn’t know if you or ally actually came or not because I didn’t see you, thank you so much for coming. That means the world to me, you know that. I love you.
lovelovelove -T-
Jun 19, 2006 10:52
I MISS YOU AND I WANT TO SEE YOU.
I leave again tonight for north carolina but i wont be gone as long this time, and I want my best friendddd backkkkk.
I love you and ally.
lovelovelove
-T-
Jul 31, 2006 19:24
You know you’ve been away too long when your best friend doesn’t have any trace of you on her myspace anymore. Kelsey. I missss you.
I’m going over to Ally’s house tonight and if you’re not there I’m going to walk over to your house and abduct you. 
lovelovelove -T-
Here’s a LINK to the pictures of the alleged MySpace comments. 
BONUS:
Tumblr media
592 notes · View notes
Note
okay this might be weird, but i really want to start a tumblr and i'm really scared and anxious about it and i'm not a 100% fluent in english so... do you have any advise or tips?
There’s honestly no need to be scared! The thing about tumblr is it can be as personal as you want. So if you’re worried about your english, there’s no pressure to write a lot. My main blog is like 95% images and I hardly ever write anything on there myself. Plus there are loads of people on here that don’t speak english as their first language, and if anyone gives you shit just ask them to try blogging in your native language. That’ll shut em up
Other than that here’s my general tumblr tips:
upload your own icon. if you use the generic ones people will probably just assume you’re a bot. just search a fandom you like + icon and there should be loads of options! 
change your theme! find someone with a theme you like and there should be a link to the person who designed the theme so have a look around (I wouldn’t recommend the ones in the tumblr theme garden). the instructions there are normally easy to follow as well! this isn’t a must but it’s nice to have an about page etc so I’d recommend it
use a tagging system if your blog is multifandom. doesn’t have to be complicated- I just tag ‘hp’ for harry potter, ‘got’ for game of thrones etc. just means people can avoid stuff they’re not interested in
oh also make sure you tag triggers!
try and keep your url pretty short
making original content is a great way to get more followers 
as are networks and promos
don’t be afraid to talk to people, they’re generally very nice!
NB these are just my personal opinions!! Not doing this doesn’t mean you have a bad blog, but these are the things I personally look for when I’m thinking about following a blog and wish I’d known when I started
66 notes · View notes
amberdscott2 · 7 years
Text
Inside a Porn-Pimping Spam Botnet
For several months I’ve been poking at a decent-sized spam botnet that appears to be used mainly for promoting adult dating sites. Having hit a wall in my research, I decided it might be good to publish what I’ve unearthed so far to see if this dovetails with any other research out there.
In late October 2016, an anonymous source shared with KrebsOnSecurity.com a list of nearly 100 URLs that — when loaded into a Firefox browser — each displayed what appeared to be a crude but otherwise effective text-based panel designed to report in real time how many “bots” were reporting in for duty.
Here’s a set of archived screenshots of those counters illustrating how these various botnet controllers keep a running tab of how many “activebots” — hacked servers set up to relay spam — are sitting idly by and waiting for instructions.
One of the more than 100 panels linked to the same porn spamming operation. In October 2016, these 100 panels reported a total of 1.2 million active bots operating simultaneously.
At the time, it was unclear to me how this apparent botnet was being used, and since then the total number of bots reporting in each day has shrunk considerably. During the week the above-linked screen shots were taken, this botnet had more than 1.2 million zombie machines or servers reporting each day (that screen shot archive includes roughly half of the panels found). These days, the total number of servers reporting in to this spam network fluctuates between 50,000 and 100,000.
Thanks to a tip from an anti-spam activist who asked not to be named, I was able to see that the botnet appears to be busy promoting a seemingly endless network of adult dating Web sites connected to just two companies: CyberErotica, and Deniro Marketing LLC (a.k.a. AmateurMatch).
As affiliate marketing programs go, CyberErotica stretches way back — perhaps to the beginning. According to TechCrunch, CyberErotica is said to have launched the first online affiliate marketing firm in 1994.
In 2001, CyberErotica’s parent firm Voice Media settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which alleged that the adult affiliate program was misrepresenting its service as free while it dinged subscribers for monthly charges and made it difficult for them to cancel.
In 2010, Deniro Marketing found itself the subject of a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company employed spammers to promote an online dating service that was overrun with automated, fake profiles of young women. Those allegations ended in an undisclosed settlement after the judge in the case tossed out the spamming claim because the statute of limitations on those charges had expired.
What’s unusual (and somewhat lame) about this botnet is that — through a variety of botnet reporting panels that are still displaying data — we can get live, real-time updates about the size and status of this crime machine. No authentication or credentials needed. So much for operational security!
The “mind map” pictured below contains enough information for nearly anyone to duplicate this research, and includes the full Web address of the botnet reporting panels that are currently online and responding with live updates. I was unable to load these panels in a Google Chrome browser (perhaps the XML data on the page is missing some key components), but they loaded fine in Mozilla Firefox.
But a note of caution: I’d strongly encourage anyone interested in following my research to take care before visiting these panels, preferably doing so from a disposable “virtual” machine that runs something other than Microsoft Windows.
That’s because spammers are usually involved in the distribution of malicious software, and spammers who maintain vast networks of apparently compromised systems are almost always involved in creating or at least commissioning the creation of said malware. Worse, porn spammers are some of the lowest of the low, so it’s only prudent to behave as if any and all of their online assets are actively hostile or malicious.
A “mind map” tracing some of the research mentioned in this post.
FOLLOW THE HONEY
So how did KrebsOnSecurity tie the spam that was sent to promote these two adult dating schemes to the network of spam botnet panels that I mentioned at the outset of this post? I should say it helped immensely that one anti-spam source maintains a comprehensive, historic collection of spam samples, and that this source shared more than a half dozen related spam samples. Here’s one of them.
All of those spams had similar information included in their “headers” — the metadata that accompanies all email messages.
Received: from minitanth.info-88.top (037008194168.suwalki.vectranet.pl [37.8.194.168]) Received: from exundancyc.megabulkmessage225.com (109241011223.slupsk.vectranet.pl [109.241.11.223]) Received: from disfrockinga.message-49.top (unknown [78.88.215.251]) Received: from offenders.megabulkmessage223.com (088156021226.olsztyn.vectranet.pl [88.156.21.226]) Received: from snaileaterl.inboxmsg-228.top (109241018033.lask.vectranet.pl [109.241.18.33]) Received: from soapberryl.inboxmsg-242.top (037008209142.suwalki.vectranet.pl [37.8.209.142]) Received: from dicrostonyxc.inboxmsg-230.top (088156042129.olsztyn.vectranet.pl [88.156.42.129])
To learn more about what information you can glean from email headers, see this post. But for now, here’s a crash course for our purposes. The so-called “fully qualified domain names” or FQDNs in the list above can be found just to the right of the open parentheses in each line.
When this information is present in the headers (and not simply listed as “unknown”) it is the fully-verified, real name of the machine that sent the message (at least as far as the domain name system is concerned). The dotted address to the right in brackets on each line is the numeric Internet address of the actual machine that sent the message.
The information to the left of the open parentheses is called the “HELO/EHLO string,” and an email server administrator can set this information to display whatever he wants: It could be set to bush[dot]whitehouse[dot]gov. Happily, in this case the spammer seems to have been consistent in the naming convention used to identify the sending domains and subdomains.
Back in October 2016 (when these spam messages were sent) the FQDN “minitanth.info-88[dot]top” resolved to a specific IP address: 37.8.194.168. Using passive DNS tools from Farsight Security — which keeps a historic record of which domain names map to which IP addresses — I was able to find that the spammer who set up the domain info-88[dot]top had associated the domain with hundreds of third-level subdomains (e.g. minithanth.info-88[dot]top, achoretsq.info-88[dot]top, etc.).
It was also clear that this spammer controlled a great many top-level domain names, and that he had countless third-level subdomains assigned to every domain name. This type of spamming is known as “snowshoe” spamming.
Like a snowshoe spreads the load of a traveler across a wide area of snow, snowshoe spamming is a technique used by spammers to spread spam output across many IPs and domains, in order to dilute reputation metrics and evade filters,” writes anti-spam group Spamhaus in its useful spam glossary.
WORKING BACKWARDS
So, armed with all of that information, it took just one or two short steps to locate the IP addresses of the corresponding botnet reporting panels. Quite simply, one does DNS lookups to find the names of the name servers that were providing DNS service for each of this spammer’s second-level domains.
Once one has all of the name server names, one simply does yet more DNS lookups — one for each of the name server names — in order to get the corresponding IP address for each one.
With that list of IP addresses in hand, a trusted source volunteered to perform a series of scans on the addresses using “Nmap,” a powerful and free tool that can map out any individual virtual doorways or “ports” that are open on targeted systems. In this case, an Nmap scan against that list of IPs showed they were all listening for incoming connections on Port 10001.
From there, I took the IP address list and plugged each address individually into the URL field of a browser window in Mozilla Firefox, and then added “:10001” to the end of the address. After that, each address happily loaded a Web page displaying the number of bots connecting to each IP address at any given time.
Here’s the output of one controller that’s currently getting pinged by more than 12,000 systems configured to relay porn spam (the relevant part is the first bit on the second line below — “current activebots=”). Currently, the entire botnet (counting the active bots from all working bot panels) seems to hover around 80,000 systems.
At the time, the spam being relayed through these systems was advertising sites that tried to get visitors to sign up for online chat and dating sites apparently affiliated with Deniro Marketing and CyberErotica.
Seeking more information, I began searching the Web for information about CyberErotica’s affiliate offerings and I found that the affiliate program’s marketing division is run by a guy who uses the email address [email protected].
A Google search quickly reveals that [email protected] also advertises he can be reached using the ICQ instant messenger address of 55687349. I checked icq.com’s member lookup page, and found the name attached to ICQ# 55687349 is “Scott Philips.”
Mr. Philips didn’t return messages seeking comment. But I couldn’t help wonder about the similarity between that name and a convicted Australian porn spammer named Scott Phillips (NB: two “l’s in Phillips).
In 2010, Scott Gregory Phillips was fined AUD $2 million for running a business that employed people to create fake profiles on dating websites in a bid to obtain the mobile phone numbers of dating website users. Phillips’ operation then sent SMS texts such as “get laid, text your number to…”, and then charged $5 on the mobile accounts of people who replied.
Phillips’ Facebook page and Quora profile would have us believe he has turned his life around and is now making a living through day trading. Reached via email, Phillips said he is a loyal reader who long ago quit the spam business.
“I haven’t been in the spam business since 2002 or so,” Phillips said. “I did some SMS spam in 2005, got about 18 million bucks worth of fines for it, and went straight.”
Phillips says he builds “automated commodity trading systems” now, and that virtually all modern spam is botnet-based.
“As far as I know the spam industry is 100% botnet these days, and not a viable proposition for adult sites,” he told KrebsOnSecurity.
Well, it’s certainly a viable proposition for some spammer. The most frustrating aspect of this research is that — in spite of the virtually non-existent operational security employed by whoever built this particular crime machine, I still have no real data on how the botnet is being built, what type of malicious software may be involved, or who’s responsible.
If anyone has additional research or information on this botnet, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or get in touch with me directly.
from Amber Scott Technology News https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/06/inside-a-porn-pimping-spam-botnet/
0 notes
jennifersnyderca90 · 7 years
Text
Inside a Porn-Pimping Spam Botnet
For several months I’ve been poking at a decent-sized spam botnet that appears to be used mainly for promoting adult dating sites. Having hit a wall in my research, I decided it might be good to publish what I’ve unearthed so far to see if this dovetails with any other research out there.
In late October 2016, an anonymous source shared with KrebsOnSecurity.com a list of nearly 100 URLs that — when loaded into a Firefox browser — each displayed what appeared to be a crude but otherwise effective text-based panel designed to report in real time how many “bots” were reporting in for duty.
Here’s a set of archived screenshots of those counters illustrating how these various botnet controllers keep a running tab of how many “activebots” — hacked servers set up to relay spam — are sitting idly by and waiting for instructions.
One of the more than 100 panels linked to the same porn spamming operation. In October 2016, these 100 panels reported a total of 1.2 million active bots operating simultaneously.
At the time, it was unclear to me how this apparent botnet was being used, and since then the total number of bots reporting in each day has shrunk considerably. During the week the above-linked screen shots were taken, this botnet had more than 1.2 million zombie machines or servers reporting each day (that screen shot archive includes roughly half of the panels found). These days, the total number of servers reporting in to this spam network fluctuates between 50,000 and 100,000.
Thanks to a tip from an anti-spam activist who asked not to be named, I was able to see that the botnet appears to be busy promoting a seemingly endless network of adult dating Web sites connected to just two companies: CyberErotica, and Deniro Marketing LLC (a.k.a. AmateurMatch).
As affiliate marketing programs go, CyberErotica stretches way back — perhaps to the beginning. According to TechCrunch, CyberErotica is said to have launched the first online affiliate marketing firm in 1994.
In 2001, CyberErotica’s parent firm Voice Media settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which alleged that the adult affiliate program was misrepresenting its service as free while it dinged subscribers for monthly charges and made it difficult for them to cancel.
In 2010, Deniro Marketing found itself the subject of a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company employed spammers to promote an online dating service that was overrun with automated, fake profiles of young women. Those allegations ended in an undisclosed settlement after the judge in the case tossed out the spamming claim because the statute of limitations on those charges had expired.
What’s unusual (and somewhat lame) about this botnet is that — through a variety of botnet reporting panels that are still displaying data — we can get live, real-time updates about the size and status of this crime machine. No authentication or credentials needed. So much for operational security!
The “mind map” pictured below contains enough information for nearly anyone to duplicate this research, and includes the full Web address of the botnet reporting panels that are currently online and responding with live updates. I was unable to load these panels in a Google Chrome browser (perhaps the XML data on the page is missing some key components), but they loaded fine in Mozilla Firefox.
But a note of caution: I’d strongly encourage anyone interested in following my research to take care before visiting these panels, preferably doing so from a disposable “virtual” machine that runs something other than Microsoft Windows.
That’s because spammers are usually involved in the distribution of malicious software, and spammers who maintain vast networks of apparently compromised systems are almost always involved in creating or at least commissioning the creation of said malware. Worse, porn spammers are some of the lowest of the low, so it’s only prudent to behave as if any and all of their online assets are actively hostile or malicious.
A “mind map” tracing some of the research mentioned in this post.
FOLLOW THE HONEY
So how did KrebsOnSecurity tie the spam that was sent to promote these two adult dating schemes to the network of spam botnet panels that I mentioned at the outset of this post? I should say it helped immensely that one anti-spam source maintains a comprehensive, historic collection of spam samples, and that this source shared more than a half dozen related spam samples. Here’s one of them.
All of those spams had similar information included in their “headers” — the metadata that accompanies all email messages.
Received: from minitanth.info-88.top (037008194168.suwalki.vectranet.pl [37.8.194.168]) Received: from exundancyc.megabulkmessage225.com (109241011223.slupsk.vectranet.pl [109.241.11.223]) Received: from disfrockinga.message-49.top (unknown [78.88.215.251]) Received: from offenders.megabulkmessage223.com (088156021226.olsztyn.vectranet.pl [88.156.21.226]) Received: from snaileaterl.inboxmsg-228.top (109241018033.lask.vectranet.pl [109.241.18.33]) Received: from soapberryl.inboxmsg-242.top (037008209142.suwalki.vectranet.pl [37.8.209.142]) Received: from dicrostonyxc.inboxmsg-230.top (088156042129.olsztyn.vectranet.pl [88.156.42.129])
To learn more about what information you can glean from email headers, see this post. But for now, here’s a crash course for our purposes. The so-called “fully qualified domain names” or FQDNs in the list above can be found just to the right of the open parentheses in each line.
When this information is present in the headers (and not simply listed as “unknown”) it is the fully-verified, real name of the machine that sent the message (at least as far as the domain name system is concerned). The dotted address to the right in brackets on each line is the numeric Internet address of the actual machine that sent the message.
The information to the left of the open parentheses is called the “HELO/EHLO string,” and an email server administrator can set this information to display whatever he wants: It could be set to bush[dot]whitehouse[dot]gov. Happily, in this case the spammer seems to have been consistent in the naming convention used to identify the sending domains and subdomains.
Back in October 2016 (when these spam messages were sent) the FQDN “minitanth.info-88[dot]top” resolved to a specific IP address: 37.8.194.168. Using passive DNS tools from Farsight Security — which keeps a historic record of which domain names map to which IP addresses — I was able to find that the spammer who set up the domain info-88[dot]top had associated the domain with hundreds of third-level subdomains (e.g. minithanth.info-88[dot]top, achoretsq.info-88[dot]top, etc.).
It was also clear that this spammer controlled a great many top-level domain names, and that he had countless third-level subdomains assigned to every domain name. This type of spamming is known as “snowshoe” spamming.
Like a snowshoe spreads the load of a traveler across a wide area of snow, snowshoe spamming is a technique used by spammers to spread spam output across many IPs and domains, in order to dilute reputation metrics and evade filters,” writes anti-spam group Spamhaus in its useful spam glossary.
WORKING BACKWARDS
So, armed with all of that information, it took just one or two short steps to locate the IP addresses of the corresponding botnet reporting panels. Quite simply, one does DNS lookups to find the names of the name servers that were providing DNS service for each of this spammer’s second-level domains.
Once one has all of the name server names, one simply does yet more DNS lookups — one for each of the name server names — in order to get the corresponding IP address for each one.
With that list of IP addresses in hand, a trusted source volunteered to perform a series of scans on the addresses using “Nmap,” a powerful and free tool that can map out any individual virtual doorways or “ports” that are open on targeted systems. In this case, an Nmap scan against that list of IPs showed they were all listening for incoming connections on Port 10001.
From there, I took the IP address list and plugged each address individually into the URL field of a browser window in Mozilla Firefox, and then added “:10001” to the end of the address. After that, each address happily loaded a Web page displaying the number of bots connecting to each IP address at any given time.
Here’s the output of one controller that’s currently getting pinged by more than 12,000 systems configured to relay porn spam (the relevant part is the first bit on the second line below — “current activebots=”). Currently, the entire botnet (counting the active bots from all working bot panels) seems to hover around 80,000 systems.
At the time, the spam being relayed through these systems was advertising sites that tried to get visitors to sign up for online chat and dating sites apparently affiliated with Deniro Marketing and CyberErotica.
Seeking more information, I began searching the Web for information about CyberErotica’s affiliate offerings and I found that the affiliate program’s marketing division is run by a guy who uses the email address [email protected].
A Google search quickly reveals that [email protected] also advertises he can be reached using the ICQ instant messenger address of 55687349. I checked icq.com’s member lookup page, and found the name attached to ICQ# 55687349 is “Scott Philips.”
Mr. Philips didn’t return messages seeking comment. But I couldn’t help wonder about the similarity between that name and a convicted Australian porn spammer named Scott Phillips (NB: two “l’s in Phillips).
In 2010, Scott Gregory Phillips was fined AUD $2 million for running a business that employed people to create fake profiles on dating websites in a bid to obtain the mobile phone numbers of dating website users. Phillips’ operation then sent SMS texts such as “get laid, text your number to…”, and then charged $5 on the mobile accounts of people who replied.
Phillips’ Facebook page and Quora profile would have us believe he has turned his life around and is now making a living through day trading. Reached via email, Phillips said he is a loyal reader who long ago quit the spam business.
“I haven’t been in the spam business since 2002 or so,” Phillips said. “I did some SMS spam in 2005, got about 18 million bucks worth of fines for it, and went straight.”
Phillips says he builds “automated commodity trading systems” now, and that virtually all modern spam is botnet-based.
“As far as I know the spam industry is 100% botnet these days, and not a viable proposition for adult sites,” he told KrebsOnSecurity.
Well, it’s certainly a viable proposition for some spammer. The most frustrating aspect of this research is that — in spite of the virtually non-existent operational security employed by whoever built this particular crime machine, I still have no real data on how the botnet is being built, what type of malicious software may be involved, or who’s responsible.
If anyone has additional research or information on this botnet, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or get in touch with me directly.
from https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/06/inside-a-porn-pimping-spam-botnet/
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techbrossgq-blog · 7 years
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Specialist Who survey: Bill and the Timelord must smile and bear it in Smile "There's a goliath smiley abattoir, and I'm having this adolescent drive to explode it."
Emojis aren't just the eventual fate of dialect for us destined Earthlings, but on the other hand we're the main poor saps all through the universe who utilize them. This is one of numerous things that the Doctor's expert new buddy Bill Potts gains from her intergalactic coach in Smile, the second portion of arrangement 10 of Doctor Who.
While Nardole (Matt Lucas) is left back at base grumpily guarding the puzzling vault in the entrails of the college and making a blend (NB: for our American perusers, that is some tea), Bill (Pearl Mackie) tells the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) that she needs to go to what's to come. "Why?" he inquires. "I wanna check whether it's upbeat," she says.The Doctor had made a guarantee—as Nardole rushes to remind him—not to stray "off-world" and leave the vault unless it's a crisis. In any case, the gravitational draw to take his new sidekick to far-flung parts of the universe is excessively solid. "Amongst here and my office—before the pot even bubbles—is everything that at any point happened, or ever will," he tells the ever-curious Bill.
Minor robots, named Vardies, that forcefully buzz overhead in inky herds—quickly inferring Black Mirror's scene Hated in the Nation—coordinate emojibot droids to dole out temperament identifications to the Doctor and Bill, who have recently landed in a brilliant, moderate city on a far off planet. We've as of now found in the opening shots of Smile that Kezzia (Kiran L. Dadlani) and Goodthing's (Mina Anwar) failure to smile and bear it, even in the most despondent of conditions, basically doesn't cut it for the Vardies.
The microbots rudely fit the time-traveling team with a specialized gadget that uses their sensory systems as equipment. There's no security by-outline here, and zero sign about who is slurping the information—in a tricky gesture to current-day worries about the level of data a number of us are sharing on the web. "We've quite recently downloaded an update for our ears," the Doctor says. Bill's enchanted by the tech until she ponders, "what happens when you're in the loo?" The inclination for this unsettling experience is set: "emojis, wearable correspondences, we're in the perfect world of vacuous teenagers," the Doctor notes.But as compost produced using human bones descends upon an apparently peaceful garden, it turns out to be clear to the lively match that in case you're despondent, you kick the bucket.
Before we get to that, however, there's some dazzling exchange and japes amongst Bill and the Doctor. The practically musical exchange in the script for Smile, composed by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who penned In the Forest of the Night for arrangement 8 of the science fiction dramatization, helps the watcher turn out to be better familiar with Bill, taking after Mackie's breathtaking character make a big appearance—if not storyline—in The Pilot, this current season's opening scene of Doctor Who.
It would appear we may likewise have a running joke (geddit?) all through this arrangement, with Bill repeating the "penguin with his arse ablaze" line as, from the security of the TARDIS, she watches the Doctor keep running toward risk. It doesn't take her long to take after his way, unresponsively asking him for what good reason he has a Scottish inflection. "I'm not Scottish, I'm furious," the Doctor says, before he topically japes that individuals from Scotland are "everywhere, requesting autonomy on each planet they arrive on."
Maybe the drama in this scene is consider, after all it is called Smile. It surely has a lot of chuckle or cry bite the dust minutes. Be that as it may, the activity is now and again somewhat level, depending very intensely on work to impel the plot forward. It's a fascinating yarn, yet past the brilliant, delightful Valencia setting (the Spanish city's shocking Arts and Science Museum was utilized as the primary area for the second portion in this arrangement), the entire thing could without much of a stretch be transplanted to radio.
Amid a scene that works outwardly, Bill reluctantly snacks on a blue block of green growth that she says notices somewhat fishy. The Doctor reacts: "I met a sovereign made of green growth once. He fancied me."
Solid Vardies confront processing plant setting of fate
It gradually day breaks on the match that the city isn't exactly the garden of Eden imagined by the last people left in the universe, who had planned to colonize it in the wake of sending the Vardies, their emojibots, and after that a setup group to the planet first.
"There's a monster smiley abattoir over yonder, and I'm having this immature drive to explode it," the Doctor tells Bill, before they both come back to the latent forceful emoji droids. In any case, the second some portion of Smile battles to some degree. We discover that the Vardies are the dividers of the city and the first spaceship that brought them here is sunk into the center of the settlement. Cryogenically solidified people are all of a sudden bothered from their units by Bill and the Doctor's exercises as they set out toward the motor space to blow the entire thing up. All of which feels like science fiction by numbers.A young man and a dead lady help Bill—who, in exemplary Who design, is isolated from the Doctor—to make sense of what is truly going on. The emojibots were manufactured just to have a positive mental state, so the minute that a characteristic passing happens, they have no limit with respect to managing sadness.
The Doctor hurries to tell the people, who are tooling up for a battle, that the bots "know when you're excessively miserable, making it impossible to live." The skeleton group was toast since they didn't continue grinning through the "misery tidal wave" as their friends and family were wiped out one-by-one by the Vardies. As the emojibots start distinguishing as an animal categories, the Doctor takes the path of least resistance and hits reset. "He turned it now and again once more," Bill jokes.
The bewildered people are informed that the Vardies are the indigenous lifeform on the planet and they should figure out how to live with them. Be that as it may, it's presumably now safe to express an entire scope of feelings emojis. The fortunate individuals.
One week from now, it would seem that the crap emoji may prove to be handy—given that the Doctor and Bill have passed up a major opportunity for that some tea and are rather remaining on a frosted up stream Thames confronting down an elephant...
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