“At risk” - gay story websites and others

[Myr]

Our Help menu has some links to try out. Link 1 shows up to everyone. Links 2 and 3 will only show up if you have switched to an Author account.

[ReaderPaul]

Updated post regarding the future of AwesomeDude, posted by Alien Son (John) on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023:

https://forums.awesomedude.com/topic/72248-what-does-the-future-hold-for-awesomedude/

   It also points out the problem(s) of not having an already defined succession plan in place.

[Backwoods Boy]

For the purpose of informing of those interested in the general area of gay story sites, this is what Tickie Stories displays this morning:

Quote

Not Found

---

HTTP Error 404. The requested resource is not found.

 

[chris191070]

7 minutes ago, Backwoods Boy said:

For the purpose of informing of those interested in the general area of gay story sites, this is what Tickie Stories displays this morning:

 

Alot of fantastic stories lost.

[Daddydavek]

I just accessed 

http://tickiestories.us/Main.htm

 

[Backwoods Boy]

49 minutes ago, Daddydavek said:

I just accessed 

http://tickiestories.us/Main.htm

 

Well, that is interesting.  I can get it from your link but not from the link a google search provides as is my usual habit.  Perhaps it's a personal problem - for now.  So I'll bookmark your link and see what happens.  Thanks.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Backwoods Boy

[ReaderPaul]

I just accessed Tickie at:   tickiestories dot us   (do NOT put www in front).

[Geron Kees]

8 hours ago, ReaderPaul said:

I just accessed Tickie at:   tickiestories dot us   (do NOT put www in front).

Yes. It's still there.

[Backwoods Boy]

11 hours ago, ReaderPaul said:

I just accessed Tickie at:   tickiestories dot us   (do NOT put www in front).

 

2 hours ago, Geron Kees said:

Yes. It's still there.

When accessing the site from a Google search, as I've always done, the "www" is in the address, and until today that has always succeeded.  I'm far from an expert on the internet, but the fact that it can now only be reached without that part, and that the Google search address resulted in a warning that the site lacked certification followed by an error message when I ignored the warning, suggests to me that the site is slipping away by inches rather than with a bang.  I also noted that the site put a cookie on my computer this morning, something it has never done before.  I may be overly paranoid, but that raised a yellow flag. 🤔

[ReaderPaul]

39 minutes ago, Backwoods Boy said:

When accessing the site from a Google search, as I've always done, the "www" is in the address, and until today that has always succeeded.  I'm far from an expert on the internet, but the fact that it can now only be reached without that part, and that the Google search address resulted in a warning that the site lacked certification followed by an error message when I ignored the warning, suggests to me that the site is slipping away by inches rather than with a bang.  I also noted that the site put a cookie on my computer this morning, something it has never done before.  I may be overly paranoid, but that raised a yellow flag. 🤔

I was told by a website owner that G was trying to charge him for the safe certificate, and they have to be renewed every so often.  After fighting them for about a year, he finally surrendered and purchased a safe certificate.  He said it made his site no safer; just didn't have to fight them any longer.

[lawfulneutralmage]

That you can get for free: https://letsencrypt.org/

Bloody pressure tactics!

[Geron Kees]

22 hours ago, Backwoods Boy said:

 

When accessing the site from a Google search, as I've always done, the "www" is in the address, and until today that has always succeeded.  I'm far from an expert on the internet, but the fact that it can now only be reached without that part, and that the Google search address resulted in a warning that the site lacked certification followed by an error message when I ignored the warning, suggests to me that the site is slipping away by inches rather than with a bang.  I also noted that the site put a cookie on my computer this morning, something it has never done before.  I may be overly paranoid, but that raised a yellow flag. 🤔

I have always signed in with the link Chuck supplied me as an author. It looks to be the same one you used to finally access the site, tickiestories dot us.

The site has always lacked an SSL cert, as in, it's never been an 'https' secure connection like GA is. Tickie is pure http-only. Chuck felt the cost of obtaining certification was an unneeded expense for a simple story site. I have always received a cookie from the site, and just as dutifully deleted it at the end of each session along with all the others. Cookies are common with every website. So I have not noticed anything different in my last couple of visits.

I think the expiration of the hosting term is what will eventually close the site. I am looking into downloading and saving the entire website. There is software available that will save the site, page for page. I think it needs to be done. I just have to see what sort of storage space it might need before I do it.

[chris191070]

4 hours ago, Geron Kees said:

I have always signed in with the link Chuck supplied me as an author. It looks to be the same one you used to finally access the site, tickiestories dot us.

The site has always lacked an SSL cert, as in, it's never been an 'https' secure connection like GA is. Tickie is pure http-only. Chuck felt the cost of obtaining certification was an unneeded expense for a simple story site. I have always received a cookie from the site, and just as dutifully deleted it at the end of each session along with all the others. Cookies are common with every website. So I have not noticed anything different in my last couple of visits.

I think the expiration of the hosting term is what will eventually close the site. I am looking into downloading and saving the entire website. There is software available that will save the site, page for page. I think it needs to be done. I just have to see what sort of storage space it might need before I do it.

The site definitely needs saving, there are two many stories to be lost.

[Backwoods Boy]

12 hours ago, Geron Kees said:

I have always signed in with the link Chuck supplied me as an author. It looks to be the same one you used to finally access the site, tickiestories dot us.

The site has always lacked an SSL cert, as in, it's never been an 'https' secure connection like GA is. Tickie is pure http-only. Chuck felt the cost of obtaining certification was an unneeded expense for a simple story site. I have always received a cookie from the site, and just as dutifully deleted it at the end of each session along with all the others. Cookies are common with every website. So I have not noticed anything different in my last couple of visits.

I think the expiration of the hosting term is what will eventually close the site. I am looking into downloading and saving the entire website. There is software available that will save the site, page for page. I think it needs to be done. I just have to see what sort of storage space it might need before I do it.

Thanks for the further education.  I never got into the nitty-gritty of internet technology during my CS career, and haven't pursued learning about the changes since.  A PM with another contributor to this conversation suggests that, besides ignorance, my problem is likely associated with "Google" and "Chromebook".  And perhaps my choice of supplemental virus protection.

As to cookies, for a long time I refused to accept any cookies except from a known list of sites.  Tickie Stories, along with some other sites, wasn't on that list as I never had a problem accessing them.  Now that I've come off that piece of paranoia, I find cookies from those sites.  Since I always review the "cookies of the day" before deleting them, the Tickie item was a first-time experience.  

I once asked Chuck how he supported the site and got no response.  I think it was a personal hobby, but it's still sad that he didn't bequeath it to someone.  I applaud your intent to download the site, and I hope you succeed.  Since I don't always save all versions of my stories, I've downloaded my own stuff with the idea that, with a certain amount of modification, they might be useful "elsewhere"  

Edited October 19, 2023 by Backwoods Boy

[Geron Kees]

3 hours ago, Backwoods Boy said:

Thanks for the further education.  I never got into the nitty-gritty of internet technology during my CS career, and haven't pursued learning about the changes since.  A PM with another contributor to this conversation suggests that, besides ignorance, my problem is likely associated with "Google" and "Chromebook".  And perhaps my choice of supplemental virus protection.

As to cookies, for a long time I refused to accept any cookies except from a known list of sites.  Tickie Stories, along with some other sites, wasn't on that list as I never had a problem accessing them.  Now that I've come off that piece of paranoia, I find cookies from those sites.  Since I always review the "cookies of the day" before deleting them, the Tickie item was a first-time experience.  

I once asked Chuck how he supported the site and got no response.  I think it was a personal hobby, but it's still sad that he didn't bequeath it to someone.  I applaud your intent to download the site, and I hope you succeed.  Since I don't always save all versions of my stories, I've downloaded my own stuff with the idea that, with a certain amount of modification, they might be useful "elsewhere"  

I set the software running last night before I went to bed. It was still running this morning when I left for the office, having already sifted through over 9Gb of information. I had an afternoon dental check-up, so came home early after, and found the mission complete.

This software starts at the top page of a website and follows every link, copying everything it finds. The problem with a site like Tickie is that it has a ton of links to external pictures and references for the stories all throughout the site, all of which have to be traced. If a picture is found at the end of the link, you want to be sure it will show up in your copy.

All in all, the software sifted through over 14Gb of information, and created a mirror copy of Tickie on my hard drive, with a final size on disk of 3.29Gb. The software created a separate folder for the site. When I click on the top menu, it opens in my browser just as it would if I went to the site, but this is a copy on my machine, a complete mirror image. I can then navigate through the entire site just as if I was online. All the stories are there, and all the pictures and references that still had active links (150+ were 404 dead links, and did not) are there. The main thing was saving the stories, but that has been accomplished. The site saved on my machine is identical to the site you will still find online.

If others are interested in doing the same thing, please drop me a PM on it. I would simply post a link to the software site (it's open-source freeware, and there are copies available for Windows and Linux), but I am not sure about the rules for doing that in this forum.

But the good news is, the site can be saved for future reference, and none of the stories need be lost.

 

[Zombie]

Great job Geron!  

[ReaderPaul]

Update on AwesomeDude dot com:

John (author Alien Son) has updated this link with some encouraging information:  Read through ALL the posts in that thread for the latest news, much of it quite encouraging.

https://forums.awesomedude.com/topic/72248-what-does-the-future-hold-for-awesomedude/

[Dhpiet77]

Does anyone know what’s going on at IOMFATS?

[drpaladin]

13 minutes ago, Dhpiet77 said:

Does anyone know what’s going on at IOMFATS?

They were doing a server migration and it screwed up. They're waiting for host help to get them back up.

[Geron Kees]

1 hour ago, drpaladin said:

They were doing a server migration and it screwed up. They're waiting for host help to get them back up.

That's right. Should be back any day now!

[drpaladin]

18 hours ago, Dhpiet77 said:

Does anyone know what’s going on at IOMFATS?

It's back up.

[Dhpiet77]

This is the current message that comes up when trying to access Awesome Dude:  

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access this resource.Server unable to read htaccess file, denying access to be safe

Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

[ReaderPaul]

What is the "htaccess file"?

[drpaladin]

19 minutes ago, Dhpiet77 said:

This is the current message that comes up when trying to access Awesome Dude:  

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access this resource.Server unable to read htaccess file, denying access to be safe

Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

The forum part is fine. It's the story collection with an access issue.

https://forums.awesomedude.com/forum/19-awesomedude-forums/

[Dhpiet77]

1 hour ago, drpaladin said:

The forum part is fine. It's the story collection with an access issue.

https://forums.awesomedude.com/forum/19-awesomedude-forums/

Thanks. I hope this means that means the story section will re-open when the 'htaccess file’ issues are dealt with.