Update on the blog glitch
In trying to deal with their trickster blog glitch that’s been switching identifies on commenters, I’ve been burning the midnight oil and talking on the phone with several people. Most of them are techies at my host, but one of them is the person who helped me set up the blog and who has fine-tuned it over the years.
No one seems to have a clue why my blog has decided to turn into a joker, or how to fix it, although several things have been tried. The consensus is that it’s not a purposeful hack and that it’s some code problem that may have been triggered by an update to a new WordPress version. The next step is to hire one of these troubleshooters who specialize in this sort of thing.
The good news is that they swear they can fix just about anything, and do it fast. The bad news is that “fast” still may take a day or two.
In the meantime, please check the comment autofill to see that it’s not filling in someone else’s information. And when you fill in your own information, if you have an email address that you don’t want to show up on another commenter’s computer, don’t use it in your comments here. You can use a fake email address, if you wish. Some of you may also notice time lags in displaying comments or in displaying posts.
In addition, if the blog goes down for a while and you want information, you can always go to my old blog site. Note the address of that blog.
I hope that this will be fixed very soon. I apologize for the annoyance. This sort of thing happens now and then to every blog, but that doesn’t make it fun.
Hello in there… my user name and email address are correct, at least right now. Sorry for all your troubles, and there is no need for you to apologize to me or anyone else for be hacked by Putin.
Still correct info.
I enjoyed my new identity. At least it wasn’t a sex change.
Thanks Neo
Your dogged persistence to run a quality show is just one of the attractions here.
But free donuts would be a nice additions too.
So far I’m still me with my fake email address.
I have no idea what gender Cornhead is, but from here it looks like I am he/she.
-Uffdaphil
You’re right about autofill…. I’m first on this thread but the blog thinks I am…
I’m with Decius
zxxxxx@xxx.com
http://www.thursdayfast.blogspot.com
Ok, this is weird…. the home page lists 5 comments, but right the only comment I see is the one I made at 3:14.
Name and mail fill in with previous commenter. I tried to put in mine- will I succeed?
No preview possible.
My autofill showed up as huxley (even after a refresh).
Also, there’s no “Preview Comment” button.
My theory is the new version of WordPress software introduced this bug. If so, the only ways to fix it are:
1) WordPress fixes the bug and sends a patch, or
2) Your host un-installs this and re-installs the older version of WordPress.
The Other Gary:
Agreed on the cause. But WordPress is difficult to impossible to reach, and the host is unable to go back to a previous version.
Thanks for your efforts on our behalf, Neo. It all sounds exhausting and frustrating.
Right now, I’m showing up as me, all nice and normal. Earlier this evening my autofill spaces were blank.
Question I have which may or may not have anything to do with this glitch is why do I see different things on your site when on my laptop vs my iPad? Number of comments vastly different sometimes.
Griffin:
It’s part of the same glitch.
Now my autofill is blanks. Better than leaking emails. Preview button comes and goes.
I trust readers here are suitably cynical about software. It is not created by noble Star Trek intellects seeking to improve the world one line of code at a time, but by entirely human guys, often under ferocious deadlines, working for money and ego, and vulnerable to cutting a corner to get something out the door. Me too.
This WordPress bug is most likely something stupid.
Perhaps you remember the Heartbleed bug from three years ago in which OpenSSL — a key internet security package no less — was leaking passwords to any hacker who understood how to exploit the weakness.
Heartbleed was the work of a Computer Science Ph.D who specialized in internet security. Which is to say, he wasn’t a run-of-the-mill coder who happened to screw up. He was an authority who really should have known better. His work was reviewed by a cryptography consultant with a Ph.D in math — not the right guy to check for coding errors.
Every programmer makes mistakes. That goes without saying. But Heartbleed wasn’t a mistake so much as a failure in programming discipline — like a surgeon failing to wash his hands before operating.
Wow. It took over an hour for my comment to show up.