Who can access personal Information on this Forum ???

[c.o.]

Robbie,
I'm with you on this and agree 100% with your statement.

Ditto.... I think he nailed it.

[kval]

Pete
I fixed it for you
I have been advised that your last name MUST BE in the last name position, first name is not important
I am still here working for the members until Dec 31st

This is the issue I am addressing. Both my first and last names appear in the first name space. Try as I can I cannot change it. Thanks Robby for your response, but I viewed my profile, this is the way it is, and shall be forevermore it appears! Please advise Mr. Administrator.

[micmac]

Thanks Kevin, you da man! I want to stay on here.

[Paps]

Sorry Paps, hate to see you go, but I guess you have to do what your own mind dictates. This whole thread is reminiscent of Y2K thinking, along with the 2012 fear-mongering. The way I see it, if this makes you quit what you like, Big Brother and the scumbag hackers already won. Time to suck on that 1911. As for me, I will happily continue to post and use what discretion I see fit to suit myself. I have no illusions about the world I live in. But I will not give in to fear and paranoia.
Your Friend
Robbie

Thank you Robbie. I respect your stand. I respect you the individual even more highly. The Y2K thinking is a reality. If you recall... Y2K was to take place at midnight Dec. 31rst 2000 ......or.......trickle down into full force over a period of years. The later is what is taking place. Big Brother wanted the people to believe it would occur at midnight Dec. 31rst 2000. They solicited the major medias to focus only on the earlier date and time. Why ???? Because they knew full well the people would think it a hoax if it did not occur on the earlier date. Big Brother even solicited computer experts to vouch for the earlier date. Though the vast majority of computer experts outside the government solicitation speculated the later dates and times. The question arises again. Why ???? To put an end to the fear of Y2K before it actually occurs. Big Brother knew full well Y2K would not take place on the earlier date and time. Well before the Y2K scenario was revealed to the public, Big Brother was working diligently to put into place a completely new computer system, in preparation for the big crash. What is the big crash ? Nuclear power plant cooling system failures, deeply drilled oil well pump failures, satellite communication failures, digital bank failures, nuclear war head and launch failures, power grid failures, transportation failures, the list is endless. The tough fixes are the ones where the chips are inaccessible. There is not enough time to fix or replace all of those chips, due to their locations and vast numbers. Another questions pops up.... why would the computer systems crash ? Computers and computer systems all use the same language. The latest system operating and program software are all built on the early computer language of 1’s and 0’s. The early computer language is the foundation of today’s systems. That language has a built in error. The error cannot be corrected. Why ???? The language is numbers. Numbers are the error. Eventually all those compiled numbers become infinite with no solution. Example 7 divided by 3 = infinity. Infinity is the error. To delay infinity, software updates, which we are all familiar with, are tricks to postpone Y2K. Also known as patches, those updates lie to the computer language in order to fool the language. With out the lies of updates / patches, the route to crash would occur much sooner, since that route is a straighter path. Big Brother also knows the lies of updates / patches will run out, thus the reasoning behind the new system implementation. Since Big Brother knows the available window of time which is left before all hell breaks loose and the crash occurs, he made the decision to fix the military and other necessary government systems first. Current military personal will vouch for this if you have a family member or friend who works with government computer systems. I know several who work with military systems and their main job is moving data in response to the change over. The master control center for the new system orbits overhead. Y2K is not just a US problem. All governments are part of this change over. What is needed for government function is priority. Stabilizing the situation as it comes down is a must. Preventing anarchy in the population is the main issue. The population will panic as the lights go out, the natural gas quits flowing, the fuel does not make it to the pumps, and most of communications goes down. Government must have the capacity and the tools in place to control such chaos. 2012 is also a preemptive propaganda implementation. It is that date which will prove Y2K is progress. Crashes will begin to show up more often and the speed of those crashes will increase. Though the population will feel the effects of the crash progression, the effects will be minimal and manageable at that present time for government. As with the Dec. 31rst midnight Y2K propaganda, so will the 2012 propaganda be pushed. Government will bring the future to the present so fears will be laid to rest before the reality of those fears actually come to pass. And why will the crash be in a progressive fashion ??? The control chips were put into their positions at activated at different times over the years. Each chip has to catch up to the crash period of the end of updates / patches. I too have no illusions about the world I live in. I do have to survive it though. I feel the only way Government has won is to ignore the obvious warnings or to fall for the fake ones they produce. What is the odds of a thief knowing you leave your doors unlocked ?? Will you leave the doors unlocked based on those odds ? We can deal with hackers if we guard against them. Providing keys for them is letting that guard down. I sure as hell am not giving up my hobby and passion for motorcycles, but I also refuse to loosen my guard on privacy and by doing so, provide a possible means for my hobby and passion to be stolen from me, by some skillful hacker. Sucking on that 1911 is for those who see the situation as fear and paranoia. Diligent common sense in the use of discretion is for those who see it as a defense. I will truly miss the ability to post on this forum. I will miss the membership more so. Regardless... I will not bury my head in the sand and hope for the best just to participate in forum topics. The identification provision going into place in the very near future, being mandatory for forum participation, is not necessary in order to insure members only participate. Membership number identification, in combination with a membership name cross reference, is more than enough to do this task. And hackers ???? They will get in, regardless of membership number and name, if they so chose to. A well educated webmaster will remove them and close the door in which they came in at. This cycle will continue because more doors will be found, or newly created, and the webmaster will continue his cycle of defense as well. But in each instance in which the webmaster must remove and defend against the hackers, those hackers will have already accessed all information within the forum software. Registration is the first line of defense for a forum. All registrations should be screened by a moderator or administrator. This screening involves the software the ability to provide the screener with username, email address, IP address, and a “who is“ link. The first three can be checked against spammer data bases. These data bases are easily found free to use on the web. The “who is” link provides server identification etc.. If by chance not enough data is found to make a certain verification on a registrant, the next move is to email that registrant. Ask the registrant why they wish to join the forum. Ask what their hobbies and interests are. Providing a mandatory field in the registration for hobbies and interests will usually narrow the screening down. If the hobby / interest field is left blank or is filled in with data which does not relate to vintage motorcycles, ban the registrants username, email address, or IP address, base on the results of the data received via the spammer data bases. many spammers use the different IP address but use the same email address, and vise versa. Ban them by the majority which is found tied to them. Usernames are not re used as often. Spammers change usernames often but the usernames they choose send up a red flag quickly. It is not difficult to screen registrants. The tools I have mentioned are more than enough for the task. Actual identification for the world to view or a hacker to sift out, is foolish. I’m out of breath now.... Paps

[junkyarddog]

I’m out of breath now.... Paps[/QUOTE]

Amen
Jim

[Ohio-Rider]

Paps, My freind, This is no way to be running short of breath. If you no longer post here so be it. Your freinds know how to get hold of you. Besides, it's not like you live a hermits life. We'll all see you around here and there.

Why can't the club e-mail members like Paps an special password to use to log on as a Visitor. Then he could still share his knowledge of these old machines with peace of mind? Besides he paid his $30 bucks like the rest of us and deserves equal membership rights.

[Ohio-Rider]

And while I'm up on my soap box. I just had another thought. How many other members feel the same way as Paps and just don't feel like responding about this whole private information debate. This method of securing the web site is likely to cost the club in lost memberships. Why risk a membership decline over such a small detail? Ok... Now I'm out of breath to.

[Sargehere]

I’I'm out of breath now.... Paps

Amen
Jim[/QUOTE]

And that was ALL IN ONE PARAGRAPH !!! I don't know whether to be impressed or to send Paps my receipt for the Visine I needed to read it !!!! I think that's why paragraphs were invented. But I think I got all the way through it.

Paul used to run the Flathead Power forum, and he knows what he's talking about regarding forum security. He hit it right on the head right here:

The identification provision going into place in the very near future, being mandatory for forum participation, is not necessary in order to insure members only participate. Membership number identification, in combination with a membership name cross reference, is more than enough to do this task. And hackers ???? They will get in, regardless of membership number and name, if they so chose to. A well educated webmaster will remove them and close the door in which they came in at. This cycle will continue because more doors will be found, or newly created, and the webmaster will continue his cycle of defense as well. But in each instance in which the webmaster must remove and defend against the hackers, those hackers will have already accessed all information within the forum software. Registration is the first line of defense for a forum. All registrations should be screened by a moderator or administrator.

Putting our real names and numbers where anyone who joins the club and signs up for the forum can harvest them is not necessary. Like so much "Big Brother," it comes about "because we can, for the first time, so we will." IT SUX !

[Paps]

Thank you Steve and thank you Gerry. Oh...by the way Gerry...I still oversee the Flathead Power forum. We still get a hacker over there now and then too. We do not force personal identification into the forums software and our tools and policies work pretty well in preventing identity theft. We do not supply the identity thieves with personal information. Best they can do on our forum is advertise without permission. When we catch them...they are gone. We lock the door they came in through. We lock the doors they create as well. You cannot stop a good hacker ! You can only keep up with them.

[Paps]

And while I'm up on my soap box. I just had another thought. How many other members feel the same way as Paps and just don't feel like responding about this whole private information debate. This method of securing the web site is likely to cost the club in lost memberships. Why risk a membership decline over such a small detail? Ok... Now I'm out of breath to.

I may be gone from the forum Bro but you are so right....I'll be there for my fellow brothers such as you dear friend. I don't wish special treatment though. What I receive...all should receive.

[sludge]

i agree with paps.

[Mr. Big]

I understand Paps and his concerns but me personally, it's damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. All I can do is keep my virus software up to date and monitor my stuff as best I can. I can't see altering where I go and what I do based on what might happen. Kinda take the fun out of it......

[45OZ]

How does the computer check for current active membership ? this would have to be done via your membership # Right, since where all #'s now anyway , On Nov. 15 you are required to make sure you have a "FIRST " & "LAST"
name in your user profile, Now how is this name checked to make sure the name is the same as the # as long as there is a name in the Fields how would a computer know what name is supposed to be in that field? if it is via the #
then adding the name is useless, So how is each name verified to go with the #, & if the name is spelled wrong or just a Nick name as long as each field is filled in who would know ?
if the answer is they would know via the # then putting a name in the profile area is of no use, all the info needed by mods is in the #.
Right ????

[kval]

45OZ
we now have a database of the current members, when you sign in the program will go to the database and verify that the LAST NAME is the right one for the membership number. if they do not match exactly you will not be able to log in. this is what I had been doing manually for new members for the past 2 years. if you want some protection do not put a location, zip code or first name, that will slow down anyone wanting to find where you live. hackers are not the primary reason for all of this, it is the dishonest person who would want to steal all or some of your toys.

How does the computer check for current active membership ? this would have to be done via your membership # Right, since where all #'s now anyway , On Nov. 15 you are required to make sure you have a "FIRST " & "LAST"
name in your user profile, Now how is this name checked to make sure the name is the same as the # as long as there is a name in the Fields how would a computer know what name is supposed to be in that field? if it is via the #
then adding the name is useless, So how is each name verified to go with the #, & if the name is spelled wrong or just a Nick name as long as each field is filled in who would know ?
if the answer is they would know via the # then putting a name in the profile area is of no use, all the info needed by mods is in the #.
Right ????

[BigLakeBob]

Kevin
New to the forum, when I registered a few months ago I filled in all the required fields. Now I am trying to remove my first name and my zip code and it won't let me. Says all fields are required: first name, last name, zip code, and membership #. So you just said these could be left out, if that is so, how do I remove my info and still have full access to this site?? Thanks, Bob