What has become of AO?

This place used to be poppin'! Lately it seems like there is one post every other day!

What do you all think has caused the lack of interest in AO? What could be done to bring activity back to the level of the glory days?

I miss this community... *sniffle*

Also - where do all the AOers hang out nowadays? Surely you're all still posting on other forums? Are there any IRC channels any of you frequent? I know I used to talk to a lot of AO members on microburn's site unerror.com, but he's done away with it and his new project freenode.net is even slower than this place...

I joined computerforum.com a few days ago, and it's alright for helping people w/ general computer questions, etc, but I'd like to find a new infosec forum that is as active as AO once was...

Questions? Comments? Things you'd like to think about? :D

Was thinking the same thing a few minutes ago. This is the first time I've logged on in months. These days, I spend a lot more time on social networks that didn't exist when I was active on AO. I miss the days when there were hundreds of people logged on here concurrently.

hmmm the unfortunate thing is that AO was bought by a company that did now know how to advertise or run it to it's potential.

and so far it appears the new owners (Quinn St) are most likely going to continue to let this place rot away further.

as for other sites i browse DG and browse other infosec related blogs. Currently im involved in a compsec type project, still got awhile before it will go live.

used to chill in the un-official IRC channel that microburn ran.

There's no one answer. Some people didn't like it when we upgraded the forum software, from the antiquated and hacked to pieces version that was here. Forums as a whole have been at least partially supplanted by the emergence of other social networking sites, such as some of those aforementioned ones.

Who knows, is a pretty feeble answer. But correct for public view. Anyway, Antionline is categorized as public bulletin boards and forums AND as Hacking in Websense. So none of my work users can get here. I am an ass if nothing else.

I would like to blame the loss of tuts, but they were getting old and no one was writing any thing new. Most of the stuff I have violates AO's AUP.

There are a few good forums out there. I still hang out on IRC.

As I recall the majority of users, when I joined and the board was active, were still in school or fresh out of school. So I'm guessing life happened.

Who knows!

But in general I think all forums are less busy than they used to be. The one exception would be those associated with a sporting team of some sort. Fans love to complain about their teams.

Put me in contact with whoever is in charge of this site and I'll give the place a better design and add scripts that no one on the web has ever thought of doing.

There really isn't a single person in charge, it's more like a whole bunch.

Ghosts still exits though.

Ghosts have existed for centuries, have you seen some of the images and video people have captured? The people who say they don't Believe in Ghosts are either to damn proud to admit when they're wrong, or stupid. I mean years ago when video cameras were more money, maybe it was hard to think they were real, but seriously, Ghost Hunters being a hit show, and them putting the full video of something on the DVDs so you can inspect it yourself, it's hard to think it's faked. Some of the things I've seen in person were enough to make me want to wet myself, and then there is that Hotel in Colorado that The Shining is based on... ;)

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Originally Posted by dinowuff

Most of the stuff I have violates AO's AUP.

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Post 'em anyhow. I'm sure Joe can make an exception for an innocent sec tutorial. ;)

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Ghost Hunters being a hit show, and them putting the full video of something on the DVDs so you can inspect it yourself, it's hard to think it's faked.

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That's a joke right?

I *hate* that friggin' show. It's always the same thing:

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"We're here in this abandoned building where people have reported seeing strange apparations and hearing little girls crying. It's 3am - dead time..."

~camera guy kicks over a broom~

Kid1: "Dude! What was that! DUDE! Did you hear that!?"

~pitter-patter, pitter-patter, camera shaking everywhere why these kids pretend to freak out~

Kid1: "Dude - I feel like... I dunno... Like a sadness"
~Kid1 looks all tweaked-out~

Kid2: "Dude - are you ok? You're freaking me out..."
Kid2 (aside to camera): "Kid1 is acting really weird - he's making me really nervous"

Kid1 to spirits: "If there's anyone in here, show yourself now! Make your presence known!"

~tin can rolls around in the wind upstairs~

Kid1: "Oh my God - I heard that - did you hear that? It's communicating with us!"
...

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and so on and so forth for the next 30 minutes while I'm sitting there waiting for them to show *one* piece of footage that clearly shows a ghost. Just *one*. And I'm let down every single time.

I'm not saying ghosts don't exist. I'm just saying I've never seen one. I guess they don't show up on film of any kind.

But then I'm a skeptic. :P

Better to be sceptical of footage than Believe that every orb you see is a person.... That's annoying. And NO, I actually DO like Ghost Hunters. Not what you said of course, that's generally annoying, however, there is a certain member of this forum, who I won't name for privacy reasons, who has a... I guess I'll say interesting area they live in, and they know of the team on the original Ghost Hunters, and have done their own investigations, and some of the video and audio they have come up with, is astounding to say the least.

My Uncle also does similar stuff for some people, and the things he's seen, and told, sometimes put a shiver up my spine. I don't think every story is just outright a Haunted anything though because sometimes I've seen people say "Oh well, that house is old and there are Ghosts in it" and I'd be like umm why? And then you hear them say they once heard a sound, and most likely it was like floor boards or something.

I've had people show me pictures of what they said were Ghosts and I'd be like umm, I think you forgot to check the Flash because that surface reflects pretty good, and you basically picked it up on film...

I've seen people try to take pics where they had the STRAP from the camera show up and they thought THAT was something...

However I've also seen pictures of some places out in the woods that showed an actual face where there was nothing reflecting anywhere (Outside in the woods, is generally a pretty good way to know you aren't reflecting off walls or something) and I was actually shocked / amazed at what they showed me.

They took multiple pictures and only one showed this thing, and though Humans pic up faces in things that don't actually show them (I think it's called Matrixing or something like that) and so you'll make out faces even when there are none, but these were legit.

My Mom has seen some stuff too. She told me about when She was a kid, everyone in the room would hear these noises at night, and that on some occasions, She would wake up and the Blankets would be getting pulled off with no one there. Needless to say that was creepy, and then She showed me the house it happened in, and it was MORE creepy to find out that back before She lived in that house, it was AN INFANT MORGUE... Kind of added to the whole feel.

But yea, anyway, I've looked at a lot of pictures, a lot of videos, and heard a lot of audio, and I've been able to explain a lot of it, but some, no, there are some things you can't explain, and people like Scientists, who think they're smarter than anyone else, generally look stupid when they try to put scientific stuff into the paranormal.

Hell, find a Scientist from years ago, and tell them what Ball Lightning is, and they'd think you were some loony the way people talk about Ghosts now.

By the way, that Hotel in Colorado, that place, is amazing. Watching a Door Open, then close, on it's own, while you hear stuff moving, and youre the only one in the room, you kind of start thinking that Ghosts are real after that.

EDIT:

Forgot, you wanted proof ;)

Look for this:

Ghost Hunters - Saint Augustine Light House

If that doesn't put a shiver up your spine, you're either not looking in the right spot, or stupid heh. (You'll see a human kind of face look over a railing, then take off up the stairs without setting off the Motion detection Lights).

That Ghost Hunters show is .001% reality and 99.998% bullshit. Wasn't there a interview with a person that worked on the show and they said that the whole show is a load off makebelieve...

now cannibal holocaust is a movie that'll put the shivers up your spine. :D

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Originally Posted by HYBR|D

That Ghost Hunters show is .001% reality and 99.998% bullshit. Wasn't there a interview with a person that worked on the show and they said that the whole show is a load off makebelieve...

now cannibal holocaust is a movie that'll put the shivers up your spine. :D

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No, that was that British guy who was like Psychic or whatever. One of those guys did in fact say it was faked. Ghost Hunters is probably the only one where they don't fake it, and considering my Uncle has been in a place they were filming and had no reason to lie to me, he said personally that it was exactly like you see on TV other than they leave cameras running, and generally stay at the place over a number of days because it would be hard to try and do all that in one night. So no Ghost Hunters isn't faked, it's one of the very few that's not though.

Cannibal Holocaust didn't bother me, neither did Cannibal Ferox / Make them die Slowly. I have both, and I also just the other day found my copy of "The Bloody Dead" which is awesome.

PETA was pissed at those two Cannibal Movies because all the scenes where Animals are killed, weren't special FX, they actually killed them. I'm not into cruelty, but I did like when they ent to the guy who made it and said it was wrong and he basically said "They were going to eat the thing anyway, all I did was film it" like when that big Turtle gets dismembered.

I have.... probably 200 Horror movies, and a good chunk of those are rare / hard to find Grindhouse style movies (Grindhouse as ikn the type of movie played in a Grindhouse, where it's some form of exploitation of Gore film, which is where my name comes from, not the movie that came out a few years ago).

I have Exploitation / Horror / Gore / Splatter movies from the late 1800s all the way to the past few years. Took me years to build that collection, and this past week, I found my Halloween Comic Book. A special Edition that hasn't been for sale in over 10 years or so. It's the very first edition, and it's the "Super Chromium Platinum Edition" or something like that, 2500 were made, and mine is not only sitting with the certificate of authenticity, mine is STILL in the wrapper / Plastic Sleeve that you have to tear to open, and hasn't ever been opened.

It came in this like air tight Plastic casing and to open it up and pull the Comic out, you have to actually tear it open, so mine is pretty nice since it's never been opened. I found one on Ebay ONCE and it was not only open, but it had a tear on the cover, and the bid was 500 dollars so I'm pretty happy about mine.

I tried finding the one I have on the Chaoscomics web page, but it isn't listed. At all. I found it on Ebay like I said, but the web site for Chaos Comics doesn't even have it listed as something they did. They have all kinds of Michael Myers / Halloween Comics on there, but not this one. I don't know why it's not listed though because I wanted to see how much they sold it for, and ended up not ever finding it, so when I checked Ebay and saw one with a torn up front cover going for 500, I was like in shock.

It originally sold for like 20 dollars, and the closest thing to the one I have that I've ever seen was one that was open, but in good condition without any damage on it, and it was going for like almost a thousand dollars, so mine must be worth a small fortune considering it's totally Mint.

It's like the Magic: The Gathering cards I've been playing with and collecting for the last 16 years, I have a bunch of those, and a lot of them are worth a lot of money. (The Beta Black Lotus card rated BGS 10, is currently valued at over 100,000 dollars). And this is a GAME.

I used to have most of my movies typed out, but, with the number I've gotten over the last 3 years, it's like to hard to actually pull every movie out, and list it compared the the list I already had with like 200 movies on it, so I don't even try now. I should because I have a great collection, but it would take a LONG time.

By the way, this is the Comic:

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...dition-michael

They want like 10 dollars to tell me how much it sells for, and they can lick my balls. I found another one on Ebay and the thing isn't cased or anything for like less than 40 dollars, but at the same time, I found another, for 400. So, someone is REALLY not sure what it's worth. Which is annoying because I've literally seen one ripped for almost 500.

And, that card:

http://www.pristinecomics.com/produc...highest-graded

How'd we get on ghosts?

I think AO is still a valid presence. I see people still posting questions and problems being addressed. I hit it almost everyday, just don't have much to say, according to the profile I've been here almost 8 years. I don't know of any sites that are a direct match for what we do here.

Maybe people are busier. My bread and butter job went from 40 to 50+ hours in this downturn, we haven't laid anyone off but we haven't replaced anyone either. My freelance repairs have gone up because people are trying to hold on to equipment longer and small to medium shops can't afford in house people so they outsource more.

Dave

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Originally Posted by fourdc

How'd we get on ghosts?

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It's called "Tazzing a thread"

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Originally Posted by fourdc

I think AO is still a valid presence. I see people still posting questions and problems being addressed. I hit it almost everyday, just don't have much to say, according to the profile I've been here almost 8 years. I don't know of any sites that are a direct match for what we do here.

Maybe people are busier. My bread and butter job went from 40 to 50+ hours in this downturn, we haven't laid anyone off but we haven't replaced anyone either. My freelance repairs have gone up because people are trying to hold on to equipment longer and small to medium shops can't afford in house people so they outsource more.

Dave

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Wow, well said. This year I lost a network tech and two help desk positions. And I am considering changing my home phone number. I'm getting calls from every non-profit in the area and many small businesses. Anyone out there wanting to start there own consulting business, now is the time. Out my way that is.

Another thought on what has become of A.O. I know the majority of people here. So I only post questions that I know can be answered here. meh A.O. is like the first bar you hung out in your old stomping grounds. You never forget the place and return for a visit every now and then.

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Originally Posted by HYBR|D

That Ghost Hunters show is .001% reality and 99.998% bullshit.

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With a 0.001% margin of error I presume ;)

Steve

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My Uncle also does similar stuff for some people, and the things he's seen, and told, sometimes put a shiver up my spine.

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My Mom has seen some stuff too. She told me about when She was a kid, everyone in the room would hear these noises at night, and that on some occasions, She would wake up and the Blankets would be getting pulled off with no one there.

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Don't worry gore. I have crazy people in my family too. :P

Seriously though, I would never say there is no such a thing as ghosts. All I know is that I've never seen one, not in person or on film, nor do I know anyone or even know of anyone who has that can produce evidence sufficient to convince me.

When I was about twelve, me and a good friend were sitting out in my front yard at about dusk when two large glowing low flying green discs came in rapidly and silently from the west. I pissed my pants a little as we ran for our lives into the house. It freaked me out. Bad. He and I tell the exact same story fifteen years later. You remember stuff like that. Problem is I don't have a picture or a video to back it up. I know it happened and so does he.

I guess it's much the same way with ghost stories. I'm sure anyone reading my little story is thinking "Yeah right" or "and how much acid did he eat before that happened?" and that's to be expected - hell, I still try to rationalize it myself.

But it would sure be nice if someone could finally just obtain some proof. Something tangible that could be examined and tested. And the fact that no one has certainly does make one wonder.

Especially skeptics like me.

:D

Well, if we all agreed on everything, it would be pretty damn boring huh? ;)

By the way, for proof that is hard to say is fake, try this:

Ghost Hunters - St. Augustine Light House in Florida.

I already said what happened a few posts ago, but I saw that video (They have video, and audio in this episode) and there is like no way to really mess with that. I remember the first Light House they did, where they had video of a chair moving across the floor. They had a video specialist come in and look at it, and they were shocked too. It wasn't faked, it was an IR camera, so any wire to pull it would have shown up, and as for the one I'm telling you to look for, well, when you see them running up the stairs looking at something, and then you see something that looks human look over the railing at them, and then just bolt up two floors almost instantly blocking out some light that was showing up on one of the railings, and then, they finally get up there and the Motion Detection light comes on.... Well, why didn't whatever that was set it off? It didn't... And yet you clearly see a face look over at them.

It's a pretty good piece of evidence. Anyway, I've seen things I can't explain, and I don't try to. I don't think we're meant to understand everything.

wow.....sorry ive been kinda busy lately n stuffs. i like to pop in from time to time though.

lack of traffic could be on account of mcafee red flagging this site.

Perhaps this thread is an example of one reason why traffic is down.

I'm with JP. Grab a drink or spark one up and relax.

CSR

OK, I know that there are at least a dozen longstanding members who comment that the site has deteriorated and is not "like the old days"?

So, what are you going to do about it then?

I challenge you to visit this site once per day for the next 28 days and post something original/stimulating/whatever.....................

We are a community; we are not JupiterMedia or internet.com (they are our hosts).............activity is up to the members OK?

I have my own views on what has happened ;)

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Originally Posted by nihil

We are a community; we are not JupiterMedia or internet.com (they are our hosts).............activity is up to the members OK?

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actually Jupitermedia sold off there internet.com portfolio AntiOnline is now owned by Quinn St. ;)

Other then that Johnno you have set down an interesting challenge and it's long overdue for a good ol' AntiOnline.Com most online party.

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Most users ever online was 811, June 26th, 2008 at 12:19 PM.

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I think if we organised enough and planned for a good day for members we could easily as a community smash that 811 most online. :cool:

JPnyc will prob have give the site a good kick every few seconds but i'm sure the ol girl has a bit left in the tank. :3pow::shootem:

Oh, do tell nihil, do tell! :D

Yeah - I was thinking the same thing Cheap Scotch Ron. I guess there are still plenty of members who check in... I guess they just 'ain't got nuthin to say' ;)

This thread brought a lot of 'em out of the woodwork.

Perhaps we've all locked our networks down and trained our [l]users so well, info sec just isn't a hot topic issue right now.

As for the ones who said "life happened" - wazzat? :P I guess I need to get me one of those!

Well, thanks to everyone who posted. I guess this thread proves AO is not dead, it's just hiberating. Plenty of members lurking in the shadows though. :D

As for the ghost stories (good lord we went off on a tangent!), I'll check out your link gore and I'll message you my thoughts.

Over and out.

I think one of those huge benefit concerts would help. AO_Aid

>>I think one of those huge benefit concerts would help. AO_Aid

How bout some Rev Jim Jones Kool Aid?

See ifn you young pups know about that!

So if I admit to knowing about that, I'm admitting to being old? Quite the quandary…

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I think if we organised enough and planned for a good day for members we could easily as a community smash that 811 most online. :cool:

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I would guess a Sunday?........most people here will have that off..........apart from the mobile phone.......and "week-end support"?

Any comments?

If your last public comment is September 2009.............

http://investor.quinstreet.com/releases.cfm

and that is to the stockholders?

:(

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Originally Posted by JPnyc

I think one of those huge benefit concerts would help. AO_Aid

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I can play a show for you Joe ;) I'm not the only guy here who makes music, but if you want to host something for me, I can upload music I've made. I'm not signed to any record label, so I can do whatever I want with what I make. As for samples I use, most are free and the others are usually Public Domain, like how I use samples from Night of the Living Dead a lot, that movie is in the Public domain, so I can sample all I want from it without paying a fee.

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Originally Posted by nihil

I would guess a Sunday?........most people here will have that off..........apart from the mobile phone.......and "week-end support"?

Any comments?

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With the different timezone's of the member base here, it would roll on a Monday or Saturday, so it's just a matter of choosing a half decent timezone.

Probably go with the Yankee timezone as that is easier to work with. :)

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Originally Posted by nihil

If your last public comment is September 2009.............

http://investor.quinstreet.com/releases.cfm

and that is to the stockholders?

:(

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http://www.webmediabrands.com/corpor...uinStreet.html
:deal:


It's located under the 09 press release on the webmedia site>
http://www.webmediabrands.com/corporate/press2009.html

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There really isn't a single person in charge, it's more like a whole bunch.

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Don't jerk me around. You know of someone who can make the needed changes and upload a few things to the site.

Hybrid,

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With the different timezone's of the member base here, it would roll on a Monday or Saturday, so it's just a matter of choosing a half decent timezone.

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For the "solidarity gesture" side of things, just logging in and staying logged on should work? OK..........turn off screen, printer, scanner and the like; but if you are still logged in to your account you should register?

:)

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Don't jerk me around. You know of someone who can make the needed changes and upload a few things to the site.

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Possibly not during an interregnum........please check links in the post above yours ;)

LOL so random and out of topic Gore...

im here after many months as well. It's just that now with so many social networking sites and a booming stock market leaves AO slightly down in terms of priorities.

How about sending a miss your posts emailer to members?

chizra

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/antionline.com


Our ad's at times have been pathetic, i've reported one incident..

Hey Concert? I'll Sing:

We are AO
We are the admins
We are the ones who never see the light of day
So let's start a NMAP Syn Flood
There's a choice of decoys
We're saving our own logs
It's true we'll make a fool of you
Just by posting them on AO

Or some such stupid sH17

*EDIT* Did I ever tell anyone how much I hate Mondays?

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*EDIT* Did I ever tell anyone how much I hate Mondays?

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The silicon chips inside MLF's head
Gets switched to overload.
And nobody's gonna log onto AO today,
She's going to make them stay offline.
And dino doesn't understand it,
He always said she wrote clean code.
And he can see no reason
'Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be pwned?

Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
I want to chroot
The whole dir down.

ok lets be real here. I think we can all agree that AO is not a social network. Its a support forum at heart. People register to solve a problem, when the problems solved they have no reason to come back. :(