How did these users sign up?

December 13, 2002 1:40 AM

How did 17320 and 17319 get in? And what's up with this profile?
posted by riffola to Bugs at 1:40 AM (41 comments total)

W
T
F
gsp?
posted by eddydamascene at 1:47 AM on December 13, 2002

We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you.
posted by timeistight at 2:03 AM on December 13, 2002

Welcome to phase two, riffola.
posted by Ljubljana at 2:15 AM on December 13, 2002

The first rule of Metafilter signup is: Don't talk about Metafilter signup.
posted by sebas at 3:11 AM on December 13, 2002

mathowie.
posted by quonsar at 4:03 AM on December 13, 2002

I remember cheese boy putting up a link on Metatalk linking to a happy cheese on wheels. I wasn't really under the impression that that was don by Matt. There's probably still holes in the sign-up process.
posted by sebas at 4:46 AM on December 13, 2002

I have suspected for a while that timeistight is at least this other user. He seems to enjoy periodically letting everyone know that he knows a way to sneak in. Quonsor's link seems to also connect TisT to the poxi account.
posted by Mid at 7:03 AM on December 13, 2002

so. . .goosestepping poxi! then. *cough*

Only Stravos can save us from these elaborate conceptual fuckwitted quipsters. Whoever they are, and from whence-ever they get their special powers.
posted by dgaicun at 7:07 AM on December 13, 2002

Oops. Quonsar.
posted by Mid at 7:57 AM on December 13, 2002

that's what i always say.
posted by quonsar at 8:28 AM on December 13, 2002

their special powers

Be reassured that we'll only use our special powers for good, not evil. We've sworn an oath.
posted by timeistight at 8:30 AM on December 13, 2002

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Matt is still probably accepting donations and I bet if you asked really nicely he would let you get a screename.
posted by philcliff at 8:32 AM on December 13, 2002

only use our special powers for good

Posting a picture of a cheese on wheels is using it for good? Must be weird evil powers you have.
posted by sebas at 8:54 AM on December 13, 2002

That wasn't me. I think cheese boy is from the Dark Side.
posted by timeistight at 9:01 AM on December 13, 2002

I'm not accepting donations, the last one was done by timeistight (IPs match up with his account), through some unpatched hole.

timeistight, if you don't mind, could you email me and let me know how you got in? To be honest, I moved the basic new user signup scripts out of the web-enabled directories on the server, so I'm not sure exactly which hole you're abusing here.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:24 AM on December 13, 2002

Will do.
posted by timeistight at 9:26 AM on December 13, 2002

Abusing is such a nasty word. I never mussed a hair on the little tyke's head.
posted by timeistight at 9:27 AM on December 13, 2002

"I'm not sure exactly which hole you're abusing here."

Oh, if I only had a dime for every time I've heard that.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:55 AM on December 13, 2002

*quickly passes crash about 10 dollars worth of dimes before anyone notices and our secret escapes*
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:03 AM on December 13, 2002

metafilter: not sure exactly which hole you're abusing.
posted by quonsar at 10:47 AM on December 13, 2002

ah, so I finally found my answer.

I removed old signup scripts weeks ago, but there is a brain-dead bug in coldfusion's CFMX server. Since it's a java-based server now, it caches compiled pages as classes on the fly. When you delete a file off the server, it doesn't remove the associated compiled class, and keeps it both in memory and on the disk (in a cache directory).

It was driving me crazy to delete the files, restart the server, and even reboot the server, only to see them reappear seemingly from the dead. Turns out you have to physically empty the cache directory whenever you make a deletion, and the cache directory is in an obscure directory deep within the server's config files. I only figured out the problem from rampant googling combined with being on coldfusion developer lists.

I thought I was safe because I removed the files a while ago, and was actually thinking that someone was cracking the db server (which I've done everything I can to clamp down and protect) to get these new usernames. I was freaked out this morning to see that someone signed up successfully.

A truly moronic bug though.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:53 AM on December 13, 2002

It was fun while it lasted.

"dave": Sticks and stone may break my bones but names can never hurt me.

You're only young once, but you can be immature for ever.
posted by timeistight at 10:58 AM on December 13, 2002

mathowie: I'm starting to get the feeling that MetaFilter is actually a secret propaganda project of the Anything but Cold Fusion cabal.
posted by timeistight at 11:01 AM on December 13, 2002

I'm starting to get the feeling that MetaFilter is actually a secret propaganda project of the Anything but Cold Fusion cabal.
No, that'd be Cold Fusion.
posted by fvw at 11:10 AM on December 13, 2002

I still haven't figured out what's wrong with Notepad, dammit.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:48 PM on December 13, 2002

[cough]apache![cough]
[cough]PHP![cough]
posted by quonsar at 1:05 PM on December 13, 2002

[cough]finally moving to apache soon[cough]
[cough]but don't feel like redoing 3 years of work in php[cough]
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:17 PM on December 13, 2002

<obviously none of my business>
     What about holloway's PHPilfer?
</obviously none of my business>
posted by timeistight at 1:29 PM on December 13, 2002

Phpilfer isn't ready yet. By 0.3 I'll have something nice.
posted by holloway at 2:21 AM on December 14, 2002

It's surprisingly easy to move stuff in other languages into PHP. Not that I would suggest you do it unless you had to. But I had to, and I was amazed at how e-z it was.
posted by Fabulon7 at 11:40 AM on December 14, 2002

but have we figured out what's wrong with kettleblack's profile?

also, i'm convinced that he's really settle. utterly convinced. i for one welcome our new o< overlords. the planets are in alignment and he's made his return.
posted by jimmy at 12:26 PM on December 14, 2002

Whoa. I thought I was the only one who's been thinking that kettleblack was Settle. I hadn't said anything because I've been quietly enjoying the little revelations. The rhyming user names (settle/kettle), the ascii ducks, the general tone of the comments, the !!!!1 thing...

The only difference seems to be that Settle seems to be black, and kettleblack seems to be white. At least, that's what they'd like us to believe.
posted by iconomy at 12:50 PM on December 14, 2002

iconomy, the folks in IRC have conversed with KettleBlack in real time. We think he isn't settle. Just someone pretending to be settle.
posted by riffola at 1:00 PM on December 14, 2002

Also KettleBlack told us in #mefi that he is settle. It's just someone's idea of a joke.
posted by riffola at 1:03 PM on December 14, 2002

We think he isn't settle

KettleBlack told us in #mefi that he is settle

See what I mean? The contradictions abound!
posted by iconomy at 1:37 PM on December 14, 2002

KB showed up in IRC because I posted a comment on the blue about the return of "o<", and he claimed to be settle. He spouted off things that settle had posted on MeFi. At first we thought maybe he is settle, but then it turned out to be too polished, and with too many references to settle's old comments. So we concluded it's someone pretending to be settle. He kept blabbing and acting weird, didn't leave until someone in there drove him away by singing a supertramp song.
posted by riffola at 2:33 PM on December 14, 2002

drove him away by singing a supertramp song.

*decides to drop into MeChat more often*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:31 PM on December 14, 2002

I thought he was Settle too, but I was apparently too subtle.
posted by yhbc at 9:32 PM on December 14, 2002

drove him away by singing a supertramp song.

Logical, really
posted by dg at 3:05 PM on December 15, 2002

There are times, when all the world's asleep, the questions run too deep for such a simple man.
posted by crunchland at 5:28 PM on December 15, 2002

When I die and go to classic rock hell, they'll play that song 24 hours a day.
posted by timeistight at 6:05 PM on December 15, 2002