Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

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FOQ1
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2026 11:46 pm

Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by FOQ1 »

Requesting new category under Industry - Agriculture

A sub forums of - 1) Inputs
might be useful to discuss the process of acquiring water, NPK, trace minerals, media, and humus.
2) Outputs
food, fiber, (grain) alcohol, animals and said by products, mycology, dyes, and more.
Financial Velociraptor - The Lizard King
-=Devour your prey raptors=-
tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by tahanson43206 »

This is a reply to a post by FOQ1...
by FOQ1 » Fri Apr 03, 2026 3:46 am
It is not too early to be asking those questions.

In the first place, this is a lifeboat, with five survivors of a party boat that had about 1000 "passengers" but most were absent. Only a small number of live "passengers" were still wandering the decks.

tahanson43206 is paying for the subscription to Azure where the site runs. Tahanson43206 set up SpaceNut as a co-Administrator.

SpaceNut was the Senior Administrator at NewMars.com/forums

RobertDyck was Senior Moderator at NewMars.com/forums.

We had a Junior Administrator who went by kbd512. He is present here as a member.

In his role as Senior Adminstrator SpaceNut was tolerant of members who posted attacks upon others.

I can understand that ... the offending members were often those who were most creative and productive of content.

My view is that it should be possible to discuss the future of the Human Race on Mars without insulting others.

tahanson43206 spent years at NewMars.com/forums as a Junior Moderator, with assigned tasks such as performing IT repairs to old posts damaged by moves between forum version.

There are only five of us. Hopefully this small core group can avoid offending each other.

This post might be searchable if anyone is interested.

tag: policy
tag: forum policy

We had a policy statement in NewMars.com/forums

We might consider installing it here. My recollection is that most folks never read it.

(th)
FOQ1
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2026 11:46 pm

Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by FOQ1 »

Are there formal forum rules or at least moderation guidelines on Political discussions? I see a Mars government sub-forum.

The topic can get sort of testy and especially in 2026, world events are making people sort of irritable.

In the old school days of the internet, when it was mostly professional and academic users the two fold guideline worked well 1) don't be annoying, you jerk! 2) don't be easily annoyed you, knob! In 2026, that seems to attract the worst sort of interaction. I now prefer a firm hand from a moderator.

Speaking of which, what is the meta-governance of new-mars.org? tahanson is God-King? Majority of the founders? Rock-paper-scissors based decision making?
Financial Velociraptor - The Lizard King
-=Devour your prey raptors=-
tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by tahanson43206 »

For SpaceNut ....

I found out who owns newmars.org

The reason for someone buying that name is fairly easy to see...

New
Mexico
Art
Rock
Society

Nice!

Well! That means Mars Society is NOT paying for that Domain name.

*** Something that would be helpful would be if we could persuade DreamHost to change that banner to point visitors to this site.

You might be able to request something like that. It wouldn't cost anything but a few minutes of a technician's time, and it might enable a few of our members to find us while we wait for something more.

Right now the message is "newmars.com is almost here!" (it could also say >> "Visit new-mars.org/phpBB3/ while you wait"

(th)
tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by tahanson43206 »

For SpaceNut ....

Via email, FOQ1 has inquired about our ** official ** relationship to the Mars Society.

There is NO official relationship, aside from the fact the three active Admins are all Mars Society members.

This site was set up as a test site when we were considering phpBB3 for the "official" site.

It has been pressed into service as a backup for the "official" site.

I suspect that the Domain Names newmars.com and newmars.org have been edited at the registry to NOT point anywhere.

I have a domain name that is not in service. I just tried it and Chrome gave me a sad face symbol instead of a 404 error.

If you have a minute and would be willing to ask CoPilot, I wonder if we can learn anything from the difference.

OH! I see what you are talking about !!! I see the 404 is gone and now we have the DreamHost message.

Interesting !!! OK... I'll try the forums directory...

Ah ha1 Now I get the 404.

So! newmars.com ** does ** point to an active receptor point in the DreamHost structure, but it goes no further than display of the information message.

Interesting!

(th)
tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by tahanson43206 »

for SpaceNut re investigation of CoPilot mistakes and imaginary reports...

Thank you for your follow up and for your report of the registration information for NewMars.com.

That renewal date of July of this year is telling! That date is when Mars Society must spend membership dues to retain the site.

Please check NewMars.org as well. In my attempt to recover access, I learned that someone has this site as well. If the Mars Society is paying for that site, then the renewal date might be the same.

***
Regarding the imaginary report produced by CoPilot ... this is normal and perfectly understandable, but important for us humans to note. I suspect that CoPilot did NOT have access to the directory tree at DreamHost! The DreamHost structure is Linux, so the directory tree should NOT be available for viewing by CoPilot or anyone else. Please pursue this with CoPilot. Please ask it to tell you how it accessed the directory tree where it thought it found NewMars.com software. It is normal for AI systems to hallucinate, and it is up to us humans to recognize the symptoms and chase the AI systems until they correct themselves. I have found that both ChatGPT and Gemini are good about recognizing an error and correcting it when it is brought to their attention.
***
However, there ** is ** a possibility that DreamHost has a security exposure that allows the outside world to see the directory structure. That would be good to know, so please ask CoPilot to investigate. I wonder if such an exposure allowed the hackers to reach the NewMars.com WordPress software. I'll bet that any such exposure was corrected when NewMars.com was taken offline.
***
And! Thanks for showing the query! That really helps your readers to understand the results you've published.
***
Finally, thanks for your greetings to Friend Of Quark! We've been working on Internet projects since 2011. He is currently actively supporting a chapter of the National Space Society, and I am hoping he will support our attempts to rebuild NewMars!
***
(th)
SpaceNut
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:07 am

Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by SpaceNut »

The "Russian casino" message is a classic indicator that your site has been compromised by a malware injection. Hackers often target WordPress sites to redirect traffic to gambling or scam pages, often referred to as "pharmacy hacks" or "casino redirects"

Because you lack access to WordPress and DreamHost, the "health" of NewMars.com is currently critical. You are effectively seeing a "parked" page because the domain is likely pointing away from your actual content or the hosting account itself has been suspended/altered

Its in Mars Societies hands to find payment and other issues to fix things

Immediate Recovery Steps (No Access)Since you are locked out of both the site and the host, you must escalate this as a security emergency:Contact DreamHost Abuse: Use the DreamHost Fraud and Abuse reporting system. State clearly that newmars.com is showing Russian gambling redirects and you have lost account access.Proof of Ownership: Prepare any documentation of your original signup or the last payment method used. DreamHost will require this to verify you are the rightful owner before resetting your access.External Malware Scanning: Use a free remote scanner like the Sucuri SiteCheck to confirm if the malware is still active and where it is hiding. This doesn't require login access and will provide a report you can send to DreamHost support.What Likely HappenedOutdated Software: Hackers often exploit old versions of WordPress, plugins, or themes to gain "backdoor" access.Stolen Credentials: If your FTP or shell passwords were weak or reused, they may have been harvested in a breach.Subdirectory Infection: Since your forum is on an Apache server "where the forum rides," the hackers may have found a vulnerability in that separate server and used it to hop over to your WordPress files.Next Steps for RestorationOnce you regain DreamHost access:Request Hacked Site Repair: DreamHost offers a professional cleanup service that removes the malicious code for you.Reset Everything: You must change all FTP, database, and admin passwords immediately.Update the Forum: Ensure the software running your forum on the Apache server is also fully patched, as it may be the original entry point.
SpaceNut
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:07 am

Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by SpaceNut »

I went to google AI and quote"how is the health of https://www.NewMars.com " The New Mars Forums (newmars.com) remain active and functional as of April 2026, serving as a legacy platform for discussions on Mars exploration, including SpaceX developments and life support systems. While maintaining an early 2000s interface, the site continues to host active user registration and in-depth technical debates. For a direct look at the active discussions, visit New Mars Forums.

quote"here is the message newmars.com is almost here!
Upload your website to get started.from DreamHost"

The "almost here! Upload your website" message indicates that NewMars.com is currently a parked domain with no active content uploaded, according to DreamHost. While this is a standard placeholder, the domain has historically hosted the New Mars Forums, suggesting the current empty state may be temporary. To manage the site or upload content, users must log in to their DreamHost panel, as described in the DreamHost documentation.

https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/art ... ng-started

which is the ready to load the front page articles and a bit more with the forum link that enables the fluxbb apache to work

https://www.whois.com/whois/newmars.com

Domain Information
Domain:
newmars.com
Registered On:
1998-07-23
Expires On:
2026-07-22
Updated On:
2025-06-22
Status:
client transfer prohibited
Name Servers:
ns1.dreamhost.com
ns2.dreamhost.com
ns3.dreamhost.com
Registrar Information
Registrar:
NameCheap, Inc.
IANA ID:
1068
Email:
[email protected]
Abuse Email:
[email protected]
Abuse Phone:
+1.6613102107
Registrant Contact
Organization:
Privacy service provided by Withheld for Privacy ehf
Street:
Kalkofnsvegur 2
City:
Reykjavik
State:
Capital Region
Postal Code:
101
Country:
IS
Phone:
+354.4212434
Email:
[email protected]
Technical Contact
Organization:
Privacy service provided by Withheld for Privacy ehf
Street:
Kalkofnsvegur 2
City:
Reykjavik
State:
Capital Region
Postal Code:
101
Country:
IS
Phone:
+354.4212434
Email:
[email protected]

So the issue is we have to probably renew to clear the hacked data out if we have lost access
tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by tahanson43206 »

Registration is open as of 19:44 New Hampshire time and 18:44 Houston Time!

FOQ1 has arrived safely! Registration is now closed as of 19:49 New Hampshire time and 18:49 Houston time.

(th)
tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping - This forum - performance, etc

Post by tahanson43206 »

For SpaceNut ... I just heard from FriendOfQuark1

He was unaware of the change of venue for newmars ... I invited him to consider new-mars.org.

I remain curious about and interested in all that mystery text about quarantine for newmars.com.

I'm wondering if that was all creative thinking by CoPilot.

It is ** very ** important for you to show the exact query you give to an AI program. Output is almost meaningless without that.

(th)
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