Camera Talk

The site is down, don't know for how long, or if it will ever come back. I noticed a couple of nights ago it was acting kind of wonky, so I called QWK.net the next day to see what the problem was. At first I always get the same reply, that there is nothing wrong, and they can see the photo on the opening page. I've come to the conclusion that there is another site called NelsonPhoto on their servers, and that's the one they always bring up first. So after telling them it's supposed to be a forum page, and that the spelling is Foto, they finally find the right site. They still said it was working right, but on my end it was still taking forever to open, like one or two minutes. They assured me everything was okay, and maybe it was my provider causing the problem.

A little while after that conversation ended, they called back with the news that there was someone from the Dominican Republic trying to break into the site, and they had been trying for some time. They suggested a couple of things I could try to avoid that happening, and I reminded them I was not the owner of the site, that Craig had passed away, and I was only paying the bills to keep it going. It was the owner of the web service that I was talking to, and he said he'd try something to fix the problem, but it doesn't look good to me that the site has been down so long.

If they cannot resolve the site security issues, I'm afraid I'll have to ask that they close it down. We don't need spammers and con artists getting hold of the database, and this is the time of year that the domain registration comes due (which I have already paid). I could buy the domain, but would not get the database along with it.

No one has posted on the site since a reply on March 27, which I suppose is what made it a target for the break-in attempt. The spammers look for unattended sites that no one would be doing maintenance on, and won't see their shenanigans. I used to monitor a couple of blogs that were constantly being used by criminal types to send their messages to other criminal types. They would even hide their work by back-dating their posts, thinking I wouldn't notice the count going up. At least Craig had turned off automatic registration before he passed away, so we have not had to deal with this problem until now. You've all seen what a pain they can be when they masquerade as a member, copying others responses to sound like they are talking about the subject at hand, while supplying a convenient link to whatever site they want you to visit so they can take all your money and personal information.

So, July 25, 2016 may be the end of NelsonFotodotcom. I hate to see it go, but in reality, it's not getting used, and anyone who could have joined here from there has done so. If you try to get to the site, and it happens to open, I would highly recommend you do not log on or post anything until I can give the all clear.

PF

Thanks for the trouble, PF. As things stand, I believe that closing the site down may be the best option. Better to die with honor than become a spam source or worse.

Thanks for keeping it alive as long as you have, Phil. I have been checking in most days and had noticed it not working the past few days. It certainly would be good to have the database remain available, but clearly that may not be possible.

Philip

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RIP Nelsonfoto

It's a shame that we can get our hands on that database.

Thank you, Phil, for your time, expense and dedication to the NelsonFoto family. I agree that it may be best to allow the site to go to rest now. Pity about the database. Is there really no way that it can be rescued? BTW, there is another "NelsonPhoto" site which belongs to a photographer who posts some pretty risque' glamour stuff. I was never able to access NelsonFoto.com from my office because of this as the site was restricted.

GrahamS wrote:Thank you, Phil, for your time, expense and dedication to the NelsonFoto family. I agree that it may be best to allow the site to go to rest now. Pity about the database. Is there really no way that it can be rescued? BTW, there is another "NelsonPhoto" site which belongs to a photographer who posts some pretty risque' glamour stuff. I was never able to access NelsonFoto.com from my office because of this as the site was restricted.

I wish there was a way, Graham, but without the express permission of the executor of Craig's estate, that isn't going to happen.

I've tried the site for a couple of days now, and though it comes up a bit quicker, it still takes a while to log-on, and then I got a 503 error when I went to log-out. So whatever "fix" QWK.net did to the sight, either it didn't work, or there is still an attack going on. I'm going to call them tomorrow and tell them they can shut it down at the end of the registration period, 7-25-16. If we can't do proper maintenance on the site, it will be no good to anyone in a short while anyway. That's progress.

There are actually two nelsonphoto sites, one belonging to the photographer Robert Nelson (which is the one QWK.net always finds first, and that you referenced), and a photography supply store in San Diego, CA.

PF

It is working this evening, Saturday 23/7/16.

Philip

And, still this morning, Sunday, it is working.

Oops. Sorry, Phil, I did not read carefully your injunction against posting anything over there. In my enthusiasm for seeing it open, I did. [I don't know how to make one of those blushing, embarrassed-face smileys, but one seems appropriate right now.]

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