The "blog" was never a problem, and I didn't change anything. Taking it offline for a short period of time, and then bringing it back up, was about all I did.
Today, the Bismarck Tribune posted a short note suggesting a very similar experience; click here for the story.
The timing is such that the dots may connect. It's very possible that anti-viral programs are so good these days that when they search a site, they also check the linked articles. I link to the Bismarck Tribune not less than five times a week in an average week. It is very possible that the anti-viral links were picking up something at the linked articles.
I don't know. The issue with my blog and the issue with the Bismarck Tribune could be entirely unrelated but the timing is such it's very, very coincidental, if not related.
A bit "thank you" to Don for alerting me to the story, and a big "thank you" for the Bismarck Tribune to post the story.
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And here I thought you were spending the time removing the posts where you blame Obama for the high gas prices so you wouldn't have to give him praise for the low gas prices.
ReplyDeleteJust glad you're back in business. I need my Million Dollar Way.
ReplyDeleteThank you. If nothing else, the problems with the blog really energized me again. I was starting to "drag" a bit. It's interesting: it's counter-intuitive, but the recent downturn in price of oil has gotten me more energized about the Bakken. Remember, I don't own any minerals, so the short term effect of lower oil prices does not affect me in the same manner, to the same extent as it would if I were a mineral owner.
DeleteGlad to see the Million Dollar Way is back and working as smooth as it always did. The cyber gremlins can't keep a good blogger like you down.
ReplyDeleteAre you planning to visit Williston this summer? Always enjoyed your on the scene reports last year. The way things are changing so fast you may not recognize it if you stay away too long.
My summer is so full right now, I'm not sure how I could pull that off, but it's possible. If I do, it will be later in the summer, perhaps after school starts in September. Although it's gotten very expensive, maybe another Amtrak from San Antonio to Los Angeles, to Portland (Oregon) to Williston, to Boston, with lengthy stops along the way. We'll see.
DeleteI am once again energized with the blog. Periodically I get "tired" but right now, excited as ever.
I hadn't heard from you in quite awhile (several days) so I was happy to see your note.....
I was so bummed I removed the quick link app on my android phone and now I want it back! I need my milliondollarway !!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how things work out. Since that has happened, I have become more energized with regard to the Bakken (although that will last for a short period of time). Some pretty good stories about the Bakken were posted this past week.
DeleteI and many others don't think the shut down of your site had anything to do with an anti virus program in any way. In fact we are sure of it seeing that several of us are employed in the computer arena. When many of the people that I know tried to access your site, they were asked to create a Google account and upon doing so they were told that an invitation was needed. An anti virus program does not do this. At this point there is much suspicion of who is the culprit for this denial of service and they continue to hide in the wings.
ReplyDeleteThis was very disappointing. The reason for this is disturbing to be sure.
I can't remember if I posted the story on the blog, but this was the sequence of events.
Delete1) I believe it was on a Friday about 8 days ago now, two trusted readers alerted me to the issue.
2) Based on their notes (which came to me by e-mail), so they had no idea what the other was writing, it suggested the problem was with Symantec Norton. (It may not have been a problem; Norton may have noted a virus to sites at which I link. I don't know. But the information from the Bismarck Tribune was too coincidental. The timeline fit perfectly.)
3) I contacted Symantec Norton. I did not expect an answer but within 12 hours, the problem was resolved. In fact, it might have been faster than that. I was very impressed with Symantec. (It turns out that others had a similar problem, based on a Google search at the time, including Facebook.)
4) However, I was quite shook up about it (for several reasons). About 12 hours later I took my blog off-line, and then set the settings that only those who I invited could access it. It had nothing to do with a virus program. I took positive action to limit access only to those who sent me a note requesting access.
5) The number of folks requesting access exceeded the number I am allowed by the Google/Blogger application.
6) There were certain folks who I know read my site and had not requested to have access. These folks were very important to me, providing me important data about the oil patch, and thus I had no choice but to open the site back up.
7) After spending most of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, jumping through all these hoops, I opened the blog back up to all. It was a very ill-spent weekend, but I learned a lot in the process. In a way I'm glad it happened.
8) You are correct: if you tried to access my site over that weekend, going into Monday, you got the message (which I thought was a bit harsh): "you are not invited, yada, yada, yada." (That was the standard Google/Blogger message for sites with limited access.)
9) You are correct: an anti-viral program generally doesn't do that. Like you, I thought nefarious things were going on specific to my site; I over-reacted; but recovered, and everything is back to normal.
10) During that weekend, I did make a couple of changes regarding editorial content which I think will make a lot of folks happy. There may be one more change regarding editorial content, but I am still debating that.
11) Anyway, that's the whole story.
Glad your back in business. Totally addicted to your site. Happy late Father's Day.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Yes, as noted above, I was energized after that miserable weekend. In a few minutes I will be posting an update on the Hess activity in Tioga; I find it quite staggering.
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