TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs!

[Anouk]

Heh, and there I thought this was being done to show up in the search engines. Shape and size and color and hardware and shape and shape for the enjoyment of TSR monitoring this? They seem to be attracted to that type of stuff.

[Paleoanth]

Honestly, I thought that was the reason too.  I just couldn't resist tweaking Angelica's nose a bit.   

[kenmtl]

I thought the bolding was because we weren't allowed to use blinkies.  Cause I can haz.

[Eskimo Pie]

 if someone wants blinkies I am sure Pegy has a few extra we can get from her

[calalily]

Somewhat back to the orginal topic.  I recently got an email from TSR begging me to renew my longtime defunct subscription (They even offered 30% off...oooooh .)  Anyways, this part of the email caught my attention given the current issue:

Obviously, I've edited out my info.  But it did list my old password.   Hopefully someone more tech minded I can interpet this, but does this mean that my password was not encrypted?  Or is there a way for them to decrypt my password and send it back to me?

I did a bit of looking around about this.  That does seem to mean that's what's going on - your password isn't encrypted - which means that surely TSR can go into the database and find anything - all of the people with access to the database can do this. So how likely is it that they were hacked, then?  Someone hacked them rather than someone just went and had a look - likelihood -

[Axeleefe]

Am I the only one disturbed by the pasting of the Sims 2 logo over the Sims 2 Seasons logo?
 

(btw, Shakeshaft is a theif!)

[Missbonbon]

Missbonbon, I’m not sure I understand what you mean.

So I’d have to prove I didn’t steal anything. Not quite sure how you expect me to do this. “Yes, Officer I discovered that Maxis mesh and texture before XXX did. Only I didn’t release it until one week/one month/one year after XXX, because I was busy going to work and generally living Real Life” ... Huh?

Besides, in real life – and I’m assuming it still counts here – you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Meaning you don’t have to prove your innocence. Somebody else has to prove your guilt – just like Buggybooz did Shakeshaft’s guilt.

Not what I mean at all. Let's say I make a vase, and you made a vase. Let's say they are exact in the way they look, and based off of looks I yell out "thief!" If you come forward with uv maps, and anything else to prove how yours differ, it would prove it was not stolen.

With the whole innocence before proven guilty, yes someone proves your guilty, but you have to prove your innocent. In a court, the opposition doesn't try to prove you innocent, they prove you guilty. Your lawyers are the ones trying to prove your innocent.

And there’s the thing, isn’t it. They didn’t differ *all that much* … meaning that there were differences … meaning that they weren’t copies. Meaning that Spaik didn’t take anyting from Marylou and Numenor's objects, but made her own altered version of the Maxis meshes.

Spaik may not be a thief, but she hasn't come forward to handle the accusations either. Even if they differ by a tiny bit, if it can be proven she built her meshes off of Numenor's/Maylou's and did not give credit, even if they are only modified maxis meshes, then to me it is stealing. I even said that I read that very few of the windows in her set actually differ from Numenor's and Marylou's. Suggesting that she had similar windows as well. Meaning they could be copies. 

[SnarkyShark]

That does seem to mean that's what's going on - your password isn't encrypted - which means that surely TSR can go into the database and find anything - all of the people with access to the database can do this. So how likely is it that they were hacked, then?   Someone hacked them rather than someone just went and had a look - likelihood-

Doesn't seem very likely at all.

[Nietzsche]

At this point as I see it, Shakeshaft's guilt has been proven beyond a doubt. What needs to be focused on is how we can logically and reasonably respond to TSR and reduce their subscription numbers. Should be easy, with the economy the way it is people aren't going to pay for crappy pixels instead of for groceries. And, if parent's sites about video games were told about what has been happening with PayPal info being shared and passwords being unencrypted many parents may cancel the 12s subscriptions to TSR.

[SeamanStaines]

However, Johan would probably do a DOT and spout some gobbledegook about odd-looking pixels and displaying a shocking lack of knowledge of image compression formats.  

Indeed, just look at my avatar.  It didn't look like that on the page I scraped it off.

It wouldn't bother me if the Coconut 'screenshots' were just cut'n'pasted text.  From what I've seen, Coconut has integrity.  She doesn't post made up shit.  If Johan wants to try to discredit her by saying she faked a screenshot then just stick to the facts and have the person who alledgedly had words put into their mouth come forward and deny it.  I've missed it if this has already happened, all I've seen is futile diversions.

DOT's faked screenshot comparisons look like the kind of posts you see on web developer forums saying "Why doesn't my webpage look the same in browser X and browser Y?"
The answer is that unless the person uses the same OS, browser, browser settings, fonts etc., then there will usually be subtle differences.
DOT can be forgiven for this misunderstanding as it appears she lacks logical thinking, wisdom, and is blinded like some teen groupie of a talentless pop band. (Is she really a 12?).  Johan, who it is rumoured has some technical knowledge, cannot.  Talking about faked pixels instead of faked words does fit well with the current smoke and mirrors campaign.

Faking a screenshot is fucking easy, and involves no clever photoshop pixel manipulation.  Notepad is all someone would need if they wanted to fake something, and it would look more convincing than anything touched up in a graphics editor.  However, you cannot fake the memories of the people that saw the page.  If Johan actually pointed to a screenie that was supposedly faked, then I suspect that more TSR people on the fence would see through a blatant lie.

A 'professional company' pointing to irrelevancies to draw attention away from the accusations of plaigiarism, incompetance and other illegal activities reminds me of the desperate tactics politicians use when they know they are at the end of their career.  So sure, TSR can throw some doubt around about the accuracy of the Coconut Blog if they like.  Without the 'professional company' public apologies, warnings of their database insecurities, and a place where concerned TSR fans can discus the allegations openly on the TSR forums, they will continue to stink.

[calalily]

That does seem to mean that's what's going on - your password isn't encrypted - which means that surely TSR can go into the database and find anything - all of the people with access to the database can do this. So how likely is it that they were hacked, then?   Someone hacked them rather than someone just went and had a look - likelihood-

Doesn't seem very likely at all.

No.  And that means that the entire TSR database is open to Atwat and friends, and they can masquerade as absolutely anyone - no admin permissions needed - not if they can read your password and login as you.  Anyone who has the same password and username elsewhere can just have it annexed by TSR, and they can perform actions in your name all over the web.  That's so fucking comforting, ya?

[uknortherner]

Indeed, just look at my avatar.  It didn't look like that on the page I scraped it off.

It wouldn't bother me if the Coconut 'screenshots' were just cut'n'pasted text.  From what I've seen, Coconut has integrity.  She doesn't post made up shit.  If Johan wants to try to discredit her by saying she faked a screenshot then just stick to the facts and have the person who alledgedly had words put into their mouth come forward and deny it.  I've missed it if this has already happened, all I've seen is futile diversions.

DOT's faked screenshot comparisons look like the kind of posts you see on web developer forums saying "Why doesn't my webpage look the same in browser X and browser Y?"
The answer is that unless the person uses the same OS, browser, browser settings, fonts etc., then there will usually be subtle differences.
DOT can be forgiven for this misunderstanding as it appears she lacks logical thinking, wisdom, and is blinded like some teen groupie of a talentless pop band. (Is she really a 12?).  Johan, who it is rumoured has some technical knowledge, cannot.  Talking about faked pixels instead of faked words does fit well with the current smoke and mirrors campaign.

Yep. For example, the Phorum renders its fonts differently depending on what OS, browser and font aliasing settings you use. For instance, on my WinXP setup, I have all font aliasing turned off where possible (it gives me a headache thanks to MS's general cluelessness on how anti-aliasing is supposed to work), so fonts appear sharp in Firefox (IE crashes so I don't know how it looks on there). On my Eee PC running Xandros linux, again I have aliasing turned off, and Firefox renders this page slightly differently because the default fonts are different, and all the fontsizes are 8pt or 9pt because of the lower screen resolution. Finally, in Ubuntu, I have aliasing turned on (because the people behind Ubuntu actually know what they're doing!) but again, in Firefox the default fonts available are different, so the page looks different. Add to this that every PC (or Mac) user uses whatever screen resolution they see fit, and then you have a situation where no two screenshots will ever be the same.

It's got nothing to do with "fake" screenshots, Photoshop or anything like that, but a lot to do with understanding that every person's PC setup is different, and renders fonts and layouts differently in whatever browser is being used, something that DOT seems incapable of understanding.

Faking a screenshot is fucking easy, and involves no clever photoshop pixel manipulation.  Notepad is all someone would need if they wanted to fake something, and it would look more convincing than anything touched up in a graphics editor.  However, you cannot fake the memories of the people that saw the page.  If Johan actually pointed to a screenie that was supposedly faked, then I suspect that more TSR people on the fence would see through a blatant lie.

True, and even if, for a moment we were to believe that Coconut's screenshots were faked, there's a few minor problems. One, the metadata for the screenshots show them as originating from different hardware. This makes sense because they were capped by different people on different PC configurations. Two, if Coconut was faking every single screenshot she had posted on her blog, then she'd have no time whatsoever to do her day job, and she would need several PCs to make sure it looks like all the screen caps came from different configurations. Plus, it would mean she would have to fake the personalities of the people writing those posts to keep them consistent. Now, unless she's a writer in real life, there is no way she could maintain the same level of stupidity and imagination that goes on in those conversations she had posted unless they came from TSR itself.

A 'professional company' pointing to irrelevancies to draw attention away from the accusations of plaigiarism, incompetance and other illegal activities reminds me of the desperate tactics politicians use when they know they are at the end of their career.  So sure, TSR can throw some doubt around about the accuracy of the Coconut Blog if they like.  Without the 'professional company' public apologies, warnings of their database insecurities, and a place where concerned TSR fans can discus the allegations openly on the TSR forums, they will continue to stink.

+1

[Darqstar]

True, and even if, for a moment we were to believe that Coconut's screenshots were faked, there's a few minor problems. One, the metadata for the screenshots show them as originating from different hardware. This makes sense because they were capped by different people on different PC configurations. Two, if Coconut was faking every single screenshot she had posted on her blog, then she'd have no time whatsoever to do her day job, and she would need several PCs to make sure it looks like all the screen caps came from different configurations. Plus, it would mean she would have to fake the personalities of the people writing those posts to keep them consistent. Now, unless she's a writer in real life, there is no way she could maintain the same level of stupidity and imagination that goes on in those conversations she had posted unless they came from TSR itself.

Really?  Where can this metadata be found, I'm curious.   Unfortunately, my limited knowledge of computers has made it hard for me to explain to anyone what's going on, without saying, "Well, you just have to understand..."  So, any hard information I can find out and understand is really helpful to me. 

[catbyte]

True, and even if, for a moment we were to believe that Coconut's screenshots were faked, there's a few minor problems. One, the metadata for the screenshots show them as originating from different hardware. This makes sense because they were capped by different people on different PC configurations. Two, if Coconut was faking every single screenshot she had posted on her blog, then she'd have no time whatsoever to do her day job, and she would need several PCs to make sure it looks like all the screen caps came from different configurations. Plus, it would mean she would have to fake the personalities of the people writing those posts to keep them consistent. Now, unless she's a writer in real life, there is no way she could maintain the same level of stupidity and imagination that goes on in those conversations she had posted unless they came from TSR itself

Not only that, I know one of the subscribers they were trashing in the screencaps and spoke to her about it. Kinda hard to fake actual people with unusual domains/email.

[ValancySterling]

I did a bit of looking around about this.  That does seem to mean that's what's going on - your password isn't encrypted - which means that surely TSR can go into the database and find anything - all of the people with access to the database can do this. So how likely is it that they were hacked, then?  Someone hacked them rather than someone just went and had a look - likelihood -

Thank you.  Luckily, its not a password I use anymore, but it is important to get the word out to community about this possible security breach.  Too bad there is no reliable way to inform the TSR sheeple.