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Skinner - Archives
 The winner of the 14th virtual Golden Ticket is: hedda_foil! There is just one ticket left. hedda_foil will receive a DU T-shirt, and will be entered into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt.  Please kick and recommend this thread so more DUers can see it. The winner of the 10th virtual Golden Ticket is: sagesnow! Could you win the next one?  sagesnow will receive a DU T-shirt, and will be entered into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt. We'll be announcing the Golden Ticket winners shortly after 11am EDT and 11pm EDT every day this week, and the grand prize winner will be announced on Monday May 23rd. So don't delay, donate today! Please kick and recommend this thread so more DUers can see it. "The same kind as before, please." "Why not?" the fat shopkeeper said, reaching behind him again and taking another Whipple-Scrumptious Fudge-mallow Delight from the shelf. He laid it on the counter. Charlie picked it up and tore off the wrapper . . . and suddenly . . . from underneath the wrapper . . . there came a brilliant flash of gold. Charlie's heart stood still.  varelse! Varelse will receive a DU T-shirt, and will be entered into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! We're more than halfway through the contest now and nine lucky DUers already have their virtual Golden Tickets. There are just six tickets left. Could you win the next one? This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt. We'll be announcing the Golden Ticket winners shortly after 11am EDT and 11pm EDT every day this week, and the grand prize winner will be announced on Monday May 23rd. So don't delay, donate today! Please kick and recommend this thread so more DUers can see it. RoadRage! RoadRage will receive a DU T-shirt, and will be entered into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! Seven lucky DUers already have their virtual Goldent Tickets. Could you be next?  This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt. We'll be announcing the Golden Ticket winners shortly after 11am EDT and 11pm EDT every day this week, and the grand prize winner will be announced on Monday May 23rd. So don't delay, donate today! Please kick and recommend this thread so more DUers can see it. You may have heard that the DU Administrators are working on a complete redesign of our discussion forum software. This week we are having a brief public preview so you all can try out the software and see the future of Democratic Underground. We call it DU3, because it will be the third version of our website. The preview website is here:
http://www.du3preview.com As part of the redesign, one of our primary goals is to make the smaller forums and groups more active, easier to find, and easier to use. To help achieve this goal, we want to clear out some the "dead wood" -- unused and under-used groups that clutter up the site and make it harder to find the more active groups. We need your help to figure out which groups to save, and which groups to delete. There are 142 groups listed (by category) under Topics: http://www.du3preview.com/?com=forum&id=10... There are another 56 groups listed (by category) under Places: http://www.du3preview.com/?com=forum&id=12... You can list all of them on one page by viewing the "Forums & Groups" tab in "Show All" mode: http://www.du3preview.com/?com=forums&mode... Here's what we need you to do. If you are an active DU member who registered before January 19, 2011, then you can log in to DU3. We need you to go to DU3, log in using your DU username, and then subscribe to all your favorite groups. (Note: DU2 "small forums" are now designated as groups on DU3, so you can subscribe to those, too.) Just find each group you like, and then click the orange button on that page which says "Subscribe to this group." It looks like this:  You can also help by posting in your favorite groups on DU3. And if you like, you can post announcements in your favorite groups here on DU2 to encourage people to subscribe over on DU3. You can check the number of subscribers in any group by visiting that group's "About this Group" page. Just visit any group and click the button that says "About this Group," then look for the words "Number of subscribers". Thank you for your help. David Allen DU Admin  True Earthling will receive a DU T-shirt, and will be entered into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt. We'll be announcing the Golden Ticket winners shortly after 11am EDT and 11pm EDT every day this week, and the grand prize winner will be announced on Monday May 23rd. So don't delay, donate today! Please kick and recommend this thread so more DUers can see it. ornotna! Ornotna will receive a DU T-shirt, and will be entered into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt. We'll be announcing the Golden Ticket winners shortly after 11am EDT and 11pm EDT every day this week, and the grand prize winner will be announced on Monday May 23rd. So don't delay, donate today! Please kick and recommend this thread so more DUers can see it. Everyone who donated to Democratic Underground between 11am ET this morning and 11pm ET tonight, was automatically entered in the contest. So were DU subscribers. Did you enter? Because one of the people who did just picked up a Golden Ticket and the chance to win our Grand Prize. And that person is... (drumroll please)
Mira will receive a DU T-shirt, and a virtual Golden Ticket into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! Congratulations! NEXT DRAWING IN 12 HOURS: Wednesday, 11am ET (8am PT)! If you enter one of the fifteen Golden Ticket contests, you are not automatically entered in later contests. Monthly subscribers will be automatically entered in all fifteen Golden Ticket contests. No purchase or donation necessary. Contest void where prohibited by law. Click here for contest rules. This contest has not been approved or endorsed by Apple Inc. Many of you are aware that the DU administrators have been working on a complete overhaul of the DU software, which we call "DU3". We have been working hard for the last few months, and we are excited to open it up again for another preview. You can preview the software (AND POST!) at our special preview website:
http://www.du3preview.com WHAT'S NEW ON DU3? For a complete explanation of how DU3 improves upon DU2, read this thread: http://www.du3preview.com/10136 If you have already seen an earlier preview of DU3, here is a post listing the upgrades since our last preview in February: http://www.du3preview.com/1013143 * The "My Subscriptions" function is done. You can subscribe to any Group, have it appear in your left-hand navigation, and easily follow it on your "My Subscriptions" page. And if you like what you see (or even if you don't), please take a moment to Donate to DU.  Please kick and rec this thread so more people can see it. Skinner DU Admin  Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel will receive a DU T-shirt, and a virtual Golden Ticket into the grand prize drawing -- a chance to win a 64GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G! This week is our 2nd Quarter Fund Drive, which means it's time for our third annual Grand Giveaway. During this fund drive we will hold a random drawing every 12 hours and the winner of each drawing will receive a virtual "Golden Ticket". If you donate at any time during the fund drive, you will be automatically entered into the next drawing. At the end of the week the Golden Ticket winners will be entered into another drawing to determine which of them will win the 64 GB iPad 2 with WiFi+3G. All Golden Ticket winners will also receive a Democratic Underground T-shirt. We'll be announcing the Golden Ticket winners shortly after 11am EDT and 11pm EDT every day this week, and the grand prize winner will be announced on Monday May 23rd. So don't delay, donate today! Only 14 tickets left!  If you enter one of the fifteen Golden Ticket contests, you are not automatically entered in later contests. Monthly subscribers will be automatically entered in all fifteen Golden Ticket contests. No purchase or donation necessary. Contest void where prohibited by law. Click here for contest rules. This contest has not been approved or endorsed by Apple Inc. Whenever you type a domain name for a web site into your web browser, you computer needs to figure out where that website is. So it sends a request to something called a DNS server, which says something like this: "I'm looking for www.democraticunderground.com, could you please tell me where it is?" And then the DNS server tells your computer where to find the site. There are many, many DNS servers in the world that handle these requests.
For 10 years, we haven't had a problem. Your computer asks for democraticunderground.com, and some DNS server somewhere would point you to the correct place. Until yesterday, when some of the DNS servers stopped pointing to the correct place. Here's why. On January 20 of this year, I received an email from our domain registrar, indicating that they had received a complaint about our "WHOIS" information being incorrect. In other words, someone complained that the public contact information related to the democraticunderground.com domain name was wrong. I do not know who made the request, or why. I suppose it is possible that it came from a concerned citizen, but I think it is more likely that it was a bored person who sent the complaint on a lark to see if they might cause us some problems. Which they did. I immediately logged in to our domain registrar and updated our contact info. Some of you may be aware that Democratic Underground changed our PO Box last year, and that had not been updated on our domain name contact info. I changed the PO Box number and the Zip Code and clicked submit. Received my confirmation email about the successful update of my contact info. Domain registrar has a record of the fact that I updated our info. Problem solved. Except the problem wasn't solved. What I did not realize -- and what my domain registrar did not tell me -- is that the complaint was about the Democratic Underground PHONE NUMBER, not the PO Box. And, indeed, the phone number on our WHOIS information is wrong: 555-555-5555. That is the phone number that has appeared on our account for ten years, because I don't want some right-wing nut-job crank-calling me with death threats in the middle of the night. Put another way: This was the insidious computer glitch commonly referred to as "human error." I get an email about out-of-date contact info. I remember that my PO Box recently changed. I log in and change PO Box. I completely ignore the incorrect phone number. I did not receive any more correspondence from my domain registrar until yesterday morning around 11:00 am, when I got an email with the ominous title "Name Server Update Confirmation ID", which stated that my name server had been changed. I had not requested the Name Server Update. So I immediately go to the domain registrar's website and try to log in, but get a message indicating that an Admin has blocked me out. My first thought is "Holy S***. Someone's ripped off our password, logged in to our account, gave themselves admin privileges, changed the name server, and then blocked us out." I immediately get on the telephone and call the domain registrar. While I'm on hold -- for 25 minutes! -- I am frantically changing all the passwords on all my accounts on every website I can think of. Finally get through to a human being, start explaining my problem, and then AT&T drops my call. Call back, wait another 25 minutes, finally talk to a human being, who explains that my phone number is wrong. Which is why they changed our DNS. No "last chance" email. No "I see you changed your info but missed one thing." They just shut it off. I changed the phone number, and updated our DNS info. But the damage was done.  Even thought we had updated our DNS info, it takes a long time for the updates to spread (or "propagate") to all the DNS servers throughout the Internet. In fact, well after the time I corrected the DNS info, some DNS servers had not yet received the earlier INCORRECT DNS information that was working its way around -- let alone the correction which was way behind and (even now) still hasn't made it to some of the darker corners of the Internet. They say it sometimes takes as long as 72 hours for DNS information to propagate throughout the Internet.  If you are still experiencing problems, you can get around by setting your computer to use a public DNS server. Some instructions are available here. Google has not been working for me, but OpenDNS has: 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220 If anyone else has any tips, feel free to post them in this thread. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I apologize for the screw-up. David Allen DU Administrator SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE: We made the goal. THANK YOU!
  , everybody!You are probably already aware that this is the last day of our first quarter 2011 fund drive. To our monthly subscribers, and to everyone who has already donated this fund drive:  !  ! But we still have a way to go to reach our goal.  s haven't let us down yet, and I don't think you're going let us down this time either. As I write this, we have less than 150 to go to reach our goal, and half a day left to make it. We can  ! Democratic Underground is the largest independent discussion forum on the Internet. We depend on the generosity of our members to help keep our site online. It only takes a minute. Just click this link to give: And when you donate, you get some cool  s to give to your fellow DUers.Please  this thread so more people can see it.Thank you so much for your help!   David Allen DU Administrator (  ) |
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