Bye for now

[BlueWolf]

I have not been able to access this site for a while now, which led me to believe the site was down. I tried using several browsers and several different platforms to no avail. Today, on a hunch, I tried accessing the site using a VPN, and I went right through. This means my normal IP address is being blocked for some reason. In any event, this is why I disappeared. I wasn’t able to post my weekly updates or enter the PotY contest. I’m kind of bummed about this, so I think I’ll just take a break. I guess it’s bye for now. Good luck to everyone with your trading, investing and life in general.

[mrmarket]

Richard advised:


Ok, I think I've got this sorted out, at least the cause side of it.

The new server had a set of firewall rules installed that are fairly aggressive in terms of identifying, Specifically, in its checks for SQL Injection exploits, it looks for URLs that include open and close characters like () or {} or single characters like $ that are common in hacking attempts on sites. And, as it turns out, there's a bunch of that in the URLs on the site.

So what's been happening is that people that have hit those URLs several times (5+) got their IP addresses blocked. I don't have a clear way of knowing who was blocked for what, though, so I don't have a clear sense of how to let them back in. Most of the blocked list is IPs from Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East, and my guess is that many were generally blocked for actual hack attempts.

I can free up the US IPs in the meantime.

[jiesen]

I seem to be getting the access issue again, where I can only get to this site if I'm going thru a VPN. Anyone else having this issue?

[BlueWolf]

Yeah. Me too. I still can only access the site through a VPN.

[minni17]

Me too. I am in US (New York State) and only access is vpn

[mrmarket]

I don't even know what VPN is.

[BlueWolf]

I don't even know what VPN is.

VPN stands for a Virtual Private Network. What it does is provide a private, secure internet connection. It’s private because it hides your IP address and secure because it encrypts your data. It’s like a secure call forwarding system for the internet where the VPN acts like a middle man between your computer and the internet. As far as the internet is concerned, any request sent from your computer looks like it was sent from the VPN server, i.e. not directly from your computer and its IP address. Moreover, most VPN servers change the virtual IP address each time you connect to the VPN. This is why IP blocking does not work with VPNs. The VPN is masking your IP address each time you connect so it never actually looks like the request is coming from your computer. VPNs also encrypt the data sent and received between your computer and the VPN server, so no one watching the traffic coming from your computer can see what you’re actually doing. For this reason, VPNs are practically essential when you are on a foreign network, e.g. a public hotspot or guest network.

The only problem with using a VPN is that they can slow down your internet access a bit and there are some apps that don’t work right when a VPN is in use. If it weren’t for that, I would keep my VPN on all the time. That’s why it would be good if we can solve this IP address blocking problem. Some of us simply cannot connect to this website because our IP address is being blocked. When we use a VPN, a random IP address is generated and used to mask our actual IP, which is what allows us to get through.

[mrmarket]

We're looking into it

[Louetta]

I have been blocked as well. I am writing from the farm. The horses still have access. We can't use a VPN.

Hoping they can unlock the IP addresses at some point.

[enhancebeginner]

I think there is a problem with the site. VPN is the only thing working for me.

[mrmarket]

Can someone post a screenshot of what they are seeing when they try to access the website without a VPN? Richard said he would look into it...thx

[jiesen]

Here's a screenshot of what I get, sans VPN...

https://ibb.co/17kQgRd

couldn't upload this, as it kept asking me to resize it, so I'm linking it to an image host.

[BlueWolf]

I tried checking my logs after an http head request, but when my VPN was off there was nothing in the log except an error that said the host cannot be found. So I obtained the IP address of MrMarketIsHuge.com and I tried pinging by IP address. With my VPN on, I got a steady response to my ping. With my VPN off, however, the host never responded to any of my pings. Since ping uses a port-free protocol, it cannot be the web server that is blocking me. Web servers typically use port 80 which is not involved at all in a ping. So whatever this problem is, it is a host or firewall issue rather than a web server issue. I would therefore reach out to your ISP about this problem.

[Louetta]

I probably should add I have been able to log on as I always did, same machine on the same router, same browser, for about 7-10 days. I did at one time give Ernie my IP address.

[mrmarket]

Richard has asked:

What's this person's IP address to make sure this isn't a firewall block?

If anyone is having trouble accessing the site, please send your IP address to me and we'll look into it.