Housekeeping

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-16 06:33:58

For SpaceNut ... this post is about the preparation for the next set of ID Recovery Update runs.

The Candidates Script did not complete the full 2084 steps I'd set it to accomplish, but it did pass through 1000 on the way, so we will have 10 (Earth) days worth of input to the update Script. I'll start Update runs this evening. Meanwhile, I'll find out what happened to the Candidates run and start another attempt to reach the end of the current list of verified Usernames.

Update at 9:00 local time ...

The Candidates run completed loop 1340 before giving up.

I'm pretty sure this is a new record for WBA in continuous operation: 13 hours 46 minutes.

Number of ID's processed: 1340
Starting Number: 1
Last Number of Run: 2037
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-16-2021 at 08:58:37
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:00:37
Total time of Processing: 13:46:25
Total time Program was Active: 19:20:01
Early end of run requested.
Test Mode: Dump Arrays to Log

Of the 1340 Candidates reviewed, 1135 have Zero Posts.

Because we only have 697 Usernames left to review, I'll start the Candidates script now.

It should run for just over 7 hours ... starting at 9:18 local time >> ETA 5 PM local time

Update at 11:41 local time ... the Candidates script halted again, after collecting 97 more fully vetted user names.

I'm sure the WBA program can be improved to deal with the rare excursions from "normal" that cause halts.

I suspect the mouse position algorithm is where attention could profitably be focused. The failures I've seen recently have all looked like mouse pointing errors. This is a case of 80:20 .... The work already done is yielding reasonably accurate and reliable results. I'm not sure that time invested in improving reliability of mouse pointing is the best investment of a limited resource. My higher priority right now is getting Virtual Ports working, so WBA can be freed from the physical hardware it needs to perform even the simplest task.

Other improvements to the system would include:

1) Improving the Mouse Position Trainer to generate a fully vetted script. This would be comparable to generating CAD commands by guiding a machine.

2) Improving the Post Run processing ... there are several post run steps needed to pull qualifying candidates from the runtime output.

Fortunately, our spammer friends have invested ** their ** precious time in creating a harvest of User ID's which will keep us busy for many days to come.

For SpaceNut .... FluxBB is back up if you want to investigate the problem GW Johnson discovered.

Update at 17:24 - 489 additional qualified usernames can be added to the Updates worklist.

Update at 19:54 ... My plan for the kickoff run of the next series is to go for 9100, from the present odd number of 9059 ...

We have 17 days of daily runs ahead, if we hold to the regular pace.

*** Nice to see the quality of posts and discussions in recent days!

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-16 17:56:12)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-16 19:36:49

Thanks had not checked to see if it was back and operational yet

focus was on clearing the back log of id's removed the ban on 6901 to 7000 and these are now in the user list.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-16 20:31:00

For SpaceNut re #1277

Thanks for taking on that group through 7000! Nice to see a big round number like that ...

The short run to 9100 just ended. It should be smooth sailing for the next 17 days .... We'll run through the present batch by the 4th of July.

I note that every spammer you take out of circulation is one more vulnerability plugged, as well as one more opportunity to bring a "real person" into the mix.

Completed Sequence for ID: 9100
Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1723
Number of ID's processed: 41
Starting Number: 9060
Last Number of Run: 9100
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-16-2021 at 23:13:13
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:39
10 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 01:09:03
Total time Program was Active: 01:56:48

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-16 21:17:14)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-17 06:34:24

This post is reserved for the ID Recovery run from 9101 through 9200, scheduled for 22:00 local time.

(th)

NewMarsMember · 2021-06-17 06:59:05

GW Johnson sent a post for delivery to the forum.

FluxBB.org's forum contained the following advisory:

Hello,
If you are using Firefox, in the adress bar type : "about:config" (Without quotes) then Return
In filter bar type : referer
Then see if the value for network.http.sendRefererHeader is 2
This value is sometimes surreptitiously changed by an extension or application.
Last edited by Otomatic (2011-03-29 14:30:41)

I tried about:config on an older Chrome browser and got an error I interpret as due to the age of the browser.

I'd be interested in any reports that forum members might have time to contribute.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-17 07:09:04

As a follow up to Post 1280 ... the advisory suggests Firefox, so I tried it on Firefox ...

The Firefox browser warned not to make changes to the contents of the configuration, but allowed me to look at it

I entered referer in the search bar and got:
network.http.sendRefererHeader status: default Type integer Value 2

Chrome/Chromium/Edge may have similar configuration capability.

I'd definitely be interested in any reports that might come in from forum members.

Update at 19:22 ... Volunteer Day tomorrow so starting run from 9101 early.

The run from 9101 to 9200 was uneventful.

Completed Sequence for ID: 9200
Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1682
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9101
Last Number of Run: 9200
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-17-2021 at 21:53:27
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
21 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:25:28
Total time Program was Active: 02:28:55

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-18 04:26:38)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-17 18:48:34

The browser config is usually left alone as most people have no clue as to what they are changing...
On the old xp machine it was java scripts specifically written with chrome that caused beaconing issues or never ending loops of which I would disable the run script function so as to stop it from thrashing the hard drive...

I have all of the browsers on the windows 10 machine so I can give it a try while still connected

SpaceNut · 2021-06-17 18:58:38

this post being made with firefox after setting changed to zero with a fresh login and remember

edit just made another post and then checked the bit and it was not save or still set....

edit 2 just did the change and was still able to save a valid post with firefox….

This edit is done with internet explorer
did unban of 7001 through 7100 and they are now in the user list...

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-18 04:30:49

For SpaceNut re #1282 and #1283

You're bolder than I am << grin >>. I was content to just ** look ** at the setting! If I understand your posts correctly, you changed the 2 to 0 and ? were NOT seeing the bad referrer message?

The ** best ** information we could obtain would be from the failing laptop, but it is unlikely we will ever learn exactly what happened. Cleaning procedures have been initiated to remove any malware that may have infested the machine.

***
Tonight's run should be back on schedule at 22:00 local time.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-18 08:28:47

posting the zero for firefox

Ya, brave but since I had other browsers I figured what the hell.
Just confirming a 0 saved value works as the last was a 5 in that for firefox browser

post did not go through
here is what was received

info

Bad HTTP_REFERER. You were referred to this page from an unauthorized source. If the problem persists please make sure that 'Base URL' is correctly set in Admin/Options and that you are visiting the forum by navigating to that URL. More information regarding the referrer check can be found in the FluxBB documentation.

Go back

it did not chance color from blue to red which is something I was looking at happening and numbers higher than a 2 seem to not cause any problems....

SpaceNut · 2021-06-18 08:35:56

post made with firefox after changing "network.http.sendRefererHeader" back to the reset value of a 2

enter about:config in browser address bar
select show all
enter network.http.sendRefererHeader in command bar
use the pencil to change the value and once changed hit the check mark that appears to save the new value

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-18 09:38:21

For SpaceNut re #1286 and investigation of Bad Referrer tip!

You've certainly taken the investigation to a point where we ** might ** be able to help a member in the future if the problem shows up!

SearchTerm:BadReferrer problem see explanation over several previous posts, concluding with #1286.

In the case of GW Johnson, I think we need to wait until he enlists a power computer user to help. The short term solution (I'm hoping for) is for his family to decide if they can afford to replace his failed laptop. There are many reasons why a family might postpone such a decision.

However, it ** is ** possible for malware to be removed from his wife's computer (assuming it is present).

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-18 19:51:29

I have did the unban of 7100 through 7200 this evening and they are now in the user list ready for use.
Now to find a corrupt topic to fix...

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-19 05:46:43

For SpaceNut re #1288 and ID Recovery in general

Nice to see that new number of 7200!

WBA appears to have run smoothly last night ... the new total of candidates for your finishing touches is 9300.

If all goes well we'll see that nice round number of 10,000 a week from now.

***
We have a small number of contributing members these days, but their combined efforts produce rewarding reading on a regular basis.

I am thinking of promising outlooks for:

RobertDyck with Large Ship and other topics
Calliban with many energy related posts
kbd512 with insightful analysis of multiple topics
Oldfart1939 with the 17 person Expedition and other topics
GW Johnson with many (generally aerospace related) posts, and other topics as well

Your attention to each contributor, and frequent return of older contributors to view keeps the flow going

Other observers will be able to add other names whose contributions deserve mention.

I note the many posts by Louis. To my eye, they appear designed to provoke responses from other members, and they have often stimulated some of the very best writing that has appeared on the board.

Void remains on Sabbatical ... His Body of Work includes some of the most creative writing in the NewMars archive.

Mars_B4_Moon recently brought a great number of old topics back to life! That was fun to see!

I note that it takes a significant amount of time and energy to search the archives for older topics that might be of interest, and to ** then ** think of something timely to say about them!

Completed Sequence for ID: 9300
Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1582
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9201
Last Number of Run: 9300
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-19-2021 at 08:20:48
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
12 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:24:50
Total time Program was Active: 09:54:08

Tonight's run to 9400 is scheduled for 22:00 local time, if current plans hold.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-19 17:07:48)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-20 02:35:38

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ...

Completed Sequence for ID: 9400
Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1482
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9301
Last Number of Run: 9400
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-20-2021 at 04:20:13
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
7 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:24:46
Total time Program was Active: 06:05:56

Tonight's dash to 9500 will be scheduled for (near) 22:00 local time.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-20 07:02:03

For SpaceNut ....

WBA seems to be working reliably ... it is only occupied about 2 1/2 hours per day doing Bans table updates.

It could be doing more to help you with your Administrative duties.

It just occurred to me, after posting to Louis about his promising start of thinking about how to implement a ** real ** solar power investment on Mars, that WBA could be used to perform "search and document" duties.

Specifically, I've created S e a r c h T e r m : notations in recent years, and have subsequently lost track of them.

WBA ** could ** be enlisted to search the messages posted after I arrived, to find all occurrences of those little tags, and to organize them into a single post where they could be arranged in alphabetical order to help future readers to more quickly find posts I thought were sufficiently well written to be worthy of remembering.

However, that is just the opening bid ... your duties include repair of older posts ... I'm not sure what needs to be done to fix those which are broken, but I ** am ** sure that WBA can ** find ** posts that have particular kinds of faults.

If you would like to know how many posts contain a string "abcde" then WBA can certainly find them.

Expanding this thought a bit further .... some strings are "active" during delivery of a post for viewing. Those cannot be found by simple display of a post. It is necessary to enter "Edit" mode to find strings of that type. This is (obviously) risky, so I do not offer it for your consideration lightly. However, if we can put into motion a search and document sequence that ** reliably ** looks but does not touch the content, then the output ** should ** be useful in restoring older content.

The result would be a list of posts containing "abcde" that can then be used either as a worksheet for manual updates, or as input to an update run, to apply corrections to the posts that contain "abcde".

Edit#1: It is possible to save the current content of a post in Edit mode. That fact could imply there is a way to provide an archive of the original post for comparison with the revised one, so that the original could be edited manually if the automated output is found to be unsatisfactory for some reason.

You could identify a particular user name from a time period where defects are likely to be present, and I could work up a test to see what might be possible.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-20 07:13:49)

NewMarsMember · 2021-06-20 07:33:20

For SpaceNut and all forum members who might be interested ...

From GW Johnson via email pending replacement of the failed laptop ...

Gary Johnson
Attachments
Sat, Jun 19, 12:27 PM (21 hours ago)
to me
TH:
We don't have Firefox here at home, or Mac-type computers. We have PC's running Windows. I'll end up replacing my laptop. Wife's machine is still impaired with something. Neither of us is competent to fix this. It will have to wait for our son's next visit (he knows how to fix this).
Meanwhile, I saw something in the Starship is Go thread regarding the bureaucratic troubles Spacex has gotten themselves into over licenses and environmental impact statements. Perhaps I could shed some light. See attached Word.docx file. I wrote it after perusing that thread. It might make a good post.
GW

I'll post the Word document in (what i hope will be) the correct topic.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-20 08:11:56

What browser is being used?
What windows OS?
What is target dollars for laptop replacement?
What are the bundled needs to have on the new laptop?
Is there a particular brand of laptop or location to purchase from in mind?

Finally got my homework done for the night cleared 7201 through to 7300 from the banned list and these now fit nicely in the user list for the future.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-21 05:42:59

For SpaceNut re #1293

The list of questions you've provided seems helpful for just about anyone who might be thinking about replacing a computer.

The good news (from my perspective) is that GW Johnson has a son who (he says) is comfortable working with computers. When the family can get together is an open question, so I hope it is sooner rather than later, because (potentially) we might learn more details about the fault that (apparently) persists.

***
Congratulations on bringing the pool of "Ready to Go" User ID's up to 7300! WBA had another flawless run last night, to 9500.

Related to WBA ... I've been pecking away at the Virtual Ports problem in between other activities, and made some progress last night. I've been working on a test program using Visual Studio 2019, which (I discovered) is available for download for free from Microsoft for use on 64 bit machines. The test program was able to send data through one side of a Virtual Port pair and receive it on the other.

That is (of course) precisely what is needed for the transition of WBA from physical serial ports in current use, to the much more inviting Virtual Port method that would allow the program to run on ** any ** machine that supports .Net.

WBA is running on a workhorse XP system right now, and it can run on any machine that supports .Net infrastructure, including Macs, Linux virtual machines, and all the current crop of Microsoft OS (7, 8, 10 and soon 11).

Tonight's scheduled run will advance to 9600, if all goes well.

Completed Sequence for ID: 9500
Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1382
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9401
Last Number of Run: 9500
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-21-2021 at 08:23:44
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
12 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:25:01
Total time Program was Active: 10:13:15

Update at 12:21 local time ... The process of integrating code from a test program to work with Virtual Ports into WBA is proceeding.

I ** think ** adjustments to the GUI are finished. Tomorrow I'll tackle adding functionality to the subroutines and one function needed.

A version of WBA that will run without physical serial connectors is within sight!

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-21 10:23:42)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-21 09:19:19

For SpaceNut ....

From a conversation with Mars_B4_Moon ...

This forum software lacks a simple way to indicate appreciation for contributions, and a post has the disadvantage of taking the author's place in the Active list.
I'll ask SpaceNut about the possibility of setting up a ThumbsUp Topic in Chat ... If we had such a thing, members could "vote" for posts without intruding on the flow of the topic.

What do you think ? Would anyone use a topic like that, if we had one?

There's no need for a ThumbsDown ...

If you can't say anything nice or helpful, don't say anything at all

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-21 18:19:43

For SpaceNut re note in the SpaceX topic ...

It also means a higher fresh water need to keep crops from drying out unless we employ shade creating systems....
Working on a Thumbs up topic structure....

Thanks for thinking about a Thumbs Up topic! It was good to see OF1939's support of the concept.

***
I'll toss this next item into Housekeeping because there might be a forum reader who would find it useful ...

I'm a member of four tech groups that meet monthly.

When the virus arrived everyone went online ...

Two used Zoom, one uses Gather.Town, and the fourth uses Twitch.

All methods work well for the groups. Twitch in particular is idea for a presentation style meeting, with a host and a guest speaker, and as many attendees as happen to log in. I've seen 30 as a typical number, and over 40 on occasion.

Gather.town is a remarkable environment for meetings ... it is designed for large groups, including small spaces for conversations, and a large presentation space for hundreds to assemble for a presentation.

Zoom is familiar to many forum readers ... it seems well suited for a modest sized group whose icons/images are available to enlarge if desired, while the main presentation is given the full screen when appropriate.

What I'm here to report is witness of a hybrid meeting using Zoom.

The meeting location had five attendees, and the remote audience was four with a brief period of five.

The host ran the Zoom session from the physical meeting space. He set up multiple web cams, and Zoom allowed him to select the view to share with the remote audience as appropriate. He allocated one web came for viewing of objects (machines, etc) up close at the onsite facility.

He also brought an LED illumination bar that was helpful for illuminating the objects to be viewed.

I thought the meeting went smoothly.

My only caveat is that the meeting space has an overhead projector, which is designed for a darkened meeting room for presentation.

However, it was thought helpful to keep the lights up so the remote attendees could see the local audience.

If funds were available, a gigantic LED screen would be a better display for the situation, but given the available hardware, I thought the meeting went well.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-21 18:32:39

The current list of emoticons are burried in the help.php file... of course we can use any appropriate image file for the several versions
https://www.iemoji.com/view/emoji/56/sm … /thumbs-up

Still looking to find the right fit for our forum...

Worked the banned converted list of 7301 upward only to find 7353 had a duplicate so skipped it and found after getting through to 7400 that the next groups had quite a few duplicates to remove

will continue to work through the list leaving the duplicates for the time being as we get through the banned list.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-22 06:16:57

For SpaceNut ... thanks for working on the ID's ....

The duplicates found by WBA during the search for qualifying usernames were reported in the topic. The lists should match what you are finding.

Other information found and reported included usernames that are in the Bans table but not in the Users table.

***
Last night's run completed in two steps ... A mouse position error occurred, and the program halted appropriately.

Completed Sequence for ID: 9600

Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1257

Number of ID's processed: 75
Starting Number: 9526
Last Number of Run: 9600
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-22-2021 at 07:55:56
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
7 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 01:48:41
Total time Program was Active: 08:45:31

Tonight's run will try for 9700.

I expect to continue making progress on the Virtual Ports upgrade today.

The test program is working, to it's just a case of transferring the working code into WBA.

Update at Noon(ish) local time ... work is progressing on implementation of code to perform Virtual Port Setup, Send and Receive.

It is possible another hour might be sufficient to bring the program up to the point of trying a live test.

The development machine does NOT have virtual ports, so testing will be done elsewhere.

Update next day at 9:44 local time ...

The run did not complete ... I suspect another mouse positioning error.

Starting Sequence for ID: 9694
Text direct from Clipboard in Step: 34 JoanKeelin
Report of status at compare failure:
Number of ID's processed: 93
Starting Number: 9601
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-23-2021 at 09:45:02
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
16 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:16:11
Total time Program was Active: 10:13:20
Early end of run requested.
Test Mode: Dump Arrays to Log

I'll set up a short run to 9700 and then try for 9800 this evening.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-23 07:48:43)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-22 18:09:59

For SpaceNut .... here is an item that doesn't fit anywhere in the forum structure ...

I'm hoping you may find it interesting and (perhaps) enlightening, in your role encouraging folks to participate in the forum.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/bad- … ket-newtab

Meanwhile, those who have the gall to deliver homilies about other peoples’ intellectual vices – that includes me – need to accept that they too are likely very far from perfect. In this context, as in most others, a little bit of humility goes a long way. It’s one thing not to cave in to Oliver’s attempt to turn the tables on you, but he has a point at least to this extent: none of us can deny that intellectual vices of one sort or another are at play in at least some of our thinking. Being alive to this possibility is the mark of a healthy mind.
Quassim Cassam is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick in Coventry. His latest books are Berkeley’s Puzzle: What Does Experience Teach Us? (2014) and Self-Knowledge for Humans (2014).

I would like to think that those who frequent this forum are free of the intellectual difficulties described by Professor Cassam.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-23 09:01:56

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ...

This is ** really ** inside baseball, but here goes ...

The number of errors in running the Update script is pretty small, but halts still occur. The halt last night seems to have occurred after the ID in work was updated in the Users table and before the Bans table record was updated. Since this halt is similar to ones I've seen before, I decided to increase the number of mouse position commands from two to three at that location. I've observed in testing that the hardware on which WBA is running seems to need multiple mouse position commands to reach the required destination reliably. In this particular part of the script, there is a combination of vertical and horizontal movement that seems to be a problem for this hardware. Adding a third repetition of the mouse position command to reach the Administration button will not increase run time by much, but it ** should ** increase reliability for that particular maneuver.

The ** ideal ** solution would be to compare the position reached by the hardware with the desired location, but ** that ** would be a lot of work, with a very small increase of performance to justify it.

The count of ID's ready for your review is up to 9700. We'll try for 9800 tonight.

Update at 12:55 local time ... the first work session on Virtual Port merge into WBA went smoothly. I ** think ** another hour might put the program into ready-to-test-again state. The first test last night revealed a couple of logic errors involving timing of what gets done in what sequence.

It did not reveal any unanticipated errors, which is nice.

This new functionality would be tricky from a timing standpoint regardless of the hardware or software in use. The physical serial port behavior for which the Microsoft sample program was written is subtly different from the Virtual Port behavior, which explains why the Microsoft sample program failed when asked to work with a Virtual Port.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-23 10:59:59)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1276 2021-06-16 06:33:58

Re: Housekeeping

#1277 2021-06-16 19:36:49

Re: Housekeeping

#1278 2021-06-16 20:31:00

Re: Housekeeping

#1279 2021-06-17 06:34:24

Re: Housekeeping

#1280 2021-06-17 06:59:05

Re: Housekeeping

#1281 2021-06-17 07:09:04

Re: Housekeeping

#1282 2021-06-17 18:48:34

Re: Housekeeping

#1283 2021-06-17 18:58:38

Re: Housekeeping

#1284 2021-06-18 04:30:49

Re: Housekeeping

#1285 2021-06-18 08:28:47

Re: Housekeeping

#1286 2021-06-18 08:35:56

Re: Housekeeping

#1287 2021-06-18 09:38:21

Re: Housekeeping

#1288 2021-06-18 19:51:29

Re: Housekeeping

#1289 2021-06-19 05:46:43

Re: Housekeeping

#1290 2021-06-20 02:35:38

Re: Housekeeping

#1291 2021-06-20 07:02:03

Re: Housekeeping

#1292 2021-06-20 07:33:20

Re: Housekeeping

#1293 2021-06-20 08:11:56

Re: Housekeeping

#1294 2021-06-21 05:42:59

Re: Housekeeping

#1295 2021-06-21 09:19:19

Re: Housekeeping

#1296 2021-06-21 18:19:43

Re: Housekeeping

#1297 2021-06-21 18:32:39

Re: Housekeeping

#1298 2021-06-22 06:16:57

Re: Housekeeping

#1299 2021-06-22 18:09:59

Re: Housekeeping

#1300 2021-06-23 09:01:56

Re: Housekeeping

Board footer