A Convenience or an Outrage?

Brockway · Post by **Brockway** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:00 am

Actually, I might start making the black areas of my comic transparent so that they are illegible on any different background than the one on my page. Hmmmm....

Huh, seems like that would work! Course there's no point in me doing it, but that would be a simple way to screw them up! And I guess everyone wouldn't have to use black, so even compensating for that wouldn't work..

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 2:02 pm

brockway wrote:
Actually, I might start making the black areas of my comic transparent so that they are illegible on any different background than the one on my page. Hmmmm....
Huh, seems like that would work! Course there's no point in me doing it, but that would be a simple way to screw them up! And I guess everyone wouldn't have to use black, so even compensating for that wouldn't work..

But if your files are gif, you'd get a really poor quality of image.

Man, as if ripping daily comics wasn't enough, this guy had "download archive" option too. I will not go to that forum anymore, I don't think I'll be able to act civilized any more.

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 2:35 pm

Screw Norway, I'm declaring war on Comictastic!

"Comictastic- The best part about it is that it's only for Mac!"

Sortelli · Post by **Sortelli** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:23 pm

Since I already format my comics as gifs anyway I should be able to do it without anyone noticing. And I'll include a note telling people to visit the page that will only show if the comic is ripped.

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:12 am

I recently realized one could use CSS and transparent GIFs to literally have and image with different things on different layers ON YOUR WEBPAGE.
Just put an image, ie. without wordbubbles there, and then a transparent gif with wordbubbles OVER it, using a combination of "placement: absolute" and "z-index-2".
I need to check if it would work, but it sure sounds neat!

(needlesly to say, if a ripper tried to ignore extra images or CSS or HTML, or almost anything, they wouldn't see the comic! And you could hide extra messages under the wordbubbles in the image, or use black on black, and white on white for secret messages in the wordbubbles file.)

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:39 am

YarpsDat wrote:I recently realized one could use CSS and transparent GIFs to literally have and image with different things on different layers ON YOUR WEBPAGE.
Just put an image, ie. without wordbubbles there, and then a transparent gif with wordbubbles OVER it, using a combination of "placement: absolute" and "z-index-2".
I need to check if it would work, but it sure sounds neat!

(needlesly to say, if a ripper tried to ignore extra images or CSS or HTML, or almost anything, they wouldn't see the comic! And you could hide extra messages under the wordbubbles in the image, or use black on black, and white on white for secret messages in the wordbubbles file.)

I see a problem. If I knew people were doing this, I'd get this program, just to see the cool 'Easter Eggs' I could view with the ripper program. :/

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:12 pm

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:20 pm

Not that I'm suggesting this or anything, but if people would wget the spiny.com website a few dozen times, maybe the creator of the program would understand the whole bandwith leech thing a little better.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:21 pm

Well, you could make the comic blank, and then have your CSS put a second image over the first, with the comic in the second image.

That way, there wouldn't be any easter eggs - just a blank image for the ripper to download.

::edit::
If there was a program that let me run an infinate loop - wget... wget... wget... it'd be fun to include that in an internet worm.

RPin · Post by **RPin** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:28 pm

Two wrongs don't make a right.

I'm giving the guy the benefit of the doubt. Though some of the pro-Comictastic arguments are outrageous.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:23 pm

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
x=0
while [ "$x" -ne 10 ]; do
wget http://www.spiny.com/comictastic/Comictastic_2.1.1.dmg
x = $(($x+1))
done
exit 0

Basic shell scripting. Get out your Beginning Linux Programming book. The problem is, yeah you can do this but it amounts to a denial of service (DOS) attack against their server. If you were to bring them down with it they could call the FBI and have you put in jail. Your IP address would be in their logs and the FBI can require that ISPs give them your name, address and phone number AND the ISP can be required to never tell you. Better to go knocking in their door with a shotgun. At least the courts would be required to tell you why the men in black coats are knocking on your door.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 5:28 am

faub wrote:
Code: Select all
#!/bin/bash
x=0
while [ "$x" -ne 10 ]; do
wget http://www.spiny.com/comictastic/Comictastic_2.1.1.dmg
x = $(($x+1))
done
exit 0
Basic shell scripting. Get out your Beginning Linux Programming book. The problem is, yeah you can do this but it amounts to a denial of service (DOS) attack against their server. If you were to bring them down with it they could call the FBI and have you put in jail. Your IP address would be in their logs and the FBI can require that ISPs give them your name, address and phone number AND the ISP can be required to never tell you. Better to go knocking in their door with a shotgun. At least the courts would be required to tell you why the men in black coats are knocking on your door.

I can't put a unix shell script into a worm.

And the FBI already has my name.

::edit::

Ugh, that sounded like bragging, but it's really not. I did something dumb in the early 1990's before hacking was recognized as a major crime, and someone at NASA got into trouble for giving me the access. He knew me, my name got batted to the feds, and people with dark sunglasses (no kidding) really did come visit.

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:19 am

rkolter wrote:And the FBI already has my name.

::edit::

Ugh, that sounded like bragging, but it's really not. I did something dumb in the early 1990's before hacking was recognized as a major crime, and someone at NASA got into trouble for giving me the access. He knew me, my name got batted to the feds, and people with dark sunglasses (no kidding) really did come visit.

Just for the record, RKolter, I don't really live in Pennsylvania. And I don't do a webcomic either. So you can just ignore me.... I was never here....

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 9:15 am

rkolter wrote:I can't put a unix shell script into a worm.

Actually you can but you need to come up with a delivery system that roots the unix box, outputs the script to a file then calls bash to execute the script. That stuff I don't have.

RPin · Post by **RPin** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 10:41 am

Can the FBI reach me?

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 10:53 am

RPin wrote:Can the FBI reach me?

Actually no... we in the US are lucky enough to be spied upon and visited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). You're outside the country, so you'd fall under either the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or if you did something like threaten to poison our water supply, the NSA (National Security Administration). Or er... hm. Maybe the Department of Homeland Security (which I guess is DHS, but I haven't heard it called that).

RPin · Post by **RPin** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:04 am

Sooo...

Want me to run the DOS attack then?

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:16 am

RPin wrote:Two wrongs don't make a right.

Then again, we don't always have to be right. And kicking a bad guy in the nuts sometimes feel good.
I don't know if FBI can reach me. I guess not. Specially from my college network.

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:18 am

I could never ask someone to break the law, it goes against my sense of ethics. They would have to take the initiative to do such an action on their own.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:27 am

RPin wrote:Sooo...

Want me to run the DOS attack then?

I thought you said two wrongs don't make a right.

Oh well. Welcome to my world.

Sure, feel free to run it. Uhm... of course, it was WARREN'S idea...