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Project Yourself On Mr. Toad's Wild Ride 31

Posted by timothy from the openly dept.
Rob Levin writes: "Open Projects Net has just embarked on an expansion project, to increase its user base and provide better service to the community. We've revamped our web site and [Slashdot] readers might want to take a look. The new project is called Mister Toad's Wild Ride." As a satisfied "customer" of OPN, I have to say this sounds like a great move -- OPN is one of the friendliest IRC environments I've ever seen, and is always a good source of #help. Read the documents to see the dilemma that Rob (lilo) and the other volunteers at OPN are facing, and to learn about their ambitious plan to grow without sacrificing the community feel (or becoming DoS fodder). And more to the point, help! Technical skills, money,and even moral support would be appreciated, I bet.
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Project Yourself On Mr. Toad's Wild Ride More

Project Yourself On Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

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  • I'm going to have to call my Friday nights something else. I don't want to confuse the girls.
  • Motorcars!!

    8P

  • IRC question.... (Score:3)

    by TobyWong ( 168498 ) on Thursday March 01, 2001 @10:18AM (#391900)
    I've always wondered this... why not hide users ips (or mask part of the ip) and only display their nickname? Surely a good portion of the DoS problems stem from user->user wars. It would certainly make it harder (but not impossible) to aquire and subsequently abuse a persons ip.

    DCCs could still work with the server relaying the targets ip once they had "ok'd" the connection.

    I guess the hostname/ip is handy for verifying that the person is who they claim to be, but perhaps there is another fingerprint method maybe even more trustworthy than hostnames (we all know dns isn't exactly bulletproof)
  • Whatever happened to the idea of sending high voltage down the ionized paths formed by UV pulse lasers?

    The kind folks at OPN considered this, but decided that it was too strong a response to DoS attacks, and, being likely to take out a substantial percentage of innocents, this approach would probably dissuade users from using their IRC network in the first place.

  • "me and dannywasreal bored cuz their wont nouthing to do until danny said we could go haX0r some peeple and maybe bill gates and then we culd get some mony but we didnt' find anything that told us how so we went to this l33t place where all these lenux nerds where and they told us to go haX0r on this toad and we pounded on it til my moms gateway did that blue screen thing and then we were bored so we went to mikes house cuz mike has a cable modem and it hooks right up to the college or something and mike says heknows kevin nittlicker or something. he said we had to go home if the FBi showed up but they didnt.
    toads are stupid.
    danny says indiana jones is playing at the dollar movies."
  • The Cyclone IRCd does pretty much what you are asking about. Basically it includes a user mode denoted as z which provides for hostname cloaking.
    for example, if you had the hostname
    blorp.example.com by doing a /umode +z your hostname will show up as cloaked.example.com.
  • Remember, this is the corp that sued a Florida day-care center (supposedly, I couldn't find a reference on the 'net)

    Consider this a reference (although you could probably find the story through the Palm Beach Post, that being the local newspaper). It's not far at all from where I type this, and yes, it did have nice, seven foot (or whatever the largest sized figures you can get on an exterior wall are) Disney characters all over the entire building. It was in the news for a short time that they were being sued, and now the building is a cheery color of yellow, with flowers and a train. It's still a daycare, and I assume (but this may be incorrect) that it's still the same daycare.

    Just like all media stories, however, it was in the local news big time when it happened several years ago, but there was no real followup on exactly what happened. I can only relate that A) it happened and B) the building existed and changed as I described.

    Ask InitZero - he worked at the Palm Beach Post, probably while it happened, and he's good with remembering that kinda thing. (I thus attempt to invoke a fellow Slashdotter, a la kiboing).

    -- Evan "Off of Military Tr. and Okeechobee Blvd., near the Cherry Road Dennys" E.

  • Re:hmm (Score:2)

    by lilo ( 106287 )

    XO,

    Yup, seeking monetary contributions for an IRC network is a pretty hard sell. But before you dismiss the thought out of hand look at what we are doing [openprojects.net] and the philosophy behind our approach [openprojects.net]. We are here to help people communicate, and some fairly well-known projects, such as Debian GNU/Linux, Jabber, handhelds.org, PocketLinux and Vorbis, find us quite useful. So if someone wants to know whether we can make a case that they should contribute [openprojects.net] or code [openprojects.net] for us, well, I think we can make quite a strong one.

    Thanks,


    Rob L.

  • I guess that's a good indication of what an arcade fanatic I am: I thought it was a reference to Mr. Do's Wild Ride [klov.com].

  • Is there some secret method of getting good results from Google that I haven't figured out yet?

    I generally get decent results using a minimal number of keywords. Given that google primarily ranks things based on linking popularity rather than number of matches, a few keywords is usually sufficient to turn up an "authoritative" page on the subject. Also, it's easy enough to add the keywords a few at a time, as each result page has the search field filled in with your previous result.

    One problem in this case might've been the inclusion of "sues", since Disney didn't actually sue the day care and the previously mentioned page itself doesn't have any forms of "sue" in it (instead it has "threatened to go to court").

  • the movie mallrats, which was a sort of loose sequal to clerks, and predecessor to chasing amy and dogma, all of which feature the characters Silent Bob and Jay
  • Well, running an IRC network is standard to a certain excent. But, when you look at all the possible ways people can DoS the networks and how you have to have some pretty good resources for a large number of users, it gets a little more tricky. "Mr Toad's Wild Ride", at least to my knowledge, is simply the codename given to the project of rewriting the current IRC server code, which includes new network modifications (such as IP/host masking), different announcement modes, and so on and so forth to make OPN even more helpful to those who need it.

  • I've always wondered this... why not hide users ips (or mask part of the ip) and only display their nickname?

    This has been a feature on the StarChat [starchat.net] IRC network for well over a year now (more like two, I think) (as well as any networks that use their IRCd), it has been available in Unreal IRCd [unrealircd.com] (and on any networks that use it), and I've been informed that a working patch to Hybrid has already been written by the SC coding team (which has been submitted to OPN by InnerFIRE), and will quite probably be sent upstream.

    The hostmasking either changes the first section of the host (i.e. to Star8462.mplrdg1.bc.wave.home.com, or some other number), or for a non-reversing IP, something like 24.13.137.000, changing the last block.

    Unreal changes the last part of an IP to the same as the first part of a host, which ends you up with 24.13.137.Unreal-25143, which makes IRC clients assume it's a host and ban via *!*@*.13.137.Unreal-25143, which, when 25143 is random, doesn't work too well. I suggested that, in the Hybrid code, the IPs be masked to 256-512 instead of 000, I believe this has been implemented, but I'm not certain.

    DCCs could still work with the server relaying the targets ip once they had "ok'd" the connection.

    DCC still works the same way it always has.

    I guess the hostname/ip is handy for verifying that the person is who they claim to be, but perhaps there is another fingerprint method maybe even more trustworthy than hostnames

    Password identification (via NickServ in most cases) is usually standard on the average network - there are IRC 'purists' out there who don't use services, but in general, I think the trend is towards using them.

    ~Sentry21~

  • Well, since you've chosen to remain anonymous, I'm going to just have to assume you're using Linux. If you are, the majority of applications, tools, etc., in Linux were created in other people's free time. They weren't coding for money, they were coding for the good of the community and the advancement of Linux or any other UNIX-like operating system. Hmmmm, if I remember correctly, even the forums you're typing in were coded by CmdrTaco in his spare time, back before /. was owned by any company.

  • Re:hmm (Score:1)

    by XO ( 250276 )
    Alright, apologies for my tone there.
    Good Luck. :)
  • Just like all media stories, however, it was in the local news big time when it happened several years ago, but there was no real followup on exactly what happened.

    I could've sworn I remembered a followup wherein some other cartoon character franchise offered to let them use their characters. And dumping "disney day-care" into google turned up this message [losdisneys.com] which provides confirmation and details. (It involved 3 Florida daycare centers. Disney did not sue since the daycare centers complied with their demand to remove the characters. Hanna-Barbara volunteered their characters as a replacement.)

  • Shoot, I have to agree. I've even have trouble with people launching smurf attacks when I'm in #linpeople. (Hi ult!) That would be great! People do everything from smurf attacks down to just simple ping -f's. IP address hiding would be highly beneficial. :-)

  • Re:Avoid Hassles: Change the Name (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I thought it was a reference to Wind In The Willows. Oh, wait, it was.

  • You should all be made aware that the status is that Rob Levin needs to get a life [crackmonkey.org].

    Thank you for your kind attention.

    --
    "Where, where is the town? Now, it's nothing but flowers!"

  • Yeah, in two weeks Disney/ABC will be knocking on their front door.

    tcd004
    What makes the Pentium 4 Hum? [lostbrain.com]
    Don't go here unless you need stockphotos [lostbrain.com]

  • hmm (Score:1)

    by XO ( 250276 )
    Seeking monetary contributions for an IRC network. *chuckle* Like that will work.
  • As IRC networks grow, they attract denial of service attacks

    I'm sure a story on Slashdot won't exactly lower the number of attacks either.

  • Hehe, thanks for your concern. We are not using any Disney logos or art work, the title is a *parody* (protected speech) of a story, and I doubt they'll notice or care. I'm sure they would dislike the really bad publicity someone would get from harassing 3,000-or-so really net-savvy, annoyed geeks. And they're really nice people, aren't they? :)


    Rob L.

  • or are /. posts getting to the point that you can't tell what they're about just from reading the intros?
  • I spend a lot of time on OPN (#kde, #ppclinux and #windowmaker) and think it's a great resource. It contributes greatly to development and support and Linux corporations could (and frequently do) make investments with much thinner returns than helping out OPN.

    That said, it wasn't clear to me what they're planning to do except have a bigger, faster, more stable and secure IRC network. Not that there's anything wrong with that - that's exactly what they should be doing. But isn't running an IRC net a pretty standard activity? What is this "Mr. Toad metaproject" adding?

    Unsettling MOTD at my ISP.

  • Expect to get sued by The Walt Disney Corporation.

    "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" is the name of a children's ride at DisneyLand. You can bet that the name has been trademarked with lethal efficiency. And since Disney are one of the most ruthless, humorless, ligitious agents out there when it comes to intellectual "property", I place the lifespan of your venture somewhere short of a crippled, emphysemic cockroach in a Raid factory.

    Schwab

  • Whatever happened to the idea of sending high voltage down the ionized paths formed by UV pulse lasers? It seems to me that these burn lasers will encounter all the same humanitarian opposition as rubber bulltets, tear gas, and water hoses do. And what happens when one of these lasers hits you in the eye? From what I understand of MW radiation it's wavelength is the same as the diameter of water molecules and resonates them. My guess is that shining one of these in someones face will probably make their eyes explode after about 2 seconds.

  • Re:IRC question.... (Score:4)

    by lilo ( 106287 ) on Thursday March 01, 2001 @10:36AM (#391925) Homepage

    Toby,

    You're right that the hostname and IP should probably be hidden, it's on our TODO list. Though it will take some work to do that without causing inconvenience to the users. Uh, by the way, we need a bit of help finishing those patches from people with time on their hands, the urge to contribute, and hybrid-6 experience. :) Anybody who is interested, please check the site [openprojects.net]....

    Thanks,


    Rob L.

  • "Women want romance, not Mr Toad's Wild Ride..."

    "Be fair, EVERYONE wants Mr Toad's Wild Ride"
  • And dumping "disney day-care" into google turned up this message


    Hmm, I typed "Disney sues Florida day-care center" and didn't get jack squat. Is there some secret method of getting good results from Google that I haven't figured out yet? Is putting too many keywords a problem? I tried your search, and it was the number one response.

  • The book is called The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, this was made into a movie by some British guys, including half of Monty Python. The rights to distribute this movie were bought by Disney, who changed the title and plastered their name all over it. It is now Disney's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

    Since the name is Disney's creation, they probably have enough of a case. Remember, this is the corp that sued a Florida day-care center (supposedly, I couldn't find a reference on the 'net).

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