SITE MAINTENANCE

[ShyloLove]

Hi there friends,

I am going to be shutting down both the forums and the main site for maintenance and updates at 5:45 pm. I cannot currently estimate how long this will take me to do with much accuracy as this satellite internet is so hokey! But I will guess only a few hours or so. Hopefully not even that long. 🙂

I thank you for your patience and hope you all had a great weekend!

Love,
Annu

Edited to add that it is now 6:45pm MST and I am now disabling the site. Please stand by. 😛

[cdanielle]

I went on this morning and wondered what had happened. 😮 Internet connections can be very maddening!! I am often thinking of content to contribute by the way, but my brain has been on stand by for quite awhile now!! In fact, I am wondering if it will come back!! What a trooper you are for doing this site yourself and not getting one of those pre-done deals. They are easier, but when you have a vision you can only do so much with those!! Well, I look forward to it being back up! Love, Danielle

[mia]

I read the mail you sent each of us.
You poor lady! 3am!!!
Now just you sort yourself out before worrying about the site!
Take it easy,
Love mia xxx

[ebmstudios]

Mia is right , don’t knock yourself out kid ! It was sweet of you sending out e-mails – I had just gone to my mail box to see if I could find another way to sneak back into the book , and there it was ….the magic key in the form of your link , thanks again and get some sleep tonight ; we love you ! -Mark

[ShyloLove]

Thank you so much for the support guys…. 😀

I just sent out another email. I’ll paste it here in case people didn’t get it. Then I don’t have to retype all that here to update you coz I got work to do! 😛

SUBJECT: Book-of-Light.com Site Maintenance and Malware Awareness

Message sent to you follows:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to update you all on the progress with the Site Maintenance
along with the virus cleaning. I’ve been receiving emails regarding the
malware that was on the site this past week, and in my tired haste this
morning, I forgot to mention that I found all instances and cleaned it!

YES, the malware has been removed from all parts of the site. It was
actually a server wide incident…so not just my site. It’s what is
referred to as “hacking”. The forums were the last to get it, so easiest
to clean. The Site Maintenance I was doing last night and today were both
to update the core software along with completely re-uploading all new and
scanned site files to be sure the virus is cleaned. Now I am also
rebuilding the database bit by bit, just to be sure that it’s gone. I’ll
also be taking more measures to help tighten up security…however, no
matter what I do, the fact remains that somebody, somewhere is right now
choosing to create more of the same malware to infect your PC with.

One must realize that this stuff affects the entire internet, not just a
few little sites. Some very large sites with abundant techies and millions
of members (and dollars) have had this exact website Trojan affect their
sites and users. It is a sad but consistent truth about today’s
internet…you WILL come across many many viruses, spyware, worms, malware,
dialers, etc on all different types of sites. Unfortunately, the scanners
can only detect the bug once it’s already been flying about the internet
doing it’s dirty work. This one happened to be an older, very benign
Trojan. However, once on your system is a pain to get off.

This is why it’s VERY IMPORTANT to have a “Web Shield” running. This
software blocks the malware and viruses from getting onto your computer.
If you would have had Avast running (or a similar Web Shield) you would NOT
have downloaded this Trojan to your computer and would have saved yourself
the frustration.

This brings me to the people who DID in fact get this virus and have
emailed me to let me know that they will never be logging back into Book of
Light again, because it took them hours to get the virus off their
systems…

GET THE FREE AVAST ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE! Then come back fearless!
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Do me, yourself and your computer a favour and install some free software
to protect your system from these petty attempts at steering you away from
great sites like mine and many others….due to….right you guessed it
FEAR. Fear of silly malware and viruses (computer code) could actually
stop you from visiting Book of Light ever again? I don’t think so…. get
your butt back here!!

Dear new friends, if you got the virus, then you most likely do not have a
Web Shield installed or running on your system and this is a problem. As I
mentioned, these things are becoming more problematic online for PC users.
I know AVG is good too, but I’m not sure if it has all that Avast has? So
get it: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html Install it, register
it, turn it on and COME BACK! It’s all you’ll ever need. Remove those
crappy ones you pay for (like Norton) and get the best free one. We miss
you already!

I don’t expect we’ll have another attack anytime soon, and for now, it is
completely clean, however, I am one person wearing many hats! It takes me
a bit longer to deal with this stuff then when big sites like Warner Bros
are hacked. They have hundreds of employees and big budgets to deal with
the problem….. over here there is me and whats in my pocket…..and there
are diapers to be changed and dinner to be made too, you know what I mean.
*winks*

So I appreciate your patience as I make Book of Light shiny and new again.
I guess this makes this rebuild Beta7. I basically have to remake the site
and import bits of the data at a time to restore all the information.
BETTER GET TO WORK!

The forums will remain open during the upgrades so I hope you’ll visit the
Comm-Unity during the site downtime. I’ll be popping in from time to time
so I’ll see you there and keep you posted. Please let me know if you have
questions or concerns about this through the forums, email or private
messages.

Big hugs and lotsa Love!
Annu / Melanie

PS: If you can, just get yourself a Mac! 😉

So there you have it, make sure you have a web shield. Did I mention to get a web shield? Do you have one yet? IS it working? 🙂

I am working on rebuilding the website and doing all the updates needed as well. I guess it’s time to be Beta7. Today is our one month anniversary of our grand opening 08-08-08 too! We’ve had 99 new members join in this past month. That’s pretty exciting! Happy Anniversary Book of Light! I guess you get to be New for your anniversary. 🙂

More big hugs and lotsa Love to you all!
Annu / Melanie

[mia]

Many thanks Annu for your hard work (((hugs)))
Love mia xxx

[Zingdad]

Great stuff, thanks Annu.

Y’know, if folks leave and don’t want to come back becasue they got a virus then it really is their loss. I mean surfing the net without virus protection is like walking a bad neighbourhood with flashy jewellery whilst blindfolded. You ARE going to get trouble. And it’s actually your own fault. Especially, as you say, while there is free virus protection out there. For myself, I use AVG and find it excellent. Also free. Free daily updates too. And it niftily kept all the little malwares right off my laptop. They didn’t even make it onto my laptop to need cleaning.
Oh, yeah, the other bit of advice Windows users should take cognisance of: don’t use Microsoft Internet Explorer. For technical reasons it makes you much more vulnerable to attack. You see it is integrated into the OS and so offers viruses an “easy in”. I cannot recommend Mozilla Firefox strongly enough. And not only becasue it is MUCH safer. It’s altogether a better browser in my opinion.

[GTTOWNSEND]

Thank you for all the hard work Annu!
And , I second what Zingdad said , I also have AVG , totally free , totally protected my computer from that little virus on BoL , and many others over the last few months. IT’S FREE FOLKS! I am amazed anyone would stop visiting this wonderful site for a reason such as that , when IT’S FREE! Takes a few minutes to download , and you’re good to go! O.K. , last time I promise , IT’S FREE! 😆
(Sorry , I just think this site is a great Beacon for the Light , we cannot let such a small and simple problem stop us!)
Thanks again , Annu! 🙂

[mia]

I have Norton and Spy Bot (I think that’s what it’s called) and never have had any problems.
I have had this pc for about 4yrs.
And I use Microsoft Internet Explorer, I wouldn’t know how to get any other, let alone use it lol.
Love mia xxx

[poppy]

My anti-spy ware notified that it had detected and blocked an attack. I am careful but also realize that if your site is the best, you will be the target of an attack. That is why I sent you an e-mail in case you didn’t know. And, Annu, your site is the best!

This will soon be history and maybe, just maybe, you will be able to get some sleep, Annu.

[Wolfpaw]

You’re awesome Annu! And Poppy is right, this site is the best. I’m glad that the Malware is over with.

[jamwolfsky]

I thought of this one while reading the postings. Viruses 😈 , we love you because you are God creatures. We acknowledge your presence, and integrate your presence as part of Om Light. 😀 THANK YOU ANNU.

[opalescent]

Yay for Annu, webmistress extraordinaire! What a great job, the site is working faster and smoother than ever… loving this latest incarnation of your dream 😀

A warm welcome back to anyone chased away by the virus or any spectres it conjured, virtual or otherwise… Virus, I hereby dub you the Love Bug

[ShyloLove]

Yes we’re back! All updated!

I still have a lot to do. Franky, my internet SUCKS! It’s near dial up for frustrating. However, I have found myself a temporary office with super fast high speed…and for now it’s totally free! There are some draw backs. For instance, I work in my truck parked a little way away from a local hotel. 😆 😳 It’s a bit nerve wracking. The first time I did this was the night before last. I had become SO frustrated with dropping signals and issues and the failure to upload a single database file or any of the site files. I remembered seeing a sign on the local bar/hotel “HIGH SPEED INTERNET”. I looked at my mom, who was talking to my sister and said “That’s it, I’m going to the bar”. 😆 😆 But then I DID go the bar, I restored my database in under 5 minutes and files and such a couple hours later. NICE! There’s no telling how long it would have taken attempting to finish it at the house. 🙄

So anyhow, this is my new office for the moment, my CRV in the parking lot. :ugeek:

But thanks to the unnamed hotel, BoL is back online!

I’ll definitely need to figure something out soon with internet. 😐

Thanks Zingdad, agreed on all you said. 🙂 Poppy, thank you too and everyone for your encouragement. I guess I’ve seen this with BoT too being so popular, it gets attention. THoTH has to work really hard and be diligent to keep it secure and updated.

Thanks everyone, for sticking around through all the viruses and hackers showing us their…. love bugs. 👿

Viruses 😈 , we love you because you are God creatures. We acknowledge your presence, and integrate your presence as part of Om Light. 😀

PERFECT jamwolfsky!! Take THAT Virus, a bit of Om-Light! 😀

I better get back at it, only have so much time. 😉

Hugs & Loves,
Annu

[alainiz]

I STILL HAVE VIRUS POPING UP!!! i’M JOKING ANNU ITS ALL GOOD 😉
I’m glad where all back i hope

[Author]

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