A Word on Anonymous Proxy Servers

Started by LongBlade, August 12, 2013, 10:11:48 AM

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LongBlade

Hi folks.

I know some of you guys like to use anonymous proxy servers to surf the web.

That's fine - GrogHeads has no official policy against using them.

However, I do have to caution you that some bad eggs that have been banned have attempted to use proxy servers in an attempt to overcome our discipline system. As a result we tend to ban wholesale spectra used by proxy servers.

So a word of caution. I know of at least one member in good standing here who has inadvertently been caught up in a ban of said proxy. So a word to the wise: you are not required to reveal your home IP address to surf our site. However if you find one day you are banned and happen to use a proxy server to visit our site - I would encourage you to drop the proxy, at least when you visit us.

And because sometimes the proxy servers release their IPs and use new ones, should you discover a legitimate bandwidth blocked by our site we're more than happy to release it.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

undercovergeek


LongBlade

I have no idea what that's about. No one has complained here.

<pokes around a bit on the inside>

I will say that Hurry seems to have attempted to log in under several different IP addresses which have been banned by previous accounts. While we can't prove who he is, it's clear he's afraid to reveal his true identity. Probably because he's been banned.

We don't ban many folks. It's never good when we do. But there are a few people who don't understand how to get along with other people. When we show them the door, we're sincere about not wanting them back.

The best advice I can give is this: if you don't want to be accidentally caught up in a broad-based ban of anonymous proxies, use your real IP address. Then we'll know who you are, and you won't have any problems.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Anguille

I have no idea what you're talking about...do you mean, anyone should come to the forum unless he is at home? please explain as i have no idea what proxy is about.

Grimnirsson

Anguille,

a proxy server is a server that you use before you visit a website, so that your 'tracks' could only be followed to this server. It's a way to surf anonymously because you use the proxy servers IP address not your 'real' one. There are proggys that do that for you, it's just a matter of activating it before you surf around, some cost money, some are free. I use hotspotshield, but only to view movies, youtube etc. that won't start because I'm living in Germany (sometimes license nonsense is blocking viewers from a certain country, so if the proxy server is located in the USA the website that checks the IP to know where you are located thinks I'm from the US and the movie starts) ) and one day I was told that I'm banned here. Hotspotshield sometimes starts in the background and so I was using it although not being aware of it and so couldn't access this site here. If you didn't know what a proxy server is you obviously don't use one and should have no problem with the ban hammer here ;)
Homefront Wargame Center - supporting our hobby!

www.homefrontcenter.de

LongBlade

I mentioned it above, but since you're here, Anguille, I'll state it again for clarity.

Hurry has used at least six anonymous IP addresses in an attempt to get in here. His claims on your site that he doesn't know what one is are...inconsistent with the truth.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

bayonetbrant

Quote from: LongBlade on August 14, 2013, 09:10:54 AM
His claims on your site that he doesn't know what one is are...inconsistent with the truth.

Additionally, he's used at least one proxy server that shares a router with another banned problem child, indicating a high likelihood that the same person is trying to come back under multiple screen names, using the same proxy server, all in a probable attempt to avoid previous account bans of yet another screen name and IP address.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Steelgrave

Anguille, one problem I had when I moderated at the Wargamer was that when a certain someone or someones were banned, they could come back with a puppet account and start the same old crap, so a ban meant nothing at all. A proxy server helps to facilitate this. Proxy servers don't just happen, you have to seek one out and create an account. Both here and when we were at the Wargamer, it takes a lot to earn a ban and we don't hand them out because we don't like the color of one's socks.

bayonetbrant

Quote from: Steelgrave on August 14, 2013, 09:55:06 AMbecause we don't like the color of one's socks.

Well, there was that one bugger with clear socks.  I think we banned him for wearing them on his ears.  But otherwise, you're spot on. :)
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Steelgrave

Well, I would admittedly be uncomfortable if I knew someone was posting while wearing only socks....

And on that....uncomfortable....note, I need more coffee    ;D

Anguille

Thanks for the clarifications...

PS: Wargamer is not my site...just a place where i happen to be moderator.  ;)

LongBlade

#11
Anonymous proxies are like pregnancies. They don't happen magically.

I think this graphic should explain what an anonymous proxy server is.

But first, you do not accidentally have an anonymous proxy server. Normally you connect directly to the internet (see Arrow 1). When you do, your internet modem has an IP address - kind of like you have a mailing address. It helps the internet send you content when you surf the web. This happens whether you're at home or using your phone. Every device that connects to the internet has an IP address.

Proxy servers can be used legitimately.

Proxies are sometimes used to group work computers together (which will not be anonymous), or they can be used to hide who you really are, like when Grimm wants to see YouTube vids that weird government regulations prohibit (see Arrows 2 & 3). One day Grimm was using an anonymous proxy server to do whatever, then he decided to visit Grogheads. Suddenly he found himself banned.

Grimm wasn't banned - the proxy server he was using had been abused by someone else who got banned here. We ban entire ranges of proxy addresses. Anyone who uses a proxy server is in danger of using a banned IP address.

In order to get unbanned all they need to do is turn off the anonymous proxy server....unless their real IP address has already been banned. Which is likely the case.

Proxies don't happen accidentally. They must be installed and turned on.

Anyway, check out this image. It should explain things.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Jarhead0331

Quote from: Anguille on August 14, 2013, 10:19:18 AM
Thanks for the clarifications...

PS: Wargamer is not my site...just a place where i happen to be moderator.  ;)

Well then, respectfully, try doing some moderating. Aside from the personal and persistent attacks on grogheads and grogheads staff, you now have a neo-nazi posting racist drivel and there has not been a peep from anyone on the moderating staff.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Jarhead0331

Quote from: LongBlade on August 14, 2013, 10:21:26 AM
Anonymous proxies are like pregnancies. They don't happen magically.

Apparently, you've never heard of the Virgin Mary.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


LongBlade

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on August 14, 2013, 10:43:56 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on August 14, 2013, 10:21:26 AM
Anonymous proxies are like pregnancies. They don't happen magically.

Apparently, you've never heard of the Virgin Mary.

I was waiting for that.

Let me put it this way, my children may have been created magically, but there were definitely two of us who thought we knew what we were doing.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.