I have no access to anyone on the site so I am posting here. This is what I see when I try to answer any post anywhere (below) Hitting refresh doesn't change anything. I also noticed that I don't have the usual access to the images when DLing a lot (normally I click on it, it opens another page on which the image is drag&drop) ; and when I tried to DL a lot right now, it stopped halfway. On a previous lot, the dependencies where not clickable either (the recent one, with the buses)
It's been at least three days. I may have problems with my computer, (hard drive and such) -- not confirmed yet --, but this is just ridiculous...
Could someone here who is also on Simtropolis please get in touch with the admins and signal the problem for me ? Thanks you in advance.
As a Simtropolis moderator, I've informed the rest of the team of mods and admins. Be patient :)
Update: It seems like you're not the only one having this issue (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/75719-cant-leave-comment-in-a-post-or-topic-see-image/?tab=comments#comment-1708299). I guess you'll have to wait for a while.
Thank you, Terring. Somehow it is comforting to know I am not the only one -- as it might mean that my computer is not suffering from advanced senility &mmm
I also have the same problem as philforhockey51 and tariely following the maintenance of the site this weekend, I think.
No access to the editor on posts or profiles to leave a message, comment or leave an image, no access to images on download pages. No carousel on the Downloads page.
I attach a copy of the Web Console with errors common to all pages.
Thanks to evarbug (tariely) for opening this post, I hadn't thought of it!!! and to Terring for forwarding it.
As of today 1-30-18 I have not been able to access any editor or message text body for the last 3 days. It seems here lately after a maintenance session things go bad. This may have to do with the website provider more than Simtrop personnel. Which Cyclone Boom has himself mentioned.
I'm not having a problem, maybe it's because I'm on Chrome... I do sometimes get similar bugs, but refreshing fixes those.
Hmmm.... &mmm I also got this few days or week or months when I click Write Review or Add Comment. Something I saw comment editing or just nothing (showing only "Drag files to attach or Choose Files" without comment editing). It was random... ()sad()
This situation is something we're aware of, and we apologize for the prolonged inconvenience. Dirk has been informed via the admin hotline, but he's often busy throughout the week, so we don't know when he'll get around to investigate and respond. Last time it did resolve itself after about a week later, so It's likely to resolve itself this time as well, but we don't know how quickly this is achievable. Also, there are additional things which Dirk can look into when he gets the chance.
Simtropolis admin Cyclone Boom in the "Diagnosing" section of his prior post last year HERE (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/75719-cant-leave-comment-in-a-post-or-topic-see-image/?tab=comments#comment-1703321) has made a few listed suggestions that may help, although previously it didn't seem to. That might be worth linking also just in case, but we think this is a a network CDN issue, so clearing caches is unlikely to help matters. Still, give it a try.
Right now the only thing we can do is wait until Dirk have the time to look at it. We deeply sorry for the hardship and thank you for the patience :)
Just FYI I've posted a reply in the ST thread with a link to this thread. I also posted that I'm having no problems, and that resolution of the content area should be the first area of investigation.
Quote from: Wiimeiser on January 31, 2019, 04:24:19 AM
Just FYI I've posted a reply in the ST thread with a link to this thread. I also posted that I'm having no problems, and that resolution of the content area should be the first area of investigation.
Thanks for doing that. I've noticed that the content areas seem impacted in many different ways --not only on the Exchange (comments etc.) but in the creators' content pages ; I am in the process of tidying up my stash (as I can't play because of computer problems) and I am screencapturing those contents to check what I might have missed, and attribute my present material to its proper creators, when in doubt ; it used to be easy, as only a picture of a lot or mod was shown, with a vey brief summary (if any), so each capture covered at least 6 entries ; now those pages show the entire presentation text of each entry, which makes the screencapturing a long and ultimately not very useful process.
Part of me is glad I am not the only one having an issue, sorry but at least I now know it's not my side of things that is causing the issue if you know what I mean.
Everything's okay on my side. The site is now up and running. :thumbsup:
Quote from: Gwada971 on January 31, 2019, 06:35:42 PM
Everything's okay on my side. The site is now up and running. :thumbsup:
Yes, it seems everything's back to normal, although with a little hiccupy page loading (begins... stops... wait... and then zoom, charges.) ; let's hope the bandaid holds this time ! :) (or better, that it is not a bandaid and that the site won't have problems again. Or not in a long time.)
Bravo and thanks to the valiant admins !
aaaaand... SImtropolis is [expletive deleted] again. Full page presentation of lots, no access to the Reply to Post window... Is the site cursed or what ?
EDIT: Good info, ma'am, but the coarse language doesn't square with your wonderful MD. We get the point in any event. -David
Oupse. Apologies. The ups & downs are getting to me (SC4 is my only escape these days...)
Happened to me when I opened the page with Chrome's download bar up, but I closed it and refreshed and it works now. The dimensions of the content window almost definitely seem to be a factor in that case...
It comes and it goes. It's back for now. Unfair to the admins, that it keeps on happening like that ! &mmm
When downloading as a guest, you get a short advertisement. The ads vary and you can skip them in a few seconds. Problem is, twice in 3 days I have been hit with a virus announcement saying my credit card information is being sent to the virus people. I assume this is a virus or a very bad ad for virus protection.
Both times I immediately cut power to my pc. Upon restarting, a virus scan found no problems.
Thank you,
Jeffrey
Not sure if it's a fake alert from your antivirus, or an ad from a fake antivirus. Just to be sure, I've passed your problem to the rest of the mods and admins of Simtropolis.
Quote from: jjeffrey on February 05, 2019, 09:37:55 PM
When downloading as a guest, you get a short advertisement. The ads vary and you can skip them in a few seconds. Problem is, twice in 3 days I have been hit with a virus announcement saying my credit card information is being sent to the virus people. I assume this is a virus or a very bad ad for virus protection.
Let's just think about that for a second:
- How would your Anti-Virus software know your credit card number?
- Is your credit card number saved on your PC? That's a recipe for problems right there, if not, how could it be stolen?
- How can your Anti-Virus software "interrupt" a browsing session, i.e. appear in your browser or spoofing an Ad?
Clearly this is a scam ad, intended to get you to click on it with some nefarious intent. It is not your AntiVirus and unlikely to be an actual Virus either.
QuoteBoth times I immediately cut power to my pc. Upon restarting, a virus scan found no problems.
I would seriously advise against such a knee-jerk reaction. In any event, removing the network cable, turning off your router or simply disabling the internet on your computer would all have the same effect. Only these do so without any risk of corrupting data being written on your HDD, screwing up Windows or even breaking hardware. The reality is that any message can appear in an ad, from "buy our car" to "the world is ending". Such scare tactics to get you to click on the ad are common and come in many forms. But, provided you don't open them, there should not be any real risk of harm. Afterall, had that ad managed to get malware onto your PC in the first place, re-starting the computer would be unlikely to fix it.
Such scams are prevalent on the internet and not limited to Phising e-mails or malware. The best protection comes from being able to spot something dubious and leave it well alone. Although having some security software to protect you is a sensible precaution also.
Sadly, Simtropolis needs money to fund the free services it provides and that necessitates having ads. As a site, we can not simply choose which ads you will see, like all sites, we have an agreement with a third party that handles this. Sometimes inappropriate ads or scams make it through, when this occurs and we're made aware of them, we can report those to the provider. But ultimately sites have very little control over what content ends up in ads. The real problem is that companies that serve ads, don't really care about protecting people or blocking spurious content. They are willing to turn a blind eye, in order to make money, as has been seen again and again on the internet. That won't really change without a better regulatory system to protect end users.
Quote from: mgb204 on February 06, 2019, 02:30:01 AM
Quote from: jjeffrey on February 05, 2019, 09:37:55 PM
When downloading as a guest, you get a short advertisement. The ads vary and you can skip them in a few seconds. Problem is, twice in 3 days I have been hit with a virus announcement saying my credit card information is being sent to the virus people. I assume this is a virus or a very bad ad for virus protection.
Let's just think about that for a second:
- How would your Anti-Virus software know your credit card number?
- Is your credit card number saved on your PC? That's a recipe for problems right there, if not, how could it be stolen?
- How can your Anti-Virus software "interrupt" a browsing session, i.e. appear in your browser or spoofing an Ad?
Clearly this is a scam ad, intended to get you to click on it with some nefarious intent. It is not your AntiVirus and unlikely to be an actual Virus either.
jjeffrey was quite aware of the possibility of it being a spoof ad, and I have highlighted his words "or a very bad ad for virus protection" for your reference.
As such, starting your response with this: "Let's just think about that for a second:" is quite unnecessarily condescending. You may get away with that sort of behaviour on Simtropolis, but if you want to wear the 'moderator' badge I would suggest being somewhat more helpful and maintaining the implicit values of both sites, such as advising the user that he can avoid ads altogether by logging in prior to downloading or by asking for more information about the ad in question so it can be, as you say, reported by staff as inappropriate to the third party hosting site.
While many people, yourself included, have a lot of broad computer knowledge, many do not. It is neither a crime nor a point for derision if an individual falls into the latter category.
Coming in here with my (metaphorical) Admin hat. Let's try to keep this discussion productive, and allow this thread to act as a catch point for the active ST staff members here to have an exchange of information with SC4D members who are having difficulties using ST. This thread is not intended to be a place to make subjective personal judgments on various tangential matters, or to continue any long-standing personal disagreements. The Site Rules remain in effect as always.
If there are any questions or concerns, feel free to contact myself or another Admin or Global Moderator via PM.
Tarkus
SC4D Admin
Elias, Thank you. To be clear(er) I never got an alert from my antivirus software. A couple of windows popped up and a soothing male voice was telling me that Microsoft had detected a virus and my credit card information was being sent to the bad guys. At that point I turned it off and everything was fine when I rebooted.
-----------------------------------------------------
MGB204:
Quote from: mgb204 on February 06, 2019, 02:30:01 AM
Let's just think about that for a second:
Okay, let's.
Quote
- How would your Anti-Virus software know your credit card number?
- Is your credit card number saved on your PC? That's a recipe for problems right there, if not, how could it be stolen?
No account numbers on my pc. I keep all my credit card numbers on my cell phone.
Quote
- How can your Anti-Virus software "interrupt" a browsing session, i.e. appear in your browser or spoofing an Ad?
Your AV doesn't stop malware while you are browsing?
QuoteClearly this is a scam ad, intended to get you to click on it with some nefarious intent. It is not your AntiVirus and unlikely to be an actual Virus either.
Agreed, but Simtropolis can probably find out for certain what it is.
QuoteBoth times I immediately cut power to my pc. Upon restarting, a virus scan found no problems.
I would seriously advise against such a knee-jerk reaction(LOL). In any event, removing the network cable, turning off your router or simply disabling the internet on your computer would all have the same effect. Only these do so without any risk of corrupting data being written on your HDD, screwing up Windows or even breaking hardware.
Turning off the computer is the quickest for me. And once a virus starts writing to your pc, quick is best in spite of the potential problems you mention. IMHO.
Quote. Afterall, had that ad managed to get malware onto your PC in the first place, re-starting the computer would be unlikely to fix it.
I know, but it gives my nerves time to calm down.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MATTB325, You're great. THANKS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TARKUS, Always nice to hear from you.
Jeffrey
Ran into it again but the nice man wasn't reading it to me. So, I copied it and put it here. Also, I was unable to close the window and had to use task manager to end it.
It's fake. The call number doesn't belong to Microsoft at all. And since you don't have your credit card number at your PC, don't let it scares you. This is not the first time there's been reports of inappropriate ads. Sadly Simtropolis can't do a lot to manage the ads, although you can report the ads to minimize them. But ads that threaten or even install malware on someone's system are totally and explicitly unacceptable. The Simtropolis admins are working for a solution. More updates soon.
Quote from: jjeffrey on February 06, 2019, 03:29:27 PM
Elias, Thank you. To be clear(er) I never got an alert from my antivirus software. A couple of windows popped up and a soothing male voice was telling me that Microsoft had detected a virus and my credit card information was being sent to the bad guys. At that point I turned it off and everything was fine when I rebooted.
Which is pretty much a textbook spoof/scam. All that's required for you to see it is to load the code, which in this case is coming from an Ad.
Quote from: jjeffreyNo account numbers on my pc. I keep all my credit card numbers on my cell phone.
Frankly that's probably less secure than your PC, I wouldn't personally.
Quote from: jjeffreyYour AV doesn't stop malware while you are browsing?
Yes and no. My AV software doesn't pop up in my browser, because that would set of alarm bells, it's bad practise and I don't know of any security software that works like this. But, should a detectable threat occur, my AV software would itself pop up. But the two things are not the same. If you trust your AV software to keep you secure, then having not seen such an alert from the AV app, you can be reasonably confident there is no virus.
You can be certain however, no AV software will say it's from MS, use pre-recorded audio or tell you to call a phone number.
Quote from: MGB204Clearly this is a scam ad, intended to get you to click on it with some nefarious intent. It is not your AntiVirus and unlikely to be an actual Virus either.Quote from: jjeffreyAgreed, but Simtropolis can probably find out for certain what it is.
Well again yes and no, because as I stated before, we aren't serving this ad to you, a third party is. We can report the problem, but it's not like we've done a deal with those behind the scam. Nor is the code that makes this occur hosted on ST at any point.
It would be better to contact one of the Moderators/Admins at ST directly in such an event.
Quote from: jjeffreyBoth times I immediately cut power to my pc. Upon restarting, a virus scan found no problems...
...Turning off the computer is the quickest for me. And once a virus starts writing to your pc, quick is best in spite of the potential problems you mention. IMHO.
Right, but you are ignoring a key point in respect of these scams, you've basically fallen for the scam. Because step 1 in falling for these scams is simply believing what you see. That is exactly what the fraudsters need in order for their scam to work. If you allow yourself to get caught up in the shock factor, you are far more likely to call that number without thinking. Then you are on your way to being really screwed over.
Similarly, switching off your PC is a really bad idea, which I point out because others may read this and take it as advice to follow. Viruses don't start "writing" to your machine and take hours to do so. Viruses/Malware are usually very small bits of code, in the time it would take you to hit the power switch, you'd almost certainly have the infection. Once the code is on your machine, re-starting be dammed, your PC is now compromised. So even if it made you feel better, it has done you nothing but potential harm.
Hence I used the phrase "Let's just think about that for a second:". Because that was intended as a reflection on the best method to protect yourself. Stop a moment and don't just assume what you see is the truth. I'm sorry if some find this condescending, but is certainly wasn't meant to be.
Of course, this Ad should not be served by ST, it shouldn't exist full stop. But these scams are sadly all to prevalent and as an internet user, you need to protect yourself. The #1 way to do this is to be able to recognise when something is not right.
MGB204: The purpose of my post was to let Elias know what was happening, which I did, even if you explained it better.
And, I would not advise anyone to just turn off their computer. So, thanks for letting everyone know it really is a bad idea. (Of course, that won't stop me from doing it.)
BTW, I'm signing in to ST now. :bnn:
(https://i.imgur.com/REpK0gd.jpg)
Simtropolis admin Cyclone Boom has some excellent news for everybody (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/71492-site-updates-announcements/?do=findComment&comment=1708729) ;D
Goodbye, AdFly!
(https://www.simtropolis.com/objects/attachments/monthly_2019_02/bug-swat.gif.909de8a204c807d1eda3d1823cfec2e3.gif)
Download button adverts zapped from the STEX.
For a while Simtropolis has relied on the pay-per-click advertisement service AdFly for files on our exchange. You'll have noticed this when attempting to download something on the STEX when browsing as a guest. Over the past few years this has been a valuable source of funding for site maintenance.
However, we've now fully removed this for 3 main reasons:
1. Serving of unsuitable adverts
There have been numerous reports of adverts being misleading and causing panic to people who experience them. Examples include those which popup and craftily make themselves known as a "Download Now" panel which is easily mistaken as being related to the STEX file itself. Whereas the Skip Ad function is hidden away in the corner and can easily be overlooked. Also some have reported adverts involving click-bait scams (https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/microsoftsecure/2017/04/03/tech-support-scams-persist-with-increasingly-crafty-techniques/) requesting a user action. This is completely and utterly unacceptable, and it's been going on for far too long now. To anyone including jjeffrey who've experienced such adverts, we're really sorry for this happening.
2. Inconvenience to the downloader
For those downloading from the STEX for the first time, needing to navigate through a maze of adverts becomes a tedious extra hassle. Initial impressions count, and we want people to feel most welcome when they visit Simtropolis for the first time. Being presented with adverts, especially iffy ones, isn't what anyone wants.
3. Revenue generated is negligible nowadays
Although the AdFly adverts were still generating a marginal monthly revenue, there has to be a line drawn here. As such we've now added a new info panel to the downloads sidebar per file, encouraging guests to donate and receive the STEX Collections (https://community.simtropolis.com/omnibus/simtropolis-articles/stex-collections/) as a gift with a minimum donation. We feel this is a less intrusive method to help with site funding. Additionally the info box describing about daily guest limits now includes dialog links to the Sign Up (https://community.simtropolis.com/register/) or Login (https://community.simtropolis.com/login/) forms for convenience.
As follows:
(https://www.simtropolis.com/objects/attachments/monthly_2019_02/5c5dba0a943c7_NewSTEXGuestsSidebarPanelv1.png.20e13bc5702d21ebd49a368dbdd2cf09.png)
We hope AdFly finally being told to fly away is of great benefit to those who experienced this persistently perilous needless noxious nuisance.
For more info (and some best practices), read:
Tech Support Scams (https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/microsoftsecure/2017/04/03/tech-support-scams-persist-with-increasingly-crafty-techniques/)
... a Microsoft article that Google found simply by searching on the phone number in the image.