There are no breaches in my TWGS or home network. TWGS Admin ports are not even reachable outside of my network’s local Linux server, which only has SSH open. And if you know anything about SSH, you know it’s tight.

So here are the logs of the offender. Let me know if you recognize the IP via the forums…

[agustin@sugarcube agustin]$ grep 68.105.33.124 TWGame.LOG -A 1
07:40:24 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Lucifer(38): Ran Tradewars 2002.
07:41:44 PM 12/15/2003 Lucifer(38): Normal exit
—
07:42:26 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Kurtz(4): Ran Tradewars 2002.
07:43:19 PM 12/15/2003 Kurtz(4): Normal exit
07:45:04 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Lucifer(38): Ran Tradewars 2002.
07:46:16 PM 12/15/2003 Lucifer(38): Normal exit
07:46:26 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Droth(17): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Droth self-destructed at 07:47:07 PM on 12/15/2003
—
07:49:42 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Animal(26): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Animal self-destructed at 07:49:51 PM on 12/15/2003
—
07:50:11 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 nudo(8): Ran Tradewars 2002.
nudo self-destructed at 07:50:26 PM on 12/15/2003
—
07:50:46 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 KilRoy(9): Ran Tradewars 2002.
KilRoy self-destructed at 07:50:53 PM on 12/15/2003
—
07:51:12 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Droth(17): Ran Tradewars 2002.
07:51:13 PM 12/15/2003 Droth(17): Normal exit
07:51:27 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Widowmaker(15): Ran Tradewars 2002.
07:55:47 PM 12/15/2003 Widowmaker(15): Normal exit
07:59:39 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 rogue(14): Ran Tradewars 2002.
rogue self-destructed at 07:59:42 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:00:00 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Rudy(11): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Rudy self-destructed at 08:00:03 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:00:24 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Kurtz(4): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Kurtz self-destructed at 08:00:35 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:02:21 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Widowmaker(15): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Widowmaker self-destructed at 08:02:23 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:02:43 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Artbat(22): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Artbat self-destructed at 08:02:48 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:03:00 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Lucifer(38): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Lucifer self-destructed at 08:03:05 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:03:47 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 firoso(28): Ran Tradewars 2002.
firoso self-destructed at 08:03:53 PM on 12/15/2003
—
08:04:21 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Shyenkur(10): Ran Tradewars 2002.
Shyenkur self-destructed at 08:04:23 PM on 12/15/2003
—
09:29:13 PM 12/15/2003 68.105.33.124 Lucifer(38): Ran Tradewars 2002.
09:29:15 PM 12/15/2003 Lucifer(38): Normal exit
—
07:51:49 AM 12/16/2003 68.105.33.124 Lucifer(38): Ran Tradewars 2002.
07:52:30 AM 12/16/2003 Lucifer(38): Normal exit
[agustin@sugarcube agustin]$ nslookup 68.105.33.124
Note: nslookup is deprecated and may be removed from future releases.
Consider using the `dig’ or `host’ programs instead. Run nslookup with
the `-sil[ent]’ option to prevent this message from appearing.

Authoritative answers can be found from:
33.105.68.in-addr.arpa nameserver = ns.cox.net.
33.105.68.in-addr.arpa nameserver = ns.west.cox.net.
33.105.68.in-addr.arpa nameserver = ns.east.cox.net.
ns.cox.net internet address = 68.1.17.237
ns.west.cox.net internet address = 68.111.106.76
ns.east.cox.net internet address = 68.12.19.237

I’m swapping out the SugarCube server for more important tasks. The new machine, “Phade”, will take it’s place. Transition should be quick.

We lose another quality server…

Hello to all users at Coastgames.com.

Jerry Brown
Sysop/Owner Coastgames.com
https://www.coastgames.com
telnet://twgs.coastgames.com

Who’s stepping up to the plate to fill the void?

Alien Base will be opening 6 new games today. Read more about it here.

This isn’t dupe monitoring, it’s monitoring of the server itself. I am now regularly checking for connection availability, telnet connectivity, free disk space, CPU usage and TWGS threads. If any one of these falls below threshold, I’ll get a page about it. Hopefully, this will help me avoid lag and downtime in the future. That IS the goal.

Testing is over! General impressions I get is the server is now fast and stable. On Monday, I’ll reopen the TWGS with two fresh games. The first, Phade, will be one bad mama jama based on Massive, a huge game with a ton of ships. The second game, Octane, will be a very high turn cash fest, designed to give everyone a fighting chance and be resistant to a quick win. Advertisement banners will start with more details in a few hours.

By Friday, I’ll open even more games with some fresh concepts. I’ll do my damnest to break the mold. Seems to me like there is a whole lot of boredom going on out there, and I don’t like it.

Some features of the TWGS that will be available immediately are…

Live Game Logs – This was a feature of the previous server and will be a feature of this one.

Live Backups – I’ll be running backups every 15 minutes of the games, while they are active. This might be not be bulletproof, but it’ll be decent. I have a machine and hard drive dedicated to this task seperate from the TWGS itself.

Live Dupe Checking – Another function my dedicated backup machine will do is check for dupes on the fly. You dupe, I will know within minutes. Simple as that. Again, not foolproof, but there are lots of fools who WILL get caught.

Dupe checking will be replaced in month or so with forced game registration via the website, but for now I don’t think that added hassle would be healthy for the player counts.

Oh yeah, if you’re currently playing Game W, it will continue. BTW, Game W has ZERO RULES, so dupe away.

I needed a fresh test slate, so the only game on the TWGS has been rebanged. Please post notes in the forum.

Stability testing officially resumes. Please post your thoughts in the forums. I plan to bang an array of games in a day or two if things go well. I hope to take this sucker straight to gold ASAP. It’s been long enough!

To celebrate, I present the ductape bikini contest.

It’s been a long hard few months here at work. My boss resigned, and I am the only one who can pick up the slack. But, I’ve emerged from the ordeal with a promotion and a raise worth bragging about. Now that things are settled down, I plan to get the HS website going again.

First order of business will be to get the update checker a little more accurate. The second will be to raise the TWGS. There is no reason it’s not running other than I just didn’t want it up yet. It’s sitting right here.

Someone brought up to me that I should do more game coverage news. Why? I don’t play in the games. I don’t even pay attention. There are other people who do that already, and do a good job of it.

Truth of the matter is I don’t really want to concern myself with other people’s events. That’s why I have guest editors. They do that already. If you want to post stuff to the website, let me know and I’ll consider giving you access to the news poster. More posters the better.

BTW, anyone seen my Ent. Editor?

From the BBSmates newsletter:
John Pritchett is the current developer/owner of the popular door game Trade Wars.

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