SCOUTER-Terry

Folks - We repaired some exploits that occurred on SCOUTER.com last night, and believe all is well again. The code for SCOUTER.com is more than ten years old (the site's been online since 1995!) and has tens of thousands of pages, including thousands of free hosting sites for troops, some of which get exploited). Short of a total rewrite of the site (no small task), we're dealing with these as they come up, and working on locking down the most common exploit zones. Everything appears to be safe and secure now. Please feel free to post if you find anything suspicious or concer

Brief Hillcourt bio on this site... http://www.scouter.com/features/0290.asp I have started, a few times, to craft the book, but regret it has not been done... Certainly open to collaboration.

The warning is because one of the thousands or free web hosting accounts that we provide on this site for Scout units got hijacked and a phishing scam was upload to that area. It was completely non-threatening to any site visitor, unless that went to that URL (http://host.scouter.com/ny/torr/____, which has now been deleted). Unfortunatley, many times a unit abandons the free site, or someone creates one under false pretences. It's difficult to police... but anything that is loaded into those sites is of no real consequence to visitors to the forum, and Norton was warning you that just some pa

Thanks for sharing NJ... I woke up this morning remembering Bill. If you haven't taken the time to learn about Bill, check out the Wikipedia page, or his own autobiographical sketch on SCOUTER.com. This from a note I posted on the site three years ago... In 1991, I was 19 years old and William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt was 91. He used to get a kick out of the symmetry of those numbers, and the fact that we spent nearly every day of that year together as unlikely friends. I had come to know Bill Hillcourt not unlike thousands of others he met each year... I waited in line at the 19

Hello Everybody, My tech has gotten back to me and here is an update for all of you. Uploads are working! but... you have to use Internet Explorer. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are both verified to not work properly for this upload functionality but they work fine for the rest of the site.

testing post-server move

Hello Everyone, I've got one of my tech guys looking at things right now. I will post here again to let you guys know when I hear back from him. Thanks for your patience! -SCOUTER-Terry

A couple more configuration changes have been made which should help with some of the sites that weren't loading (Virtual Directory listing denied errors). Also uploading capabilities should be working as expected. Thank you for reporting issues.

Folks - I apologize for the site instability over the past month, and especially during the past week. The hardware this site runs on experienced some failures, and we had to migrate to a new set of servers. Much of the code for SCOUTER.com is more than ten years old (wow, this site has been around since the dark ages of the Internet!), so migrating to new hardware is wrought with peril. I believe everything is now stable, and working as expected. If you experience any trouble, please post in this thread, or use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page. TERRY HOWERTON

Additional test

This is a test of forum notification (repairing).

This user has (on several occasions over the past several years and under several pseudonyms) been banned from this site. I'm bewildered why he shows up over and again. And while we can continue to deactivate accounts, block IP addresses, and delete messages, it's all just a big waste of time akin to chasing off a feral cat. So, once again, the moderators will be deleting posts. But, left with no other solution for resolving this, I suppose the next best option is to publish his contact information in the forum, so they might reach out to him at his home and his work over and again

Now 16 years have passed... sometimes it seems like yesterday. TERRY HOWERTON

OGE - the difference here is that the California law recognizes two different degrees of changing their constitution... minor changes may be done through "amendments", but major changes (such as takin away rights that impact a minority) is considered a "revison". Revisions require two-thirds vote of the people. This really doesn't come as a surprise to the proponents of Prop 8... they knew from the start the proper ballot initiative they needed to bring was one that required a super majority, but that they didn't have the votes. So instead they tried to "amend" the constitution, knowing full

Before the election I wrote ten reasons why I would vote for Obama. I can think of at least eleven high priority, executive actions he should take now that he's been elected. The job before Obama is as complex and daunting as any President has faced since FDR. A global economy in crisis, two wars, a resilient radical Islamist threat throughout the world Americas hard power is stretched too thin, and our soft power is deeply eroded. Here at home, he faces a workforce still not ready for a flat world, an abysmal secondary education system, millions of Americans without health care,

And this is generally the opposite (though hilariously similar to some reactions here): http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/209727/ TERRY HOWERTON

This is what political grace looks like: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/05/colin.powell.reaction.cnn TERRY HOWERTON

Here's part of what's driving the mandate: the Republican Party just got a whole lot smaller yesterday. I wasn't the only one who left the GOP... across the country in down ballot offices the Republican brand is tarnished, this following 2006 and there's simply no mistaking the country's message. And if you look at the exit polls between those under 40 and those over, I'd say it's likely the Republican brand has been devastated for a generation. Yes, the Republican Party became smaller... geographically and demographically. The question remains whether the GOP will also become smaller ide

America hasn't forgotten 9/11, and I'm anxious to punish the folks responsible for it. I think Obama's election will result in a more targeted and effective prosecution of that battle. I also think his election may do more to diffuse the spread of radical Islamist ideology (still the greatest threat in today's world) than any war. That's not because he's "not Bush", and I certainly don't expect any appeasement. You're welcome to your opinion (obviously), but don't read into my words something that isn't there. Now back to work... for five percent of America, there's a tax increase c

Obama: "This victory alone is not the change we seek, it is only the chance for us to make that change." My admiration goes to McCain, a man who showed grace and love of country in accepting defeat. I'm confident he will regain my respect as a great hero. My awe goes to Obama, simple awe. The face of America has changed. Andrew Sullivan wrote in the Atlantic a year ago: "If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obamas face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can." Tonight

... regardless of the final outcome (and as of 8:30pm CST it already looks near certain), the real winner tonight is America. Record voters heard, record new voters involved. The beauty of America is the ability to transcend, the spirit of America is hope for a better tomorrow than today. We're blessed to live in the greatest country on earth, and amongst people who value freedom, justice and opportunity for all. TERRY HOWERTON

>>Both Obama and Palin are inexperienced. Hops, my concern with Palin is not just about a total lack of experience in foreign or national affairs. It's mostly about capacity for the job. As I said, the Presidency is an exhaustive position, with no real time to develop intellectual capital... you pretty much work with what you bring to the job. Bush got beat up for saying "I'm the decider"... and while it was yet another of his boorish quips, he's generally right. By the time something comes to the President's desk, it's all about the "final decision". In that role, I want someone

Yeah, Beaver, it is a funny point. And I would guess a ton of the disapproval of Congress (from the Right, Left and Center of America) is driven by frustration... frustration over how ineffective Congress has been in balancing President Bush and enacting a vision for America. My disapproval of Congress has less to do with their action than their inaction. TERRY HOWERTON

>> where does democracy end, and socialism begin? Are we already there? Yes. And we lept a heck of a lot closer over the past couple of months. Of course, I know you realize democracy and socialism are not alternatives to each other, and that Social Security, Medicare, school lunch programs and public schools are are a bit socialistic, right? The point is how silly the argument is that Obama will somehow shift America into the USSR circa 1980. There's no part of his policies or statements that would support that contention. >> starts making coal-fired plants pay for

Kahuna - you missed the point. Obama may appoint liberal justices... but it's as a replacement to liberal justices. To claim this as something to worry about and that the balance of influence may shift wildly seems overly excitable. This charge of "activist judges" has always been that they substitute their own views for those of the elected branches. But what about the current "conservative court" that did just that last year, ironically, by nullifying a key part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law? Let's admit all judges are activists for their vision of the law. The ques