ASSLR Phase 1 Launched

[Some Dude]

Hello,

Phase 1 of ASSLR has been launched. This is the most basic version of the site with domains for each author to access files they upload via FTPS. There is no overall home page for author lists, searching, etc.

I would like to bring on a good amount of authors so I can see how well the server performs. If you are interested, please message me directly.

If people adopt the new site, I'll start a new discussion on Phase 2 and what it will entail. There are a good amount of details to work out.

- SD

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Sun, 7 Aug 2022 13:49:20 -0700 (PDT), Some Dude <somedu...@gmail.com>
wrote in <4f78f99c-a5a7-416b...@googlegroups.com>:

I can happily report that I've uploaded my site yesterday (Saturday)
afternoon and also made updates as I been making changes.

I have not found any issues with what is available except that FTP does not
retain file date stamps. Don't know if this is a limitation of the server
program or a setting.

You are invited to try it and even read my stories and comment.

The URL is https://yleecoyote.asslr.org/

Of course, a great big THANK YOU to Some Dude for all is hard work and
great dedication.

Y
P&E

[Chris H]

I also tested successfully. I didn't upload my whole site, but just my home page and my supporting files. All looks good so far.

~Chris

[HBB Writes]

On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 5:17:09 PM UTC-4, Y Lee Coyote wrote:
> I have not found any issues with what is available except that FTP does not
> retain file date stamps. Don't know if this is a limitation of the server
> program or a setting.

I recall you mentioning you use FileZilla? If so, sounded like the following could be the culprit:
https://filezillapro.com/docs/v3/advanced/preserve-timestamps/

> You are invited to try it and even read my stories and comment.
> The URL is https://yleecoyote.asslr.org/

Just took a peek myself, and from what I observed, everything looks indistinguishable from your site as it did on asstr.org -- at least, at first glance! I also appreciated the updated info in the Links section! :-)

> Of course, a great big THANK YOU to Some Dude for all is hard work and
> great dedication.

Could not agree more! 💖😁

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Mon, 8 Aug 2022 14:31:09 -0700 (PDT), HBB Writes
<TempusL7...@proton.me> wrote in
<64c01819-278e-4856...@googlegroups.com>:

>On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 5:17:09 PM UTC-4, Y Lee Coyote wrote:
>> I have not found any issues with what is available except that FTP does not
>> retain file date stamps. Don't know if this is a limitation of the server
>> program or a setting.
>
>I recall you mentioning you use FileZilla? If so, sounded like the following could be the culprit:
>https://filezillapro.com/docs/v3/advanced/preserve-timestamps/

I have the preserve time stamps set in Filezilla and it works with ASSTR.
It requires the site server to have the capability. Hopefull SD will find
that setting if it exists.

>> You are invited to try it and even read my stories and comment.
>> The URL is https://yleecoyote.asslr.org/
>
>Just took a peek myself, and from what I observed, everything looks indistinguishable from your site as it did on asstr.org -- at least, at first glance! I also appreciated the updated info in the Links section! :-)

That is true except for the 'this page url is' and the ASSTR appeal block
is gone. I'm partway through adding optional image loading as explained on
the Direct.htm page.

>> Of course, a great big THANK YOU to Some Dude for all is hard work and
>> great dedication.
>

>Could not agree more! ??
Aye.

Y

[Some Dude]

Glad you all were able to try it out. Got a handful of authors somewhat hosted now. If you know any other authors, have them reach out. So far I've got about 8 hours of work into the site, so not a crazy amount of effort. Phase 2 will be more involved once custom code is needed.

As for the timestamps, I've enabled the only setting there is for VSFTPD. If that still doesn't work, I don't have any other options right now.

- SD

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Tue, 9 Aug 2022 13:42:38 -0700 (PDT), Isabella Cook
<isabell...@gmail.com> wrote in
<b840b6c9-2cee-4048...@googlegroups.com>:

>I've managed to post my stories today https://isabella.asslr.org/#section

Its seems to work as expected.

Y

[alvot...@gmail.com]

Some Dude,

I do not know how to message you directly, but I would be happy to try uploading an edited version of my ASSTR site into your new platform.

--Alvo

[Physical Ocean Man]

I really hope this project succeeds! What features do you want to eventually add? Is there a plan for a search function/homepage some day?

I hope that the saved stories from the ASSTR mirrors can be migrated also, as well as the more recent authors that I'm not sure how to access anymore (I'm specifically hoping to read stories by Broadsword again). Does anyone know how to contact authors to let them know of the new migration, if this is the most "official" ASSTR successor?

[Carl Zak Brown]

On Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 4:57:10 AM UTC+1, Physical Ocean Man wrote:
> I really hope this project succeeds! What features do you want to eventually add? Is there a plan for a search function/homepage some day?
>
> I hope that the saved stories from the ASSTR mirrors can be migrated also, as well as the more recent authors that I'm not sure how to access anymore (I'm specifically hoping to read stories by Broadsword again). Does anyone know how to contact authors to let them know of the new migration, if this is the most "official" ASSTR successor?

There are thousands (perhaps millions) of copies of asstr stories on web.archive.org (the "wayback machine") . A fairly recent copy of Broadsword's stories is at web.archive.org/web/20190519074325/https://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/Broadsword/

The web archive appears to have deliberately removed some asstr entries. For instance, the Loliwood studios archive has been removed.

Many authors who removed their stories from asstr years ago are still available through the web archive. For instance Steve Saint's stories are there at web.archive.org/web/20070710192526/http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/Stevesaint

Of course, we want to see new stories too. I can't wait to see Alvo Torelli's stories on asslr.

[Kairu Hakubi]

> The web archive appears to have deliberately removed some asstr entries. For instance, the Loliwood studios archive has been removed.

Damn. They used to be better about that sort of thing. I've also just now realized that looking stuff up on google and hitting 'cached' is not close to providing the full archive, even if you know just what to search for. Google appears to have loliwood on total lockdown too, and as usual duckduckgo is no help, so I guess that's solid gone.
Do we really only have a full site backup as of 2017? Which if I'm not mistaken would still be missing several prior years that got lost in a server fart?

[Some Dude]

On Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 10:57:10 PM UTC-5, Physical Ocean Man wrote:
> I really hope this project succeeds! What features do you want to eventually add? Is there a plan for a search function/homepage some day?
>
> I hope that the saved stories from the ASSTR mirrors can be migrated also, as well as the more recent authors that I'm not sure how to access anymore (I'm specifically hoping to read stories by Broadsword again). Does anyone know how to contact authors to let them know of the new migration, if this is the most "official" ASSTR successor?

I will be posting phase 2 plans in a day or two. I have some things figured out and others I will need assistance on. Yes, a search function and homepage will be coming.

Currently, about 10 authors have reached out and now have an account. If anyone knows an author, just have them contact me. The more it grows, the more of an 'official' successor it can become.

- SD

[HBB Writes]

On Friday, August 19, 2022 at 12:22:30 AM UTC-4, Some Dude wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 10:57:10 PM UTC-5, Physical Ocean Man wrote:
> > I really hope this project succeeds! What features do you want to eventually add? Is there a plan for a search function/homepage some day?

<snip>

> Yes, a search function and homepage will be coming.

Oh, those both sound fabulous! :-) Given the computational complexity of content searching functions, I figure that part will naturally be a steadily progressing "onwards and upwards" process, perhaps starting with a "minimum viable product" with incremental improvements over time? Homepage also sounds awesome, but for the time being, something as simple as an "Author Listing" page might be even better still, some URL like "https://asslr.org/authors.htm" perhaps?

I have a few thoughts about "features" -- perhaps for Phase 3, or 4, or...honestly, if/when S.D. deems is best! Based on my own preferences, though your mileage may vary naturally.

+++ For starters, I was thinking of accompanying official (or semi-official?) author/collection "blurbs" -- just as concise paragraphs of a few sentences, explaining what a particular collection or author is all about, thematically speaking. With a limited number of authors at present, it's easy to just go check out pages individually and browse for a bit until I have a better understanding...easy peasy, lemon-squeezy! ;-) But as the authors/collections listing grows ever more numerous, into the tens and eventually hundreds, any help to pick and choose where to look first will be of incalculable benefit...

+++ Also, somewhere down the line, I'd personally love a corresponding discussion forum -- perhaps running on top of phpBB or some other comparable (and free!) bulletin board software. With a small team of admins and mods, where both readers and authors could sign up for accounts on a voluntary basis, should they feel so inclined. Why? Just because I'm the kind of person who, speaking for myself at least, greatly enjoys engaging in online discourse (from informal chats to more "cerebral" deep discussions) with other members of the associated "community of choice" -- both fellow readers and fellow writers, alike! Anything from writing style, to character development, to reader engagement, etc. etc....so on and so forth.

Individual "one-on-one" e-mail correspondences are of course an option, but I also feel like the "communal" nature of a forum thread with several participants does offer something extra! :-D Of course, this is just me being an idealist, and I do understand that an active discussion forum would be a tall order, so it may be one of those "nice-to-have" wish list items to disregard until a more distant future time.

Earlier, I was also planning to make a THIRD feature suggestion, but then I realized there's no need for it because, honestly, S.D. is already doing a *spectacular* job of progressing things forward -- not to mention being so wonderfully communicative, throughout the process. The planning and conceptualizing (e.g., phases) has been quite practical and logical, the tangible results have consistently appeared functional and successful, and I have personally found SD's responsiveness, in and of itself, so wonderfully refreshing. Inspires continuing growth of both optimism and confidence in this ongoing ASSLR development endeavor, and I really couldn't ask for more!

> Currently, about 10 authors have reached out and now have an account. If anyone knows an author, just have them contact me. The more it grows, the more of an 'official' successor it can become.

On a related note, I wanted to ask if P. Writer's recent question about *collections* was ever definitively answered? From my own user-side perspective, I would assume "collections" work the same way as pages for individual authors: One (or more?) persons responsible for pushing/uploading the latest version's HTML, CSS, and other client-side content to the site. Only difference being, rather than centering on a single author's content, it would be multiple authors' content -- merely being funneled through the collector and their author account, with the collector taking on a "gatherer/organizer" role of sorts....? However, that's only my personal speculation, but the reality could be markedly different...

Regardless, the communications and results around ASSLR and the Phases appears to bode well for people's hopes and wishes, and while none can predict the future, I find the prospects and projected outcomes eminently promising. Keep up the great work, Some Dude...you're rocking it! <thumbs-up>

[Carl Zak Brown]

On Friday, August 19, 2022 at 5:22:30 AM UTC+1, Some Dude wrote:

> Currently, about 10 authors have reached out and now have an account. If anyone knows an author, just have them contact me. The more it grows, the more of an 'official' successor it can become.
>
> - SD

Hi Some Dude,

Could you publish a list of the author sites available so far? I know about Isabella and Y Lee Coyote but what are the others?

[Tap Dance]

On Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 7:57:10 PM UTC-8, Physical Ocean Man wrote:
> I really hope this project succeeds! What features do you want to eventually add? Is there a plan for a search function/homepage some day?
>
> I hope that the saved stories from the ASSTR mirrors can be migrated also, as well as the more recent authors that I'm not sure how to access anymore (I'm specifically hoping to read stories by Broadsword again). Does anyone know how to contact authors to let them know of the new migration, if this is the most "official" ASSTR successor?

I have contacted Broadsword (he's the only author I have an email for), as of now he hasn't decided to contact SD, he is considering an alternative route.

Does anyone have a comprehensive list of author contacts? An mass email might be helpful to get more interest.

TD

[Some Dude]

I did get a basic forum setup. Looking for people to administer it, no volunteers so far on my other post.

As for collections, if someone wants to maintain one and has rights to post the stories, I can set them up an account. What I have so far is just some basic server hosting authors can do whatever they want with.

In the future collections may be database driven where various stories are added to a collection and will automatically be displayed in a part of the main site. No one would have to maintain a separate account for it.

- SD

[Some Dude]

Since some authors haven't fully finished their uploading their content or only have done some basic tests, I'm refraining from announcing all the accounts. Figured they can do that when they are ready.

Once there is an official publish system (which is planned in phase 2), authors will be displayed in a public authors list.

- SD

[Some Dude]

I'm curious if he gave a reason for not reaching out. Always looking for feedback on what authors want to join the site. This project only makes sense if they want to use it.

- SD

[Vanessa Evans]

I too don't know how to message you SD. Also I wouldn't describe myself as very computer literate. I would like my attempt at a website on asstr to appear on asslr if that is possible. On asstr I also had a large archive of microsoft word document stories that could easily be classified as a collection and would be happy for them to appear on asslr . I am quite happy to help with your testing just as long as it is simple to follow.
Vanessa Evans

[Some Dude]

Just send me an email at somedu...@gmail.com with the username you would like to use. I'll send over FTP info once I get the account setup. Everything should work similar to ASSTR, all you need is some FTP knowledge.

- SD

[Tap Dance]

He didn't give a reason, but when I first contacted him a few weeks ago there was that conversation about banning pedo and incest works. I know that he was afraid at that time that his works wouldn't be accepted. I forwarded your response that you will be accepting these works. I don't know if that whole discussion spooked him, or if it's something else altogether.

TD

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Sun, 21 Aug 2022 21:21:37 -0700 (PDT), Vanessa Evans
<69vanes...@gmail.com> wrote in
<655ffc51-9dfe-40f7...@googlegroups.com>:

<snip>

>I too don't know how to message you SD. Also I wouldn't describe myself as very computer literate. I would like my attempt at a website on asstr to appear on asslr if that is possible. On asstr I also had a large archive of microsoft word document stories that could easily be classified as a collection and would be happy for them to appear on asslr . I am quite happy to help with your testing just as long as it is simple to follow.
>Vanessa Evans

Please note that I am just commenting and not speaking for SD. I see that
there are several potential issue with this.

First, there is copyright. If your collection is the result of downloading
stories posted on the web, then reposting them is a violation unless you
can get permission. If you have posting permission from the owners, that
is a different story. This is likely since they were on ASSTR. This is
not clear from your post.

Second, there is personal info. Microsoft word documents are designed to
be worked on collectively in an office environment and as such they contain
a lot of personal/business data which must be removed before posting to a
site such as ASSLR.

Third, browsers do not support DOCX, DOC, or other proprietary formats and
treat them as downloaded files to opened by programs such as word
processors and others. This is even true for RTF which was designed as an
interchange format.

I will note that many word processors can open DOCX and then save them as
HTML which are suitable for the web. The quality of the markup varies and
is especially poor from MS Word. (Again, personal info must be removed.)

Looking in the Wayback Machine, I saw that your files were htm rather than
docx. This is a very important difference. HTM files are appropriate for
the web.

HTH,

Y
P&E

[HBB Writes]

On Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 12:18:11 PM UTC-4, Y Lee Coyote wrote:

All great points, thanks! I wanted to add my thoughts, on just a few...

<snip>

> Third, browsers do not support DOCX, DOC, or other proprietary formats and
> treat them as downloaded files to opened by programs such as word
> processors and others. This is even true for RTF which was designed as an
> interchange format.

Speaking generally, I always tend to be personally highly in favor of browser-supported file formats (e.g., HTML and/or PDF) for the ease of clicking a link, going forward to the linked page, perusing the material to my heart's content, and then clicking back to the previous page. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I do find a non-trivial "deterrent effect" in clicking a hyperlink, only for it to trigger a "download" dialog instead of simply carrying me to a new page -- requiring the creation of a new file, opening in a separate app, and subsequent deletion of said file. Followed by eventual emptying of my Recycle Bin/Trash can....

One possible compromise could be offering readers links to browser extensions (for Chrome, Firefox, etc.) that allow for reading DOCX and other normally non-supported formats, within the web browser. For example...
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/docs-online-viewer/gmpljdlgcdkljlppaekciacdmdlhfeon?hl=en

> I will note that many word processors can open DOCX and then save them as
> HTML which are suitable for the web. The quality of the markup varies and
> is especially poor from MS Word. (Again, personal info must be removed.)

Not as big of a deal here, in light of the below, but I figured it would be worth mentioning, for the relevance to other file format scenarios. As Y Lee said, DOCX-to-HTML conversion is a thing, but you often end up with so much proprietary gobbledygook in the resulting markup, which can be a PITA trying to clean-up! :-( For anyone interested, one place to start would be a simple Google search like the following:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ms+word+html+cleaner

> Looking in the Wayback Machine, I saw that your files were htm rather than
> docx. This is a very important difference. HTM files are appropriate for
> the web.

Two thumbs up for HTM! :-D

[Doug Taylor]

Just to clear up a few misconceptions the DOCX format is no longer proprietary it has been passed to the Open XML Foundation who now maintain it.

You can find excellent DOCX to HTML or PDF converters on the Open XML Power Tools Website

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:22:23 -0700 (PDT), Doug Taylor
<Doug....@taymade.co.uk> wrote in
<b626cfe0-220e-47e6...@googlegroups.com>:

Thank you for that info.

Although browsers often have a PDF reader built in they can also use
several PDF processor as add-ons. It should be note that pdf presents a
page image -- usually of a normal size page about 8inches (20cm) wide. When
displayed on a narrow screen (3in/8cm) the text is very small or requires
constant sideways scrolling if zoomed to normal readable size. Not a good
format to use.

Y

[alvot...@gmail.com]

For those who are interested: I have successfully uploaded a version of my ASSTR site to ASSLR with the URL:

https://alvotorelli.asslr.org

It's a fairly complete version of my old site, sans the wretched poetry. No new stories - yet.

I want to take this chance to thank Some Dude for the work he/she is doing to create a new, viable venue for all of us.

-Alvo Torelli.

[Vanessa Evans]

So guys, am I right in thinking that you believe that I should convert all my stories and archive files from .docx format to .html format before hopefully being able to upload them to ASSTLR?

Vanessa Evans
vanessa...@hotmail.com

[HBB Writes]

On Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 2:30:04 AM UTC-4, Vanessa Evans wrote:
<snip>

> So guys, am I right in thinking that you believe that I should convert all my stories and archive files from .docx format to .html format before hopefully being able to upload them to ASSTLR?

Vanessa,

Alternately, you might start with the .docx files uploaded, more immediately and for the time being, but with a status message of "Conversion to HTML Pending..." or the like. Then, at your leisure, you could convert individual stories to HTML and upload accordingly -- just a story here and a story there, at your convenience. HTML conversion is indeed an ideal worth achieving, but in all honesty, you're already performing a valuable service by offering to upload your content at all, regardless of the file format. I think grateful readers will highly appreciate the effort, either way.

Regards,
HBB

[Vanessa Evans]

Thanks HBB, Jon tells me that he knows of a Batch .doc to .html converter. I'll try it and see how easy it is to use.
Love
V

[Vanessa Evans]

On Tuesday, 23 August 2022 at 17:18:11 UTC+1, Y Lee Coyote wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Aug 2022 21:21:37 -0700 (PDT), Vanessa Evans
> <69vanes...@gmail.com> wrote in
> <655ffc51-9dfe-40f7...@googlegroups.com>:
>
> <snip>
> >I too don't know how to message you SD. Also I wouldn't describe myself as very computer literate. I would like my attempt at a website on asstr to appear on asslr if that is possible. On asstr I also had a large archive of microsoft word document stories that could easily be classified as a collection and would be happy for them to appear on asslr . I am quite happy to help with your testing just as long as it is simple to follow.
> >Vanessa Evans
> Please note that I am just commenting and not speaking for SD. I see that
> there are several potential issue with this.
>
> First, there is copyright. If your collection is the result of downloading
> stories posted on the web, then reposting them is a violation unless you
> can get permission. If you have posting permission from the owners, that
> is a different story. This is likely since they were on ASSTR. This is
> not clear from your post.
>
> Second, there is personal info. Microsoft word documents are designed to
> be worked on collectively in an office environment and as such they contain
> a lot of personal/business data which must be removed before posting to a
> site such as ASSLR.
>
> Third, browsers do not support DOCX, DOC, or other proprietary formats and
> treat them as downloaded files to opened by programs such as word
> processors and others. This is even true for RTF which was designed as an
> interchange format.
>
> I will note that many word processors can open DOCX and then save them as
> HTML which are suitable for the web. The quality of the markup varies and

b >

> Looking in the Wayback Machine, I saw that your files were htm rather than
> docx. This is a very important difference. HTM files are appropriate for
> the web.
>
> HTH,
>
> Y
> P&E

Thanks for the info. It looks like it would be sensible to only put my own stories on my own website on ASSLR which I will attempt to do when I can create an account on ASSLR.
V - vaness...@hotmail.com

[gvv wa]

On Saturday, August 27, 2022 at 12:56:21 AM UTC+2, Richard Polunsky wrote:
>
> I wasn't aware of the Open XML Power Tools site that Doug Taylor mentioned; I'll have to check that out.
>
> Regards,
> Rajah Dodger

For converting docx, try pandoc I put summary instructions on the asslr forum.
Gauthier

[George Forman]

Side note for Vanessa. I've been to https://vanessa.asslr.org/ several times (seconds ago) in the past couple of weeks, with no content.

Just in case you need a helpful word document on HOW to upload your site, I have one, now, on my site (AuthorHelp):

https://notenough.asslr.org/

If it would be helpful, you can let me know if you need something changed or expanded.

[Vanessa Evans]

Hi George Forman
I've found https://vanessa.asslr.org/ but I haven't received an email with my connection data (not in my junk mail folder either) and don't know who to contact to ask for it to be sent again is this something that you can do? If so, please can you send it to vanessa...@hotmail.com If not, can you point me in the right direction please?
Thank you
V

[George Forman]

Vanessa,

The person who is in charge of all asslr.org is Some Dude. I'm just trying to help out, I have no authority to do anything else.

somedu...@gmail.com

[Vanessa Evans]

Thank you George Forman, I'll email SomeDude
V

[rdodger]

On Sunday, August 21, 2022 at 11:21:40 PM UTC-5, Vanessa Evans wrote:

Vanessa,

I tried several doc-to-html programs and was less than impressed. Then I took my big file, opened it in Word, and tried save as format "Web Page, filtered"
The result was generally okay; I opened it in a good text editor (I use notepad++) and did some heavy search-and-replace. I've still got some Microsoft cruft in their (mostly related to internal links) but it's better than what I was getting from the third-party tools. Then I got a set of html header lines from Y Lee Coyote and it's pretty good at least to my eyes. (rdodger.asslr.org)

Posting Word files on a website just seems like a bad idea to me, people want to click and start reading, not click and download a Word file and then open it.

When life slows down and I can do this up right, I'll break each story out into its own html file, get rid of the remaining Microsoft detritus, and relink the individual files through the master page links. But that'll be a long time coming.

Rajah Dodger

[Vanessa Evans]

Until I can (hopefully) get a site on ASSLR I have setup a temporary site at https://vanessaevans69.000webhostapp.com/ that is a copy of what I am hoping to put on ASSLR

[Some Dude]

Vanessa, I sent you login info on Aug 22nd. I forwarded you the email again today. If you still have not received it, please provide me with an alternative email and I will send it again.

- SD

[Vanessa Evans]

Hi SD. Just checked my hotmail account and still nothing. Could you try sending it to 69vanes...@gmail.com please?
Thanks
V

[Chandie Bong]

On Friday, August 19, 2022 at 2:18:10 AM UTC-7, HBB Writes wrote:
> On Friday, August 19, 2022 at 12:22:30 AM UTC-4, Some Dude wrote:

> > On Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 10:57:10 PM UTC-5, Physical Ocean Man wrote:
> > > I really hope this project succeeds! What features do you want to eventually add? Is there a plan for a search function/homepage some day?

> <snip>
> > Yes, a search function and homepage will be coming.
> Oh, those both sound fabulous! :-) Given the computational complexity of content searching functions, I figure that part will naturally be a steadily progressing "onwards and upwards" process, perhaps starting with a "minimum viable product" with incremental improvements over time? Homepage also sounds awesome, but for the time being, something as simple as an "Author Listing" page might be even better still, some URL like "https://asslr.org/authors.htm" perhaps?
>
> I have a few thoughts about "features" -- perhaps for Phase 3, or 4, or...honestly, if/when S.D. deems is best! Based on my own preferences, though your mileage may vary naturally.
>
> +++ For starters, I was thinking of accompanying official (or semi-official?) author/collection "blurbs" -- just as concise paragraphs of a few sentences, explaining what a particular collection or author is all about, thematically speaking. With a limited number of authors at present, it's easy to just go check out pages individually and browse for a bit until I have a better understanding...easy peasy, lemon-squeezy! ;-) But as the authors/collections listing grows ever more numerous, into the tens and eventually hundreds, any help to pick and choose where to look first will be of incalculable benefit...
>
> +++ Also, somewhere down the line, I'd personally love a corresponding discussion forum -- perhaps running on top of phpBB or some other comparable (and free!) bulletin board software. With a small team of admins and mods, where both readers and authors could sign up for accounts on a voluntary basis, should they feel so inclined. Why? Just because I'm the kind of person who, speaking for myself at least, greatly enjoys engaging in online discourse (from informal chats to more "cerebral" deep discussions) with other members of the associated "community of choice" -- both fellow readers and fellow writers, alike! Anything from writing style, to character development, to reader engagement, etc. etc....so on and so forth.

Just set up a whatsapp group... phpBB is a pain in the ass to maintain, you'll not want to have to deal with the BS, and moderation is dumb. more secure, less chance of discovery. Whatsapp also allows for secure message deletion for folks that don't want things traced to them.

You can even sign up without a phone number: https://www.techbout.com/whatsapp-without-phone-number-sim-5365/

still surprised at the use of FTP, Filezilla, and phpBB... it's 2023... use SFTP, secure messaging, and NO 'bulletin boards'...

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Sat, 17 Sep 2022 21:31:03 -0700 (PDT), Chandie Bong
<chandle...@gmail.com> wrote in
<cf34999f-e175-4a4c...@googlegroups.com>:
<big snip>

>Just set up a whatsapp group... phpBB is a pain in the ass to maintain, you'll not want to have to deal with the BS, and moderation is dumb. more secure, less chance of discovery. Whatsapp also allows for secure message deletion for folks that don't want things traced to them.
>
>You can even sign up without a phone number: https://www.techbout.com/whatsapp-without-phone-number-sim-5365/
>
>still surprised at the use of FTP, Filezilla, and phpBB... it's 2023... use SFTP, secure messaging, and NO 'bulletin boards'...

Filezill suports FTP, FTPS and SFTP.
https://filezillapro.com/docs/v3/features-v3/filezilla-protocols/

Y
P&E

[Some Dude]

You are more than welcome to make your own version.

I couldn't find a good way to allow SFTP using virtual users and I've had a hard time getting a chroot jail running securely in the past. I have required FTPS which is at least somewhat better. It allowed me to make this site more flexible behind the scenes, so I went with it. It is also what previous ASSTR authors were use to so it had a benefit in getting users to come over without learning something new (not that SFTP is that hard to use). Using FTP is not the end goal of the new site, it's just available to get this going quickly.

I'm not 100% happy with using something like phpBB, but it's the most updated PHP based forum I could find. I wanted to keep the discussions on my own server for more control. Forum software makes it easy and allows me to delegate responsibility to others. I don't really want to use any other third party services/apps to communicate in the future.

[Tim Merrigan]

On Sat, 17 Sep 2022 21:31:03 -0700 (PDT), Chandie Bong

<chandle...@gmail.com> wrote:

>it's 2023

Not for a couple months yet.
--

Qualified immunity = virtual impunity.

Tim Merrigan

--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com

[Chandie Bong]

BTW, for those of you missing some specific sites on asstr.. DDG provides... http://www.rurikon.eu/loli/main.asp?page=tag

Search in the 'tags' for ',' (comma) to get ALL the stories they have. That site will also do enumeration of the stories using the story number in the URL.

http://www.rurikon.eu/loli/main.asp?story=9228 change the '9228' to another number to get a different story.

[George Forman]

Is there a way to find out all the sites that are currently on ASSLR? I thought I would poke a few of my favorite authors, if they aren't already on the site.

[Foz “Jaxah” Tacticus]

On Sunday, 25 September 2022 at 14:27:50 UTC+1, George Forman wrote:
> Is there a way to find out all the sites that are currently on ASSLR? I thought I would poke a few of my favorite authors, if they aren't already on the site.

Currently? No.

All there has been is when authors post links to their ASSLR sites. I've combed through here and the ASSLR forum, and cobbled together the (short) list on https://xefig.com

In the future there is database development work going on with ASSLR and I imagine that a dynamically generated list which will always be kept up to date will be coming Soon™️

[dap...@nym.mixmin.net]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

Hello

I tried sending emails to Some Dude's address, but didn't get any
reply. I hope to set up my site on ASSLR. Gmail may be blocking
messages from nym.mixmin.net.

I hope that this reply appears in the ASSLR thread, but I'm not
sure if I got the References header right here.

- -- Daphne


~~~
This PGP signature only certifies the sender and date of the message.
It implies no approval from the administrators of nym.mixmin.net.
Date: Tue Oct 18 18:39:51 2022 GMT
From: dap...@nym.mixmin.net
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iQIzBAEBCgAdFiEE8FyPm3rH5BDz0x9H4PPx4Z4D0dgFAmNO8vgACgkQ4PPx4Z4D
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An6R+BTtRROGrImFMwKeCGwzRadSeehSVDZX+jJlRBukjMsSRN8LY6lwVkpWl9XT
Y1Dep2kR0d5TEorq/Mt9Y3g6ZzL9Kn3njrT0HbWSD/t2vrwHbgJvtZoSMlsxmALv
YLPK0lL/sbPA5Bt9vdm9gImAmOxLCoogvfNMrcCR+mcwnDn9ZBhrn4tCP+M2oZX1
1+wWKJu04Gz7es5yS28xokYSDyt5vFP4wyJRrREr+qm9SGutyI4=
=VRJR
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

[George Forman]

On Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 1:39:59 PM UTC-5, dap...@nym.mixmin.net wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA512
>
> Hello
>
> I tried sending emails to Some Dude's address, but didn't get any
> reply. I hope to set up my site on ASSLR. Gmail may be blocking
> messages from nym.mixmin.net.
>
> I hope that this reply appears in the ASSLR thread, but I'm not
> sure if I got the References header right here.
>
> - -- Daphne

[snip]
Daphne, did you get a hold of Some Dude yet? His email is up the stack here somewhere. Vanessa Williams couldn't get his replies to her non-gmail email. Seemed to work fast once she gave him that gmail email address. YMMV.

Good luck.

[George Forman]

On Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 7:56:08 AM UTC-5, fozz...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Sunday, 25 September 2022 at 14:27:50 UTC+1, George Forman wrote:

> [snip] I've combed through here and the ASSLR forum, and cobbled together the (short) list on https://xefig.com [snip]

Toss a dog a bone? Where would I find the ASSLR forum you mentioned?

[Y Lee Coyote]

On Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:05:47 -0700 (PDT), George Forman
<grend...@gmail.com> wrote in
<48b1bd65-8817-4acf...@googlegroups.com>:

Some Dude posted it with the obscure subject: "ASSLR Forum Available - Need
Volunteers" on Aug 21.

forum.asslr.org/

Y.

Valid return address is <YLeeCoyote (at) juno.com>
(Posting address is for the spammers)

See my stories at: https://yleecoyote.asslr.org/
Status page at: https://yleecoyote.weebly.com/

P & E

[Daphne Xu]

On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 6:43:13 PM UTC-5, George Forman wrote:

I did reach him. I've uploaded my ASSTR web site to ASSLR, although some things need editing. My site is https://daphne-xu.asslr.org/ .

[D Mario]

[D Mario]

How do I donate?

[Dutch Master]

On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 4:49:23 PM UTC-4, Some Dude wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Phase 1 of ASSLR has been launched. This is the most basic version of the site with domains for each author to access files they upload via FTPS. There is no overall home page for author lists, searching, etc.
>
> I would like to bring on a good amount of authors so I can see how well the server performs. If you are interested, please message me directly.
>
> If people adopt the new site, I'll start a new discussion on Phase 2 and what it will entail. There are a good amount of details to work out.
>
> - SD

I realize that I'm late to this party. Of course I'd like ftp credentials to upload my stories to ASSLR. But I'm a both a professional editor and passable at python, API, and Kubernetes.

If I can help with any of the day-to-day of getting ASSLR launched, whatever you need. Let me know.

[Santayana]

On Sat, 17 Sep 2022 21:31:03 -0700 (PDT), Chandie Bong <chandle...@gmail.com> said:

[some quoted material snipped]

> Just set up a whatsapp group... phpBB is a pain in the ass to maintain,
> you'll not want to have to deal with the BS, and moderation is dumb. more
> secure, less chance of discovery. Whatsapp also allows for secure message
> deletion for folks that don't want things traced to them.
>
> You can even sign up without a phone number: https://www.techbout.com/whatsapp-without-phone-number-sim-5365/
>
> still surprised at the use of FTP, Filezilla, and phpBB... it's 2023...
> use SFTP, secure messaging, and NO 'bulletin boards'...

Documents released to Rolling Stone and ProPublica appear to argue otherwise:

ProPublica

WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the
company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares
personal information with prosecutors.

by Peter Elkind, Jack Gillum and Craig Silverman
Sept. 7, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

[snip]

WhatsApp user data, ProPublica has learned, helped prosecutors build a
high-profile case against a Treasury Department employee who leaked
confidential documents to BuzzFeed News that exposed how dirty money
flows through U.S. banks.

http://p53lf57qovyuvwsc6xnrppyply3vtqm7l6pcobkmyqsiofyeznfu5uqd.onion/article/how-facebook-undermines-privacy-protections-for-its-2-billion-whatsapp-users


Rolling Stone

FBI Document Says the Feds Can Get Your WhatsApp Data -- in Real Time

A previously unreported FBI document obtained by Rolling Stone reveals
that "private" messaging apps WhatsApp and iMessage are deeply
vulnerable to law-enforcement searches

By Andy Kroll - November 29, 2021

WASHINGTON -- As Apple and WhatsApp have built themselves into
multibillion- dollar behemoths, they've done it while preaching the
importance of privacy, especially when it comes to secure messaging.

But in a previously unreported FBI document obtained by Rolling Stone,
the bureau claims that it's particularly easy to harvest data from
Facebook's WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage services, as long as the
FBI has a warrant or subpoena. Judging by this document, "the most
popular encrypted messaging apps iMessage and WhatsApp are also the most
permissive," according to Mallory Knodel, the chief technology officer
at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has articulated a "​​privacy-focused
vision" built around WhatsApp, the most popular messaging service in
the world. Apple CEO Tim Cook says privacy is a "basic human right" and
that Apple believes in "giving the user transparency and control," a
philosophy that extends to the company's wildly popular iMessage app.
For journalists, activists, and government critics who worry about
government mass surveillance and political retribution, secure messaging
tools can mean the difference between doing their work safely or facing
imminent danger.

While the FBI document raises no questions about the apps' abilities
to keep out hackers and snoops-for-hire, the paper does describe how
law-enforcement agencies have multiple legal pathways to extract
sensitive user data from the most popular secure messaging tools. The
document -- titled "Lawful Access" and prepared jointly by the bureau's
Science and Technology Branch and Operational Technology Division --
offers a window into the FBI's ability to legally obtain vast amounts of
data from the world's most popular messaging apps, many of which hype
the security and encryption of their services.

The document, dated Jan. 7, 2021, is an internal FBI guide to what kinds
of data state and federal law-enforcement agencies can request from
nine of the largest messaging apps. Legal experts and technologists
who reviewed the FBI document say that it's rare to get such detailed
information from the government's point-of-view about law enforcement's
access to messaging services. "I follow this stuff fairly closely and
work on these issues," says Andrew Crocker, a senior staff attorney on
the Electronic Frontier Foundation's civil-liberties team. "I don't
think I've seen this information laid out quite this way, certainly not
from the law-enforcement perspective."

After the Cambridge Analytica controversy, when news outlets revealed
that personal data from more than 50 million Facebook users was
harvested without their permission to create psychological profiles of
American voters, Zuckerberg sought to rebrand the social media giant
as a tech company built around privacy. Facebook intended to make
that vision a reality largely through the design choices it made with
WhatsApp, which it had acquired in 2014 for $19 billion. Today, WhatsApp
is the most popular messaging app in the world with more than 2 billion
users. "I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to
private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say
to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick
around forever," he wrote at the time. "This is the future I hope we
will help bring about."

In the view of the FBI, however, WhatsApp is a wellspring of private
user data. According to the FBI's "Lawful Access" document, WhatsApp
will provide more practically real-time information about a user and
their activities than nearly every other major secure messaging tool.
A subpoena will yield only basic subscriber information, the FBI
document says. Presented with a search warrant, WhatsApp will turn over
address-book contacts for a targeted user as well as other WhatsApp
users who have the targeted individual in their contacts, according to
the FBI.

But WhatsApp is unique in how quickly it can produce data to
law-enforcement agencies in response to a so-called pen register --
a surveillance request that captures the source and destination of
each message for a targeted individual. WhatsApp will produce certain
user metadata, though not actual message content, every 15 minutes in
response to a pen register, the FBI says. The FBI guide explains that
most messaging services do not or cannot do this and instead provide
data with a lag and not in anything close to real time: "Return data
provided by the companies listed below, with the exception of WhatsApp,
are actually logs of latent data that are provided to law enforcement
in a non-real-time manner and may impact investigations due to delivery
delays."

A WhatsApp spokeswoman confirmed the company's near-real-time responses
to a pen register. But the spokeswoman added that the FBI document
omits important context, such as that pen registers for WhatsApp do
not yield actual message content and only apply in a forward-looking,
not retroactive, manner. The spokeswoman said the company uses
end-to-end encryption for the content of users' messages, which means
law enforcement can't directly access that content, and has defended
that message encryption in courts around the world. "We carefully
review, validate, and respond to law- enforcement requests based on
applicable law, and are clear about this on our website and in regular
transparency reports," the spokeswoman said. The FBI document, she
added, "illustrates what we've been saying -- that law enforcement
doesn't need to break end-to-end encryption to successfully investigate
crimes."

Even without the ability to legally request message content from
WhatsApp, however, the metadata provided by WhatsApp to law enforcement
captures which users talk to one another, when they do it, and which
other users they have in their address book. The handing over of that
data can have serious consequences for people who seek truly secure and
anonymous messaging, such as journalists working with a confidential
source or activists who face government threats and punishment.

In 2017 and 2018, Buzzfeed News published a series of explosive stories
about former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the Russian embassy
in the U.S., and other high-profile figures that drew on a trove
of confidential documents from the Treasury Department's Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. In early 2020, a former senior
FinCEN adviser named Natalie Edwards pled guilty to leaking so-called
Suspicious Activity Reports to an unnamed reporter, and Edwards later
said she was a source for Buzzfeed's reporting. A judge later sentenced
Edwards to six months in prison. According to the FBI's criminal
complaint in the case and subsequent reporting, Edwards and a Buzzfeed
reporter exchanged hundreds of messages on WhatsApp, which they believed
to be a safe place to communicate. Instead, authorities would later use
those WhatsApp messages to make their case against Edwards.

"WhatsApp offering all of this information is devastating to a reporter
communicating with a confidential source," says Daniel Kahn Gillmor, a
senior staff technologist at the ACLU.

Experts stressed that the FBI guide isn't the full scope of law
enforcement's snooping powers. The document, for instance, doesn't
touch on what happens when police or federal agents gain access to a
person's physical device. "For probably all of these platforms, if law
enforcement gets its hands on somebody's device, no amount of end-to-end
encryption is going to protect the information on the device," Nathan
Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and
Technology Project, says.

The other tech giant that can be compelled by law enforcement to hand
over potentially large amounts of sensitive messaging data is Apple.
iMessage, Apple's text-message service, comes loaded on the iPhone and
is used by 1.3 billion people worldwide. According to the FBI's "Lawful
Access" guide, if served with a court order or a search warrant, Apple
must hand over basic subscriber information as well as 25 days' worth of
data about queries made in iMessage, such as what a targeted user looked
up in iMessage and also which other people searched for that targeted
user in the app. That doesn't include actual message content or whether
messages were exchanged between different users.

But the amount of data available to law enforcement is potentially far
greater -- greater even than the user data provided by WhatsApp -- if
a targeted user backs up their iMessage activity to iCloud, Apple's
online storage platform. If that's the case, the FBI document says, then
law enforcement can request back-ups of the target's device, including
actual messages sent and received in iMessage if they're backed up in
the cloud.

While Apple describes iCloud as an encrypted service, it comes with a
giant loophole. Apple holds an encryption key that can unlock user data
in iCloud, and so police departments or federal agencies can request
that key with a search warrant or a customer's consent to access certain
user data. "You're handing someone else the key to hold onto on your
behalf," says Mallory Knodel of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
"Apple has encrypted iCloud but they still have the keys, and as long as
they have the key, the FBI can ask for it."

An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the record and referred
Rolling Stone to Apple's legal-process guidelines, which describe the
kinds of data the company hands over to law enforcement under certain
circumstances.

Daniel Kahn Gillmor, the ACLU senior staff technologist, says Apple
has the ability to implement end-to-end encryption for iCloud.
But the company reportedly abandoned plans to do so after federal
law-enforcement agencies put pressure on Apple, saying fully encrypting
iCloud backups would interfere with the government's investigative
abilities. "For cloud-based backup providers, they could if they want to
lock themselves out of their users' data," Gillmor says. "iCloud has not
made that choice for iMessage backups."

There are several messaging apps listed in the FBI document for which
minimal data is available to law enforcement without the actual device
in hand. Signal will provide only the date and time someone signed up
for the app and when the user last logged into the app. Wickr will
give law enforcement data about the device using the app, when someone
created their account, and basic subscriber info, but not detailed
metadata, the FBI document says.

But the number of users on Signal and Wickr, while growing, pales in
comparison to WhatsApp and iMessage, which the FBI's own guide describes
as two of the most permissible secure-messaging apps in existence.

And that imbalance raises questions about the complaints from law-
enforcement agencies about secure and encrypted messaging apps
interfering with their ability to investigate crimes. Wessler of the
ACLU says the FBI's "Lawful Access" should act as a reality check
the next time police officers or FBI officials insist that encrypted
messaging hampers their work. "As we can see, [those complaints are]
completely overblown and not representative of how much information
they continue to have access to even from these encrypted communication
platforms," he says.

Property of the People, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit transparency
group, received the document via a Freedom of Information Act request
and shared it with Rolling Stone. "Privacy is essential to democracy,"
says Ryan Shapiro, Property of the People's executive director. "The
ease with which the FBI surveils our online data, mining the intimate
details of our daily lives, threatens us all and paves the way for
authoritarian rule."

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/whatsapp-imessage-facebook-apple-fbi-privacy-1261816/