2 years RC SCENE & an Emergency Response Plan Update

Two years RC-scene.com

Our dear web host remembers March 2020 as that time when 18 people discovered a tiny weblog, still in the making, with nine more or less empty pages published. They did not quite come in peace.

Good thing, I had been in contact with the web host before. I asked our dear industry leader in developing website apps and hosting them if they really believed they could protect my blog against hackers as long as I stick to the best practices their firewall app engineer had shared with me – or if they would say so because everyone does.

They told me that the vast majority of websites are powered by Automattic (WordPress, WooCommerce, Jetpack, etc.) and often even hosted with them.

Later, I got a little concerned about some dude trying to irritate the Askimet Spam Filter by posting three comments full of script code every minute, and that for days. He must have somehow hoped to gain access to a part of the database if there only were a bug somewhere in the spam filter—an ambitious plan. Luckily, the Jetpack Askiment Spam Filter might be one of few to decipher script languages and discard that spam silently.

Moving to California was a good decision. Getting up in the mornings with this never-ending fear of criminals that could have hacked and destroyed my work (again) had become unbearable and almost killed it for me.

Here it is better!
To years and better, cheers!

#1

ÆMERICA!

Before Autumn, RC SCENE – to everyone’s surprise – had already become the most popular and influential site discussing NPS and vendors in North America.

Some must have managed to see beyond the lies whoever tirelessly campaigned. Some finally understood that we are for real.

I was not used to being called a liar, thief, blackmailer, or a greedy, insolent dumb person. I still cannot believe these crazy people could have meant me.

Thousands of hours of work meant getting to know you a little and resulted in health issues (one day, I woke up blind – yes, just like that), paranoia, panic, and growing distrust.

Until today, US vendors call me not to leave the slightest doubt about them planning to scam again. Motherfuckers from Denmark kept telling me that if random people insulted me for no reason and even called me a terrorist, they could not care less. One day, I got so angry I bit out a tooth.

[link cyberbullying article, Facebook vs. Glawischnigg lawsuit]

Dort sagen’s Falco, you are wonderful, kumm hobt’s me langsam gern. Wenn’s meine Records trotzdem kaufen tta’ ds, dann tt’ es mi net stören. America, wenn’s ihr ma glaubads, wie ma euch vermissen kann.

Falco – America (1985)

ÆMERICA!

Of course, it was you again to finally help me get over that inner struggle, this feeling of guilt for blogging about music and drugs. Thank you so much for reminding me why giving up is not an option.

Of course, it was you who made this idea relevant and popular. Also, just like friends from Europe, you did not hesitate to support the project with your knowledge, time, and money – although we had never met before.

Our efforts paid off: RC SCENE is a hit!

Someone appears missing

You might have imagined a project idle not to further gain in popularity. I, however, decided to play dead until happy with the site stats. 😉

Not really.

Of course, there had been real issues preventing new content from being published:

• Every year, from January to April, I make plans to commit suicide. Don’t expect anything from people shopping for sharp knives. Don’t expect much from people worrying that their farewell letter could read like a parody.
• To prove spineless vermin lies, RC SCENE is finally bankrupt. Good idea, not entirely thought through to the end, though. Captain Hindsight would have known better. Damnit, I wish I were more like him.
• Recycling-Perspective Smurf, somehow believing that substance warnings discussed here would be extreme and written by whoever and without a clue, hurt me badly. Not necessarily with the intent to murder. Whatever it was, they found out themselves quicker than I could recover. Something not good must have happened: They erased the product photos from the internet and even made sure no archive or cache would keep it. They set a password for that folder server-side to indicate web archives to please forget what they had seen. Curious if they mixed a new blend out of it or sold that shit to wherever but far away and out of sight.
• Nobody seems interested in joining the team. Now that I guarantee promise to try my best to compensate them adequately, it almost seems as if they were afraid of selling out to big corporate blogging.

Don’t miss me; I was never really here
I was never really here
I was never really

Falco – Kill the bored (Track 2 on Nuance The Musical, 2018)

In the making

• Articles and pages will sometimes be published at an early stage (as stubs) to give you an idea of what we are working on. Maybe, you happened to be an expert in that field and want to offer your help (words, photos, discussion, tips, …?)
• The website is undergoing a design update. Funny ideas and professional feedback are welcome; thanks!
• The working-title Samples Kømpliance stands for nothing less than a list mailer (many-to-many emails) to discuss and exchange our experiences with vendors and products anonymously and as a group instead of with me. Let’s create a photo book!

The clue: Everyone with an active 36 USD per year subscription will receive a perfectly anonymous email account supporting PGP-encrypted subject lines. No names, no email addresses, no phone numbers, no nothing asked.

YOU WON’T FIND ANYTHING SIMILAR ANYWHERE ELSE.

I kept an eye on how Godfrey is doing, and he has been doing pretty pretty pretty good since we last spoke.

Godfrey believes in Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, and Privacy.

With his team, they developed THE service for exchanging emails without any government spying on you. Not even if your government was already spying on your computer, they could read the contents of your emails.

He will not tolerate anything illegal or unethical: No vending, no pornography, no conspiracy-planning on his watch. This is for journalists, refugees, whistleblowers, people who hate governments spying on taxpayers for no reason, and even for people like me who despise fascist governments spying on taxpayers 24/7 for no reason and even letting us pay for their ill-minded ideas.

If we remain sane, we may use a solution I had been trying to find for years.

Suppose any of us turns out a fucking criminal with no brains or respect for other peoples’ creativity, passion, and hard work, and imagine our email accounts gone.

• Birthday duty. Two years of RC SCENE meant a lot of stress lately. I am not keen on welcoming guests. I got rid of my living room table to clarify I don’t want anyone near me. A few incurable optimists still brought or sent presents, and we took pictures of candles to remember those nights.
• Your constant asking about active Noids and a-PHP did not go by unheard. Let’s focus on how to pay for the rent first.
• The minimum-wage Fundraiser: Thank you all for offering to donate in the past 14 months. I found a way that allows donating anonymously. Even better, you can help a particular cause if you like to.
  
  Examples:
  
  • Should somebody read and reply to emails?
  • Should somebody find the time to care about your scam complaints and try to help by providing advice and stuff?
  • Should somebody maintain and fight with the US section? Should somebody maintain the Canada section?
  • Should we compensate authors for having more words, photos, news, and articles?
  • How about a community moderator for, e.g., The Sample Kømpliance?
  • Could a Wiki providing essential information and links to NPS/drugs legislation in various countries be of interest to you?

I will provide you with the link soon; thanks!

Happy Days! 😀