I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going to keep me down

Graumagus and Deimonia,

Sigh. I’m not getting the malware page any more. But I’ll see what’s up. Meanwhile, if you saw the malware warning and clicked through anyway, please run your anti-virus software to be sure you’re OK.

Cynthia

Graumagus,

So you’re saying you didn’t get a malware warning from Google, but you did get one from Avast Anti-virus?

I appreciate your patience and loyalty. Thank you for letting me know you’re still getting a notice that there’s a problem.

There was a second malware infection yesterday, but it was removed last night by 10:48 pm EDT before you submitted your comment. I checked last night around 2 am and this afternoon and the blog is free of malware. Could Avast have been checking a cached file? Try clearing your cache.

Cynthia

richard mcenroe,

Thank you for the tip. I do have antivirus software on my computer. I use Bad Behavior to block attacks on the blog — it was one of the first things I installed when I started up and I keep it up-to-date. The problems of the last week were the result of attacks on both my Web host AND WordPress, rather than a direct infection to my blog. My Web host said about five percent of its clients were affected. I expect they’re working on the improvements needed to repel future attacks. They asked me to do a few things that are obvious to do after you’ve been hacked, and I’ve done them.

I appreciate your kindness and support.

Cynthia

Deimonia and ohlukkyman,

Thank you!

I’ve run several scans of A Conservative Lesbian by Sucuri.net yesterday and today and each time it reported the blog is free of malware and not blacklisted. I requested Google reconsider the blog yesterday to lift the malware warning. Today I requested reconsideration specifically for the comments link and pages.

My Web host says the attack affected about five percent of their clients, so I don’t think my fiscal conservatism or activism for gay and lesbian equality made me a target. Maybe the word “lesbian” in my URL and blog name did, though. I attribute most of my bounce rate to disappointment that this is not a porn site. (Heh.)

I’m using this experience to learn a lot more about securing my blog and computer. I will resume writing when the Google malware warnings are lifted.

I do give thanks with all my heart for my dear gentle readers who are sticking with me and being patient and supportive while I get through this experience. When it’s over, I will write about the spiritual tools I used to endure and prevail.

Cynthia

richard mcenroe,

Sigh.

Actually, some of the miscreants who escaped my terrible, swift pixels over the last 10 days can be trusted to re-offend, so for them all I have to do is wait.

Stuff I wanted to post about:

The crumb Obama tossed the gay community in the form of the executive order requiring hospitals that receive money for Medicaid or Medicare to honor medical powers-of-attorney held by same-sex couples.

The Tennessee woman who shipped the seven-year-old Russian psychopathic proto-serial-killer-and-pyromaniac back to Moscow — guess whose side I’m on?

The Maryland ACLU went to court to force my local Board of Education to stop filtering out ALL gay and lesbian Web sites and social conservatives are up in arms — I will apply to speak at their next meeting since this blog is one of the ones the social conservatives would block.

The Arizona law FINALLY taking some action to discourage illegal immigration and Roger Simon’s post on paying workers who were probably illegal to do yard work because their quote was so low.

Drummer Sandy Nelson and his wonderful pieces that I remember from the 1960′s, “The Birth of the Beat” and “Let There Be Drums.”

This joke: “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving is not for you.”

And this one from the FAILblog about the Alzheimer’s organization that found the perfect theme for its fundraiser: “A Night to Remember.”

There also was the very Zen moment this evening after I uninstalled McAfee Security Suite and installed Avast Pro (the paid version) on the recommendation of Seth Rosenblatt at CNET when Avast — which, by the way, means “Stop!” — blocked Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari AND Outlook from even opening at all. You can’t argue with the effectiveness of that approach to halting computer malware infections. Fortunately, I had a computer to resort to that did NOT have Avast on it so I was able to sally forth into the Interwebs and find out that while people have been having this problem with Avast for at least five years, there is NOT ONE THING about fixing it in the Knowledge Base of their support forum.

So — this is going to take longer than I thought.

Cynthia

P.S.

Two other stories I plan to write:

I want to add a few thoughts to posts by Jimmy Bise (The Sundries Shack) and Camp of the Saints about Michael Steele’s statement to a group of black teens that he couldn’t think of any reasons why they should become Republicans. How is it the party of fiscal conservatism sells itself like it is castor oil and hair shirts when it supports the only system proven to allow the largest number of people the maximum liberty and prosperity — a democratic republic fueled by social mobility, meritocracy, capitalism, the rule of law and the Constitution? And the opposition is selling slavery and economic stagnation like they are liberty and prosperity?

An old friend from high school, Merrie Street, is running for Register of Wills — I have nice things to say about her.

Graumagus,

I’m puzzled, too. I can’t find any detailed explanation of the various settings to tell me which ones are right for me. Avast is making the loading of browser pages intolerably slow and I can’t get my e-mail — and I can’t figure out how to alter the settings so my computer is usable without turning Avast (the paid version) off. The “help” file is useless. If you can share some tips, I would love it.

If you’re wondering how I’m still getting on the Internet to find answers to my questions — thank God my father has a Macintosh.

Cynthia

Amy,

Thank you! Everything seems clear now and I just have to finish wrestling with my new anti-virus software. I’ll start posting again this weekend!

Hugs!

Cynthia

SDN,

Well, it’s a comfort not to be the only one — thanks!

About Avast! — the free version seems to be more trouble-free than the paid one. Also, the instructions only state the obvious and don’t tell you anything you need to know like the consequences of the various choices you are offered. And they’ve been having the problems I ran into for years. I am thoroughly annoyed with them. Are you using the free version, or the paid one?

And, yes, I now favor expanding the death penalty to writing and distributing malware. It’s not just revenge — it’s the magnitude of the lost productivity and the resources that have to be devoted just to fending off attacks.

Cynthia

Ad rem,

Thank you! Is there still a warning when you click on “Comments”? I sent Google a re-evaluation request just for that.

Yes, I did see the HillBuzz post with the stories of Robby, Panda, Joaquin and Sebastian — but not Kevin. Hmmm. Yes, it does seem there’s a correlation between being loved and accepted and the ability to be happy and form healthy relationships. Go figure.

Cynthia