I’ve been told by a couple of readers that they were “forbidden” to a) register to comment and b) use the search bar at the top of the right side side bar.
We think the culprit is the CleanTalk plugin we use to keep spam and bad actors out of the comments. CleanTalk works from a database of IP addresses that spammers have used. Therefore, if you are using a VPN that spammers have used or happen to get a dynamically assigned IP that some spammer had, CleanTalk will block you.
One person – a donor as a matter of fact – who had tried to register with no success and had given up, eventually mentioned it to me in email and, when I suggested she turn of either her ad blocker or VPN she was able to register, no problem.
Anyway, I am not quite sure how to proceed. We’ll look at this. If you are getting “forbidden”, try turning off your VPN or adblocker. That could help.
I have to have the CleanTalk or similar plugin on because there can be many thousands of probes and attacks per day.
In any event, I am grateful for everyone’s attention and good will.
Thanks for keeping this going.
And the CSC are the GREATEST!
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The search bar would only read “forbidden,” so I tried logging in first and then it worked fine.
I had the same issue with the search function, after signing in, I was able to search.
I’ve been using a VPN but am able to access the site fine fwiw. I am typically presented with a screening page that I have to click through to prove I’m a human though.
Logging in got rid of forbidden searches.
Yes, turning off the Ad Blocker may help. I also use a tracking blocker called Ghostery. Turning that off sometimes helps.
VPNs are problematic from the perspective of abuse prevention, because VPN operators will aid and abet a lot of shenanigans not permitted by typical ISPs or cloud services. Since the basic goal of consumer VPNs is to hide naughty behaviour from one’s ISP or domestic three-letter agencies, the exit nodes become known as veritable hives of scum and villainy. The same goes for open proxy servers, where basically a global game of whack-a-mole is played out 24/7 by abuse prevention officials.
There are free services which can check for you whether your IP is on blacklists, such as https://www.whatismyip.com/ip-address-blacklist-check/ so if some servers are treating you like a pariah, this is a good place to go.
Other situations known to be problematic are mobile phone-based browsers, because many providers use what’s known as CGNAT, which is essentially a limited set of exit nodes for thousands or millions of individual phones on the other side. So what happens is that your innocent traffic gets mixed in with a whole mess of other people’s traffic, and it’s impossible to tell them apart. IPv6 has largely been viewed as a good way to eliminate CGNAT and other evils which were implemented mainly because of the squeeze on available space in the 32-bit IPv4 “spectrum”.
For bonus points, you can fire up your Tor browser and go to an onion site; does Fr. Z have a Dark Web presence yet???
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING ! Probably true, but just trying to add a little levity.