15 replies to this topic

[Noggie]

There have been many emails and instant messages about why I have not commented about or on Mike Healan's thread. Now, there are more emails, since SuburbanWolf posted his link to his blog. - Yes, I did know about that SuburbanWolf post. I knew it was coming and I have been asked if I wanted it removed from the Spywareinfo Forum. I have asked that it not be removed. The Spywareinfo forum, newsletter and site always have been truthful and forthright. I, for one, do not see any reason to change that focus. And kudos to SuburbanWolf for having the fortitude to post.

The information in SuburbanWolf's post is not a surprise to me nor to some others in the security community. In April of this year, after months of not hearing from Mike Healan, a group from the security community took it upon ourselves to make sure that Mike's physical well being was safe. The police were involved in a check to make certain that Mike Healan was not injured, harmed or disabled. It was reassuring that Mike was not in danger. - This is a dangerous undertaking. Let there be no mistake whatsoever. What we do here takes money away from some very sinister forces on the internet. When I indicated that I would be taking interim direction of this site, there were days when the threatening emails would outnumber the notes from friends and family. It is that bad. The people involved in the security community know this and take precautions. This is not just a personal paranoia. It is dangerous. And we were all heartened that Mike Healan was safe.

Since Mike has 'resurfaced' in the Spywareinfo Forum, I have not heard from him. There has not been a single word from Mike, other than what he has posted in the Spywareinfo Forum. No one has mentioned that he/she has any direct contact from Mike. And, until I do hear directly from Mike Healan, I am going to focus my energies on doing what is necessary for this site and for FlyingHamster. This site is more than one person. It is a collective of people who believe in doing the right thing and offering help. Google may 'do no evil' but I feel that Spywareinfo 'does some good'. I have felt that way since the beginning of Spywareinfo and I still feel that way. The threatening notes confirm that. I have some of them printed out for 'inspiration' and pinned to the wall, near my desktop. It reminds me that we are having an impact and we are bothering some people. Kudos to us!

Am I bothered by the turn of events since February 2006? - You bet I am. It has been stressful and it has been distressful. I have not wanted the responsibilities nor the stress. However, that being said, I will not shirk from it either. The Spywareinfo Forum is functioning and maintaining good traffic. FlyingHamster is functioning and there are news posts there every few hours, night and day - seven days a week. The software suppliers have been wonderful and supporting the sites. Therefore, we are functioning ... and, dare I say, improving week by week.

Of course, we would welcome Mike Healan's active participation. I am certain that many hope to see a Spywareinfo Newsletter. However, let us not divert our attention from the task at hand. What we do is stay at the forefront of computer security issues. We help people who come to this site for assistance and we help each other. And I think that we do this as well as any site on the internet. - So, Mike - join us when/if you can. - Until then, we carry on.

Catherine

[Kat]

Beautiful post, Noggie, and very well said. You have done an amazing thing here, and I know all of us are darn proud to be associated with you. Your strength and determination played a large part of keeping this site going the past several months, and that is to be admired.

Thank you, Catherine. Those words just aren't enough..

[therock247uk]

I agree with Kat great post.

[imheretohelp]

Very well said Noggie. I relay what I have always said, and what Kat just said. You are an amazing, selfless lady and I admire you greatly.

Keep up the good work Noggs

~Phil~

[tj416]

I agree with Kat great post.

Ditto. Keep up the excellent work, Noggie!!

Edited by tj416, 06 July 2006 - 04:27 PM.

[Gimpi]

SWI wouldn't be in the shape it's in without you, Noggs. You've kept it all together, great job.

[SuburbanWolf]

Agreed. I also added a footnote to the post clarifying my own position.

Edited by SuburbanWolf, 06 July 2006 - 07:55 PM.

[wng_z3r0]

I understand that people may feel hurt and what not about Mike's absence. However, what is the point if Mike is driven away from the site?

Of course, we would welcome Mike Healan's active participation. I am certain that many hope to see a Spywareinfo Newsletter. However, let us not divert our attention from the task at hand. What we do is stay at the forefront of computer security issues. We help people who come to this site for assistance and we help each other. And I think that we do this as well as any site on the internet. - So, Mike - join us when/if you can. - Until then, we carry on.

Excellent points, and I think that we should be happy that Mike is back, and move on (hopefully with Mike around).

~edited for spelling

Edited by wng_z3r0, 06 July 2006 - 04:59 PM.

[suzi]

Excellent post, Catherine. That needed to be said.

I understand that people may feel hurt and what not about Mike's absence. However, what is the point if Mike is driven away from the site?

I don't think anyone is trying to drive Mike away from the site at all. On the contrary, I think everyone would welcome his participation and leadership. Mike was/is a great visionary and leader in the fight against the bad guys, the spyware pushers. But he let a lot of people down and it's only natural for people to be hurt and angry. I think he needs to take responsibility for his behavior and apologize to those he let down and that hasn't happened yet. People need to know the truth from both sides of the fence. What SuburbanWolf wrote and what Catherine wrote above needed to be said.

[motherfury]

Noggie,

Your integrity never wavers and such words are backed by your deeds. In fact there was a time, that I was concerned for your exhaustion during the time of your schooling.
We all know that the responsibility fell on you without a warning and yet you never shyed from it.
And we are all thankful that you have rose to the task that befell you. Indeed, we are graced with such a person to lead the continuence of the fight. ^_^ Thanks a bunch!

motherfury

[Swandog46]

Three cheers for everyone who works tirelessly to keep this site running.

[Mike]

Hey guys.

I want to clear up some confusion, explain exactly who Noggie is and her status around here.

Several people have come to the conclusion that Noggie has attempted to take over SWI or remove me from it and are writing her hate mail. I want that to stop, NOW.

Noggie did take over, and that was by my design.

Last year, during one of my bouts with depression, one of SWI's servers abruptly died. My web host couldn't do anything about it, because I wasn't around to give them any instructions. So this site was completely dead until somebody tracked me down. I think it was Paul from Castlecops, but I don't remember.

To keep that sort of thing from happening again, I sent a letter to my web host giving them permission to accept instructions from Noggie and cnm on my behalf, if I was unavailable and some disaster happened here. So when things went to hell here, Noggie took over. Just as we had planned.

The other site where she's been posting news stories and raising money wasn't done for her own benefit. That was to make sure the server bill was paid, just in case that became an issue. It turns out it wasn't needed, because the server bill is paid automatically out of my Paypal account, but no one had any way of knowing if that account had any money in it.

EDIT:
My bad, the money from that other site was needed. Noggie paid for an upgrade to this forum, when some sort of software flaw let hackers attack it.

There would be no point to Noggie trying to do a hostile take-over or whatever the impression was, because she is already a full partner in SWI. She was not well-known to most of the people here before the events of the past few months, because she rarely had a reason to make any posts on this forum.

She has been my partner in this for years and has as much to do with www.spywareinfo.com as cnm does with www.spywareinfoforum.com. She has been my partner behind the scenes almost from the beginning of this site's existence and is a bigger reason for its success than I am.

For all practical purposes, she might as well be my sister. Everything she has done in my absence the last few months was geared toward making certain this site continued to exist, with or without me. This was all the result of a plan that *I* hatched last year, when it became obvious that my depression and disappearances could cause disruptions here.

I hope this makes the situation perfectly clear and dismisses any idea that she has tried to take over the site.

[Crustyoldbloke]

Nice to see SWI back to normal again.

Edited by Crustyoldbloke, 08 July 2006 - 09:18 AM.

[TheJoker]

Glad to see that you're back and ok, and just wanted to say that Noggie did a great job

[cnm]

Some minor points, just to get things straight.

I sent a letter to my web host giving them permission to accept instructions from Noggie and cnm on my behalf

Joe and Gary wouldn't let me have access, only Noggie because she is part owner. She got them to give Maddoktor2 ftp access as he is most knowledgeable about IPB and ftp..

Noggie paid for an upgrade to this forum, when some sort of software flaw let hackers attack it.

No, it was I who bought and paid for a new annual subscription (Noggie repaid me), since we couldn't get into your Invision account to get the download. Letter from Invision Sat 5/6/2006 11:25 AM:

Thank you for contacting Invision Power Services.

Jon has responded to your Invision Power Services request.

-----------------------------------------------

Hello,

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide access to the software for anyone other than the individual who is listed on the account. The only way which you could get around this would be to have a letter on company letterhead confirming that the owner is no longer around, and a copy of the individuals drivers license. This is strictly for security. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let us know. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Jonathan Shipe
Sales and Billing

So I am the owner of the software currently on the forum, even though I have no ftp access to the host and rely on Maddoktor2 for that.

She has been my partner in this for years and has as much to do with www.spywareinfo.com as cnm does with www.spywareinfoforum.com.

It is widely believed that Noggie is also in charge of the forum. (I thought I was, and you seem to be saying I am, but no biggie. Certainly she has worked hard to assure us of an income and I sincerely thank her).

[rambro]

I believe most people in this forum (including myself) respect Mike Healan's knowledge and technical expertise he brings to his own website and we don't want to scare him from his website (let's face it folks Mike Healan's is an adult and I don't think he can easily be scared off).

I also respect the "roles" that cnm, Noggie and the rest of the SWI staff play in the running of the SWI website.

Again, let me repeat this again:

I also respect the "roles" that cnm, Noggie and the rest of the SWI staff play in the running of the SWI website.

However, when you have an owner who likes to take a so called "vacation", now and then, from his website (which is his right to do), he should delegate the responsiblity of running the website to his staff (i.e. keep them at least informed of his situation). By doing this, you can avoid certain in-fighting between staff members, because each person will know their responsiblities/duties in maintaining the website.

If I was an outsider looking into this situation, I would reach this conclusion: The website owner needs to communicate better with his staff. The End.