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Some Notes On Causes Of Blindness You may have noticed the interstitial page that we rolled out today. If you aren't sure, just close your eyes -- do you see a bright red square superimposed on your retina? If not, you didn't see it! Click here to see it. Okay, seriously, it's a little bright, and we'll tone it down a bit but at least it accomplishes two things: a) it's a warning that you're leaving Gaia, b) it's not circumventable by phishing sites. I know that it seems really drastic but we're at the point at which bold measures are needed: many users (and not literally you, almost certainly, because the type of user that reads developer journals is very likely not the target) have fallen for phishing sites, and we really want to reduce that as much as possible. The less hacking reports we have coming in, the faster we can get to everyone. A brief note on the warning in the account page: basically, if you turn this off, we are much less inclined to help you if you get scammed by an offsite link. If there's any doubt at all, you'll still be okay -- our mods working on scams are all about the meting of justice -- but to be honest, if you've turned off the warning and we see your account was taken by a ripway phisher, umm... well, we did try to warn you. Upon seeing it for the first time ling had a severe reaction and instantly set about choosing different colors that did not cause convulsions in 9 out of 10 rats.

Posted by: Panagrammic Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 09:23am

Read my journal!

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Simica
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 10:11am


	I love the new warning sign heart heart I think it is a great Idea. ^_^

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 10:14am


	I like the retina burning red-ness. ;3 I think it gets the message across, clean and clear... Though I guess I can see why other users would freak out about it. ;3 I'm glad that this is in effect, though. Hopefully, they'll stop almost all-together. That would be a happy day. :'D So, yuh... Geewd job. <3 (can I ask what ling's severe reaction was? did she punch the screen? D': )

ratpeets
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MrBlueberryMuffin
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 12:59pm


	I like how noticable it is, but we don't have one for PMs. Would you ever consider forcing some one to go to a page that says "Never give out your password" with a WHOOOOLE bunch of examples of scams that people use to get your password the first time some one goes into PMs? I think that would be quite useful.

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 01:22pm


	♫ My dearest friend, if you don't mind... When I first saw that warning page, I had to close my eyes for a few seconds to prevent the bright red from burning into my retina. But I developed a 6th sense for scams and other nefarious things, so it will be very unlikely for me to fall for phishing websites. ...I'd like to join you by your side ♫

Kamika Sugi
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Darien S.
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 02:11pm


	My first impression was "Oh s**t, what is this?!" Then I started reading. It's a great idea and I wouldn't have it changed, I mean yes some Users are going to think it's a bit much. But in the long run, it's not. Everyday in the Q&A I see "I was hacked from click this link and now I can't access my Account!" Then it's the routine (Hate to say that word) Report the Hacking and wait until it's handled. And I'm behind the "Remove the Warning and the Staff is less inclined to help with your Hacking case." But it's a double-edged sword that Users are going to try their best to fight tooth and nail over the reason why they removed the warning.

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 02:39pm


	Several people thought that they were being scammed yesterday. xd It was really entertaining. While it is an obvious change, there might be a need for an announcement to try and remove some of the panic. :'D Before the new marketplace came in, I used to get PMs asking for my password all the time. XDD But like, I have a friend that would kill me if I ever did since she created a guide on how people can keep their accounts safe and such.

Infamous
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setsunaeternal
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 03:26pm


	Hahaha, you know I closed my eyes without having seen it once and I STILL saw a red square. I wonder what THAT'S all about XD;; But still, I think it's a great idea...though I didn't think it was going to be so huge when I first heard it mentioned sweatdrop

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 04:50pm


	A non-eyeblinding version would be fantabulous. SO RED. The sad thing is though, that people will still be morons, and still fall for it, even with the warning enabled. gonk I wonder if I could cobble together a greasemonkey script to make it green or something...

rayinte
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dBEf-GAEc-18E-BBAf
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 05:47pm


	rofl @ Justice Just put people who turned that warning off at the back of the queue list.

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 05:53pm


	Calling me out! What the-!! gonk scream xp

Ling
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nekogeisha
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 05:58pm


	lol, at 1st I thought it was a scam. I was used to the little top frame warning and then in the midst of my gaia surfing I got this big blinding page razz I had to try a couple various links from diff folks to be sure and I think this does very much get the point across.... even if it did knock me off my chair in the middle of the night ^^ Keep up the good work guys and thanks for making the effort to keep the Gaians safe.

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 07:41pm


	I think the warning is great, although I'm glad I found out about it through a thread discussing it, rather than on my own. Had I discovered it on my own, I think my eyes really would have fallen out or something! xp The color should be adjusted (perhaps to a darker red), but it should still be pretty obnoxious and noticable. I do agree with the fact that if you disable the warning page and you get hacked by a fake login page, it's your own fault. So I think that should be kept. Something I saw brought up, and just wanted to ask about -- is anyone afraid that scammers will now, in turn, make fake warning redirect pages (that resemble the real Gaia one) and try to scam users anyway?

Smaddy
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Gamine
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 07:47pm


	It is a bit...much..but drastic times call for drastic measures. Seriously, if this doesn't get people to STOP PUTTING THEIR PASSWORDS INTO PHISHING SITES, then I'm not entirely sure what will, there is only so many times you can beat it into peoples skulls without actually physically beating it into their skulls (I guess that's the next logical step). I actually lol'd when I first saw it, it's so intense, I was half-expecting to read something along the lines of "WARNING THIS PAGE IS PROBABLY GOING TO GIVE YOU CANCER".

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 07:50pm


	I bet people will STILL fall for phishing sites. But, it's as you say. You DID warn people.

Cid High-Wind
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Delightedly
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 08:33pm


	Just to let you know, it appears whenever i'm linked to a guild. Wigged me out at first, but after checking it was absolutely still gaia... (plus i wasn't logged out). I don't know if this is happening to other users, but it might be.

Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 09:12pm


	Sometimes, the warning reveals itself even if it's a link to another part of Gaia. It's not that big of a problem though.

Ruiko_Fumu
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AlysBrangwin
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Commented on: Wed Nov 07, 2007 @ 11:09pm


	I'm going to take an educated guess and assume that Ling has migranes. (Am I right?) I say that since now it hurts LESS (ie. less "after image glare" wink to look at it. It's not completely painfree for me at least, but then I also get migranes pretty bad. sweatdrop

Commented on: Fri Nov 09, 2007 @ 01:21am


	The first time I saw it, I thought it was an ad, and I closed it instantly... by the third time I did that, I read though it. It does seem a bit drastic, but if it gets the point across then, whatever works, works. Although it is a bit annoying when I link an image and that shows up, or if the site is still on Gaia but shortened, for example, with TinyUrl. I doubt there's a way around it, so I'll live. Is there any way we can make the color scheme a bit more on the cool side? Sitting in a dark room, I was blinded by it the first time; Ling, I empathise with you there. sweatdrop

Pheregames
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Malee
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Commented on: Fri Nov 09, 2007 @ 03:25am


	I turned it off, it really did hurt my eyes the first time I saw it. Plus I like to think I am smart enough to not fall for those sort of things. And I spelled smart wrong, fabulous!

Commented on: Sat Nov 10, 2007 @ 06:24pm


	This is probably one of the funniest, little things you guys have done in a while. The funny error messages were great, but this just can't even be compared. xd Anyway it gets the point across and it works great for helping you detect rotten links, nice little addition guys. smile

Lazy Brandon
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