# vulgar dope page addresses

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [July 7, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883 "2013-07-07T18:28:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/21 "2013-07-08T04:35:30Z")

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> [@jdavis](#):
>
> I have been informed of this issue but do not have the time to implement a technical fix for what is in essence bad behavior. The Mods and Admins are capable of handling any occurrences of bad behavior if things get out of line.
> 
> Jerry

They’re not necessarily capable of handling such occurrences of bad behavior if it’s coming from off-board, as I think I’ve demonstrated is the case here. The technical fix that has been suggested is allegedly very quick to implement. (“30 seconds” was suggested, although that is certainly an exaggeration of how quick it would be. It takes me longer than that just to sign in, usually.)

Besides that (defining a canonical URL), why is the domain given a wild-card in DNS servers all over the world? Is there something in the site’s registration that specifies that? Seems like that ought to be eliminated.

fartypants was simply kinda silly. cu… OTOH seems really degrading to the SDMB brand, and it’s all over the search engines now. I’m surprised you aren’t all over this. And we know now that it wasn’t the fault of any post made by any person on this board. It came from off-board.

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**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/22 "2013-07-08T05:01:34Z")

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> [@jdavis](#):
>
> I have been informed of this issue but do not have the time to implement a technical fix for what is in essence bad behavior. The Mods and Admins are capable of handling any occurrences of bad behavior if things get out of line.
> 
> Jerry

It seems that a fairly serious oversight in the search engine optimization and DNS settings of the boards is the root problem and this ‘bad behavior’ is just one symptom that reveals it.

Besides allowing these shenanigans, having the SDMB indexed under multiple domains with the same content, replicated dozens (one day hundreds, one day thousands) of times over makes it look like a big, disorganized mess to anyone actually trying to use Google to, you know, find content on the boards, as opposed to making the next funny domain prefix for them. And to Google it makes it look like a possible scam to drive up search results.

It also inconveniences members, even well-behaved ones, who click a link from their search results and find they are no longer logged in at the new domain they wound up at.

It appears that it can even get long-standing members warned for doing such a search and then accidentally pasting what they find - exactly what the search engine has provided to them, which is exactly what the SDMB has provided to the search engine - into their post.

The way this administrative oversight is being revealed through such bad behavior is not something mods here have much control over. The ‘technical solution’ to this bad behavior is simply managing the site’s DNS settings and search engine preferences correctly.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/23 "2013-07-08T05:04:18Z")

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> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> _Probably_, **TubaDiva** owes **Pasta** an upper-case bold-face retraction and apology, to match the warning given earlier.

Definitely an _unqualified_ apology is what’s called for here.

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**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/24 "2013-07-08T05:59:13Z")

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Hey, let’s not get carried away.

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**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/25 "2013-07-08T10:43:49Z")

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> [@jdavis](#):
>
> I have been informed of this issue but do not have the time to implement a technical fix for what is in essence bad behavior. The Mods and Admins are capable of handling any occurrences of bad behavior if things get out of line.
> 
> Jerry

Copy-pasting a Google link is not bad behaviour. Allowing your website to be accessed using words you don’t want to appear on it is, if not actual jerkitude, at minimum hypocrisy.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/26 "2013-07-08T14:12:35Z")

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The issue here isn’t where the link originated, **Senegoid** , it’s how it was posted to the SDMB. If **Pasta** is saying it was an accident we can discuss that with him.

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**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/27 "2013-07-08T14:23:44Z")

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> [@Steophan](#):
>
> Copy-pasting a Google link is not bad behaviour. Allowing your website to be accessed using words you don’t want to appear on it is, if not actual jerkitude, at minimum hypocrisy.

Exactly. It’s not up to us to make sure the Google links are correct. The admins should be taking a more proactive approach to attempt to fix the issue.

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**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/28 "2013-07-08T14:29:47Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> The issue here isn’t where the link originated, **Senegoid** , it’s how it was posted to the SDMB. If **Pasta** is saying it was an accident we can discuss that with him.

Yes, it was an accident, and it was even many hours before I picked apart what I had been warned for. (I finally thought to check ATMB, where I found this thread.)

Through my posts above and in my reply to the PM I received from admin, I think the history is clear. As mentioned, I know that the admin have limited time to fuss over such matters, but even a brief skim of my posting history should suggest that I am a victim and not a perpetrator of this prank. I was taken aback by the guilty-first-don’t-even-ask-questions-later approach.

Editing the offending link quickly was, of course, appropriate.

I do not need an apology, but I would request an in-GQ-thread revocation of the warning and a note that the offending URL was caused by a exploited vulnerability in how the name servers are configured and the boards indexed by Google and that the poster (_i.e._, me) was unaware of this issue.

This is certain to strike other posters. We are encouraged (explicitly or otherwise) to use Google search for the board to keep the load off the internal servers, and that is a dangerous practice at the moment.

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**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/29 "2013-07-08T15:24:58Z")

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Okay, I’m convinced.

Pasta, I did think you had manually typed it in … I didn’t think malicious intent but more like “inappropriate joke.” But one that has potentially serious consequences for others.

I do see that you are a victim in this too. And I apologize to you, I did not see the situation fully or correctly.

Your warning will be rescinded as soon as I’m finished typing this post.

And I will take this all back upstairs with more urgency.

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**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/30 "2013-07-08T15:57:58Z")

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Many thanks. And until the underlying issue is resolved, I’ll certainly check Google-obtained SDMB links carefully before posting.

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**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/31 "2013-07-08T17:49:23Z")

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> [@TubaDiva](#):
>
> Okay, I’m convinced.
> 
> Pasta, I did think you had manually typed it in … I didn’t think malicious intent but more like “inappropriate joke.” But one that has potentially serious consequences for others.
> 
> I do see that you are a victim in this too. And I apologize to you, I did not see the situation fully or correctly.
> 
> Your warning will be rescinded as soon as I’m finished typing this post.
> 
> And I will take this all back upstairs with more urgency.

I love happy endings. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/32 "2013-07-08T17:59:25Z")

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I do too. Especially the one in [url = " http:// happyendings. [straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=695857](http://straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=695857)]this thread[/ url].

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**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/33 "2013-07-08T19:24:38Z")

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> [@TubaDiva](#):
>
> And I will take this all back upstairs with more urgency.

[This article](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139066?hl=en&ref_topic=2371375) should be all they need to know.

Also if they check the subsections there under “Doorway pages” and “Sneaky redirects” they can see that leaving things as they are could ultimately get SDMB banned from the Google index completely.

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**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/34 "2013-07-08T20:19:29Z")

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> [@jdavis](#):
>
> I have been informed of this issue but do not have the time to implement a technical fix for what is in essence bad behavior. The Mods and Admins are capable of handling any occurrences of bad behavior if things get out of line.

The “bad behavior” in this instance appears to be a single link on another site, which is not actually something your mods and admins can control. The root problem isn’t “someone on the internet can link to [cuntlapper.straightdope.com](http://cuntlapper.straightdope.com)”, the problem is “this board happily serves up content under the URL [cuntlapper.straightdope.com](http://cuntlapper.straightdope.com) and does nothing to correct google’s assumption that that’s a proper URL for it.”

If the fact that your server responds to [cuntlapper.straightdope.com](http://cuntlapper.straightdope.com) is embarrassing to you, it’s in your power to fix it. This is way more effective than trying to police inbound links like an amateur webmaster in the 1990’s.

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**Author:** ![jdavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@jdavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdavis)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/35 "2013-07-08T20:32:24Z")

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I checked with the person who administers the DNS record for [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) and found that a wildcard alias had been put in place that was resolving all possible subdomains. The wildcard alias has been removed from the DNS record so once the update propagates fully the offensive subdomains (or any subdomain that is not one of the official ones which are boards., chicago., or www.) should no longer resolve.

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/36 "2013-07-08T20:52:10Z")

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> [@jdavis](#):
>
> I checked with the person who administers the DNS record for [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) and found that a wildcard alias had been put in place that was resolving all possible subdomains. The wildcard alias has been removed from the DNS record so once the update propagates fully the offensive subdomains (or any subdomain that is not one of the official ones which are boards., chicago., or www.) should no longer resolve.

Good job. Just tested it, and “[notveryboards.straightdope.com](http://notveryboards.straightdope.com)” doesn’t resolve any more.

I always thought that wildcard DNS entries were a bad idea unless you made very specific provision for it, such as configuring your web servers and other provided services to accommodate them.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/37 "2013-07-08T22:19:25Z")

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> [@jdavis](#):
>
> the offensive subdomains (or any subdomain that is not one of the official ones which are boards., chicago., or www.) should no longer resolve.

For the record, I was never personally offended.

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**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/38 "2013-07-08T22:56:49Z")

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Sad that it took only Cecil knows how many threads on this subject before it finally got fixed, and that people had to be exposed to the terrible word “cuntlapper,” but I’m glad it finally did get fixed.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/39 "2013-07-08T23:04:15Z")

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> [@TubaDiva](#):
>
> Okay, I’m convinced.
> 
> Pasta, I did think you had manually typed it in … I didn’t think malicious intent but more like “inappropriate joke.” But one that has potentially serious consequences for others.
> 
> I do see that you are a victim in this too. And I apologize to you, I did not see the situation fully or correctly.
> 
> Your warning will be rescinded as soon as I’m finished typing this post.
> 
> And I will take this all back upstairs with more urgency.

As of now, 7 PM July 8, your post berating and warning **Pasta** in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=695737&page=2) remains unchanged. Anyone reading the thread will assume that your allegation against him was well-founded. Likewise, later on in the thread, there is still no apology or any indication to the casual reader that **Pasta** has been acquitted 😉

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulgar-dope-page-addresses/662883/40 "2013-07-08T23:10:12Z")

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> [@KarlGauss](#):
>
> As of now, 7 PM July 8, your post berating and warning **Pasta** in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=695737&page=2) remains unchanged. Anyone reading the thread will assume that your allegation against him was well-founded. Likewise, later on in the thread, there is still no apology or any indication to the casual reader that **Pasta** has been acquitted 😉

[Huh? Looks like a very nice apology to me.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16450776&postcount=58)

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