Moonshiners on Discovery Channel

[Husker]

I wounder if we should flood the inbox of disc management with our displeasure at this crap?

[Husker]

This show really sparked a lot of 'fly by' traffic last night. I have an application running full time on the server, that allows me to watch every file sent by the apache server (the www server). I use this app in real time to filter out, and find site suckers, and send an email to my cell phone when I detect a possible one. This allows me to catch new webcrawlers, and handle them. About this time last year (or 2 years ago??), was when the addition of the new 'bing' bot about brought HD to it's knees. I catch these quickly now, and get them into our special 'spider' logic. It also informs me of people using teleport or htrack site sucker type apps. Those are not wanted or allowed on the site.

You can really tell when it is new, never seen the site before people. Files will FLY across. 100/s at times. Also, all of the little eye candy files (the tiny graphics, rounded corners, etc) that make up the forum web pages will be sent each time, while when we are hit by people that have been members here, those files will usually be zero length (i.e. the server tells your browser you have the current version, i.e. cached). So when someone pulls up a page on the site, it triggers a block of 10 to 25 files going to their IP, all at almost the exact same time. For a normal one of us, that is here frequently, this will be a page or 2 of data, and the rest 0 bytes (or possibly the browser will not even request them, if setup to properly cache). But for 'guests' / and new fly by members, these all have sizes. So, you get 10 files per page hit (or there about), and 4 to 10 page hits per second, from different guest, you can really see that the server is smokin through the files, and last night it really was.

Well, last night, at times, things were flying by so fast, I could not hardly see the requests that were squirting by.

H.

[Bushman]

This show really sparked a lot of 'fly by' traffic last night. I have an application running full time on the server, that allows me to watch every file sent by the apache server (the www server). I use this app in real time to filter out, and find site suckers, and send an email to my cell phone when I detect a possible one. This allows me to catch new webcrawlers, and handle them. About this time last year (or 2 years ago??), was when the addition of the new 'bing' bot about brought HD to it's knees. I catch these quickly now, and get them into our special 'spider' logic. It also informs me of people using teleport or htrack site sucker type apps. Those are not wanted or allowed on the site.

You can really tell when it is new, never seen the site before people. Files will FLY across. 100/s at times. Also, all of the little eye candy files (the tiny graphics, rounded corners, etc) that make up the forum web pages will be sent each time, while when we are hit by people that have been members here, those files will usually be zero length (i.e. the server tells your browser you have the current version, i.e. cached). So when someone pulls up a page on the site, it triggers a block of 10 to 25 files going to their IP, all at almost the exact same time. For a normal one of us, that is here frequently, this will be a page or 2 of data, and the rest 0 bytes (or possibly the browser will not even request them, if setup to properly cache). But for 'guests' / and new fly by members, these all have sizes. So, you get 10 files per page hit (or there about), and 4 to 10 page hits per second, from different guest, you can really see that the server is smokin through the files, and last night it really was.

Well, last night, at times, things were flying by so fast, I could not hardly see the requests that were squirting by.

H.

Thank you, Thank you,Thank you!

[rad14701]

I have it recorded and would have watched it had we known we had already seen our other choice... I can hardly wait to enjoy the educational content...

[Prairiepiss]

Wish I had cable so I could learn something

[winterhorse290]

watched all i could stand. if,n ya missed, don,t bother. more drama than info. unless your into big blackpot stills that make motor fuel.

[Tater]

I know the area .That show was mostly bullshit.

[BigPa]

Oh I don't know. I kinda liked that dingy crap water he was filling the boiler with. Yummmm can't wait to taste that crap....

[Bayou-Ruler]

As i suspected this show is................SHIT!

[BigPa]

You know what they say " shit in is shit out" .....

[helmethair78]

It is my opinion that this show fake. I think that they are all actors. .....................Dramatization

[Boda Getta]

The show is a piece of crap, but what really enraged me was the guy taking his teen-aged son with him to "teach him the tradition" and had him carry a shotgun! If they catch him he should also be charged with child endangerment as well. I also believe the entire show is a put on done with the full knowledge and cooperation with the law. That aside, most of the crap is just laughable... having to have 200 lbs. of corn dropped by the side of the road because the "law tracking corn", yet no mention of all that sugar they used. Teaching his son of the importance of clear, cold running water, then pump water out of the mud hole. Ask a complete stranger, who had supposedly just stopped him with a shotgun, if he thought it would be ok to put a still on his creek and I suspect more to come.

BG

[Tater]

yea the corn deal got me also .Hell I bought 1300 lbs corn other day for deer bait .Now large amounts of sugar is another story.Got a friend who runs a supermarket The sams store in another town was selling sugar cheaper then he could buy it from wholesaler So he bought a few pallets.Law followed him back to our town and his store.However its ok to buy large amounts if ya own a store.

[maheel]

thanks lads

just watched EP1
and starting EP2

[Bushman]

yea the corn deal got me also .Hell I bought 1300 lbs corn other day for deer bait .Now large amounts of sugar is another story.Got a friend who runs a supermarket The sams store in another town was selling sugar cheaper then he could buy it from wholesaler So he bought a few pallets.Law followed him back to our town and his store.However its ok to buy large amounts if ya own a store.

Wow, we have a local store going out of business and so I bought all their sugar 300 lbs as it was 40% off, Glad I wasn't followed!

[NcHooch]

I thank God I can walk out my house and smell the pines, walk to the grill and smell the BBQ, and walk to the barn and smell the corn. Its good to be livin in North Carolina and livin free. Might go outside now and let the 12 guage rip just so I can wake the neighbors and give a REBEL YELL! Yaaaaaaoooooowwwwww.

X2 there Cornbread!
I haven't seen the show, but like everthing else on TV, it's prolly fake.

[lenhoffman2876]

So first let me say yes I'm new here...as a member. I've read many of the post here for quite some time now. Yes I was prompted to register due to this thread.

I grew up in Ferrum Va. located in Franklin County Va. enough said. I would fall under the country boy list by Mr. Piss but i love my '73 C10. When I was younger I helped a couple of times at a few spots in the area and knew several of the folks that got hit in Operation Lightning Strike back in '99.

My take on the series:

Tim is known in the area and has been for awhile, his page is here http://timsmithmoonshine.com and if you read it you'll see his reason for doing the series....investors.

I personally believe it is total production value myself....(hence the use of a crappy set up for getting the water)..but based off of real experience. It does seem to me that it was done in co-operation with the ABC as no semi-smart person much less ignorant one would allow as much to be seen that has been seen without at least blurring the faces and using false names.

That being said I can tell you from my younger years that the info seems pretty sound from what I've seen so far. I do know that some areas keep track of the corn just as much as the sugar. But the sugar is by far the thing traced....One guy I knew had his wife start a cake/pie business to help hide his purchases...lol.

To answer the comment about being stopped by a guy with a shotgun then chatting him up about using his water.....it happens. When you get out into rural areas...life is different... you'll be fist fighting one minute over a girl then the next you'll both be kicking back with a drink talking crap about her the next.

For the "experts" here I'm gonna be called all sorts of stuff...I'm fine with it...I don't claim to be an expert...just a guy with a little bit of info that was "learned" to me....lol

Hope everyone has a good one...sorry for the long wind!

[USACelt]

The show is a piece of crap, but what really enraged me was the guy taking his teen-aged son with him to "teach him the tradition" and had him carry a shotgun! If they catch him he should also be charged with child endangerment as well.

BG

Soo aside from the rest of the show.
You have some problem with a teen ager that shoots? Guns are cool and people shoot them for fun.

[Bushman]

Interesting introduction lenhoffman2876, in the right spot and in the wrong spot for an intro. There are always two sides to a story thanks for lending yours. I will take a closer look at the linked website as I opened it but am working with a member the PM to get his controller working and haven't had a chance to really review it.

[kurgan]

I thank God I can walk out my house and smell the pines, walk to the grill and smell the BBQ, and walk to the barn and smell the corn. Its good to be livin in North Carolina and livin free. Might go outside now and let the 12 guage rip just so I can wake the neighbors and give a REBEL YELL! Yaaaaaaoooooowwwwww.

X2 there Cornbread!
I haven't seen the show, but like everthing else on TV, it's prolly fake.

+3! All hardwoods for me, only a few pines. I am thankful that if I do let rip with the shotgun, there's nobody to wake . I've not seen the show, but from the preview, and the way Discovery shows have been lately, it may only be good for the comedic value. I can't say that i'm thrilled about being lumped in with idiots from a public perception standpoint, remember, there are folks that still think Bear Grylls really did all that stuff on his show . I'd very much like to see home distilling be brought into the same light as home brewing, and right now I don't see how shows like this will help.

[rad14701]

I haven't had a chance to watch the two episodes I have recorded but I have a gut feeling they'll be about as bad as the Lizard Lick Towing show...

[Husker]

All I know, is the amount of 'guest' traffic (which is significantly harder on the web server, than 'regular' traffic), along with a HTrack site sucker going, brought the server to it's knees last night. It simply could not keep up, CPU wise, and memory wise, and got into swap thrashing.

It was somewhat hard to get things back up and running, even banning the site sucker. There simply were that many guests, all making requests.

I did change some of the site params, and that seemed to help some. I reduced the number of pages from 40 to 20 (likely the regulars have seen this). This was to try to keep the amount of data sent on a single 'guest' request limited. I think that helped. It took about a half hour or so last night, to get the server back up and stable, but in the end it was stable, and still were 60-70 guests running for most of the rest of the evening.


I will say, that this show (with all the overblown advertising hype that came with it), has caused a SHIT LOAD of new traffic here. Like I mentioned before, 99% of them are not going to be members we really want here. However, hopefully, we can get a few good new members. New blood is what keeps us on our toes, and gets the new ideas and keeps the intellectual stimulation flowing on the board.

I have noticed we are getting about 10-15 'real' signups per day, where before, we were getting 4 to 8 'real' signups. So we are picking up some new members, and I bet the show is doing that. I just have to work on making sure the site can carry this extra load, while not showing too many signs of fatigue to the new users, or to us regulars.

H.

[Bushman]

Husker, I noticed it last night and figured that was the case, again thanks for your quick response time as she wasn't down that long!

[blind drunk]

Is Discovery plugging HD or something? No cable here atm.

[Husker]

Is Discovery plugging HD or something? No cable here atm.

I doubt it, but we are at top of google/bing/yahoo searches. That is where almost all of the new traffic comes from (and why I call it 'drive by'). It is a search engine fwd.

They hit a page, read a little, and often go to the next search engine hit, not using the forum menus. Thus, almost everything they do is 'new' send of the files. Most of us regulars have a lot of the site cached (especially the eye candy that makes up the pages). Thus, when we are on the site a lot, our browsers do not have to request a lot of those eye candy files each time, and thus, the site does not have to feed them up. But a guest almost always has to ask for a very large majority of these pages.

If we were a truly high volume site (some forums have 1000's of users connected all the time), then we would want to host the database on it's own server, to host the eye candy files on their own server, etc, to spread the load out. But we are trying to do what we can on a moderately active server, all hosted on one machine. It works 'most of the time', and can be tuned to work with even more traffic. But it is a balancing act. Trying to get the pages to look as good as we can, and provide as much information at once as possible, while still handling the load.

H.

[Husker]

I would love to have 'more' settings and configuration that were 'guest only' and 'registered member only'. If we could setup that guests only get 5 posts per page, but allow reg members to get 40, I would love it. There are a lot of other 'settings' that would also be nice.

However, there is only so much that can be done with over the counter software, without digging in and making code changes (which I may look at doing).

H.

[kurgan]

Alright, I had to watch them. I would rather they never made this show. The portrayals across the board in this series are not favorable in my opinion. I fear more unwanted attention will be generated by this show than favorable.

[rad14701]

I would love to have 'more' settings and configuration that were 'guest only' and 'registered member only'. If we could setup that guests only get 5 posts per page, but allow reg members to get 40, I would love it. There are a lot of other 'settings' that would also be nice.

However, there is only so much that can be done with over the counter software, without digging in and making code changes (which I may look at doing).

H.

I was talking to Tater about that earlier but it's really no an option with phpBB... At least not that I am aware of... It would definitely need to be a hand coded modification... Might not be too hard but I have never played with the phpBB code base to date...

[Husker]

Guests actually would do better with only a few posts per page (but often people that read 'every post') would also be better with just a few.

Someone google browsing, clicks, reads for 10s, clicks the next one, etc, etc, stopping when they find what they think is the 'right' page. Serving them up smaller chunks would reduce overhead on our server, along with giving them pages quicker, along with keeping the amount of extraneous stuff smaller.

Now, to really DO this, a guest, and a spider should be treated the same. If guest are only going to get 5 (or 8, or X) posts per page, then the googlebot should also get this exact same 'view' of the system. It would mean that regular users would get more data on a google hit, but that a guest user would get the view that google did.

H.

[stinkypete]

im thinkin this show is a bit of a jack up , why worrie about bloody planes flyin over when your puttin your ass on camera for the world to see , anyway still not a bad watch compared to all the other crap on tv