experienceproject's Blog

Here is a live feed from British Petroleum's underwater cameras of the oil leak. 

Hi all,

This is a security update from your EP Staff.

This last weekend, users from around the web began reporting a massive virus campaign. This campaign would aggressively popup windows that would appear seemingly out of nowhere. The popups wouldn't happen predictably-- some people never saw them, some people saw them all the time. This popup window, which was 100% a scam (known in the anti-virus industry as: Mal/FakeAvJs-A), claimed that the user's computer was infected with a virus, and that to clean it, one should click "OK"

If you clicked OK, you were whisked off to an official-looking site that was designed to look like your Windows PC's My Computer screen-- it had all the fixings: drives, files etc, and a progress bar. It pretended to scan your system and tell you that you had hundreds of viruses, and that to clean them you need to click a link. Of course, all of these were fake, but it looked terribly authentic.

Now, if you clicked THAT link to download the antivirus software, a piece of junk software called Personal Antivirus would be downloaded to your computer.

If you then ran THAT file, from that point forward, you had a virus and you could expect a whole host of bad things to happen, such as more popups asking you to pay for the software, popups telling you that the site you were visiting was unsafe and had stolen your personal info, etc. All of this in an effort to get you to pay for this fake software. Once you paid, not only would these criminals behind this enterprise make money right away, they would then also have your credit card number with which to do whatever they wanted to.

OK. So now we know what we're up against. What do we do?

In general:

- If you have an Apple computer, you're basically fine. Delete any file that was downloaded. It can't run anyways-- it was designed for a PC. If you're running Windows on an Apple, then you'll need to do more.

- If you have a virus scanner already installed (a legitimate one!), update it. Then before you go to bed, reboot your computer, fire up your scanner, and have it do a FULL scan of your computer.

- If you don't have a virus scanner, get a good one-- the web is a big, dangerous place and one can never be too careful. There are actually a couple excellent ones that are free. Here are our favorites:

Avast: http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Home-Edition-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html

AVG: http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

Microsoft (online): http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/center/howsafe.htm

Download one and install it (or for the Microsoft one, you can run it through your IE browser). Make sure to update it before you run it.

- Finally, if you think you might have actually clicked on the file, or your computer is acting up, we recommend that you install two specialized pieces of anti-spyware/malware software:

Malware Bytes: http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Hijack THIS: http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

Warning: Hijack THIS is a VERY powerful program, and you should only use it as a last resort when you absolutely know what you're doing.

What are we at EP doing to ensure we don't see this garbage here?

Well, first we all installed virus scanners and ran full scans of our systems. Keeping these up to date and everyone in line is a pain in the you know what, but it's important.

Then, EP has contacted all of its 3rd party ad networks to ensure that they will own up to what ads they are providing, and have proper checks in place to prevent criminals from launching attacks like this. If they won't confirm/put policies in place, we won't run them.

Finally, we have enacted policies banning all 3rd party ads that could potentially be swapped out with malicius code (as was done in this attack).

As we all are painfully aware, nothing is 100% foolproof, and the people behind these attacks spend their every waking moment scheming up another, more clever, more dangerous way of getting into places they don't belong.

But we will do our absolute best to stand behind our community, and the internet community at large (we have offered our expertise to anyone fighting this problem that could use our help), and help them have a safe, fun place to enjoy, even if the world around us is full of chaos. As any of you who contacted us over the weekend know, we responded to each and every support message within ten minutes, around the clock, because we know just how scary it is to get these types of warnings, fake or not (and we were busily debugging the issue, so we were all plugged in). And a HUGE thank you to the team of users that helped us play detective and figure out where the potential issues were.

You can send us any questions you might have, we'll be standing by to answer them. Safe browsing! 

Best,
-Armen, Founder of EP, on behalf of the whole EP Team
 

It's the end of 2008, but you know what they say, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. So let's take a look back, and see what we experienced in 2008, and what the basis for our 2009 experiences will be.

Here are the Top 10 Life Experience Groups for 2008 by Growth over 2007

These groups existed before 2008, but showed the greatest increase in activity in 2008

1. Support Barack Obama For President -- Honestly, are you at all surprised to see this here? Literally a 3 year presidential campaign season ended with Barack Obama the next President of the United States
2. Write Poetry-- This was no surprise to us. With a community based on connecting through meaningful words, of course our users are eloquent and expressive
3. Love to Cuddle -- Awww. We are a cuddly group.
4. Have a Scar-- Emotional or physical, nobody is perfect and everyone is the product of their experiences. EP is the community that understands, respects, and encourages the concept of being yourself-- flaws and all--so we're happy to see this group so active.
5. Have a Dog-- Woof! Our pet communities were rocking, with faithful companions of all breeds and types rocketing up, but dogs were the leader.
6. Live In a Sexless Marriage -- Perhaps the most obvious example of what EP can be amazing at is letting people talk honestly about something so important to them, that simply can't be discussed easily with family or friends. Support and new perspectives abound in this poignant group.
7. Have Tattoos-- Body art is kind of a big deal.
8. Want to Lose Weight-- Lots of people want to be in better shape.
9. Am Lonely-- Our world, with all that noise, can oftentimes be downright solitary when it comes to meaningful connections. EP is honored to have provided a family of new friends to so many.
10. Have Insomnia -- We love it when our users join us online for our late night coding sessions, but only when it's by choice! With so many things on people's minds, it is unfortunately all too common to suffer an inability to get to sleep.

Top Ten New Experiences Shared in 2008

These experiences hadn't been shared before at EP before 2008. They reflect some new trends in our world.

1. Am Trying to Find Out More About Sarah Palin-- Who could have guessed that the Governor of Alaska would be the hottest new story of 2008? Like or dislike, Governor Palin was fascinating.
2. Am the Girlfriend, Fiance, Or Wife of a United States Marine -- Our military family members make us, and their country, so proud. They are amazing members of society who can sustain love through distance, time and distress are also so often great communicators. Our Marine families happen to be the largest on the site, so here's an "OOrah!" to them, and a shout out to Army, Navy, Air Force, and USCG as well!
3. Smile At Strangers -- Hope for a better world could literally start here
4. Would Rather Be Alone Than Be With the Wrong Person -- Wisdom hits the masses, as divorce rates and increasingly complicated lives make people reconsider the idea of getting married for married's sake (see Sexless Marriage above for another important example!)
5. Love High Heels -- A fashion stable was uber-popular this year
6. Love Roadtrips -- High gas prices? Nothing good comes free, you know?
7. Feel That I Have a Lot of Different Sides to My Personality -- We're complicated people. And now we admit it!
8. Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now -- So very true. Cheers.
9. Want to Thank Our Veterans -- With the Iraq and Afghanistan wars now entering a second military generation, many of our men and women are returning home as veterans. We embrace them for their service and their future.
10. Cant Change the Past But I Can Change My Future -- Hope springs anew with perhaps the most used word of all of 2008-- 'change'! Et tu, Obama?

We hope you enjoyed our list-- time to make some new memories, share our past experiences, and live this life to the fullest! We love you all-- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, it goes on and on...

We just want you to know that during this season-- of joy and love, but also frenzied shopping, cooking, and seeing family and friends (both pleasant and dutiful), EP understands. The feelings, the thoughts, the emotions, the exhaustion, the happy and the sad. Yes, EP understands.

I don't just mean our amazing staff-- but when I say EP, I mean the community, the entire world that lives here outside of any one of us, but built through the thoughts, opinions, and yes, EXPERIENCES, of each and every wonderful member.

This is a place where we can be ourselves, and be surrounded by folks who say, 'that's OK, in fact, it's not just OK, but I've been there too. I get it.'

So no matter what day the calendar shows, there is a family here of folks that are there to celebrate life with you each and every day. The tough days, the great days, the days that fly by. We're in it for the long haul, and we'd be honored that you're with us on this vast journey of millions of lives.

I can't resist quoting one of my favorite lyrics from one of my favorite songs from my favorite band: One, by U2:

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...life

We love you guys. And we wish you NOTHING but the VERY BEST holiday season.

Armen

Founder of EP, and on behalf of the entire EP Team: Angela, Arsineh, Claribel, Deven, Erica, Erik, Grace, Jake, Julio, and Neil

Do you know anyone that works really hard, but uses that to 'one up' another person (a spouse or co-worker, for example)? Like, 'hey, you think YOU'RE tired, you should see how little I sleep,' etc.

This might be particularly true with the economy the way it is, and people forced to take on additional tasks like not being able to get babysitting as often as they would like, or have a gardener/pool person (living large!).

Quick stories really appreciated! We're working on a story with a major newspaper and we want to get some of your input in there!

Thx,

-Team EP

To our beloved EP Community,

We just want to quickly say, 'thanks'-- thanks for being the most fun, vivid, lively, profound, touching, and meaningful group of people we've ever had the honor to get to know. Thank you for being YOURSELVES.

To have our work be to build and nurture a platform that enables our members to connect with others they'd never have had the chance to know otherwise, and in a way that makes a difference in their lives, is the most amazing gift of all.

Never hesitate to let us know how we can do better. We adore you all, we adore EP, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it all.

All our best,

Armen, Neil, Julio, Angela, Claribel, Arsineh, Jake, Deven, Erica and Grace -- Your EP Team

Guys,

In the spirit of our Save Dogs and Save Cats trivia games, where every correct answer means more donations to help homeless cats and dogs, we introduce Save Baby Seals, which is the same concept but to help protect baby seals from the cruel seal hunt-- the single largest marine mammal slaughter in the world.

Please play and tell a friend-- you can help save the seals just by playing a game! Make a difference :)

Many of you have asked us for the ability to write about things that are not experiences that you want to share, but rather personal thoughts and emotions that have to do almost exclusively with your own life.

For that, we introduce Experience Project journals. If you want to write about something going on in your life that doesn't fit into an experience, such as your thoughts about your life direction, or maybe just snippets from your daily life, you can do it here.

Plus, you can share freely-- your anonymous account means you don't have to worry about friends and relatives recognizing your posts. Even beyond that, you can choose to make any post either public-- meaning others can read what you wrote, or private-- meaning only you can see it.

We hope you like this new functionality. In combination with the mood and wellness trackers, this provides you a platform for getting to know yourself better, while the experience sharing aspects of the site allow you to find others just like you who understand you and your life.

We think it's the perfect combination-  get to know yourself, and get to know people who understand you. Let us know what you think, and enjoy!