Major Announcement: Web Pages for Users

Guest · Sun May 08, 2005 4:20 pm

Major Announcement

Due to popular demand, and in keeping with our direction for the safety and well-being of hobbyist chemistry, and to further maintain a helathy enviroment for chemical discussions,

Synthetikal is giving all interested members, their own web page, where they can futher explore their favourite niches of chemistry, and pursue a fascinating journey on the otherside of the wall.

We will link users pages, to an index here, and you can post links from our forum to your pages, and bring other people who share your passion for your spin on your field of chemistry,

You will have total control over your web page, with admin access to thousands of pre-installed scripts for making your page, just the way you want, as you discover working as a publisher, and a webmaster.

All you have to do to register your interest, is just leave your member name, after this thread, and we will contact you , and help you start your own Chemistry Page

Best Regards from all the staff at Synthetikal.com

0xYg3n · Thu May 12, 2005 2:26 am

Documenting my work on the internet sounds fun, but i'm hesitant. What are the rules of engagement... are there?

0xYg3n

Guest · Thu May 12, 2005 2:24 pm

The rules for engagement will be up to you, and within our ethos, and basic guidlines,
nothing illegal, but besides that, completely up to you,

You can design the page how you wish, or you can let us give you a few ideas, or templates to begin,

In essence it will be your personal page to the world, you can relay your personal experiences, as these are unique and very interesting to all of us,

It must be about, or related to chemistry,
We will leave it up to you, on what you want to display, and we will link your page, through a directory that we will add to the top of our forum,

You will be able to upload your pages, when you wish, and update at your command,
We encourage people to use losts of media, photos, music, etc,

Syn

loki · guinea pig

so, well, maybe i didn't read this thread closely enough, but how does one apply for such a page, i think i could probably put a few things together that would be helpful for the community

Guest · Fri May 13, 2005 6:07 am

Loki,

Thanks for your interest,
Great, we have two pioneers,

It is as simple as registering your name here, as you boh have done,
And over the next week, as we move to bigger premises, we will contact you through your pm, and set up your portal, and give you the ftp aaddress, passwords, so you can begin your page,

Nubee has already got his own page, which most of you have probably seen.
mfi.synthetikal.com,

We will give you a subdomain as well, ie. Loki/0xYg3n@synthetikal.com

You will be able to through Cpanel or plesk to look after your page, control bandwidth, the works,

We are purchasing the new dedicated server for us all today, but I would not expect to see this server up and running for at least a couple of days after, so this will give you plenty of ideas to do what you have always wanted to do, for your web page,

The exciting thing is that, what you do, is up to your imagination,

Syn

primathon · modified

I've noticed a few comments toward Nubee's site to the tune of 'I'm-not-going-there-without-SSL'... I am by no means an expert on setting this stuff up, but I think if you are going to be giving users their own place to 'set up shop', you need to make it secure for everyone involved.

jackoozzi · specialist

Thats all good and well but ssl is not cheap but i have found a tutorial that apparently tells you how to make ssl certificate yourself, i asked if there was an english version and they said this was the english version oh well maybe someone else can work it out

Make a SSL Certificate
Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:26 am

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

Not sure if this could be useful

Tools Required:
OpenSSL Binaries

Part 1. Install and configure the OpenSSL toolkit
1. Get OpenSSL from the address above, and run the installer, accepting the defaults. These instructions assume OpenSSL is installed in C:\OpenSSL.

2. Add "C:\OpenSSL\bin;" with quotes to your system path (Start > Advanced > Environment Variables > Path) - this isn't strictly necessary but it makes things a lot easier. Make sure you don't delete any entries!!!!!

3. Create a working directory - here, we'll use C:\ssl as our working folder.

4. Use this copy of openssl.conf to your working folder.

CODE

# Original source unknown.
# Modified 2004-07-20 by b0b

RANDFILE = .rnd

####################################################################
[ ca ]
default_ca = CA_default # The default ca section

####################################################################
[ CA_default ]

certs = certs # Where the issued certs are kept
crl_dir = crl # Where the issued crl are kept
database = database.txt # database index file.
new_certs_dir = certs # default place for new certs.

certificate = cacert.pem # The CA certificate
serial = serial.txt # The current serial number
crl = crl.pem # The current CRL
private_key = private\cakey.pem # The private key
RANDFILE = private\private.rnd # private random number file

x509_extensions = x509v3_extensions # The extentions to add to the cert
default_days = 365 # how long to certify for
default_crl_days= 30 # how long before next CRL
default_md = md5 # which md to use.
preserve = no # keep passed DN ordering

# A few difference way of specifying how similar the request should look
# For type CA, the listed attributes must be the same, and the optional
# and supplied fields are just that
policy = policy_match

# For the CA policy
[ policy_match ]
countryName = match
stateOrProvinceName = match
organizationName = match
organizationalUnitName = match
commonName = supplied
emailAddress = optional

# For the 'anything' policy
# At this point in time, you must list all acceptable 'object'
# types.
[ policy_anything ]
countryName = optional
stateOrProvinceName = optional
localityName = optional
organizationName = optional
organizationalUnitName = optional
commonName = supplied
emailAddress = optional

####################################################################
[ req ]
default_bits = 1024
default_keyfile = privkey.pem
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
attributes = req_attributes

[ req_distinguished_name ]
countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_min = 2
countryName_max = 2
stateOrProvinceName = State or Province Name (full name)
localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
0.organizationName = Organization Name (eg, company)
organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
commonName = Common Name (eg, your website's domain name)
commonName_max = 64
emailAddress = Email Address
emailAddress_max = 40

[ req_attributes ]
challengePassword = A challenge password
challengePassword_min = 4
challengePassword_max = 20

[ x509v3_extensions ]
# under ASN.1, the 0 bit would be encoded as 80
# nsCertType = 0x40
#nsBaseUrl
#nsRevocationUrl
#nsRenewalUrl
#nsCaPolicyUrl
#nsSslServerName
#nsCertSequence
#nsCertExt
#nsDataType

5. Set up the directory structure and files required by OpenSSL:

CODE
C:\ssl>md keys

C:\ssl>md requests

C:\ssl>md certs

6. Create the file database.txt - an empty (zero-byte) text file. This can be done using the 'touch' command if you have it or by creating an empty file manually (^ is made using CTRL):

CODE
c:\ssl>copy con database.txt
^Z

C:\ssl>

7. MS-DOS veterans will recognise this particular invocation. We're copying from CON (the console) to a file called database.txt, and that's a Control-Z end-of-file character on the first line. This should produce a zero-byte file called c:\ssl\database.txt. Create the serial number file serial.txt. This is a plain ASCII file containing the string "01" on the first line, followed by a newline. Again, we can use a little bit of ancient DOS magic:

CODE
C:\ssl>copy con serial.txt
01
^Z

C:\ssl>

Part 2. Set up a Certificate Authority (CA)
1.First, we create a 1024-bit private key to use when creating our CA.:

CODE
C:\ssl>openssl genrsa -out keys/ca.key 1024

Loading 'screen' into random state - done
warning, not much extra random data, consider using the -rand option
Generating RSA private key, 1024 bit long modulus
...........++++++
..................++++++
e is 65537 (0x10001)

2.Next, we create a master certificate based on this key, to use when signing other certificates. Change the Distinguished Name data to what you want, along with the days (-days 1001. Up to 9999 days):

CODE
C:\ssl>openssl req -config openssl.conf -new -x509 -days 1001 -key keys/ca.key -out certs/ca.cer

Using configuration from openssl.conf
You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
into your certificate request.
What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
For some fields there will be a default value,
If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
-----
Country Name (2 letter code) []:US
State or Province Name (full name) []:Unknown
Locality Name (eg, city) []: Unknown
Organization Name (eg, company) []:Unknown
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Unknown
Common Name (eg, your websites domain name) []:www.neowin.net
Email Address []:admin@gmail.com

Your Keys are in the /certs/ directory.

primathon · modified

I'm on it...

jackoozzi · specialist

Thanks mate it might as well be written in japanese for all the good it does me

Guest · Wed May 18, 2005 8:38 am

If you require ssl, for your personal page, it is possible, although it does not operate on sybdomains, therefore, if you wanted your page in ssl, you would not have access to cpanel, but really that is not essential for hosting pages, it's an administrative tool, similar as if you bought a hosting account,

I guess what we are offering for free is retailed anywhere from 5/month to 30/month,

But as Jackoozi said, there are ways of getting your own free ssl,

It is a decision you will have to make, whether you need all the extra tools, or are just happy with being able to upload pages yourself through ftp, which is widely done, as well.

Not that this site is in anyway assoiated with illegal activities, we understand the need for our users privacy.

So we will let you decide, on what to do, bearing in mind the SSl free account we give, is just as practical as the cpanel, subdomain option.

Syn

auttie · Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:06 am

it may all seem intimidating at first.. but after playing with openssl you should be able to figure things out.. syn.. this could be possible however you would have to allow your users shell access. I also think its important to have ssl.. I dont like others to know what Im looking at. (but I guess thats why tor is my friend http://tor.eff.org )

loki · guinea pig

yeah, if its a sub domain you could just run it off the main site certificate, but it would come up with errors about mismatches. self-signed ones are not that hard to generate, after a while running mine with the default 'localhost' cert i decided that i should make one with the right domain (a comment about it from someone on here prompted that). I think the browser still complains, but at least it doesn't complain about the domain on the cert.

if the sites are not sub-domain, but come up as a subdirectory of the main site, the main cert would be accepted automatically.

zendance · Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:48 am

Hi all

Good work on what you've got going here Smile

A friend of mine here introduced me to these forums and I would be very interested in hosting a web page through your services.

I actually created a 'prototype/preview version' of the website 'Boundless Spirit' to show to some interested people. This does include both information and discussion about chemistry, and a broad range of related subjects.

I'll post the link here: http://www.freewebs.com/boundless_spirit/ The 'official' version will be much different to this though!!! and will contain more... also, one of the main parts of the website & links, the actual forum, as of today, seems to be giving a '404 not found' error (Grrr) i'm not sure why yet? It's unfortunate, as you prob won't be able to see the actual forum content etc... but that doesn't matter to much. If i get it hosted you'll be able to see it then Wink

Thanks

Guest · Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:27 pm

Hang in there everyone,

We have definately not forgotten about you, our next big move to a non-US server is being carefully thought out,

This time we are going to do it properly.
So for now, gather all your creative juices, and let them reflux for just a little bit longer, so when we do move, you will know exactly how you want to have your web page,

I have read all of your posts, and look forward to seeing your website-dreams come true.

And to answer alot of private questions, yes, you may choose not to have advertsing on your page, it is your choice,

Although if you do decide to, the proceeds will be yours to do as you will with.
Yes, that's right, you will be able to recieve 'real world money tokens' otherwise known as money, for your hard efforts,

Since our adds pay for the site, you will be free to choose your own model.

I emplore people to check-out their own advertising methods, but recommend that you make them relative to our content, well, maybee recommend was a bad word,
YOU MUST!.

Sounds too good to be true,
Relax, this is only life!

syn Wink

Disclaimer: Motivation for this is provided by the inablity of governments to actually serve the people, and give them their own Utopia here on Earth.
rather our current paradigm of people serving the government,

I suggest all members watch the movie called " Antz" and you will know exactly what I mean,.
Alsous Huxley tried to set this up, Millions of people have also tried, to break this oppressive draconian slave wheel.
Here is the best I can do, thus far,
-How much does it cost to buy an island that is not currently under durisdiction of any government? Wink

zendance · Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:18 am

Ok, seems the forum is online again Smile

I'm wondering if it will be possible to transfer the forum intact? (If not, it doesn't really matter *too much* the forum is only very young...)