Over the past few weeks I have been spending considerable time on a strategy to upgrade the forums. This was prompted by the increase in bogus forum registrations which were followed by several spam posts under those bogus accounts. This problem was also observed on other sites that use the same software as this site and even the forum developer’s site itself.

No approach on my part has been able to stop the registrations including adding another security question only answerable by a human (what make is the Mustang?) and even removing the submit button from the registration page. It appears that bots are able to submit to the server regardless of any registration form trickery.

Contacting the forum developer resulted in no response and, therefore, no resulting assurance that the problem would be solved via a software patch. In the mean time, I have applied my own patch which monitors for bogus registrations based upon their pattern and deletes them on an hourly basis. Its more reactive than I would like and this will only work until they wise up and change their signature.

While none of is a huge problem and is simply more of a nuisance than anything, it raised some concern on my part that a more critical hole in the forum software might not be fixed by these same developers. This started me on a path to find replacement software. I realize that any other forum system, especially one that is more widely used, will also be subject to attack - maybe even more so. But, the bigger the community behind the forum, the more likely that a patch could be found should a future security hole be exposed.

So, my search led me to the free, open source phpbb. The challenge has been to migrate existing forum data including members and posts to the new forum. Tools exist for forum migration but the mvnforum in use here is pretty obscure and converters have been few and far between. The only one I found will migrate mvnforum to vBulletin which itself is not free and unfortunately, beyond my budget.

So, I have been writing my own converter in Python. It is nearing completion and only some minor details remain to be worked out. Once the converter is stabilized and I am happy with it, I may publish it here.

I figure I am about a month away from the big conversion unless I hit an obstacle that I can’t get by.

Joe over at 5pt0joe.com has put together some details on a cruise down to the 2010 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals on June 3, 2010. He has a page devoted to the topic. Joe and I did the drive together last year and it worked out pretty well.

His banner graphic, which you can see above, comes from a picture he took at the start of our trip last year. You can see another fox body ahead of us. We thought we had a third car in with us when this guy joined us near Waterbury, CT. Alas, he only stayed on 84W for a few miles before exiting. We are hoping for more people to join in officially this year. It should be fun. See Joe’s site for a registration form.

Link: Cruise to Carlisle 2010

I generally don’t like to focus on the negative in my posts but this time I need to vent. My laptop is driving me nuts. It is an HP dv8000 purchased about 4 years ago. That’s probably a good life for a laptop but given that I take very good care of it and only travel with it infrequently my expectation was that it would provide trouble free service for longer.

It is still very usable but my primary gripe with it is a growing number of vertical lines. I am currently at 20 of varying colors up from 10 just two months ago.

The thing that gets me about this is that it seems to be a common problem as I found out from visiting hpverticalline.com but HP has done nothing to address it. Sure, the extended warranty I never used expired in 2008, but I expected more on my support inquiry to them last year where they just told me to have it fixed locally. I’ve read that some people who pay to have it fixed just end up having it appear again in a short time. It might feel better if the display just totally died rather than seeing this ever worsening problem every day.

The storm of last weekend didn’t have a large impact here but still left 5 or 6 inches behind. In early December, I came upon an article on a method to get better traction in the snow with running shoes. The article is called The Screw Shoe and is a cheap option for better traction. I tried it and put about 12 screws in each of an old pair of running shoes.

When I wore them for the first time I tested them on a patch of ice and they were very grippy. The trail I usually run on was only somewhat snow covered that day so I did a test run. In less than a half of a mile I discovered a problem - the screws were slightly too long in the front of the shoe where the sole is thinner and when I stepped on a rock or other uneven part of the path, I could feel the point of a couple screws pushing back.

There never was an actual puncture through the inner bottom of my shoe but it felt like a sharp little rock and I had to bail and go back to my non-modified shoes and run on a paved road. Darn.

Today, was trial run #2. Last night I replaced the screws in the front half of each shoe with a shorter variety. This time, no poke-throughs. I did 3.5 miles in the packed snow and the uneven footing was a great workout. I ran part of the same course yesterday with non-modified shows and, maybe it was just psychological, but today with the modified shoes I felt more surefooted. I’d love to hear any suggestions on running in the snow.

Ron E. emailed me to tell me about a web site which has a very large number of car brochures and other car-related articles, images, wallpaper and other digital material. If you like cars, you’ll find something you like on this site as it covers many years, makes and models. It’s put together by a guy from Norway who has a serious love for American cars.

Most relevant to this site, it has the 1992 Mustang Brochure.

Link: Hot Cars by Hans Tore Tangerud

I have been following the discussion in the forums from new member gokstate74 who has 45k on the clock. I mentioned in that thread that I am close to passing 50k on mine. When I filled up on the day I put the car away for the winter I captured my gas mileage with my mobile phone camera as I do with every fillup as my mobile phone camera has become my substitute for writing a lot of things down. I was just reviewing the images on my phone and was reminded of how close I got this year.

It will sit the winter with this mileage. At the beginning of this year I thought I would pass the 50k mark as I started the year at 48.5k. I guess that means I didn’t drive it enough this year and I sort of look forward to turning 50k in the spring.

Tom G. (noac) yesterday brought my attention to the fact that registration for Carlisle All-Ford Nationals for 2010 is open. I don’t know how long it has been open. I have tried to get to the registration form quite a few times yesterday and today and have experienced a lot of problems.

But, when I did get there I was surprised to see a list of clubs predefined which is different from past years where it was just free form type in. And, guess what? TripleWhiteFox.com is listed.

I haven’t been in communication with them since the last show so I guess they are assuming there will be a contingent from this site as there has been in past years. So, lets not let them down.

I just registered myself. I will have more details in the near future as I haven’t even started planning yet. But, you can assume it will be generally the same - we’ll get a tent and I will be sending out emails to rally the troops.

Jim Curry emailed me to inform me that his 1992 Feature Car is going to be in three upcoming magazines. The first one is out now. It is the December 2009 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords. The article is available online on their web site.

You might remember Jim’s car from the 2009 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals. His car was part of the 45 years of Mustangs display.

Two days ago I ran my second marathon. I completed it in 4:15:33 which is a PR (personal record) as it was better than last years 4:21:12. I got out to a great start finishing the first 1/2 in 2:01 which was well on pace to finish in 4:05, my secondary goal for this race (my primary goal was to beat last years time).

That secondary goal may have been a bit aggressive. At about mile 18, while my pace had continued on track, I started to notice cramps in my foot which turned out to be a sign of things to come. As the mileage progressed so did the cramping. The cramping moved to my calves and my calves were next followed by my thighs. I ended up walking on several of the late hills of the race but usually only after starting the hill to get as far up as possible while running. I restarted to run before the crest as a sort of mental “win”. In the last mile I walked on a couple flat sections when the cramping became unbearable.

Through all that, I still crossed the finish line at a decent pace. It’s amazing how much you can overcome with the finish in sight and the crowd cheering.

As with last year, it was a great experience. The weather was pretty good. The fall colors were a nice distraction as the course took us through some rural areas. Unlike last year, I arrived earlier to the start and had plenty of time to stretch and position myself in the starting area with those aiming for a similar finish time.

Last year the end of the race seemed to drag on forever as the course looped back on itself first on the east side of the river and then on the west. Like many runners, the mental aspects of running are huge for me. I can be close to the end of a 3 mile run or a 13 mile run and either can be just as difficult to finish as I over-anticipate the finish making it seem like forever for it to come. This year I had experience with the course and dreaded the last 6 miles. But, they just didn’t seem as long as they did last year. That’s probably the most surprising thing I am taking away from this. I’m not sure why. I want to figure that out.

And, that’s probably why I sit here thinking about when I’ll do it again.

Last year at almost this exact time I posted about my efforts to train for a fall marathon. Well, I have been at it again this year. So far, so good. I’m in week 13 of an 18 week preparation program and feeling pretty good. I’ve had some small injuries along the way but nothing I couldn’t get past.

A week ago while out of town on vacation I attempted the prescribed 17 miler. I did many things wrong (a meal too low on carbs the night before, too fast of a pace at the start, not enough water) and it all blew up at about 13 miles. I walked some and finished the 17 but it was not a good experience.

Yesterday, I did an 18 miler and the result was much different. This time, I did all my preparation the right way and took everything very seriously much like it was the big race. I finished with relative ease.

August is a tough month when preparing for an early October marathon. Mileage is near its highest while the weather is at its most hot and humid. Looking forward, September has two more really long runs over the next 4 weeks but I feel like I can handle those. And, at least one more Mustang show.