403 from RSS validator

[JRepici]

Hi,

I included a link to an RSS validator in my site, which worked for a while, but now returns a 403 error.

The validator is at: http://www.validome.org/rss-atom/validate

I link to it with this url: http://www.validome.org/rss-atom/validate?lang=en&url=http://www.creativyst.com/Site/News/Cvst/Newsfeed.xml&version=rss_2_0

It worked when I first linked to it, but it now produces a 403, which returns my 403 error page: An HTML page, not an XML RSS feed, so it returns INVALID.

The request causing the 403 came from the validator page with an IP address of 212.162.14.235

that IP address is NOT denied by my site's htaccess file (searched for "212" in the text which was not found).

My best guess is that the validator script doesn't emulate a browser and so you (FQ) block it as a matter of expediency...

...But this is just a guess.

Is it this? Or is it something I'm just missing?

If this guess is correct: can I (and if I can, should I) override the 403 at my site's access for this one IP?

Thanks for your help.

-djr

[Terra]

I can't go into technical details of the block, however it was added on the 7th to head off a botnet that was tearing through sites looking for email addresses and generally overloading the servers...

I have removed the block, let me know if the 403's have subsided...

[JRepici]

Terra,

Thanks. Checking now...

It works again. If this is better blocked, let me know. There are plenty of RSS validators out there to choose from. I'm guessing most will include the emulation.

-djr

P.S. I've noticed that many of the "big" RSS sources insist on this too, so the block really should be expected by the validator.

P.S.S. Let me know if you think anything here should be deleted... Or just go ahead and delete it. :-)

[Terra]

Nah - the RSS validator just got caught up in the spambot net... :(

My apologies for any confusion this has caused...

[JRepici]

Thanks. Merry Christmas.

:)

[hobbes]

This is apparently the cause of a 403 error I was receiving the last couple of days in a custom web application, and racking my brains over the cause. FQ really should have provided notice to site owners of this.

[joekid]

Hello All
I have been tying to make a ror.xml feed map for my websites (3) in all but I cant get the spider to run on my sites every time I add my URLS and push the generate button it just refreshs and removes my URL. I have try it in 4 or 5 ror map web sites and just gets the same thing. the URLS I have been using is
http://www.rons-free-games.com
http://www.joekids-templates.com
http://www.new-hope-link-directory.com
and can some one tell me the URL to check my Bandwidth Usage on my sites
can some one please help me
Thank you
Ron

[sheila]

To monitor your bandwidth usage...

Once place you can look is in your CNC. After you log in to the CNC click on the link for "Server Info" and scroll to the bottom of the page. That will show you the bandwidth used as of midnight the previous day. It doesn't include the bandwidth that has been used so far today, though.

Also, you can look in your stats folders at
http://www.example.com/stats/
where you replace "example.com" with your domain. This will provide you with various data about site visitors. The Knowledgebase article linked below explains some of the terms and also provides a converter for data transfer to GB:
http://service.FutureQuest.net/kb35
However, once again, the data in your stats is only current as of midnight yesterday.

If you want the current day's data transfer, you would need to access your raw logs and specifically the access.today file and process it.

Information on accessing and interpreting your raw log files is given here:
http://service.FutureQuest.net/kb33

There is a handy script posted in the forums here:
http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=132301#post132301

That might interest you.

For most clients, tracking bandwidth as of the previous day is satisfactory. However, if you are experiencing a slashdot type of effect, and need to monitor your bandwidth for the current day, the script above should help you out.