scienceblogs.com not loading properly

[NoXion]

I'm a regular reader of PZ Myers' Pharyngula weblog, well at least until recently. I've reset my connection, emptied the cache, tried 3 different browsers (IE, Firefox and Chrome), turned off AdBlock on FF (it only allowed me to load the page once), and I still get nothing but a blank page (thumbnail images):

Firefox:


Chrome:


IE:


Other websites work fine. I'm at a loss how to resolve this.

[Kryten]

There was a DDoS attack on the site, but it's working fine for me at the moment. Have you tried it recently?

[NoXion]

There was a DDoS attack on the site, but it's working fine for me at the moment. Have you tried it recently?

Yes, just now in fact. I can't access anything on the scienceblogs.com website; I just get a blank page as shown in the thumbnails.

[Kryten]

Judging from this, the availability seems to be based on location, (e.g. none of the German servers get responses) so there is probably nothing you can do except wait.
Disclaimer: My knowledge in this area is limited, so other courses of action may be possible.

[Skgoa]

The site is loading without problems for me.

edit:
http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/scienceblogs.com

[SirNitram]

Respectful Insolence is responding fine from the back end of beyond, just north of the banjos.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

And we're good here in Cajun Country, just east of Da River.

[Kryten]

The SB management have made a statement:

Let me apologize again for the problems that many of you and your readers are experiencing. The attack is ongoing, originating from Turkey and Qatar, and until it stops, Rackspace must block IP ranges in order for the site to be accessible to anyone. They are also unwilling to manually unblock hundreds upon hundreds of individual IPs. They have advised that we invest in a firewall and additional services from them, but we are still working out what these will cost and how effective they will be. I am not sure if I was correct in thinking that these attacks are not malicious, but I said so because we were told the attackers were trying to use our servers as an open proxy, with the request "GET http:++//www.kosmodiskmedikal.com/ HTTP/1.1." Upon reflection, I have no idea what that means.

You're probably in a blocked IP range, so the only way to view SB at the moment is through using a proxy server.

[NoXion]

Fair enough, it seems that whatever IP I get when I connect (I have a rotating IP IIRC) it resides within a blocked range. Fucksticks. At least I can access the site via web proxy. Thanks for the help, everyone.

Why the hell is scienceblogs being DDoSed?

[Kryten]

There's been an update;

We are still working to contain the ongoing DDoS attack, and to this end we have recently upgraded our service with Rackspace. This should restore access to our readers who have been blocked for the last week. However, some users may still be blocked, so please continue to send blocked IP addresses to webmaster@scienceblogs.com (or have them send us their IP addresses directly). As a preventative measure, please send your own IP addresses as well; we will add these addresses to Rackspace's whitelist.

Why the hell is scienceblogs being DDoSed?

Apparently the attack is 'not malicious', but no-one seems to know exactly what the intent is.