Anti-spam

[Jumble Jumble]

Considering the annoying "anti-spam" maths questions I have to do almost every time I access the forum from my phone, it's galling to see the forum being spammed anyway. So how about:

1. Get rid of the maths questions
2. Put a Captcha on registration and sign-in

You know, like the rest of the internet  :laughing7:

 

[Updown]

May-be just need a simple Q about guitars ........... they won't get that right  :icon_biggrin:

Guitars don't have any fluffy bits    :laughing7:

 

[SustainerPlayer]

What spam?  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[Jumble Jumble]

For example

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Sorry. Dry, ironic Danish humour.  :toothy11:

I saw the 20+ spam infested threads. I always use the "Show unread posts since last visit" ...

 

[Cagey]

Sorry. Dry, ironic Danish humour.  :toothy11:

I saw the 20+ spam infested threads. I always use the "Show unread posts since last visit" ... 

Yeah, it was a banner weekend for spam here.

 

[alterbridgefan]

Bots are getting extremely smart. Check this one out:

http://www.drumforum.org/index.php?/user/19622-xipa4/

It's amazing how fast they can learn now! Kind of scary, in fact.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Well exactly. I could write code to fill in the maths questions correctly in a matter of minutes. And, er, it wouldn't be defeated by having to do it twice.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Many of these are first time only posts.

Another option is like what  couple of other forums that I frequent use.

You have to be a member of the forum as an oberver for 30 days prior to being given the access to make your first post.

That thwarts a lot of spam efforts.

 

[line6man]

You have to be a member of the forum as an oberver for 30 days prior to being given the access to make your first post.

30 days would be brutal, here, because so many people join so they can get feedback/inspiration for planned builds. Imagine waiting a month to get on a forum, a week or two to discuss your plan, another week to convince the missus to let you order, another 8-12 weeks for Warmoth to build it, a week for them to ship it, a brutal workday wondering what goodies the man in the brown shorts left on your doorstep, another few minutes to drive to the liquor store to stock up on beer for the weekend, and, finally, a weekend to build it! :blob7:

Maybe a shorter wait period would suffice?

 

[SustainerPlayer]

You got the order wrong. Sign up for forum. Then get beer.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

How about this: your first 50 posts, you have to do a captcha each time.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

How about this: your first 50 posts, you have to do a captcha each time.

Looking at the memberlist, this might not even work. It seems that some sort of automated process has been registering users at a vast rate over the last few weeks. Now when they want to post a spam message, they have hundreds of un-banned accounts ready to go. Entering one captcha for each of them probably won't matter.

So, a captcha on registration, and then also, you've basically got to delete all those zero-post users created recently, even at the risk of some of them being genuine.

 

[hannaugh]

I like the guitar-related question idea.  Math questions are what bots are good at, so I don't get why that is used at all.  Do a captcha followed by a guitar question. 

 

[Updown]

:icon_scratch: Why on earth, is a regular member here (Kostas) that has posted something in the for sale section.

Who has 900+ posts ...... is awaiting for approval by a moderator.
For the item he has up for sale.

What a joke  :doh:

 

[line6man]

I like the guitar-related question idea.  Math questions are what bots are good at, so I don't get why that is used at all.  Do a captcha followed by a guitar question.

"Little Jimmy plays a beautiful rendition of Stairway to Heaven on his Squier Strat at a local music shop. Describe the reaction of nearby patrons."

"Little Jimmy plays wicked lead guitar, but must fill in for the bassist who is grounded for the evening. How much groove does Little Jimmy have?"

"Little Jimmy has five death metal distortion pedals, and two are bypassed. Can the dynamics of his playing be heard?"

:blob7:

 

[croquet hoop]

:icon_scratch: Why on earth, is a regular member here (Kostas) that has posted something in the for sale section.

Who has 900+ posts ...... is awaiting for approval by a moderator.
For the item he has up for sale.

What a joke  :doh:

Likewise, I have just created a thread in the General Discussions subforum, which has been flagged for mod approval, which I find it a bit surprising too. And I see that Kostas's thread has not been approved, although it's more than three weeks old. I'm wondering if I can expect answers from my thread before next spring  :icon_jokercolor:

I wonder what can be the cause of such blocking, does the forum have some kind of content analyzer that automatically blocks some treads? FWIW, my thread only contains text, a link to tdpri, two youtube links and one picture.

Actually, I am wondering if there are still active mods/admins on this forum?

 

[Cagey]

Actually, I am wondering if there are still active mods/admins on this forum?

I wonder that sometimes myself. But, to be fair, this has got to be one of the most civilized forums I've ever been on. It generally doesn't need much attention, so the admins probably tend to ignore it.