Spammers are winning

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:19 am

This ongoing battle reminds me of my attempts to stop squirrels and racoons from getting my bird feed.
It did not take long to realize that they are smarter than I am and will do an end run around any attempt to outfox them.

I know how Johnny feels. I simply threw in the white flag and left them to fend for themselves.

By pulling up old threads and attaching their spam, they are winning and may just drive off those irritated by such.

I know of only one way- or at least another trick. That is to require registration.
As long as they are allowed to post as a guest this will continue.
Other solutions welcome.
Bye bye patient posters, welcome spammers. Congratulations on your victory.

Snoozin' Bluezzz · Post by **Snoozin' Bluezzz** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:50 am

tomjax - that's an interesting point of view. Since Johnny has instituted his new spam management policies and techniques it seems, to me, like it has been worlds better. I spot a spam message, delete it, the old thread disappears (unless someone decides to post to it) and we are back to normal. I have killed 10-12 pieces of spam over the last week or so. If many other participants have an equivalent experience, or perhaps more agressive, it seems to be working without imposing an onerous burden.

I, for one, am a happy camper with how spam is being handled right now. I'm sorry it seems so overwhelming and disturbing to you even after it has gotten so much better.

David

wolftracker · Post by **wolftracker** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:55 am

i have killed about 100 spams
since i have little or no life other then on this site right now.

spam killing is fun
and can relieve fustration

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:16 am

tomjax wrote:Bye bye patient posters, welcome spammers. Congratulations on your victory.

Huh?

I check the board frequently, Tomjax, and rarely see spam any more. When I do see spam, I jump on it, hopeful that nobody beats me to it. Spam killing is fun. Kinda like the game whack-a-mole. What I've experienced a couple of times is just as soon as I kill one, another one, and another one, and another one pops up. This goes on for a few minutes and then quits. I'm usually left waiting with baited breath for another one that doesn't come along.

Yep, fun for me sometimes. I kinda think some of the spammers have gotten the message. I expect that it's simply not worth their while to invest their time and resources against a determined adversary (us). Instead, they simply go off and crap all over the other open message boards.

As I see it, Johnny's new policy is working very effectively.

Regards,
Bill

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:22 am

It depends on what you consider spam.

I too have killed a few myself and the open postings are indeed gone.

I click on view posts since last visit instead of view all postings.

What comes up is many threads from the past that someone has brought up and added spam. These are immediately deleted, but it leaves a long list of posts that you think have replies, but not.
This is equal, imho, to the links.

I could be wrong and if is considered a victory, then maybe I am wrong.

I occasionally look up at the top left and see that - 1 chatting live-
This really confuses me. Is the person having a discussion with him/herself? Think about it. What is this person chatting about?

Maybe I should just log into the lounge and have a talk to myself about this instead of bothering others.

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:30 am

As a society we put up with alot. We put up with our kids getting mail addressed from car insurance companies when our children don't drive as well as our own names and addresses on junk mail, most likely sold to those companies by companies we do business with. And not only that but we have all these viruses and pop-ups to block as well. It seems like we could set the punishment for creating a virus as the death penalty and be done with it. Little Johnny creates a virus at age 8. Sorry. He's got to go. It sounds harsh but little Johnny would pay heed if other little Johnny's were being punished severely. Same thing for the companies sending all their junk mail. If "I" want to buy something, I will call your company or buy something online or come into your store. I have no problem with advertisements on television or radio because I avoid those mediums because of the ads.

The only reason companies advertise is because it's effective with a certain percentage of the population. Now we have national "Do Not Call" lists and what not. I think they should do the same thing with those companies. If you call someone who doesn't want to be called, your company should be shut down. Permanently. Again, I say we as a society put up with alot. And the same thing goes for Spam. I get 10 to 20 pieces of it a day. I didn't when I had Time Warner Cable's Road Runner but now with AT&T's DSL I get it daily.

And the worst culprits are businesses you give your name and address to either in person or over the internet. If you register your product, you're placed on a list. And this shouldn't be allowed. The whole thing stinks. It's one thing to put a delivery menu on my door. It's another to know WHO I am when you put a menu on my door.

tooly125 · Post by **tooly125** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:45 am

wolftracker wrote:i have killed about 100 spams
since i have little or no life other then on this site right now.

spam killing is fun
and can relieve fustration

I was wondering why I haven't had my chance to kill any now I know why
my favorite spam is the three smiley faces with the middle one being a link.
Who clicks on the similes anyway?

Tomjax
I belive the person in the chat room is just waiting there to see if anyone will join them to chat.
Next time I see one I'll go ask

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:59 am

Yes, the spam is much better, but still an occasional pain. A couple days ago I took time to respond to a post but didn't submit immediately (distracted), and in the meantime, the thread got spammed and whammed. When I clicked on Submit, it went to Never-Neverland (not to be confused with Michael Jackson's ranch). Have not relocated the restored thread to see if my post is there - that'll be interesting to see or maybe someone already knows that answer.

While it wouldn't help with spam to new threads, if the programmer built in some sort of "first prior date" awareness feature that made large gaps between that and the last post date glaringly obvious, there would be fewer inadvertent posts to old threads. This may be overkill, but if the sort order could group them as they come in, the most probable offenders could be caught and whammed in a flash. Readers would not have to pull up the thread and look for recency. Or, maybe even have a rule that new posts to an old thread (? 6 months) are live AFTER moderator review. Don't know if that would make the moderators' jobs easier or harder. Just brainstorming... maybe it's all cost prohibitive. Wouldn't want Johnny to have to raise prices due to programming expenses to make our forum more spam free.

About "One Chatting Live" being technically inaccurate - Although "One In Live Chat Room Available To Chat If Anyone Who Is Browsing Is Interested In Joining Them At The Back Fence With A Cup Of Coffee" would better imply an invitation, does it REALLY matter? Besides, it wouldn't be the only time I've talked to myself.

Still, cpaptalk scratches where I itch, so here I sit, ready to hit Submit. Hope the thread hasn't been spammed and whammed.

Kathy

MandoJohnny · Post by **MandoJohnny** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:38 am

I don't get it. I am on multiple other message boards. The one that I am on the most and have been on the longest, about five years, has much more more traffic and many more members than than this one. The other ones I am on are more comparable to this one. None of those boards has full time paid administrators. They are all part time volunteers.

But I have never seen any spam on those other boards, not even once. This is not meant to be critical, but there is obviously something those other boards are doing that this one is not.

Snoozin' Bluezzz · Post by **Snoozin' Bluezzz** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 12:59 pm

Do they require registration? If so then that is the big difference.

David

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:20 pm

We no longer have a SPAM problem, the tools that are in place work fine. A ocossional old post brought back to life isn't a biggie. We have as much trouble with guests and others posting off topic and hi-jacking a thread.

As long as we keep killing the SPAM Critters on sight, things are fine. We chould be more enviormentally aware, we need to develope a method of recycling SPAM in to other products, say MOLE SKIN. Jim

"Nothing Says Lov'in Like SPAM in the Oven"

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:21 pm

I, personally, am getting CONSTANT repetitive links in my emailbox to threads that are from a year ago that have no new posts in them. What is that about? And they seem to be the same ones over and over again about card readers, Rested Gal and Encore and Windows XP. Very annoying to keep getting them and not wanting to take the chance by not going to them and seeing if there is a new post, but there never is.

Yes, I do believe the spammers are winning. Making me not want to get any more links to threads in my email.

(and I still can't post a reply on AOL-even though I uninstalled it and reinstalled the entire program)

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:23 pm

It is a bit like answering your front door and having the Jehovahs Witnesses or a magazine person there or answering it and nobody is there.
The difference is the same and so is the aggravation.
To the person who said they are inundated with spam or phone calls b4 the do not call legislation, at least I can set my spam filters or just empty my bulk folder without looking.

Maybe I am like the person who has no life, but at least I have some control over other places.

In looking at this last group, it says 27 messages posted since last visit, but only 8 have todays date. The rest are resurected files with spam attached that has been deleted.
You tell me who is winning. Maybe an obsession?
I hate to see a place that will drive away newbies.
Maybe CLinton was right to appease and Bush is wrong to think we have a problem with terrorists, but that is for another forum.
Sorry

wolftracker · Post by **wolftracker** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:27 pm

then you will not get the emails from the older links
just put notify me on the newer threads that you really
want to hear from ...

you can always read all the threads without the notify me
option turned on

my .02

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:40 pm

I agree that the spam killing button is great, and want to especially thank Johnny for the extra button.

It does seem to be working to me; I wonder if Lori is getting those phantom message postings in her e-mail inbox because a spammer posted something, and another of our Forum Folk already zapped the little bugger.

Lori, if you just had not posted so many times... but that is what makes the forum work, too.

As a relative newbie, I have to say that I am enjoying some of the older posts. I wasn't here to read them the first time.

I think I would be annoyed had I been here and already read them.

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