You guys sure get a lot of weird spam post up on this forum.
They seem to get taken down pretty quickly, but still, what a pain in the mitka.
I don't have any ideas myself, but I hope you find a cure for it.
Weird SPAM Posts
Moderator: Staff
4 posts
• Page 1 of 1
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Semper Vaporo - Posts: 331
- Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 11:51 am
Re: Weird SPAM Posts
Irritatin'! Ain't it? 
From my experience with other forums, the phpBB software that this forum runs on seems to attract these buzzards, (yes, other forums also get them, but those that run phpBB seem to be more commonly hit for some odd reason). I also figure that the name/URL of the company, with the word "vitamin" in it, will have attracted the attention of the pharmaceutical parasites to mooch off the site.
I try to keep my thoughts about these people as forgiving as possible, thinking that maybe they are just trying to be productive members of society and have finally found something that their limited mental capabilities can handle, (even if it does strain their synapses). But, then... Well, I seem to be unable to keep those feelings in mind as I contemplate severing their various appendages using a large sledge hammer and a blacksmith's anvil.
At the risk of cutting into the finances of these people, by reducing the number of "hits" their posts generate, may I suggest that once you recognize the particular format of their postings (i.e.: subject lines of nonsense, or blatant non-"video surveillance" wording and/or off-topic references) that you do not even open the thread, which adds to the "view" count, which adds to their income.
Prior to recognizing the names of the parasite or if you cannot determine the uselessness of the thread from the subject line, you will accidentally open some of their iniquitous ramblings. In that case, I suggest that you click on the inverted triangle with the exclamation point ("!") in it (at the top of the view area on the right) to report to the webmasters the existence of the thread. You will be presented with a page to select the reason for reporting the thread. Select the appropriate reason from the drop down menu that is on that page (usually it will be the 2nd entry) and then click the "No" option button so as to not waste space in your own e-mail in-box with replies that the thread has been dealt with. If you wish, you might write a short note of appreciation to the webmaster in the text-box below the option buttons. Then click the "Submit" button.
After you have sent the Alert, you will get a page that will allow you to return to the thread you just reported, or go elsewhere. Just to further cut into the "hit count" of the thread and thus reduce the possible income production for the original poster, DO NOT click the "Return to the thread" link and DO NOT just let it sit because it will time-out and return to the thread all on its own. Instead, either click on the "Board Index" link at the top to take you back to the forum index, or just close the page. There is no reason to view the thread again after it has been reported and garnering the pariah more income which will just encourage them to do it again.
The webmaster and Moderators of this site are very good about removing these piteous scrawlings, but they cannot monitor the forums 24/7, so our reporting them will help get them removed so as to not annoy anybody else is a help in that regard.
Until such a time as when the software has some method of electrocuting the idiots that post this scum, I fear the only recourse is to report them as they are found and do not do anything to encourage them to keep doing it. I suppose there might be some method in the forum software of rejecting a new thread or reply by looking at the words and withholding the content if certain words are found in abundance. But I doubt if that will ever happen.
From my experience with other forums, the phpBB software that this forum runs on seems to attract these buzzards, (yes, other forums also get them, but those that run phpBB seem to be more commonly hit for some odd reason). I also figure that the name/URL of the company, with the word "vitamin" in it, will have attracted the attention of the pharmaceutical parasites to mooch off the site.
I try to keep my thoughts about these people as forgiving as possible, thinking that maybe they are just trying to be productive members of society and have finally found something that their limited mental capabilities can handle, (even if it does strain their synapses). But, then... Well, I seem to be unable to keep those feelings in mind as I contemplate severing their various appendages using a large sledge hammer and a blacksmith's anvil.
At the risk of cutting into the finances of these people, by reducing the number of "hits" their posts generate, may I suggest that once you recognize the particular format of their postings (i.e.: subject lines of nonsense, or blatant non-"video surveillance" wording and/or off-topic references) that you do not even open the thread, which adds to the "view" count, which adds to their income.
Prior to recognizing the names of the parasite or if you cannot determine the uselessness of the thread from the subject line, you will accidentally open some of their iniquitous ramblings. In that case, I suggest that you click on the inverted triangle with the exclamation point ("!") in it (at the top of the view area on the right) to report to the webmasters the existence of the thread. You will be presented with a page to select the reason for reporting the thread. Select the appropriate reason from the drop down menu that is on that page (usually it will be the 2nd entry) and then click the "No" option button so as to not waste space in your own e-mail in-box with replies that the thread has been dealt with. If you wish, you might write a short note of appreciation to the webmaster in the text-box below the option buttons. Then click the "Submit" button.
After you have sent the Alert, you will get a page that will allow you to return to the thread you just reported, or go elsewhere. Just to further cut into the "hit count" of the thread and thus reduce the possible income production for the original poster, DO NOT click the "Return to the thread" link and DO NOT just let it sit because it will time-out and return to the thread all on its own. Instead, either click on the "Board Index" link at the top to take you back to the forum index, or just close the page. There is no reason to view the thread again after it has been reported and garnering the pariah more income which will just encourage them to do it again.
The webmaster and Moderators of this site are very good about removing these piteous scrawlings, but they cannot monitor the forums 24/7, so our reporting them will help get them removed so as to not annoy anybody else is a help in that regard.
Until such a time as when the software has some method of electrocuting the idiots that post this scum, I fear the only recourse is to report them as they are found and do not do anything to encourage them to keep doing it. I suppose there might be some method in the forum software of rejecting a new thread or reply by looking at the words and withholding the content if certain words are found in abundance. But I doubt if that will ever happen.
Semper Vaporo,
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ryan - Posts: 1015
- Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:52 pm
- Location: Palo Alto, California
Re: Weird SPAM Posts
Previously we were only getting 1-2 a day, which was pretty good for allowing anonymous posting (good for our users). Unfortunately the past several days have been crazy. We've tried a few different things to curb it, but so far checking for known spammer IP addresses, disabling anonymous posting, changing the captchas used, and requiring email confirmation haven't blocked everything yet. Hopefully we can have the problem taken care of soon and make anonymous posting (with good captchas/filters) a possibility again. Sorry for the clutter in the meantime.
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Joe - Posts: 12
- Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:06 pm
Re: Weird SPAM Posts
Hehe, I love the remote electrocution idea.
Let me know when you get THAT feature working.
Let me know when you get THAT feature working.