Ideas to combat spam

[GaryChildress]

Spam is getting a little more lively these days. Perhaps there are ways we can all cooperatively help Matrix combat it.

FIRST: Wouldn't it be better to not even click on a thread that we know is spam? I imagine the spammers tend to judge the effectiveness of their junk from the number of hits a thread receives. The more we click on their thread and respond the more they'll keep posting. That's probably why they spend so much time creating new threads instead of posting in existing threads, to track hit counts. "Go die in hell spammer" doesn't seem to have any effect on them, in fact it probably just makes their day to have us click on their thread that much more and I know it makes me even more curious to see a spam post with a dozen replies behind it. If I can't read them by hovering my mouse over the first part then it becomes more difficult to tell if it's a legitimate thread or not. So I'm thinking we should all try another approach and just do our best to ignore threads that appear to be spam.

SECOND: If you are a legitimate new member making your first or second post, it would probably be advisable to begin your post with something like "Hi my name is [insert memeber name] and I would like to introduce myself." or else post in a way that clearly involves some thought and consideration toward the forum so that we can tell you are legit. Basically if you can't make yourself sound legit in the part of the thread that hovering the mouse reveals then I for one will probably ignore your thread.

Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

[danlongman]

These forums are but a small part of my life online. I find the anti-spam efforts much more annoying than the spammers themselves.
Sometimes the convoluted attempts at english are so amusing I find myself chuckling for some time afterwards. Then there is soojan.
In short spam does not bother me. If others wish to mobilise in an anti-robospam crusade..... well I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do to keep
them braincells banging together. I have found in the past that getting a girlfriend, especially if you are already in a relationship, will put things in perspective.

[wodin]

I think maybe it would be best if no one replied to it. I know from my forum it's alot easier admin wise if no one replies to them.

Spam is annoying when it fills up a forum, also pretty much every forum people get peed off with it not just here. It can bring up old threads and interrupt others. It's as annoying as that crap mail you get in the post. Or fill your email box with so your forever trying to get rid of it. It's also annoying for the Matrix admins aswell. SO yes Spam is a major annoyance whether you like it or not danlongman why on earth you find those complaining about it annoying and prefer the spam strikes me as odd, though I believe you've already said you have mates who are spammers, they really do need to find a life.

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: danlongman

These forums are but a small part of my life online. I find the anti-spam efforts much more annoying than the spammers themselves.
Sometimes the convoluted attempts at english are so amusing I find myself chuckling for some time afterwards. Then there is soojan.
In short spam does not bother me. If others wish to mobilise in an anti-robospam crusade..... well I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do to keep
them braincells banging together. I have found in the past that getting a girlfriend, especially if you are already in a relationship, will put things in perspective.

I'm simply suggesting that people NOT reward spammers. If that is annoying to you then I really don't know what to tell you champ. [8|]

EDIT: Other than take a hike and go try to find a normal conversation on usenet somewhere.

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: wodin

I think maybe it would be best if no one replied to it. I know from my forum it's alot easier admin wise if no one replies to them.

Spam is annoying when it fills up a forum, also pretty much every forum people get peed off with it not just here. It can bring up old threads and interrupt others. It's as annoying as that crap mail you get in the post. Or fill your email box with so your forever trying to get rid of it. It's also annoying for the Matrix admins aswell. SO yes Spam is a major annoyance whether you like it or not danlongman why on earth you find those complaining about it annoying and prefer the spam strikes me as odd, though I believe you've already said you have mates who are spammers, they really do need to find a life.

Maybe danlongman's friends are the ones spamming us?

[danlongman]

By annoying i meant the anti-spam security that doesn't work. It keeps me out more than it does the spammers. Not just here either.
As for the other stuff telling me to take a hike and go away because I said something you did not like.... it is the kind of thing I expect from some around here.
Do not bother reflecting on it. It was no surprise to me.

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: danlongman

By annoying i meant the anti-spam security that doesn't work. It keeps me out more than it does the spammers. Not just here either.
As for the other stuff telling me to take a hike and go away because I said something you did not like.... it is the kind of thing I expect from some around here.
Do not bother reflecting on it. It was no surprise to me.

Anti-spam security keeps you out of forums? What the heck are you registering with? [&:]

[danlongman]

I am dyslexic and I do not like to wear my glasses..all those security measures that do not keep spambots out are difficult for me.

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: danlongman

I am dyslexic and I do not like to wear my glasses..all those security measures that do not keep spambots out are difficult for me.

Get out of here! No kidding? You type pretty well for a dyslexic person without glasses. Could you at least make a typo or something?

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

ORIGINAL: wodin

I think maybe it would be best if no one replied to it. I know from my forum it's alot easier admin wise if no one replies to them.

Spam is annoying when it fills up a forum, also pretty much every forum people get peed off with it not just here. It can bring up old threads and interrupt others. It's as annoying as that crap mail you get in the post. Or fill your email box with so your forever trying to get rid of it. It's also annoying for the Matrix admins aswell. SO yes Spam is a major annoyance whether you like it or not danlongman why on earth you find those complaining about it annoying and prefer the spam strikes me as odd, though I believe you've already said you have mates who are spammers, they really do need to find a life.

Maybe danlongman's friends are the ones spamming us?

I don't think so.

Seriously, this is a problem that nuclear weapons could deal with.

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

ORIGINAL: wodin

I think maybe it would be best if no one replied to it. I know from my forum it's alot easier admin wise if no one replies to them.

Spam is annoying when it fills up a forum, also pretty much every forum people get peed off with it not just here. It can bring up old threads and interrupt others. It's as annoying as that crap mail you get in the post. Or fill your email box with so your forever trying to get rid of it. It's also annoying for the Matrix admins aswell. SO yes Spam is a major annoyance whether you like it or not danlongman why on earth you find those complaining about it annoying and prefer the spam strikes me as odd, though I believe you've already said you have mates who are spammers, they really do need to find a life.

Maybe danlongman's friends are the ones spamming us?

I don't think so.

Seriously, this is a problem that nuclear weapons could deal with.

You may be right.

Anyway, as I was saying, I think we as forumites would probably do best to just ignore spam as best we are able. Don't click on it and don't respond to it. Otherwise the forum is going to get burried in spam every morning at this rate. Hopefully leaving spam posts alone will make Matrix's job deleting them easier as well. But like I say they probably pay attention to hit count on their posts (maybe even they're paid in proportion to it). Honestly seeing an occasional spammer in the middle of a legitimate thread is not a big problem so far I don't think. It's mostly the barrage of new posts that really dillutes the forum.

Then if we abstain from clicking and there are still spammers, we go to nukes! [:D]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

ORIGINAL: wodin

I think maybe it would be best if no one replied to it. I know from my forum it's alot easier admin wise if no one replies to them.

Spam is annoying when it fills up a forum, also pretty much every forum people get peed off with it not just here. It can bring up old threads and interrupt others. It's as annoying as that crap mail you get in the post. Or fill your email box with so your forever trying to get rid of it. It's also annoying for the Matrix admins aswell. SO yes Spam is a major annoyance whether you like it or not danlongman why on earth you find those complaining about it annoying and prefer the spam strikes me as odd, though I believe you've already said you have mates who are spammers, they really do need to find a life.

Maybe danlongman's friends are the ones spamming us?

I don't think so.

Seriously, this is a problem that nuclear weapons could deal with.

Warspite1

Are you serious? Nuclear weapons to get rid of spammers?? This is madness, a complete over-reaction. Let me say this - do not do it - such an over reaction will end
very badly. Let me give you a live example to show why.

Last summer I had a couple of flies buzzing around in my kitchen. Couldn't get rid of them no matter what I did - squatting them with rolled up newspaper, spraying fly repellent, trying to reason with them to get them to leave. None of it worked so - just as
you are suggesting with the nukes - I upped the ante. I went to the loft and got out my old MG-42 "Hitler Saw". I positioned myself in the corner of the kitchen and set up my nest - machine gun, sandbags, ammo boxes etc.

Within minutes I was firing off at the critters. Ratatatatatat went the machine gun -ratatatat - the firing went on for only about two minutes. And when i'd finished - Do you know what? No idea if I got the flies - but I sure as hell need a new kitchen.....[:(]

Nukes - don't do it.....

[shunwick]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

Spam is getting a little more lively these days. Perhaps there are ways we can all cooperatively help Matrix combat it.

FIRST: Wouldn't it be better to not even click on a thread that we know is spam? I imagine the spammers tend to judge the effectiveness of their junk from the number of hits a thread receives. The more we click on their thread and respond the more they'll keep posting. That's probably why they spend so much time creating new threads instead of posting in existing threads, to track hit counts. "Go die in hell spammer" doesn't seem to have any effect on them, in fact it probably just makes their day to have us click on their thread that much more and I know it makes me even more curious to see a spam post with a dozen replies behind it. If I can't read them by hovering my mouse over the first part then it becomes more difficult to tell if it's a legitimate thread or not. So I'm thinking we should all try another approach and just do our best to ignore threads that appear to be spam.

SECOND: If you are a legitimate new member making your first or second post, it would probably be advisable to begin your post with something like "Hi my name is [insert memeber name] and I would like to introduce myself." or else post in a way that clearly involves some thought and consideration toward the forum so that we can tell you are legit. Basically if you can't make yourself sound legit in the part of the thread that hovering the mouse reveals then I for one will probably ignore your thread.

Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Gary,

I am all for it but you have to click on a thread before you know it is spam. Not responding is ok but you still have to look at the damn things to find out if they are spam or not.

Best wishes,
Steve

[Terminus]

Actually, all the spam threads can be identified by title. Same as the names of spammers.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Actually, all the spam threads can be identified by title. Same as the names of spammers.

Warspite1

Usually, but not always - look at mitra76

[shunwick]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Actually, all the spam threads can be identified by title. Same as the names of spammers.

Warspite1

Usually, but not always - look at mitra76

Yes, and have you seen some the thread titles recently? It is not always obvious.

PS. Sorry warspite, I was adding to your comment and replying to Terminus if that makes sense.

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

ORIGINAL: danlongman

I am dyslexic and I do not like to wear my glasses..all those security measures that do not keep spambots out are difficult for me.

Get out of here! No kidding? You type pretty well for a dyslexic person without glasses. Could you at least make a typo or something?

LOL, LOL. Damn, I like your sensitivity.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: shunwick

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Actually, all the spam threads can be identified by title. Same as the names of spammers.

Warspite1

Usually, but not always - look at mitra76

Yes, and have you seen some the thread titles recently? It is not always obvious.

PS. Sorry warspite, I was adding to your comment and replying to Terminus if that makes sense.

Warspite1

[:)]

[Terminus]

I'm not talking about the handles of the spammers. You can check their profiles and their "real" name ALWAYS gives them away.

[danlongman]

I too remember somebody jumping all over Mitra76 calling him a spambot and wishing he would die in a fire
when he is a computer games designer who did a lot of work on Northern Crusade......I do NOT remember any
apology coming afterward.
Then there is the example of Warspite's kitchen..a little overdramatised perhaps...but how would you know where
to get the best prices and benefits without a friend who is on a first name basis with Mr. Wilkes down at the petshop
who provides sawdust for the pressboard needed to repair a shot up kitchen?
If a spambot can defeat the security measures he is, at least on occasion, smarter than me.