SPAM KILLING- IMPORTANT!

[Robert_Moriyama]

!!! NEW COUNTERMEASURE IMPLEMENTED !!!

As of a few minutes ago, I implemented (with Dan's permission) a new Q&A Captcha which, if it works properly, should stop the bots. Time will tell.

I am very nervous right now. And, I suppose I should run a test on it. Back soon.

I am appreciative of your ingenuity and your never giving up.

Thanks, Mark, but my ingenuity had nearly zilch to do with this. I just searched for what could be done, out of desperation. What surprises me is that no one did this before -- it took me about twenty minutes, and I'd never done such a thing previously.

I do believe it's working, too -- about an hour now, and not a single inactive user registered. It's common to see those pop up about every few minutes.

What am I gonna do with all this free time now? Guess I'll work on my story.

I suspect that Rob didn't get around to looking for better options (I see that Lester installed a new plug-in -- at least I don't recall seeing it when I was looking for tweaks to reduce the load) because we were stomping on the spam as fast as it came in, most of the time. (Kinda like stepping on flaming bags of dog poop -- you never again feel like your shoes are really clean -- if said bags bred like cockroaches on a Viagra - crystal meth cocktail.) Yes -- we have been doing too good a job.

[Lester Curtis]

Robert, I see you've got a test post of your own in. Did you try logging in with an incorrect response? I did, and it got rejected. I'll leave your test registration, and you can take it down yourself when you like.

What do you think of the test question?

[Robert_Moriyama]

Robert, I see you've got a test post of your own in. Did you try logging in with an incorrect response? I did, and it got rejected. I'll leave your test registration, and you can take it down yourself when you like.

What do you think of the test question?

Well, it should mess with any non-English speaking spampeople who don't know what the site is nominally about... Although it might eventually be necessary to reduce the maximum number of attempts to one less than the number of options provided. Can we tell how many actual activation messages have been sent out (since it appears to be entirely automated)?

[Lester Curtis]

Robert, I see you've got a test post of your own in. Did you try logging in with an incorrect response? I did, and it got rejected. I'll leave your test registration, and you can take it down yourself when you like.

What do you think of the test question?

Well, it should mess with any non-English speaking spampeople who don't know what the site is nominally about... Although it might eventually be necessary to reduce the maximum number of attempts to one less than the number of options provided. Can we tell how many actual activation messages have been sent out (since it appears to be entirely automated)?

The (strong) suggestion I found was to form a question whose answer could not be found on Google. Indirectly, I think this satisfies; if someone was really determined, they could find it. If it starts to fail, I can always change the question, but I think that human spammers are in too much of a hurry; they like easy targets.

The number of attempts allowed is currently set at 5; I could cut that, or add more options to the question, or combine strategies. We'll see how it holds up.

[Lester Curtis]

. . . aaaaaaand, I just checked the stats, and the new filter is holding up admirably well so far. One inactive got through about an hour ago. Previously, there'd have been two pages of 'em. Not bad!

[Lester Curtis]

I just logged on to check it out . So what's the difference? I got in w/out any questions like what is the terminal speed of an unladen wombat?



RT

It only applies to new registrations -- is that what you attempted?

[Lester Curtis]

It only applies to new registrations -- is that what you attempted?

I got the question, but in some ways it's very strange because I tried about 7 answers that "should have worked" but didn't. I'll say the correct answer is a bit "lateral out of the box". Based on the thunderingly bad quality of the spam, I'd say that's on the right track, but maybe not that exact question - aka pick a question that doesn't have such a fluid interpretation.

I really don't know what to think of that -- has anyone else tried it and had trouble interpreting it?

[Robert_Moriyama]

It only applies to new registrations -- is that what you attempted?

I got the question, but in some ways it's very strange because I tried about 7 answers that "should have worked" but didn't. I'll say the correct answer is a bit "lateral out of the box". Based on the thunderingly bad quality of the spam, I'd say that's on the right track, but maybe not that exact question - aka pick a question that doesn't have such a fluid interpretation.

I really don't know what to think of that -- has anyone else tried it and had trouble interpreting it?

If (a) you understand English fairly well, and (b) you know what Aphelion ISN'T supposed to be, only one answer fits... You just have to think laterally, like one of those exercises where you draw a chair by drawing the SPACES between the legs and around the seat and back, instead of drawing the solid parts.

[Lester Curtis]

Well, this is an historic first for me: I've worked myself out of a job (something we all wish politicians would do).

I had no idea this would be so effective.

Now, which of you jokers is 'SpamSpamBlueEggSpam' ? I'll leave it up there for another day just for giggles . . .

[Lester Curtis]

Well Lester, you did it! You single handedly beat the spam invaders! This really feels good here now. Aphelion regulars owe you a debt of gratitude.

What do you say Tao and the rest - should we not do something appropriate, worthy of thanks for Lester's victory? Take up a collection for a cash gift...maybe?

Gods, no, please. All I did was about ten minutes' worth of somebody else's job, that they weren't doing -- and I'm still baffled over that.

Pay it forward or something. Enjoy the peace. Keep fixing the archives (which is on the list of things I can't do). Celebrate that Robert has less to be grouchy about. Or celebrate that Mark can go back to composing poetry again instead of mocking spam (I'm happy for that!).

Still, though, I'm grateful and honored for the recognition. Thank you.

And -- you're welcome.

[Lester Curtis]

Thanks, Tao, you just reminded me to put Galaxy Quest back on my Netflix list.

[Robert_Moriyama]

And so it begins... I just killed a spam message posted in a November 2007 topic (and spammer's account). The Whois said that the IP address was in California.

We'll see how long it takes for the Global Spam Conspiracy to adjust to the New Forum Order.

[Lester Curtis]

And so it begins... I just killed a spam message posted in a November 2007 topic (and spammer's account). The Whois said that the IP address was in California.

We'll see how long it takes for the Global Spam Conspiracy to adjust to the New Forum Order.

Since we still have a handful of bots roaming the pages, I'm sure they've already ratted us out.

[Lester Curtis]

Bots are administered differently from ordinary users, and I'm sure they behave differently as well. There's a dedicated section in the Admin Control Panel for them, and they are in their own user group.

There was quite a list -- I didn't count, but I'm guessing a few dozen or more. About two-thirds of them had never visited the site, so I'm thinking they were just named there for reference. I just deleted them. I'm going to check out the others and try to figure out what to do about them. Options are Deactivate, Edit, or Delete. I looked at the editing option for a sample, and it's beyond my technical expertise. So, I might deactivate some.

Some of them should be allowed access, or nobody would ever find this place. If any of you knows more about these things, please give me some feedback or suggestions.

[Lester Curtis]

Based on a quick web search, I'm leaving them alone. None of them seem to hurt anything, and some are very desired guests, like Googlebot.

[Lester Curtis]

I have to say, it's a LOT more pleasant here lately.

[Lester Curtis]

We may have gotten one . . . I just saw a new name today in the Newest Member slot. Things have gotten so quiet, I hadn't even looked there in a while, and the name has been there for two days.

I sent him/her/it a PM with an ominous suggestion to post an introduction. We'll see what happens. I may get to knock the dust off my kickin' boots. This one's from Bangladesh.