Comments on: And forums are back!

By: compsciguy

compsciguy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:21:00 +0000

And besides, I don’t think ANY spam-botnet master is going to take the time to visit this particular forum to figure out the question and register an account. There are bigger forums out there, and they are (surprisingly) easier for spambots to get in to.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:17:00 +0000

@Daniel: Logic tells us that would the case, but reality proves us wrong.
The thing is, most bots ARE “automated googling bots”, so this kind of question is incredibly effective, since these bots aren’t made to handle these kinds of special cases.
I added a similar question to my phpBB forums a month or two ago (only easier – typing a number from a list given along with the question), and not a single spambot has gotten past it – even though I used to get 10 or so attempts to sign up every single day before that.

By: compsciguy

compsciguy — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:34:00 +0000

But they can still hold it back while Zach is working on a new captcha. If mods get appointed, and if Zach decides to change the captcha at all.

By: Echo

Echo — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

@compsciguy:
That is an incredibly ineffective way to deal with spam… It might work at first, but in the end there are just too many bots and mods cannot have enough time.

By: compsciguy

compsciguy — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:30:00 +0000

So get a couple of moderators who will be on just about every day, so that the inevitable spam flood is held back.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:45:00 +0000

This isn’t really an effective anti-spam measure.
A spam-king only has to know the answer once and all the bots can spam again. It’s a static question.
(this will only hold off the automated googleing bots who register at any forum)

By: Axoren

Axoren — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:32:00 +0000

@@@__@

By: Axoren

Axoren — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:30:00 +0000

There are negative 2 Forums.
But there are 2 posts…
Why can’t I say stuff 🙁

By: compsciguy

compsciguy — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:27:00 +0000

Yes, all of the accounts are deleted. So are all of the topics. You couldn’t have kept the topics, since you stuck with phpBB?

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:24:00 +0000

You erased the accounts in the process?