new user accounts...

[ProxRocks]

kye-u,

SOMETHING has to be done, PLEASE!, about our new user account membership process...

we are getting a HUGE number of spambots getting "accounts" / "memberships"...


look thru our "member list", i submit that a good 90% in the last YEAR are d@mn "robot" ONE-TIME visits...


it's time (overdue!) for some spring cleaning...
i'd be inclined to CANCEL ALL "memberships", wipe the entire slate clean, and have us all "re-register"...

the "members" that we KNOW are legit should remain untouched, but AXE ALL OF THE OTHERS, change our registration process (bot-proof it!), and make everbody re-register!!!

[bugger]

can't we add stupid question to the registration process?

e.g
1.who wrote proxo?
2. what the lastest version of proxo?

[ProxRocks]

doesn't even need to be that complex...

and personally, i HATE the image-captcha routines, MOST of them are dang near impossible to "read", and i have Lasik-corrected 20/20 vision!

a "pull-down" menu that contains two options, 1) i'm a robot and 2) i'm a proxo user that DEFAULTS to "i'm a robot"...

i submit that it should NOT only be for new member "registration" but for POSTING REPLIES! (we Proxo users will have a filter that will change the DEFAULT from "i'm a robot" to i'm a proxo user...



but the bigger problem, i'm not so convinced that kye-u, to be blunt, really "cares", i'm not so convinced he even reads the forum as "frequently" as some of the rest of us...

[Oddysey]

(Feb. 03, 2011 12:56 PM)ProxRocks Wrote:  .......
but the bigger problem, i'm not so convinced that kye-u, to be blunt, really "cares", i'm not so convinced he even reads the forum as "frequently" as some of the rest of us...

Oh boy, them's fightin' words if I ever heard 'em. I do believe that the rotating ventilator is about to encounter some very malodorous byproduct. If'n y'all don't mind, I'm gonna stand back a few yards, right over here.....

[Mele20]

Kye-U's Forum Info
Joined: Mar. 04, 2004
Last Visit: Jan. 02, 2011 12:53 AM

This is disturbing/disheartening......

[Ralph]

I hope we don't get into one of those p--sing contests like eons ago on Arne's site . Kye-U has made an enormous contribution to Proxomitron . I just pop in regularly and enjoy !

[Kye-U]

(Feb. 03, 2011 12:56 PM)ProxRocks Wrote:  but the bigger problem, i'm not so convinced that kye-u, to be blunt, really "cares", i'm not so convinced he even reads the forum as "frequently" as some of the rest of us...

As I've mentioned, please take into account that I am a full-time undergraduate student who is: currently enrolled in his last semester in a University with a full course-load, an executive member of his program's course union (representing over 2,000 students), planning out his professional career for after he graduates, and who is also working closely with his school's Dean on a project that affects the entire university.

The frequency of my non-anonymous visits to this forum does not correlate to the support I hold for the Proxomitron community.

[ProxRocks]

too d@mn funny...
today's spambot posted a one-liner, "how r u my friend it's a good thing that spammer was banned"


the same spammer posted THREE different thread one-liner's today, all deleted, the arse-hole banned...

[ProxRocks]

the banning is a waste of time, it seems...
these spammers use software that never log in again under the same "cracked membership" anyway...
they just scour the 'net for "weak" forums that hand out memberships willy-nilly and let the "cracked membership" crap-post...

edit: guess it's not a waste of time after all, yesterday's spammer is viewing the "no permissions" page this very instant

[sbk]

(Feb. 03, 2011 12:12 AM)ProxRocks Wrote:  (snip)
the "members" that we KNOW are legit should remain untouched, but AXE ALL OF THE OTHERS, change our registration process (bot-proof it!), and make everbody re-register!!!

imo, the longstanding memberships don't need wiping, since they're least likely to suddenly convert to driveby spambots.
regarding kye-u, and you, thanks for taking time&effort to keep this site up.
regarding signups, I'd suggest using two different types of 'human intelligence' tests, but i wonder if the drivebys are paying those infamous starving 9 year-olds 0.20 chon.

______
huh?
just as i was about to click "post reply" i saw the option box "Signature: include your signature. (registered users only)"
implying unregistered visitors can post? that seems too inviting to drivebyers.
?

[Mele20]

The most users online at one time was 143 on Yesterday at 06:00 AM

Is the above plausible? I'm asleep at 6AM so I don't know how many were here yesterday at that hour. When I came today, I found two new posts. It seems to me if there were 143 users here yesterday at one time how come no other new posts? Were they here to gather hints about Proxo and didn't want to post (or need to)? Or were most of those 143 users spambots?

[Kye-U]

@sbk: I can confirm that unregistered visitors cannot post. It's awkward default verbage that I will correct, thanks!

To address the spam issue, I've added two new plug-ins and updated the recaptcha plugin. One of the plugins allows administrators to delete all threads/posts by a spammer and also delete their account in one click.

Special thanks to all of the administrators for keeping TUOPF spam-free! I am graduating this spring and have currently finished all of my final exams, so I intend to spend more time here: lurking, adding comments here and there, and monitoring and preventing spam

[Oddysey]

(May. 01, 2011 06:18 AM)Kye-U Wrote:  ......
I am graduating this spring and have currently finished all of my final exams
.......

<sniff>
Our very own little wunderkind is all grown up now - time flies so quickly! I remember like it was just yesterday, our own little Kye-u telling us all how he was looking forward to going to High School the next year.

Congratulations, young feller, and welcome to the Real World!
<blubber>




Oddysey