Spam Suggestion

[Bicho the Inhaler]

wordcross & HyToFry: spam is a problem that interrupts the normal discussion of the forums. You are proposing to fight it by implementing a feature that would also interrupt normal discussion. That doesn't seem like much of a solution to me. A good solution would allow legitimate users to engage in forum discussion as usual while preventing spambots from getting in. There are legitimate users who will sign up intending their first contributions to be their own puzzles in their own threads, and they shouldn't have to jump through any bureaucratic hoops to do this, apart from registering as members. Make it harder for spambots and spammers to get in, but don't sacrifice forum functionality to do it.

If you're worried about human spammers rather than spambots, it's not worth this. I'm happy with moderators just removing those manually, even if it means the spam stays in the forum until it is removed.

Also, remember the spammers who just post to existing threads?

About the "entrance puzzle" idea: yes, it's true that even a simple puzzle might block out some people, but that can be overstated. I was thinking along the lines of a very simple logical puzzle, like something you'd see on the SAT or simpler. I humbly submit that a person registering on the discussion forum of a website devoted to puzzles would almost certainly be able to solve such a simple puzzle.

Just to be clear, I'm throwing this idea out there for the sake of brainstorming and discussion; I'm not even advocating it at this point.

[HyToFry]

I think the 2+2=? field is the best idea we have thus far. I will work on it as soon as Ant is able to get me the password.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[Antrax]

Um, I sent it to jeep and asked him to send it to you. Talk to him, I'm busy over my head.
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After years of disappointment with get rich quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme. And quick!

[HyToFry]

Alright. I'll bug him about it. Be safe 'traxy.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[Samadhi]

While you're at it, could you send me some of the code? I think every language I've learned has been from looking at an existant program and figuring it out. I look at books *after* I, for lack of a better term, get it. But I don't really get it until I see complex code.

I think that context (having a general idea what the code is trying to do) and the actual code will be far more helpful than any tutorial.
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[HyToFry]

http://www.phpbb.com/downloads.php

There you go Sam.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[Samadhi]

Not what I meant. I learned how to write visual basic by looking at a program someone had written. I learned how to write stored procedures in SQL 2000 by looking at existing stored procedures. (and in both cases, once I had a foundation, I expanded upon that creating my own solutions)

If I were able to look at the code that manages any aspect of the GL, it would be like the rosetta stone for me. Why? Because I have a foundational understanding of what the code is trying to accomplish. From there I can deduce the syntax of the code.
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[HyToFry]

So you're not refering, necessarily, to the code that runs the boards? More so the code that runs the front of the GL?

Most of that is just html. Kevin wrote some stuff which allows the GLOC members to edit the html, but it's not very exciting.

The board, however, is just a phpbb install with some minor mods. If you want to see what makes these forums work, just download a copy of phpbb. I could even get it working on glpics where you can play around with it if you wanted.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[jeep]

I thought that Antrax said he sent the password to you. I'll forward it to you.

-JEEP

[Antrax]

I'd hardly call the chess/go mods "minor", but okay other than that.
Jeep, re-read my PM to you
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After years of disappointment with get rich quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme. And quick!

[HyToFry]

I read the PM myself. I thought it was a bit ironic.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[jeep]

[Antrax]

For future reference, it's poor netiquette to publish private messages.
_________________
After years of disappointment with get rich quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme. And quick!

[HyToFry]

I stand by my statement. Ironic. (and funny)
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[Antrax]

Odds are you're misusing "Ironic". What was ironic about it?
_________________
After years of disappointment with get rich quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme. And quick!

[Beartalon]

While you're figuring this out, our newest member is spamming drugs and and "not safe" text http://www.greylabyrinth.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=10001

[HyToFry]

[Antrax]

[HyToFry]

"Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs."

I learned it from reading the rest of the definition.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[Antrax]

~shrugs~ I'm paranoid. What'd you expect from someone who deals mainly in cryptology for a living?
In my defense, the GL hasn't been defaced or otherwise hakced in all those years.
_________________
After years of disappointment with get rich quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme. And quick!

[HyToFry]

Oh. I don't blame you. I trust you (obviously, since I gave you the password way back when.) I just thought it was funny in an ironic was is all.

(note: I'm not mad or hurt, or anything whatsoever. I just appreciate the humour of the situation. )
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[casinopete]

Actually, I think the discussion has depreciated the humour.

[HyToFry]

Actually, I said nothing about the discussion. The discussion was awkward and dramatic like the days of ol'. I appreciated the humour of the situation, not the discussion--which is why I didn't come right out and say what's what... well... not until Ant didn't *get* it.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[casinopete]

I was being punny about the word "appreciate."

[HyToFry]

Yes, and I got it too.
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[casinopete]

Your mom "got it" just last night.

[HyToFry]

*wonders how terribly distasteful it would be if I quoted myself at this point*
_________________
"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[jeep]

Bah! Drama.

I thought things went down like this:
Antrax had given you the password and sent me a copy out of courtesy. He also told me it was ok for me to give Hy the password, assuming I didn't just pass it out indiscriminately to someone who claimed to be Hy. Which is a good thing, since how else would I know for sure that it's ok for him to have the password?

I had no idea this was part of any drama...

Oh, and Antrax gave me the password so I could help out with some of the coding. Hence the new game tags, etc.

*shrug*

-JEEP

[HyToFry]

Meh. The drama is past. I wanna see s'more puns.
_________________
"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[casinopete]

So you can depreciate them some more?

[Antrax]

evil twin
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After years of disappointment with get rich quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme. And quick!

[casinopete]

greetings neutral twin.

[Beartalon]

True neutral or chaotic? Don't we have enough AD(&)D around here?

[jfdsafa]

I don't know what the hell the "ignore this field" is supposed to do, but it didn't stop me from registering this name and posting with it. I entered "jfdsafa" in both the "Desired Alias" and "ignore this field" fields, and it went through just fine.

Glitch?

[HyToFry]

That was me by the way. Also, I can't believe someone finally voted "no" to the poll. (that wasn't me.)
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"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again." Hi ho.

[Samadhi]

Updating on bans:

I haven't banned for the last couple of weeks, mainly to see what happened but also because banning is a pain and I'm just tired when I get home from work or school. And I'm usually more interested in figuring out my homework or relaxing than banning spammers. *queue violins*

I just checked the spammers over that period and it was pretty much what I expected. Most of the IPs spammed about 5 times over a period of a day or two. Naturally, I banned them and I believe it supports my earlier argument regarding spammer behaviour regarding IPs. However, going forward I figure I'll do a check about only once a week. Why?

Because I don’t think this is really a problem. I haven’t heard any complaints about spam in some time. That’s probably because spam lasts at most minutes and sometimes is cleared in under 1 minute. This virtually erases the spam footprint on the GL, even if the IPs aren't banned. This is why I’m comfortable with once a week. (until I learn/teach myself enough code to make it one touch*)

Naturally, the coders (Hy, Antrax, and Jeep) deserve a round of applause. But I’d also like to thank all the people that move the spam. Without you volunteers, the GL would be overloaded. It’s one of the things I love about the GL. Everyone who can, is doing what they can to keep the GL a forum worth visiting, not for accolades or gratitude but just because they love the GL.

^{*Not that anyone would worry about an aspect that is such a low priority, but it's my pet peeve so if everyone else would leave it be thanks}
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[Samadhi]

*xanax* banned for usernames. I know this will piss off a lot of people but deal with it.
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[Beartalon]

Kill it.

http://www.greylabyrinth.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=10532

[mith]

Spam hunting has become part of my daily routine.

We really need a spam button over on mafiascum. The one here has spoiled me.

[Mackay]

Just a quick question. I field a fair few spam posts simply due to my time zone, and I've meant to ask this for a while. Should we only move topics which contain links, or do we include the ones which aren't advertising/linking anything, but are obviously spam posters?

I've been leaving the link-free ones just to be on the safe side (besides, the spam button is pretty fun, I might as well let others share the joy), but should I just ban them? What benefit is it to them to start a thread which does not link to anything?