Looking down the first page, I see somewhere between one-fourth and one-third of the threads are Spam Whistle Races. (And the rest is roughly 90% fluff, but let's not go there...) I wonder if there is any chance the forum software might be upgraded so PJ doesn't have to deal with all the renames, and the rest of us don't have to do all the whistling?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
But I enjoy whistling!
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
It was fun until I won one. Captchas!
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
I guess I kinda thought that's what the final decision of this thread was. It seemed to me like we decided that most of human interaction consists of fluff and that it ultimately comes down to more chance than anything for people to get into serious conversations. In older relationships, people you've known for a long time, it's a lot of the same pattern.
I'm not saying that you can't break yourself from this pattern, because I think it's possible, I just thought I was common opinion around here that new and interesting topics are hard to come up with when you know everyone fairly well.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
My comment about fluff was intended as a joke. Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
Ah.... Well shame on me for making it serious then.
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
The spam thing isn't a joke though, and I agree, it is excessive.
I don't know nearly enough about the way the forum works to suggest ideas on how to fix it though. Spam filters on email don't even always work...
What options do we have?
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
Although Hatrack does a sort of email verification (giving you a random password before you can make your own), needing a separate link to activate it, is one thing.
Other options are the always annoying CAPTCHA. They can really cut back on the amount of spam bots you get. There was somewhere I was reading the involved a CAPTCHA that wasn't letters and numbers, but rather a simple math problem such as "3x4=?" and you had to provide the correct answer to keep going.
The problem, I think, is making it difficult for spambots and not annoying for actual people as well.
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
Well, if you only have to do it once when you register and never again, I don't think it would get too annoying.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
The problem is that the spammers came up with an automated way of dealing with CAPTCHAs, involving humans paid with porn. Still, it would no doubt cut the flood down a bit.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I'm trying to imagine how special the free porn would have to be in order to be useful as currency.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
"First thing, we kill all the spammers."
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: I'm trying to imagine how special the free porn would have to be in order to be useful as currency.
Few people think of solving a CAPTCHA as work, I think. Presumably it's a fairly small density of CAPTCHAs per picture, too. And considering that people will apparently pay tens of dollars monthly for membership sites, I don't think the pron needs to be so special as all that.
Posted by krynn (Member # 524) on :
Porn. The currency of our future generations.
oh well, the USD had its streak.
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
quote:Originally posted by krynn: Porn. The currency of our future generations.
oh well, the USD had its streak.
Well shucks. I was kinda cheering for the Euro. I thought it had a pretty good chance of carrying the economy of the world for a while.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Actually, I think it would be more useful to think of labor - solving CAPTCHAs - as the currency, and porn as the good that the currency is paying for.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
The spam is definitely getting out of hand. I'm not familiar with UBB but there has to be something that can help curtail it.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)