Striking a blow against Spam
In the continually escalating war against Spam, I have just instituted an additional filter in our forums. Most of you don't see it, but Zach, Christina, and I are blacklisting between 5 and 10 messages every day, and some of it is so offensive that I feel dirty even having to see it long enough to hit the "delete" button.
But all the spam has one thing in common: lost of links. Usually there are dozens, and always more than five or six.
Therefore, as of now, if you are not logged in, you may not post any message containing three or more links. If you try to do so, the message and your IP address will be blacklisted.
I'd urge you not to test this, because there's no automatic means of white-listing your IP address once you've got it on the bad list. This would mean you can't post anymore without being logged in until I fix it.
Do let me know, of course, if you have any trouble with this new feature. I am sure it's not the last escalation in the spam war, but I hope it will hold back the tide for a bit longer now.
ROUS  Annette Collins, Saturday, 11-17-07 10:33 PM
re: Striking a blow against Spam
OK, yeah, so that lasted about 3 days. Our dear "friend" MESSAGE is not as dumb (or perhaps robotic) as I hoped he / she / it was, and is still sending us loads of obscene nastiness with exactly two links.
So sorry all, no more links embedded in your messages unless you are logged in. See warnings above for why you should not test this.

ROUS  Annette Collins, Monday, 11-26-07 10:18 PM
re: Striking a blow against Spam
Annette,

Thank you for all you do to keep this website up and running and protected for the people who use it, while at the same time making it accessible for those of us who are a little technologically impaired. I am sad to see that people have nothing better to do than fill the world with more degradation. Thanks for wading through the crap for us.
ROUS  Katy Brumbelow, Tuesday, 11-27-07 6:25 AM
re: Striking a blow against Spam
Thank you!
It is nice to be appreciated! :)
If it would amuse anyone, you can see the message the "evil spammers" will get when trying to post links below
Link: Spammers Message
Annette, Wednesday, 11-28-07 4:20 PM
re: Striking a blow against Spam
hmm. its a bit TOO nice, imho.
christina, Wednesday, 11-28-07 4:25 PM
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