Posted by Sutelc on October 29, 2005 at 13:33:29:
NOT !!!
You unfunny dolt
What is this stupidness?? - Posted by johnny09
Posted by johnny09 on October 29, 2005 at 07:25:03:
Just doing some reading in the archives and came across this. I’ve run into similar things by other posters on this board a number of times and wonder why people waste their time doing it? Just to be idiots? Or is there some legitimate reason?
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Posted by Chuck Rosenberg on September 05, 2005 at 08:41:02:
In Reply to: Re: Loan Prospector underwriting system posted by Marie on July 10, 2005 at 13:45:40:
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Re: What is this stupidness?? - Posted by Jack
Posted by Jack on October 29, 2005 at 09:14:35:
It is a disturbing new phenomena where automated programs spam message boards with quasi ads. Think of them as internet sleaze ball signs. I am not sure what is being advertised here, maybe there is a link or something else that was deleted by the board program or that you left out.
Re: What is this stupidness?? - Posted by Dons
Posted by Dons on October 29, 2005 at 11:41:14:
So that is why the spam to my email address has risen dramatically over the past few months!
Re: What is this stupidness?? - Posted by Chuck
Posted by Chuck on October 29, 2005 at 10:45:06:
Close.
As we all know, this antiquated (but free) forum software (last updated by it’s author in 2000 - I know, because I checked), automatically e-mails all replies to a posting to the original poster… in other words, a copy of this post will automatically be e-mailed to ‘Jack’… just as all replies to this post will be e-mailed to me… assuming you used a valid e-mail address.
The ‘stupidness’ is actually a ‘e-mail robot’ that spams posters in a similar fashion (start counting the number of spam you get that resembles the ‘stupid post’)… and the reason this is all happening is that the ‘robot’ is checking to see if your e-mail address is still valid… because if it is, they (the robot operator) will add it to a list that they ‘sell’ to the spammers… the guys who send out those fake paypal and bank account ads that want you to verify your account (known as phishing)… or the virus writers or the… well, you get the idea.
I’ve complained about the lack of a edit button and spell checking on this site many times over the last few years (in another forum), but no-one seems to be listening… and now ‘their’ refusal to listen has led to this… (I deleted 22 ‘stupid’ e-mails this morning alone).
One would think that after all this time in business, that they (the site owners) could afford to pop $100 for a respectable, full-featured forum software package… but they probably haven’t sold enough books yet.
And before anyone gets the idea that I have no right to complain… I have over 3,000 posts on this site… and have easily received just as many in spam.
Go figure.
Re: What is this stupidness?? - Posted by michaela-ATL
Posted by michaela-ATL on October 29, 2005 at 09:32:46:
jack,
there are never any links attached. I get lots of those in response to old posts. Favorite word recently: binoculars. For the peeping tom in you, I guess ;-). Those posts don’t make any sense.
Michaela
Re: What is this stupidness?? - Posted by michaela-ATL
Posted by michaela-ATL on October 29, 2005 at 09:31:35:
jack,
there are never any links attached. I get lots of those in response to old posts. Favorite word recently: binoculars. For the peeing tom in you, I guess ;-). Those posts don’t make any sense.
Michaela
I love this forum - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on October 31, 2005 at 11:16:24:
I love the ability to look at a page and decide what I want to read. Most other forum software is much more difficult to see “at a glance” what is there. I’ve watched one after another forum change their software and dwindle in visitors or even close down.
The author of this free software stopped updating it, but another company picked it up and supports it well. It is as full featured as any other software I’ve seen out there.
- Passwords, user names, registration. That is all built right into the software, but it is an option. When users have to register, of course, spam would go down, but so would the users. Many, possibly the majority, don’t want to register. I know I hate it.
I don’t spam and I always use a real address and my real name, yet I do not bother with forums where I have to log in, register, etc. I was even asked to host one, but basically did not pursue it because logging in was a pain.
- Replies to messages is also an option. It can be turned off in seconds and probably would be if spamming or some other problem out-weighed the nice feature of being notified when someone replies to a post.
The owners have taken more precautions to prevent harvesting than most other forums. The email poison at the bottom of the page makes a big difference. I have many, many thousands of posts in the last 8 years and receive very, very little spam from this forum. Most spam comes from another newsgroup that harvests every website they can and have obviously sold their spam list to others.
Everyone assumes their spam comes from this newsgroup, but most of the time it doesn’t. I use a unique address at each newsgroup and so, I know where the spam comes from. A few posts at some newsgroups have resulted in thousands of spam messages, where thousands of posts here have resulted in few spam emails.
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This latest annoying spam problem comes not from this site, but from “Google” and other search engines. While the owners here protect the index page from harvesting, Google and other search engines give spammers thousands of email addresses to bother through their indexing of the archives. I closed down one of my forums specifically because of spam.
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This software has the ability to block IP addresses or a range of addresses. It also logs all posts and the IP addresses so that problem makers can be tracked or banned. There is also a blocking feature so that when someone tries to post spam about headache remedies or other medicines, etc. - it is blocked. Within a few minutes of some new attack, the file can be altered to affect both new posts and replies to old posts.
Email addresses can be hidden in the software and responses can be turned off. There is also the ability to turn the email into a graphic instead of text so that harvestors are hindered in their efforts.
With all that has been happening with spam these days, the only sensible option is individual spam blocking software. There are free versions of programs like “Mail Washer” and other programs that are cheap and well worth the investment. I consider my Mail Washer Pro software the most important software on my computer and as essential as antivirus software and firewall software.
New isn’t always better and revamping a website to use new software just because it is new is a waste. This software has substantial features and security built right in and is well supported by the company that now owns it.
Again, I like it because it is simple for the user. I don’t want to read every post. I want to look and see at a glance the title of a post, the title of the replies, who is posting and who is replying. The title of a post may not interest me, but the title of the replies may drag me in or how many replies.
Even some of the spam that “might” be considered to be from this website, is not, but comes from the other website owners that harvested this site years ago. I can tell that is the case, because they also harvested my website. I receive the same spam messages many times to different addresses that come not from someone pulling addresses from here, but from the other website. Most of it is to the addresses I have used at the other site and those they pulled from my site. I receive very few spam messages to the unique addresses I have used at this forum and none from the other forums at this website.
Re: What is this stupidness?? - Posted by johnny09
Posted by johnny09 on October 31, 2005 at 05:12:50:
I’ve always been highly suspicious of email address harvesting. That’s why if an email address is absolutely required, I always use a bogus one UNLESS the forum owner can positively guarantee no harvesting will take place, or makes it so difficult for the robot that the harvesting probably won’t happen. Or I’ll use an email address that has to be manually edited before it will work. whoeverxx1@parma.net(removexx1 to reply)
“Peeing Tom”? - Posted by Drew
Posted by Drew on October 29, 2005 at 12:50:04:
Tom must be pretty, um, “masculinely challenged” if he needs binoculars to help him with this function.
Re: I love this forum - Posted by Rich[FL]
Posted by Rich[FL] on October 31, 2005 at 12:52:23:
Here! Here! I love the format of this web site. Like you said John, it’s easy to see the messages, and which ones I’ve looked at or not. Everything is right up front.
I also agree with John concerning the other web site software. I visit many others, but I feel they’re not as friendly or easy to navigate as this one, even though they have “all the bells and whistles”. Just because you can make it “fancy and modern” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea to do so.
If anyone is keeping tabs on this thread, here’s my vote for keeping things here the way they are - simple!
Rich
Re: “Peeing Tom”? - Posted by Cletus
Posted by Cletus on October 29, 2005 at 12:59:45:
That would be a microscope. If he needs binoculars it could mean something else.
;o)