..........we're only 9 new forum members away from reaching the 'next hundred'. (1900)
At present, there are 52 'new members' waiting approval.
Who wants a 'sweep' as to how many of these are going to be actual people, and not Spam Bots.
My guess is that they're all 'bots'.
Any takers ?
Cheers - Phil
No. Absolutely not. 47 will be real people, the other 7 will be existing forum members who want to get the newsletter more than once, and the remaining -2 are rounding error. :-[
Still not sure about this clear prejudice toward Bots, it smacks of spamophobia. Bots as members might give us insights into home security systems, undiscovered fortunes in Nigeria and clever ways to increase our members. :D
1 real person, 49 spammers and 3 I've not decided on yet... ???
Quote from: Leon on 22 November 2016, 01:52:35 AM
1 real person, 49 spammers and 3 I've not decided on yet... ???
I
still don't know how you can tell with a lot of them, Leon.
Some of them are obvious (as bots) even to a numpty like me....."Viagra Doctor", "Lucinda Bigjugs" (yes...really =)) for example...... and ones that are just a complete, random jumble of numbers and letters.
I
think I spot a handful of real ones.....Ones with some sort of military, historical or gaming reference....But the others..... :-
Cheers - Phil ;)
Oh Techno! Such ignorance! Lucinda Bigjugs was the American (well Texian) version of our Florence Nightingale. She was born in Texas in 1821 and was one of the first to join Sam Houston in 1836. After the battle of san Jacinto, she tore up her petticoat to make bandages for both Texian and Mexican wounded. Unfortunately, she wasn't very good at knot tying resulting in several soldiers reporting back for rebandaging.
Fortunately (for her) a slow witted officer saw what was happening and loaned her a pair of his trousers (pants in the US). She later married him, and helped run his cattle ranch. Yes, she loved the sight of his Texas longhorn.
I surprised you don't remember her Techno, because she mentions you in her diary. "There was one there, a tall man of such extreme thinness. He came neither from Mexico, nor from the United States and none could undersand him at all. Throughout the campaign he kept asking after the the tobacconist's and for a copy of the Sunday Express. In battle he was truly fearless. I can see him yet, carefully loading and aiming at the Mexicans. Because of his physicality, when he stood side on to the Mexicans, he could not be seen, and so it would have been by the most unfortunate chance that a musket ball would have struck him, and his shots must have appeared to have been coming from nowhere. Although he caused some concern to the enemy, he was such a poor shot that he reportedly expended 43 rounds and struck only one bemused seagull. He disappered one day, as the army marched to the right, and it is thought he took the left path."
I was aiming at the seagull......It kept mistaking me for a tall stick, and insisted on trying to perch on me.
(Wasn't going to have some avian scavenger pooping all over my 'uniform', and my rather natty hat.....some b*gger nicked that. If I ever find out who that was. >:()
Can't say I remember Lucinda, though. :-
There again.......
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 22 November 2016, 07:00:44 AM
I still don't know how you can tell with a lot of them, Leon.
A Google search gets the majority of them, then any that I'm unsure of get checked in our emails to see if we've had any orders/correspondence with them. If I'm still wary I'll leave them for a day or two to see if the search results change. There's always some obvious ones though as you say, @webmalicious or @spambot is a pretty good indicator...
Here is a suggestion for you - make all new members post on a dedicated "welcome" topic as a requirement to open full membership. SOTCW do this and as Leon is nuisance, sorry member on there I'm certain that Pete or Russ would offer help along those lines.
IanS
I've been wanting to add some type of qualification question to the membership registration, something daft like 'Who is the Evil Empire' or 'Which of these is the real tank...' etc so that it gets rid of the bots. Matt's not had chance to sort that out as he's been too busy, so we might see if the new webguy can have a look at it for us.
Quote from: Leon on 22 November 2016, 04:59:30 PM
I've been wanting to add some type of qualification question to the membership registration, something daft like 'Who is the Evil Empire' or 'Which of these is the real tank...' etc so that it gets rid of the bots. Matt's not had chance to sort that out as he's been too busy, so we might see if the new webguy can have a look at it for us.
Both of those questions would dumbfound most Warghammer players. :P
Quote from: Techno on 22 November 2016, 09:19:15 AM
Can't say I remember Lucinda, though. :-
There again.......
Cheers - Phil
I am sure you told me you were lost in her more than ample bosom for a fortnight. :d
Quote from: Leon on 22 November 2016, 04:59:30 PM
I've been wanting to add some type of qualification question to the membership registration, something daft like 'Who is the Evil Empire' or 'Which of these is the real tank...' etc so that it gets rid of the bots. Matt's not had chance to sort that out as he's been too busy, so we might see if the new webguy can have a look at it for us.
That sounds like a good idea.
You could have two levels of membership
Ask a normal question like whats this tank for initial membership.
Then to qualify for Full Membership, some forum related questions
Who has a predilection for painted ladies - Nik
Who has a fascination with Red headed Ladies - Orcs or Nik
Who has multi-coloured Pills - FSN
Which member of the forum is probably less than sane - (trick question ) correct answer is - All of them
Who hates redheaded ladies - Nosher
What is Mi'ladys real name.
Who is the most revered and ancient member of the Forum?- Techno
Who is cloned - Leon
How does Leon play on the Xbox? - Naked :-&
I am sure we could come up with lots more
Is there a way to allow Lucinda bigjugs, and restrict her membership so she can only post in the totty thread?
X_X
I knew I shouldn't have mentioned that one. :-[
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 22 November 2016, 08:23:51 PM
X_X
I knew I shouldn't have mentioned that one. :-[
Cheers - Phil
But you knew you wanted to :D :D :D
I believe Lucinda was worried about being captured by the Mexicans, and so sought to arm herself. A number of gallant fellows were only to happy to let her handle their weapons. Unfortunately under her ladylike touch they sometimes went off half-cock.
Of course, the Tex-Mex war is best known for the Alamo, and it is amazing the number of people who want to see an old ruin. So, lets meet Techno.
Sorry, I appear to have been channelling Chairman Humph.
How does one block a thread on this site?
Getting back to the spam bots.
The other 'thing' I've noticed, is that I now recognise what at first glance appear to be 'genuine names', trying over and over and over to join the forum.
Sometimes as many as three times in the same day.
As I know Leon has already 'turned them down' before...I feel fairly confident they'll be refused again.
I can't wait until there's some sort of 'prove you're not a spambot' test to stop these time wasters coming through.
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Last Hussar on 23 November 2016, 12:39:32 AM
Sorry, I appear to have been channelling Chairman Humph.
=D> =D> =D> =D>
Well played, Sir, well played!
Quote from: Techno on 23 November 2016, 07:31:09 AM
I can't wait until there's some sort of 'prove you're not a spambot' test to stop these time wasters coming through.
It won't be used on existing members will it? :-S
If so, I think it's only far to declare now that Westmarcher is actually Deep Blue, who joined the Forum to enliven the tedium of playing chess with humans and appearing in very niche porn films.
Quote from: fsn on 23 November 2016, 07:36:28 AM
It won't be used on existing members will it? :-S
I hope not.
If it's something like a 'spot the tank' game.....I'll be alright, if the choices are between a tractor, a double decker bus and a centurion tank.
If it's a choice of three tanks, and it's a 'which one's the centurion' question......I'll have to phone you up to get the right answer. ;)
Cheers - Phil
Which of course, I will cheerfully give!
:^o
Centurion 1, Centurion 5 & Centurion 7...
Obvious test: Fill in the missing letters.
*ztecs are clearly the most urgently-needed range in w*rgaming today.
...for example.
Erm M
Least for the first word.....
Captua softwear might do it.
IanS
*ztecs are clearly the most urgently-needed range in w*rgaming today.
I think the difficult bit is doing it without laughing. :-
A simpler test which would work for any actual human reading the forum for at least 24 hours:
"How many unbandaged fingers is Techno holding up."
Ooooh......
I can answer that one ! ;D
Cheers - Phil
None - he removed all of them years ago.
IanS
...and how many are his own?
At this point probably the right hand - middle! :D
How perceptive. :P ;D ;D ;D ;D
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 21 November 2016, 07:36:18 PM
..........we're only 9 new forum members away from reaching the 'next hundred'. (1900)
At present, there are 52 'new members' waiting approval.
Who wants a 'sweep' as to how many of these are going to be actual people, and not Spam Bots.
My guess is that they're all 'bots'.
Any takers ?
Cheers - Phil
Only now at 1900 thanks to
snottlebocket. :-B
(hello, if you are reading this)
Odd !
If snottlebocket helped us reach 1900.....Why aren't we at 1901 with the introduction of 'Wargamer Dave' ?
Cheers - Phil
..... unless one member has since been deleted? :-\
E.g., where's Duck Man?
Duckman's still listed. :-\
Unless Leon's deleted a spambot that slipped through the net, initially.
Cheers - Phil
Flippin' heck......The 'bots' are coming through with a vengeance at the moment !
Something between 20 and 30 a day.......
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 19 December 2016, 10:18:17 AM
Duckman's still listed. :-
Unless Leon's deleted a spambot that slipped through the net, initially.
Cheers - Phil
And Why shouldn't I be listed? I may not post as often as some and I might be interested in aquatic based ranges like "Fishmen and Duckmen", but surely that does not make me an unwanted member.
No reason at all, 'Ducky'..You're a useful chap to have on the forum.
Cheers - Phil
We had a member asking to delete his account before Christmas, hence the bounce back to 1900 again. The bots are certainly giving us some attention at the moment as well.