The Auswine Forum

yes, as above, good suggestions.

just ask 5 yes/no questions upon signup, no bot could get them all correct.

e.g.

is barossa in SA? Yes/No
is semillon a red? Yes/No
is koonunga hill more prestigious than grange? Yes/no
do we like brett? Yes/No
is the 98 vintage generally considered a good one? Yes/no

have 5 randomly selected from 20 questions. Bot's will disappear.

I reckon there's a few that would fail the last two questions out of personal preference

a good way of telling it is a bot, is that their web address within thier profile is often obviously dodgy. usually has a drug name or a porn name or something.

I just registered and tried posting something in the intro forum to say hello, and all I got was the "you can't put info in your profile" error message.

Not amazingly helpful.

Martin

mgbridges wrote:I just registered and tried posting something in the intro forum to say hello, and all I got was the "you can't put info in your profile" error message.

Not amazingly helpful.

Martin

Martin, welcome aboard,

Which "Intro" forum? You should be able to post a "Who Am I" entry, just not put stuff into your profile or include URLs until you've scored 5 posts. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's a small price to pay to keep the huge number of spambots at bay.

Scanlon wrote:a good way of telling it is a bot, is that their web address within thier profile is often obviously dodgy. usually has a drug name or a porn name or something.

New registrations can't put URLs into profile or posts until they get 5 normal posts.... That's the key to the spambot defence.

Red Bigot wrote:Which "Intro" forum? You should be able to post a "Who Am I" entry, just not put stuff into your profile or include URLs until you've scored 5 posts. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's a small price to pay to keep the huge number of spambots at bay.

Well, the Who Am I forum didn't accept my post before, but it has now, so all is well.

Martin

will put more info in profile now

Cheers
Dionysus (cyber name, its wine related)

Just out of curiosity, what is the problem with spambots registering user names on this forum?
What harm can they do?
Do they post spam messages or something?

drlev wrote:Just out of curiosity, what is the problem with spambots registering user names on this forum?
What harm can they do?
Do they post spam messages or something?

Why no, of course spambots don't post spam messages. They post insightful tasting notes on fine and rare wines and engage in witty repartee.

Seriously though,

Hi Lev, they have been a problem at different times, posting heaps of spam messages and links. This all chews up Gavins storage space and bandwidth I expect, which he generously provides at no cost to us,

drlev wrote:Just out of curiosity, what is the problem with spambots registering user names on this forum?
What harm can they do?
Do they post spam messages or something?

Yes. Gavin deletes around 70 registrations per day, I delete a few messages from some that last long enough, did about 5 today. If Gavin didn't delete the registrations there would be more spam messages as well. Not that many bother I guess since they can't post links in the messages until they get to 5, it's probably only a matter of time before they get to that level with automated posts too.

Red Bigot wrote:

drlev wrote:Just out of curiosity, what is the problem with spambots registering user names on this forum?
What harm can they do?
Do they post spam messages or something?

Yes. Gavin deletes around 70 registrations per day, I delete a few messages from some that last long enough, did about 5 today. If Gavin didn't delete the registrations there would be more spam messages as well. Not that many bother I guess since they can't post links in the messages until they get to 5, it's probably only a matter of time before they get to that level with automated posts too.

Don't start me ... sigh

Such a waste of time!

Red Bigot wrote:New registrations can't put URLs into profile or posts until they get 5 normal posts.... That's the key to the spambot defence.

..AND have been a member for 7 (continous ) days

as i found out..

cush wrote:

Red Bigot wrote:New registrations can't put URLs into profile or posts until they get 5 normal posts.... That's the key to the spambot defence.

..AND have been a member for 7 (continous ) days

as i found out..

Yes

Sorry for the frustration.

However, otherwise spammers come on, and simply post 5 or 6 quick instant spam posts and have full permissions.

The system is designed to frustrate them, and works pretty well, so far!

i completely understand why you've done it...

but i need to post a picture when i get home

regarding... GAH! i can't post a link to the thread i made... (it's in the viti forum)

(and please ignore my awful attempt at getting around the no picture posting in that thread)

Is it possible to also stop new members from pms for a week as well? Just got one advertising livewebcam girls...

Cheers,

Alex F wrote:Is it possible to also stop new members from pms for a week as well? Just got one advertising livewebcam girls...

Cheers,

Same! From this user.
UserID http://forum.auswine.com.au/profile.php ... le&u=17021

Maybe its time to upgrade to phpBB 3

Guys,
What's with the surge in membership? It appears that since 11th Sept 2008 there have been 582 new members - in 6 days??? Prior to that membership had got to 1415, but it took 5 years. Some of these 'new members' have obviously generated names.

Just asking!

John

That's how many spurious registrations Gavin has to deal with.

Red Bigot wrote:That's how many spurious registrations Gavin has to deal with.

Yes

took a while too.

BTW updating to the newest version of this software is on the drawing board!

It will happen.

Its just that updating is not hard, its ensuring all members, all posts, all messages get moved successfully across when we change.

That's a bit beyond my technical skills!

But it will be happening.

Gavin
I strongly support the idea that participants are all best served by openness and straightforwardness: that means representing oneself accurately, including name.
May I proffer a thought for those who presently feel unable to do this for reasons such as those mentioned by Gavin, e.g. 'in trade'. I referee papers for scientific journals, and as many may know, this is traditionally done anonymously. However, one good piece of advice is never to ‘say’ anything, despite this anonymity, that you would not feel able to say if you were face to face with the other party. That helps to ensure one thinks about what one says, and how one says it, and that in turn usually keeps it fair.
Would such an approach not allow most people to use their real identity. I suppose there could be an ‘alter ego’ for those few who need it.
I am less inclined to enter into dialogue with, or trust, someone who is not open and I am sure many others feel the same. I suspect people who don’t use their real identity will get a different kind of response.
Lastly, intelligent (and efficient) exchanges are facilitated by information about the experience and knowledge of others, so that one can explain or comment in a way that is more likely to be understood. It may be more difficult, or require a different approach, to explain reductiveness to someone who does not know what dihydrogen monoxide is.

ken gillman wrote: ...does not know what dihydrogen monoxide is.

One of the most dangerous chemicals on our planet. It kills thousands every year and yet "they" are allowed to add it to food and drink products willy nilly. I think we should start a petition to have it banned

Davo wrote:

ken gillman wrote: ...does not know what dihydrogen monoxide is.

One of the most dangerous chemicals on our planet. It kills thousands every year and yet "they" are allowed to add it to food and drink products willy nilly. I think we should start a petition to have it banned

Davo,
have already done it. I thought I saw your signature on my list? No?

activate your membership,
puts some details about yourself in your profile, (can be simple, where you are located, your interests, does not need to be personal information)
and if possible make a post to the board as soon as you can.

In this way when I am looking at the registrations I will see something about the user, notice that there are active and notice that they have posted and therefore leave them in.


Hi Gavin, I'd noticed the incredible amount of dodgy names registering on Christmas Day. I'm real, I'm Neil and I'm from Sydney. In four more posts I'll be able to add that detail to my profile

NeilJ

NeilJ wrote:Hi Gavin, I'd noticed the incredible amount of dodgy names registering on Christmas Day. I'm real, I'm Neil and I'm from Sydney. In four more posts I'll be able to add that detail to my profile

NeilJ

Hi Neil,
With about 300 spam registrations built up over Christmas, there is no guarantee Gavin won't delete a few real ones. If this happens, keep trying and send him a PM or email to confirm.

Red Bigot wrote:

NeilJ wrote:Hi Gavin, I'd noticed the incredible amount of dodgy names registering on Christmas Day. I'm real, I'm Neil and I'm from Sydney. In four more posts I'll be able to add that detail to my profile

NeilJ

Hi Neil,
With about 300 spam registrations built up over Christmas, there is no guarantee Gavin won't delete a few real ones. If this happens, keep trying and send him a PM or email to confirm.

Ta for the headsup ... will give a shout if I vanish into the ether

NeilJ

In regards to the Spam issue, I've noticed a few forums not allowing webmail based emails anymore (hotmail, yahoo, gmail etc).

They seem to do 3 things

1. Ask a question like 'What's the Capital of Victoria'
2. Send an email with confirmation link of registration - only to ISP Email addresses
3. Captcha

The odd time I've been on this site early in the morning before the cull, I've seen exactly how many crap ones you get registering.

Out of interest, and because I had a spare moment after reading this subject, I checked the latest registrations. Since the 14 January, there has been 954 registrations of whom 3 have posted more than 0 times. One of them I know as it was me trying to get back on to the forum after I screwed up my original registration! That means 951 seemingly false registrations, an average of 68 per day, using up bandwidth. Wow. No wonder it's a problem.
Gavin, if you read this, please delete the 'plummy2' registration (but not 'plummy'!) I would have done it myself but I cannot find any way of unsubscribing.
Thanks
Kim

Im getting Spam PM's now from your registered spam bots.

I have a bit of experience with PHPbb if you need help upgrading to the latest version, just let me know.

Scoobth wrote:Im getting Spam PM's now from your registered spam bots.

I have a bit of experience with PHPbb if you need help upgrading to the latest version, just let me know.

Can you

move the whole existing

phpbb

on to the latest version of this software

while keeping all members and posts

intact?

If so, this would be an amazing assistance.

Please advise?