[David]

Not Longman news, but a point.

The amount of spam on this board (actual spam, not useless member postings - which incidentally...) seems to have increased a lot recently.

Are these bots getting cleverer? They can now get round the letter/picture thing on the registration page.

[Console]

We have recently taken a step that should (hopefully) reduce the amound of spam, although it won't stop it completley. As for registration, I'm of the opinion that a human is involved in the process, although the bots could have a form of OCR built into it; I've seen a working demo of a computer program correctly analyse a CAPTCHA image, so I wouldn't be suprised if the bots included them. There may also be a flaw in the way it's implemented that allows a bot to simply bypass it, although I do doubt this as the phpBB guys are usually quite good at this sort of stuff and it would have been spotted by now.

The only way to really reduce the amount of spam to it's most minimal level (human posted spam) would be to customise and change everything from the registration to the posting, but that would require a hell of a lot of work.

[MK Chris]

I like the idea of alternative CAPTCHA's, where you view a few images with a common theme and have to enter the theme in the text box. Although you'd have to have lots of themes, it'd be far harder to crack.

[Console]

My favourite CAPTCHA to date has been one which has several pictures of faces, with all but one distorted in some way (upside down nose, mouth and eyes switched etc.) and you have to click on the real one. The problem with this though is that if the registrations are being done by a human (which relatively few are) then they'd still pass it. Still though, different form's of CAPTCHA's is certainly something to look into. I'm actually researching bayesian spam filters at the moment to see if they can be adapted for phpBB posts; it looks like it'll be possible, but, like most things, it'll require a look of work.

[Mermaid]

bots, OCR, CAPTCHA, phpBB guys, bayesian spam filters, phpBB posts

......... boy, am I glad I'm a dumb blonde!!!!!!

[MK Chris]

The problem with this though is that if the registrations are being done by a human (which relatively few are) then they'd still pass it.

Surely that's something that all CAPTCHAs will struggle with; the point of them, after all, is to try and differentiate between computers and humans.

I'm actually researching bayesian spam filters at the moment to see if they can be adapted for phpBB posts; it looks like it'll be possible, but, like most things, it'll require a look of work.

But this forum has so much off topic and random stuff, it must be even harder to make it work. The obvious stuff I guess it would work for but you'd also have to make it allow all posts except newly registered users I guess?

[Console]

The obvious stuff I guess it would work for but you'd also have to make it allow all posts except newly registered users I guess?

Well, I had been thinking that the bayesian filter would kick in for guest posts and users with less than five posts and that it would challenge the user with a CAPTCHA before the post is entered. This mod is a long way off yet, so I may find a better way (or someone else that has a better way) of doing it.

[Walter Sobchak]

something just flew right over my head, wonder what it was?


Oh! it was this thread!

[Chris]

I've cleaned the userlist out deleting anyone who is obviously a spambot (thanks for the list Console) - and I've also changed the registration captcha - let's see how that goes for the next couple of days.

[Boboff]

Not Longman news, but a point.

The amount of spam on this board (actual spam, not useless member postings - which incidentally...) seems to have increased a lot recently.

Are these bots getting cleverer? They can now get round the letter/picture thing on the registration page.

No new thread as I am embarassed.

How do I upload pictures please, without a browse and upload feature how do we do it please ? Appreciate probably a nrowse feature could be abused, but UM manage it it ?

Please just PM me if it's common or not but I would like to learn ?

[MK Chris]

You can't upload pictures to this site, it would be possible but obviously Mr Harris has decided not to use the feature. You can use free image hosts like ImageShack. There will be others that are quite possibly better but I don't know of them because I never have to use them.

[Dickie]

If you put an upload feature on then it would put more strain on the server.

[ratman797]

i think spam is bad.....hav you herd wat happened to dave tricks and the cheez

[MK Chris]

Can you at least put spaces after the dots in your location? If we have to read your inane crap again, it'd be quite nice not to have it stretching the screen.

[ratman797]

cheez and dave both got banned....they came back but got baned again

[Ballbag]

Consul, you've got the power to rid us of the ratman/cheez/davedicks........ bin him.

Two men enter, one man leaves, two men enter, one man leaves, two men enter, one man leaves, two men enter, one man leaves.

(name the film for a bonus thumbs up)

[ratman797]

im not cheez or dave....OMG...and ive told console to stop you...

[Console]

There's not proof (other than an identical IP address and posting style) that it is one of them.

(And it's the third 'Mad Max' film.)

[ratman797]

it might be cos im at school and the network has the same IP....sorry about that

[Ballbag]

Thumbs up consul me old buddy.

[ratman797]

thumbs down....bag for balls you git...

[Yudster]

Oh Cheez, please stop........

[DemonHorse]

it might be cos im at school and the network has the same IP....sorry about that

Hahah how many times have I heard that p**s-poor excuse... one guy tried to tell me that whole COUNTIES in Northern Ireland share the same IP address, this was just after trying to convince me he was studying for a Degree in Advanced Computing.

I have a shared connection on the same wireless router, and guess what, each computer has it's own unique IP...

[MK Chris]

Yeah but it depends if you NAT or not. The PCs may have their own unique IP behind the router, but facing the internet they appear to be the same machine.

[Yudster]

Or alternatively, Cheez etc could be an idiot.