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Title: Pinguinite Upgrade: Spam Blocking Registration
Source:
pinguinite.com
URL Source: [None]
Published: Feb 2, 2007
Author: Neil McIver
Post Date: 2007-02-02 14:49:34 by Neil McIver
Keywords: None
Views: 466
Comments: 2
An upgrade has been added related to registrations -- which obviously won't affect anyone already registered. A "captcha" passcode has been added. Many forms on the net have these -- the small weird graphics with alpha-numeric characters smeared on them which you must type into a text field. These things prevent computers from filling them out on an automated basis, which some internet marketers are now unethically doing for the purposes of posting unwelcome and invasive spam on forums and guestbooks throughout the net. The one now installed here does not employ graphics but instead just works with a series of misspelled versions of numbers, like "elevwen". Not quite as difficult to crack as the graphic forms, but still a formidable task considering the reward, and much easier for me to create. I'm confident it is sufficient to prevent automated registrations. I'm curious to see if it may be too cryptic for some people to understand. I don't think so but if it is, I can make further changes. You can see it on the registration page.
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#1. To: Neil McIver (#0)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 BARRINGTON - Months after its debut, the local website http://www.borrington.org — an Internet address created to offer Barrington teenagers an online meeting place — has been forced to strengthen the security of its community message board following a recent inundation of pornographic spam. Barrington Substance Abuse Task Force Coordinator Kathleen Sullivan, who helped create and launch the site in October, said the spam began to appear in one or two posts on the message board for teens about two to three weeks ago. After initially attempting to censor the posts herself, she said, the frequency of the spam increased to the point where it became "hard to keep up with." "It just seemed to multiply every day," she said. As a result, the message board has implemented a new posting system in which the board moderator must approve each post before it appears online. The hope is that such a system will stop inappropriate content from finding its way onto the site. As of Monday afternoon, Ms. Sullivan said the process appeared to be working, as no new spam had appeared. The problem reached its high point two weekends ago, when Ms. Sullivan wasn't able to check the message board at all. That following Monday, she received a call from a concerned resident reporting the spam had accumulated in several topic pages on the message board. By the next morning, certain topics — including ones with seemingly innocent titles — were practically overrun with the posts. The posts, which sometimes featured headlines that alluded to offering pornographic material, usually consisted of a single link to a website. The URL for the sites usually featured a celebrity's name and several banned material terms. Designed to be a forum for local teenagers to discuss town issues or other information, the message board suffered from only minor troubles at first, Ms. Sullivan said. Posters sometimes used obscenities, and certain inappropriate posts required some editing by the board administrator. But then the spam began popping up. At first, Ms. Sullivan said she thought that someone local was posting the spam messages. After the posts began to increase, however, she began to suspect that they were coming from a single website. As of last week, Ms. Sullivan said nobody had given her "a real solution" to the problem, which is a common issue for many websites. She reportedly contacted the site's designer, Chris Edwards of Cambridge, Mass. Spam laws There are no state or federal laws prohibiting the use of spam (usually defined as any post not relating to the topic being discussed) on message boards, though the federal government did pass a law in 2003 that created penalties for sending unsolicited e-mails. A message board spammer could be prosecuted if the spam contains a computer virus, however, and Ms. Sullivan said she did not open the links contained in the posts for fear of enabling such a virus. Erasing the posts one at a time was also a "labor intensive" task, she said, to the point that she once spent an entire hour one night cleaning the message board. The initial solution was to alter the posting system so that each entry would have to be sent to the administrator for clearance before being posted on the board. Ms. Sullivan reported she and Mr. Edwards had implemented such a system as of Monday. "It's not censorship, but just one degree further of control," she said. "We don't want kids going on there and being directed to these pretty horrible sites — it's sad." She added that she won't have to shut down the board as previously anticipated. Up until the spam became a serious problem on the board, Ms. Sullivan said that the feature had proved to be "extremely well used and viewed." The board boasted a total of 200 registered users, including both high school students and parents, and had more than 150 posts on topics ranging from the best bands in Barrington to the debate over a new teen center. "I think it's done what we hoped it would do: Get people talking about the issues," Ms. Sullivan said. "It's frustrating, very frustrating [what happened], but that's all part of it. This is a new form of communication ... it's a sad reflection of where we're at when we're dealing with the Internet." She added that one possibly beneficial side effect of the spam is the opportunity to refresh the message board and introduce a new group of topics once it gets back online. In the last few months, Ms. Sullivan said she noticed the discussions on the current subjects tapering off a bit. The Substance Abuse Task Force launched http://Borrington.org in late October as a new approach to reaching teenagers in town. The site was aimed at giving students activity ideas and other information that could steer them away from underage drinking and other negative behavior. Spam temporarily spoils site In the wake of several pornographic link spam posts on the site message board, Barrington Substance Abuse Task Force Coordinator Kathleen Sullivan said that the http://borrington.org website operators were already taking steps to install a system that would force posters to submit their post to a moderator for checking before putting it online. She added that a student with message board experience recently told her that it may possible to install a program that would prevent members from posting links, as well. Ms. Sullivan stated that she still may have to shut down the message board if the unwanted activity persists. by Scott o'connell soconnell@eastbaynewspapers.com http://www.eastbayri.c om/story/294252783825099.php
Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe
Am I the only one seeing the irony in TLBFuckIngShow the only one replying on a thread about spam blockers???
these people here need one....
#2. To: Neil McIver (#0)
Whatcha Lookin' At, Butthead
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