Is there any way to block the spammer?

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Sethno
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25 Feb 2016, 6:40 am

Once again the General Autism Discussion forum has been spammed. (Maybe other forums here too...I haven't looked.)

This time the name of the spammer is "pyarji5". I don't know if that's the name used the last time I visited, but there were spams-a-plenty that time too.

Can't anything be done to block this...creature?


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intravenus_de_milo
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25 Feb 2016, 8:26 am

The best thing to do is go to one of this person's posts and report it as spam. I did that already, so hopefully, action will be taken soon.



Sethno
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25 Feb 2016, 11:34 am

intravenus_de_milo wrote:
The best thing to do is go to one of this person's posts and report it as spam. I did that already, so hopefully, action will be taken soon.


How do you do that? I couldn't figure it out.

EDIT:
Duh. The "Report" button might do the trick, huh?
:lol:


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What would these results mean? Been told here I must be a "half pint".


AuroraBorealisGazer
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25 Feb 2016, 11:41 am

:idea: I know! We get one of those newfangled captcha systems, where it makes you go through a series of steps to prove you're not ruled by binary. Ooo ooh! And, one of those steps could be a super fun picture game where you pick which pictures matches the written description! Yeah, that will definitely keep the spammers out. I see no way in which that plan could fail.



EzraS
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25 Feb 2016, 11:46 am

AuroraBorealisGazer wrote:
:idea: I know! We get one of those newfangled captcha systems, where it makes you go through a series of steps to prove you're not ruled by binary. Ooo ooh! And, one of those steps could be a super fun picture game where you pick which pictures matches the written description! Yeah, that will definitely keep the spammers out. I see no way in which that plan could fail.


I don't find that the least bit amusing.


:P



Fnord
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25 Feb 2016, 11:55 am

EzraS wrote:
AuroraBorealisGazer wrote:
:idea: I know! We get one of those newfangled captcha systems, where it makes you go through a series of steps to prove you're not ruled by binary. Ooo ooh! And, one of those steps could be a super fun picture game where you pick which pictures matches the written description! Yeah, that will definitely keep the spammers out. I see no way in which that plan could fail.
I don't find that the least bit amusing.
I think it's hilarious! :lol:


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EzraS
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25 Feb 2016, 12:08 pm

Fnord wrote:
EzraS wrote:
AuroraBorealisGazer wrote:
:idea: I know! We get one of those newfangled captcha systems, where it makes you go through a series of steps to prove you're not ruled by binary. Ooo ooh! And, one of those steps could be a super fun picture game where you pick which pictures matches the written description! Yeah, that will definitely keep the spammers out. I see no way in which that plan could fail.
I don't find that the least bit amusing.
I think it's hilarious! :lol:


Me too. That's why I added an :P as a disclaimer :jester:



Misery
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25 Feb 2016, 12:59 pm

AuroraBorealisGazer wrote:
:idea: I know! We get one of those newfangled captcha systems, where it makes you go through a series of steps to prove you're not ruled by binary. Ooo ooh! And, one of those steps could be a super fun picture game where you pick which pictures matches the written description! Yeah, that will definitely keep the spammers out. I see no way in which that plan could fail.


Oh, sure!

Ooh, and we could even make it better: It could screw with ACTUAL posters, and make it much harder for them to post by giving them a captcha that doesnt actually work right, or that deletes your post after you successfully clear it!

That'll help even MORE!

Where would we get such a thing? Cloud... flare? Is that it? Huh. But dont we already have... oh. Right. I see. CLOUDFLARE.

Yep. Time for plan B, methinks.


In all seriousness though: No, OP, there's nothing you can do to stop the spammer. As long as they're relying on Derpflare... this is just going to keep happening. It'll happily screw with ACTUAL posters, over and over and over, but it'll just as happily allow the absolute most obvious and braindead of bots onto the site to flood it with crap. The only solution is to get rid of WorthlessFlare and get... absolutely any other freaking service.

I'm so, so freaking glad I dont have to put up with it very often at least. Of all the forums I go to, this is the only one that uses it (thus meaning I use this forum the least; otherwise I'd probably be on here more). I did make a point of warning the others about it though after seeing it's behavior here.

Now I go to click "submit".... will it try to screw me up? And if it does, can I yet again glitch past it? Let's find out...

EDIT: Answers: Yes, and yes. Some things never change.



Edenthiel
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25 Feb 2016, 2:02 pm

Clear your browser's cache and cookies. The Captcha system is actually working fine*.

Well, I mean it works as designed, to slow us down, yet still allow spam through (almost makes me wonder if that's part of Cloudflare's promise to "lessen the server load")...

*I've tried it on five systems now that previously showed the problem. After clearing cache and cookies, none still have the problem, which seems to indicate the problem was fixed but our browsers were still running off cached copies of the broken functionality.


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Fnord
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25 Feb 2016, 2:25 pm

Edenthiel wrote:
Clear your browser's cache and cookies. The Captcha system is actually working fine*. ...
Ah-HAH!

I have my browsers set to clear cache and cookies after every session, and I'm "Captcha'ed" only when I post links and quotes - even then, not all of the time.


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AuroraBorealisGazer
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25 Feb 2016, 2:34 pm

Misery wrote:
Derpflare...


:lmao:



LupaLuna
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25 Feb 2016, 4:36 pm

Looks like we need a captcha as strong as this drunk driving test is.



Misery
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25 Feb 2016, 7:14 pm

Edenthiel wrote:
Clear your browser's cache and cookies. The Captcha system is actually working fine*.

Well, I mean it works as designed, to slow us down, yet still allow spam through (almost makes me wonder if that's part of Cloudflare's promise to "lessen the server load")...

*I've tried it on five systems now that previously showed the problem. After clearing cache and cookies, none still have the problem, which seems to indicate the problem was fixed but our browsers were still running off cached copies of the broken functionality.


I already do that, because screw cookies and things. Dont trust the little snots. They're up to no good, surely. Depends on which machine I'm using though. I do that on the PC I'm on now. My laptop however is not set for that as I dont use it quite as often as this thing.

Both are hit with the problem anyway.

Like I've always said: It's a buggy and terrible excuse for a "service".

Though, what REALLY gets me is how hyper-obvious those bots are, just HOW MUCH crap they tend to post.... and yet it never, EVER notices them. That, alone, moreso than the "driving users crazy" bit, makes it pathetic enough. Literally it's ENTIRE FUNCTION is stopping those things. And it cant even do that.

I hope nobody is actually PAYING for this. Because if they are, they're getting ripped off pretty badly.



GodzillaWoman
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25 Feb 2016, 7:38 pm

AuroraBorealisGazer wrote:
:idea: I know! We get one of those newfangled captcha systems, where it makes you go through a series of steps to prove you're not ruled by binary. Ooo ooh! And, one of those steps could be a super fun picture game where you pick which pictures matches the written description! Yeah, that will definitely keep the spammers out. I see no way in which that plan could fail.

I can never tell what's in the stupid pictures and tell which one of them is a dessert or whatever. Apparently Captcha is meant to keep out nearsighted people who forget to clean their glasses. :roll:


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Edenthiel
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25 Feb 2016, 7:42 pm

Misery wrote:
Edenthiel wrote:
Clear your browser's cache and cookies. The Captcha system is actually working fine*.

Well, I mean it works as designed, to slow us down, yet still allow spam through (almost makes me wonder if that's part of Cloudflare's promise to "lessen the server load")...

*I've tried it on five systems now that previously showed the problem. After clearing cache and cookies, none still have the problem, which seems to indicate the problem was fixed but our browsers were still running off cached copies of the broken functionality.


I already do that, because screw cookies and things. Dont trust the little snots. They're up to no good, surely. Depends on which machine I'm using though. I do that on the PC I'm on now. My laptop however is not set for that as I dont use it quite as often as this thing.

Both are hit with the problem anyway.

Like I've always said: It's a buggy and terrible excuse for a "service".

Though, what REALLY gets me is how hyper-obvious those bots are, just HOW MUCH crap they tend to post.... and yet it never, EVER notices them. That, alone, moreso than the "driving users crazy" bit, makes it pathetic enough. Literally it's ENTIRE FUNCTION is stopping those things. And it cant even do that.

I hope nobody is actually PAYING for this. Because if they are, they're getting ripped off pretty badly.


Well then, I apologize, and thank you - you and Fnord are the first to give me feedback. It has worked flawlessly for me on Firefox, under Win7, 10, Debian, Manjaro & Mint. I also logged completely out before I cleared so that nothing was cached anywhere. Perhaps the fix is more specific to just FF, or somehow I really beat the odds?

People do pay for Derpflare (thank you, Misery!), but typically to lessen the server load / raise availability under heavy load. Problem is, they (DF) only caches *static* elements anyway, which are typically going to be cached client side anyway so I just don't see the value.


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25 Feb 2016, 7:44 pm

are you running a (dad clobrek) I don't know if that's the reason I don't see any captchas?

(p.s. * cough* anagram)