Just deleted another pile. Thanks for your patience. Last night I logged in and deleted some, I logged back in about a half hour later and there was more. I think our little board is keeping a Spam Bot in business!
The BOTs have found a weakness and are taking advantage of it.
It is not just this forum that these idiots plague.
We had a horrid time of it over on Tailfeathers for months. But Dan got it sorted in the end and now we are almost totally clear of spam.
So I am guessing that the forum needs some updating to help deal with the bots.
I think it's a case of not enough mods. Other forums I visit get spammed but there are heaps of mods that clear it quickly. It's a big job for one person (who recently tried to step down because their real life is too busy)... I think we should elect another responsible member and ask the forum owner to make them a mod too.
I nominate Missk on the basis that busy people get stuff done Or one of the breeders that are on here regularly.
I contacted Imran and he is going to add some extra security tomorrow. Can't come soon enough! It had been quiet here for a little while but then they spammers find ways around it so you have to keep updating the software.
But, seriously, it must be spam bots cos no thinking human would try to advertise handbags to other humans who spend all their money on toys and cages for birds...
OH! And since this is a SPAM thread, maybe we should make a little Mad Lib about our birds....... I'll start:
Once upon a time there was a _______________ (avian species) who took a particular liking to a ______________ (inanimate object), especially when _____ (pronoun) came across it in the __________ (time of day).
InTheAir wrote:But, seriously, it must be spam bots cos no thinking human would try to advertise handbags to other humans who spend all their money on toys and cages for birds...
Nail on the head.
What I need is a device to slow down time because 80% of my morning as i'm getting ready for work consists of cleaning bowls, changing food, changing toys, stringing up some piece of vegetable like a toy, and whatever else comes to mind before I leave.
And is there any reason not to take on a number of new moderators instead of just one? Which by the way missk might as well be a moderator. New people always think she is anyway
OH! And since this is a SPAM thread, maybe we should make a little Mad Lib about our birds....... I'll start:
Once upon a time there was a ______ringneck_________ (avian species) who took a particular liking to a _______beads_______ (inanimate object), especially when _he____ (pronoun) came across it in the ____any time of day______ (time of day).
Soooooooo.......... At risk (OK, certainty) of marking myself so entirely not of the internet culture, what's the deal with the spam posts?
This is a sincere question. I mean, I just read one. It read like a comic spoof of a non-native-English speaker trying to sell bags. There were links I certainly did not click that looked nothing like links to bag-buying sites. Is this SPAM really trying to sell me a bag, or is it only intended to cause congestion on the Forum? Is it a ploy to plant computer germs in my computer when I visit linked sites? Is it a joke? It *was* kind of funny, once I read it.....
I think the main reason behind the spam is about how Google search works. If you want to have your website come up high on the Google rankings, you have to have lots of links back to your site. Therefore posting links on forums is one way to try to manipulate Google rankings. There are companies that make a living from improving companies' Google rankings. Hopefully most of them use a more ethical way of doing it... but I'm sure there are some out there that use this strategy.
I could be wrong, but that's my limited understanding of such things.
Yeah. Took me quite a while to remove them this morning. That'll teach me to sleep in! Crazy! I hope the upgrade gets done on the server soon. I'm going to be at a parrot conference for the next four days so I may not be able to get in to remove it very often.
ellieelectrons wrote: I'm going to be at a parrot conference for the next four days
Ellie.
two and a half questions...
one, does going to a parrot conference teach you something you don't already know, or is it a reminder, a refresher course.
two, is this something you have to go out of town for and live in a motel?
It's so annoying when they post inside an existing thread! Just finished the clean up. I had to go out early this morning so I didn't do my usual morning clean up routine.
MissK wrote:I tried it! Thanks Melika. I hate it when my Newbie is showing.
It's okay, don't feel bad. I just got back from Europe (Germany) and my friends there looked at me like I was crazy because I had to ask why toilets had two buttons for flushing. The diplomatic answer was: "The big button is for when you... need more water. And the smaller button for when you need less." XD
It also took a day or two to figure out how to open the windows without a struggle. ^^;
I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay