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Welcome Wagon
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subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Jan 24, 2019, 04:26 PM
 
This is the thread where we say “hi” to all our new members.

Hi!
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
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Jan 24, 2019, 05:06 PM
 
I assume you are referring to the 5-10 spambots trying to register at any given time? Most of those will fail.

We have many dirty tricks in play - only about 5 registrations succeed per day. About half of those die at the email-confirm stage, when spammers lose the box before they can respond.

That said, the current rush is unusually high.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
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Jan 24, 2019, 05:47 PM
 
Today’s been seen a big wave of attempted registations. Really unusual. Last I checked, we were getting close to 250 attempts.
     
subego  (op)
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Jan 24, 2019, 06:23 PM
 
Were they detained at the border?
     
ghporter
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status: Offline
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Jan 24, 2019, 09:44 PM
 
You could say that they were admitted but their requests for asylum here were without merit.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
turtle777
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status: Offline
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Jan 25, 2019, 01:05 AM
 
I wonder: are there ANY legitimate new registrations these days at all ?

Who are these lost souls ?

-t
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
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Jan 25, 2019, 07:31 AM
 
The lost souls have things to sell. Or free advice. Most recent one I banned was offering under-the-counter contraceptives.

We do still get legit registrations. But less than 1 per day on avg.
     
subego  (op)
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Jan 25, 2019, 11:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Most recent one I banned was offering under-the-counter contraceptives.
I vote to let that person back in. Fight the baby man!
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
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Jan 26, 2019, 03:43 PM
 
Ended up giving them the bum's rush. Banned custom email domains, then deleted almost 600 that used those domains. The remainder mainly use common domains, which are good at detecting and disabling their accounts before registration can complete.

The surge is still ongoing, with a ridiculous number trying to get in. So registration will be disabled more often than not, until the horde dissipates. Which they should, because it's no longer working.
     
mindwaves
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Irvine, CA
Status: Offline
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Jan 27, 2019, 12:36 AM
 
I miss the days when MacNN had many legitimate users signing up. I guess the Apple Genius Bars supply all of the help these days that people don't use forums.
     
subego  (op)
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Jan 27, 2019, 08:55 AM
 
I came here originally to find OS X software.

How’s that for a use-case which no longer exists?

I forgot why I actually signed up. Back then they let you post as a guest.
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
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Feb 12, 2019, 03:05 AM
 
Update on this. There are 20-30 spambots trying to register at any given time. The horde is outside the main gates. We had to turn registration off for the past couple weeks.

The main problem is we've moved to CloudFlare hosting, and all visitors show as having CF IP addresses. Which means all the IP blocks we've refined over the years ... are completely bypassed. It turns out our other defenses whittle down the mob, but we really need IP blocks to stop them. Working on that now, CF can apparently except specific URLs. Like the registration script.

I turned registration on for one minute as a test - two bots registered. Though they never confirmed their accounts before I wiped them. Those Indian CAPTCHA-solvers have gotten really good.

In the mean time, anyone who wants to register will have to contact us manually. Or have a registered friend send me a PM.
     
subego  (op)
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Feb 12, 2019, 08:10 AM
 
Would like register please. I contact manual.
     
Laminar
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
Status: Offline
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Feb 12, 2019, 11:22 AM
 
Over the last two days I've gotten probably 15-20 new email subscribers to my website, all of them with Russian email addresses. I have about 30 subscribers total, so this is pretty unusual. I've had to install a country blocker to totally filter out countries that provide only spam, no actual views.
     
subego  (op)
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Feb 12, 2019, 03:57 PM
 
Lada not spam. Is car for car blog.
     
Laminar
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
Status: Offline
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Feb 12, 2019, 04:36 PM
 


This is a site that gets like 10 hits a day. All of a sudden I have blocked 26 attempts to hit my subscribe url directly in the last hour.
     
subego  (op)
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
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Feb 12, 2019, 04:50 PM
 
Expect from filthy Ukrainian dog.
     
Ham Sandwich
Guest
Status:
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Feb 12, 2019, 09:43 PM
 
[...deleted...]
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 23, 2020 at 10:13 AM. )
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2019, 11:26 AM
 
I don't think anyone wants to review those videos, can we send them all to you?
     
Ham Sandwich
Guest
Status:
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Feb 13, 2019, 01:20 PM
 
[...deleted...]
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 23, 2020 at 10:13 AM. )
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2019, 01:40 PM
 
We could make you the mod of nose-picking.

Or we could make applicants write a poem about their first mac.

ode to mac se
hypercard swap floppy disk
claris dogcow MOOF
     
Laminar
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2019, 05:09 PM
 
They're going hard:

Ukraine 90
Russia 32
Bulgaria 22
Czech Republic 18
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2019, 05:23 PM
 
Spammers don't usually want to subscribe themselves. Perhaps you should let them subscribe. Even give them a custom newsletter, with ads for Absolut and AK47s.
     
Ham Sandwich
Guest
Status:
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Mar 12, 2019, 08:39 PM
 
[...deleted...]
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 23, 2020 at 10:13 AM. )
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
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Mar 12, 2019, 08:52 PM
 
I'm sure they're still around. But CloudFlare has a workaround to provide the original IP address for visits. I hacked vB, restoring normal IPs. Our blocks are all working again.

Normal registration has been open since Feb 19.
     
Laminar
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Mar 13, 2019, 09:16 AM
 
     
   
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