New Anti-Spam Measure Taken, New Registrants Must Pass the Clock Test

[Shin]

I have now added a second captcha to the registration form.

A captcha is a spam robot blocking security test. A test for humanity. We have had a number of spam robot registrations lately, that take time and work for the moderators to detect and remove, especially considering one tries to err on the side of caution.

So we have a new test.

Now new users must type in several letters, just like before but now also tell the time on an analog clock. An analog clock with a few bits of distortion on it even, just like the letters. The spam bots were getting too successful in bypassing the first alone.

If the spam bots make it past these both, color me surprised. I am not saying it is impossible, but I would be surprised they had managed to and bothered to hop the technological hurdles. In the next week we will soon see whether or not this new effort is the complete wall to spam bots I anticipate it may be, or whether we moderators will still have to hop to it on the spam detection front, and I continue to search for alternatives far afield.

I believe this clock will be to our great advantage in keeping malicious advertisements out of the forum. On the other hand, young children who have never had to tell the time using an analog clock before may have trouble.  

Well we can't have everything.    

Remember parents: Clocks.. Phones with cords.. Big round disks with ridges played under a needle.. There are many things your children may not yet be familiar with.  

.. What were those big roundie things called again?

Just kidding. I'm old enough to have had a few back then.  

[martin]

Remember parents: Clocks.. Phones with cords.. Big round disks with ridges played under a needle.. There are many things your children may not yet be familiar with.  Roll Eyes

Haha... The next generation will be asking,"What did you call those big, white, box like things that used to sit in the kitchen? Was it Fridges?"

[Shin]

Heheheh! Pretty good! 

[Shin]

So far, the wall has not been passed, I might add.. though it's very soon.

If the wall is as high as I think it is, it's a good thing it was put up now rather than earlier, as it was good training tracking down and stopping spam bots. 




All things in God's time. 

[Shin]

Well, it looks like some of them can get over this wall after all. These spammers certainly never give up!

Whod've thought they'd bother to code a way to get around an obscure test like this combined with another one? Certainly not I.  

So we'll still have some work to do that way! I will keep working on improving the new test's settings so as to make it as strong as can be without being too inconvenient for new users.

 

[Shin]

Testing another anti-spam add on, which asking questions that normally require a little human thought: such as, "what color do you get if you combine blue and yellow?"

That would be green, which I think most everyone knows.

Any question suggestions of these kinds appreciated.

[Brigid]

What's 3 + 5 =?

Who is the Virgin Mary? (Jesus' mother)

What do red + blue =?

Does water run uphill or downhill?


Maybe it would be possible to put in the answers amongst others that obviously don't fit with a drop-down box?
 

[Shin]

What's 3 + 5 =?

Who is the Virgin Mary? (Jesus' mother)

What do red + blue =?

Does water run uphill or downhill?


Maybe it would be possible to put in the answers amongst others that obviously don't fit with a drop-down box?
 

Good suggestions. Thanks Brigid.

[martin]

Testing another anti-spam add on, which asking questions that normally require a little human thought: such as, "what color do you get if you combine blue and yellow?"

That would be green, which I think most everyone knows.

Any question suggestions of these kinds appreciated.

Shin as a politician once said, "Never underestimate the ignorance of the public."
There are many down south who may not have got that one haha.

Only Joking Only joking. What irony coming from an Irishman.  

Here's some of my own suggestions.

Q..What sound does a dog make?   A... Whoof Whoof

Q..What's the opposite of Hot?        A... Not so hot.

Q..What lies upside down a hundred feet in the air?    A... A dead centipede

Q..What's the plural of Fungus?     A... Fungusses

Q..Name 4 animals you might find in the jungle?    A... 4 elephants.


Anyone here who didn't get those must renew their membership by sitting a similar test.  

[Brigid]

Q..What lies upside down a hundred feet in the air?    A... A dead centipede

Q..Name 4 animals you might find in the jungle?    A... 4 elephants.

[Shin]

Testing another anti-spam add on, which asking questions that normally require a little human thought: such as, "what color do you get if you combine blue and yellow?"

That would be green, which I think most everyone knows.

Any question suggestions of these kinds appreciated.

Shin as a politician once said, "Never underestimate the ignorance of the public."
There are many down south who may not have got that one haha.

Only Joking Only joking. What irony coming from an Irishman.  

Here's some of my own suggestions.

Q..What sound does a dog make?   A... Whoof Whoof

Q..What's the opposite of Hot?        A... Not so hot.

Q..What lies upside down a hundred feet in the air?    A... A dead centipede

Q..What's the plural of Fungus?     A... Fungusses

Q..Name 4 animals you might find in the jungle?    A... 4 elephants.


Anyone here who didn't get those must renew their membership by sitting a similar test.  

 

Hahaha!