I've received complaints about the spam on the forum so I thought I should post about what we are doing about it.

Spam is removed several times a day. Unfortunately it is often posted in the middle of the night when Steve and I are sleeping with the result that it remains up for several hours. Spam is the reason why people have to register for this forum. We had over 100 spam posts a day before the registration policy. Registration has slowed them down because we they have to stop and take the time for that and because we can ban them once they have posted spam. However, we cannot eliminate the spammers altogether because we don't know who they are until they post. We cannot take the additional step to make it too time consuming to spam that some sites where they have those odd looking letters appear that you have to type in to post. It is hard for some people with HD to focus and read letters like that.

So either report the posts or ignore them, they'll be gone as soon as possible.

too bad you don't have HD and would be awake at nightt. Expecting to sleep as a web mom.
haha I had to stop my discussion group in web due to chinesse porn pasted there day after day.I also worried that the porns programming would get in my data base for the web or worse my own computer. The worst virus I ever got caame from someone downloading music on my computer at night when I had told them not to touch it and went to bed, this was in the boarduiinng house. It filled my entire computer with a replicating virus which downloadeed pron and no matter what you did, the " relicating cookie could not be fixed even with cyber scrub, so I lost a computer.
but when I see priests in air portts getting arrersted for having porn in their computer I wonder if they had music from the same place.

I think you guys do a great job of getting rid of the spam. Do you want us to message you about spammers, does that make it easier or is that a pain in the #%#^?

Carla

I thought all that was for us to take advantage of. You know, like HDLF advertising. I just got a great deal on a Bolivia watch and a Guuchi Bag.

LOL

Pete

We try to delete all spam every morning (Marsha usually). However, if we aren't able to get to our computers we will do it as soon as possible.

Since someone always flags the spam for us that does give us a heads up in case we are more focused on email (or cute cats Web sites) than the message board.

I realize the standard captcha won't work for this community, but here's an interesting version of it that uses simple mini-games instead of trying to decipher letters.

[areyouahuman.com]

I don't have HD and I struggle with those letter things they make you do on some websites.
Marsha and Steve, Thanks for all you do.

wow noni that captcha test thing is so cool... thanks for posting.

"Play Through" does look intersting. However, it still seems to require some mouse skills. I also had to demonstrate a certain level of reading comprehension. I personally would like to see all Captcha sites replaced by this, but I'm still not sure it's a good fit for us.

We can try it out to get feedback. And I can always personally subscribe those who have dificulty with it.

Thoughts?

Steve

I tried Play Through and I don't have HD and I had difficulty with planting the garden. I did it, but it took me a while to catch each fruit and plant it. The second task was much easier. FYI.

Steve, i tried the games and ended up in tears, hd. I had to multitask, had to move the mouse very quickly to even try and catch the moving object, and then i could never remember what objects i had to get, and which ones to leave alone. It took both speed and multitasking, and was very hard for me. So i hit the disability button, and there was a voice message, that i was supposed to type, but i couldnt understand what the voice was saying. It was very hard for me, and im real early stage hd, just some thoughts

well there you go than stevei....

my phd tried it and loved it... said it was better for him...
but apparently not everyone can figure that one out...
nice try...

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I think the technology is moving at such a fast pace, it is almost impossible for anyone to keep up. due to cataracts and other issues , I have not even turned on my computer for over 13 months. Thanks Steve for helping me get re-registered today. Been reading a lot of the posts, good to see all you good folks still hanging in there.

Best to All
Ron C

Welcome back, Ron. We've missed you!

i have catarracts too missed you ron
dusty

As far as protection from spammers, if the spammer is automated (not an actual person) then something very simple should work. For example, add a field to the sign up page that asks "what is 2 + 2?" and only allow a sign up to proceed if the correct answer is given. An automated spammer won't be able to fill in the correct answer.