SMBC Comics Forum

The Pinkoes are shunted into that category at the initial approval stage. At this point, I can tell at a glance whether the registrant's email address is Spam or Meat (Real Meat email addresses generally make sense, and are not things like 'nuxxx@nxt.ru'). I check the email and username against the Spam-Bot Registration Lists, and if they show up I delete them off the bat. Otherwise, I shunt them into the Spam-Bot group. Special preference is granted to Spam-Bots with interesting names, such as DrLinkmaul, SweebyZek, and L. Ron Hubbard.

So far, this process has been working amazingly well, with virtually no misfilings.

Edminster wrote:The Pinkoes are shunted into that category at the initial approval stage. At this point, I can tell at a glance whether the registrant's email address is Spam or Meat (Real Meat email addresses generally make sense, and are not things like 'nuxxx@nxt.ru'). I check the email and username against the Spam-Bot Registration Lists, and if they show up I delete them off the bat. Otherwise, I shunt them into the Spam-Bot group. Special preference is granted to Spam-Bots with interesting names, such as DrLinkmaul, SweebyZek, and L. Ron Hubbard.

So far, this process has been working amazingly well, with virtually no misfilings.

That does sound like a good process. I'm curious about something.

At the last forum i was active on, I never heard any mention of spam bots or saw any of their posts. Why is it a problem here but not there? That was two or three years ago, so maybe it wasn't so prevalent then. I guess It's also possible that the mods dealt with it and I just never heard them mention it.

ChooChooTrain wrote:At the last forum i was active on, I never heard any mention of spam bots or saw any of their posts. Why is it a problem here but not there? That was two or three years ago, so maybe it wasn't so prevalent then. I guess It's also possible that the mods dealt with it and I just never heard them mention it.

It's entirely possible that the other forums are using various anti-spam modifications. Zach seems to prefer the Human Touch, however, so our current system stays in place.

As to why they are nigh-constantly referenced here, there's a simple explanation. As a result, any new Spam-Bot incursion is treated with extreme prejudice (which includes propaganda about our Glorious Victories).

What's the website you use again, Ed? I need to start using it.

Ack! I thought I had linked it to the words 'Spam-Bot Registration Lists' earlier. Apparently I forgot to do so.

I use Stop Forum Spam and Botscout, but I've found that if it's on one of them, it's on the other. The redundancy is handy for when one crashes, though.

I'm pretty sure you did, I was just being lazy.

not sure where to put this but their is a user on tonight 'yahoo [BOT]'... figured I would toss that in here

Signious wrote:not sure where to put this but their is a user on tonight 'yahoo [BOT]'... figured I would toss that in here

Naw, man, he's cool. He's with me.

So, you hang with that bunch now? Vinnie won't like it the slightest, man.

Signious wrote:not sure where to put this but their is a user on tonight 'yahoo [BOT]'... figured I would toss that in here

Yeah, I find I'll sometimes look down to see who else is on and it's just me and the bots hanging out. I'm a P.G. Wodehouse fan and one day there was an AksJeeves bot and I got really excited, but I think that's more me being lame than anything else.

I did a double-take the first time I saw the Ask Jeeves bot.
I was all, "Wait, is it 1998 again, or what?"

Yeah, the ones with '[Bot]' behind their names are the ones that have been tamed by the mighty Search Engines. I've been attempting to infiltrate their ranks in order to learn just how they managed to tame Spam-Bots, but I'm starting to think that these are a different breed of Construct altogether. Either that, or somebody has completely retrofitted the standard chassis design into something altogether more intriguing.

Also, Oldrac? Don't worry about what Vinnie thinks. If he's got a problem with you assisting me in this endeavour, tell him to come talk to me.

So! As it turns out, going undercover as a 'Bot produced some unexpected results. Like, to the point where I may have discovered a Spam-Bot manufacturing facility. I'm debating on how to infiltrate that properly, as I'm certain that they scan for Organics to keep people like me out. Any suggestions about how I can get inside? Oldrac's already suggested an Ice Cream truck, but I don't think soulless automata would fall for it.

Troy only needed a horse.

Hide inside a giant phentermine pill.

Edminster wrote:So! As it turns out, going undercover as a 'Bot produced some unexpected results. Like, to the point where I may have discovered a Spam-Bot manufacturing facility. I'm debating on how to infiltrate that properly, as I'm certain that they scan for Organics to keep people like me out. Any suggestions about how I can get inside? Oldrac's already suggested an Ice Cream truck, but I don't think soulless automata would fall for it.

I don't know, program a bot that is loyal to you?