Getting sick of the spambots.

Discussion in 'Site Feedback' started by Daecon, May 11, 2015.

  1. Bells Staff Member

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    If we get spammed like that again, we are doing the best we can to remove them and if there isn't a moderator on when this is happening, we will clean it up ASAP when we get on.

    On that note, I am going to get some sleep. Past 1am and I have to be up at 6am.

    Hopefully the spam bot attacks will have slowed down or stopped. If not, we will get around to them as soon as we possibly can. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I have PM'ed the site's owners to see if there is anything they can do on their end.
     
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  3. Kristoffer Giant Hyrax Valued Senior Member

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    Good night then and thanks, bells. If the attack begins again can we use the 'contact us' button in the bottom corner?
     
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  5. Bells Staff Member

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    Umm I would PM Plazma Inferno or any of the other mods. Plazma is one of the admin/owners. So is Zox if things get really dire. Or James R as well. Just explain that there is a spam bot attack. I sent Plazma notice of it before, but he may not be on yet. But if things get really bad, just send him one PM and if he can't get on in time, then another one of us should be on to deal with it soon enough. I am sorry that there isn't more I can do at this point in time. Going by the pattern of their spamming up to a dozen threads within minutes and this has been a concerted effort on their part over the last few hours, this may go on for some time until the owners try to fix the issue on their end.

    I won't be available for the next 12 hours or so as I have to be out early in the morning and will be out for several hours.

    I am sure other mods will come and go though, so hopefully they get onto it.
     
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  7. krash661 [MK6] transitioning scifi to reality Valued Senior Member

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    is it you ? sound so...
     
  8. krash661 [MK6] transitioning scifi to reality Valued Senior Member

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    all in all, seriously, some had to complain about this ?
    who fucking cares. just do not click on it, everything is fine.
    every fucking thing on this site has to be an argument of some sort.(shakes head)
    individuals are pathetic.
     
  9. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    Lastnight was grocery shopping night and had some school stuff on as well for the kids - by the time everything was dealt with it was pretty much bed time for me as well.
     
  10. Daecon Kiwi fruit Valued Senior Member

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    Was that directed at me for making this thread?

    Your outburst seems a little harsh.
     
  11. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    Thanks Bells.
     
  12. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    I had a quick look in last night and really couldn't believe what I saw.
    How do we stop it happening again?
     
  13. krash661 [MK6] transitioning scifi to reality Valued Senior Member

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    no, i apologize. i did not know it was yours. just a typical outburst of mine. not directed to anyone specifically.
    also, i'm always harsh when i see fit. which is for some reason 9/10.(shrugs)
     
  14. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    I have written to all the admin, requesting they check the security measures for this website. Because we are getting creamed at the moment. I haven't seen anything like this for a very long time. In fact, I would say this is the worst it has ever been in all of my time on sciforums.

    While we are able to auto-delete and ban all spammer posts if we catch them before they hit 20 posts, if they get past that, then we have to do it manually after they are banned. It is time consuming and annoying. I don't mind banning them, it was the having to delete hundreds of threads in blocks of each page and checking through each page to make sure normal posts were not being flagged, that was really time consuming. I have asked for giving us better tools to deal with these attacks. We have had a few already since this morning. For example, I went and got a glass of water, just before, and returned to see 13 threads up already from one spammer, in the 30 or so seconds it took me to get that drink. So they are able to literally throttle the site with multiple threads going up within seconds of each other.

    Normally, spammers post one or two here and there. These individuals are posting hundreds and hundreds of threads within seconds of each other across several forums.

    I do not know if they can stop it from happening, it might just be a case of dealing with it with brute force until they find a patch for the forum software. So sit tight folks, it might get a bit bumpy.
     
  15. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    Great stuff Bells and the other Mods...Your collective blood is worth bottling!

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  16. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    I apologize for not being around to help - my new job is a lot stricter on filtering use of company time/access, and I've pretty much been coming home and passing out the last week or so (both my wife and I have bronchitis) - starting to feel better, so hopefully I can start paying a bit more attention here.
     
  17. origin Heading towards oblivion Valued Senior Member

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    Hope you guys get over it quickly - bronchitis is a pain in the ass (well throat actually).
     
  18. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    Do y'all have any way to IP ban these losers? (Sorry if that's been asked before.)

    Also, when banning, don't you have an option to delete all posts by that member?
     
  19. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    When we ban a user as a spammer, we can delete all their posts. However, that option is only available until the account has made 20 total posts... a limit of the software it seems.

    Oh yeah, it sucks. I also have Asthma so it's a double hit - when I was going through the check-in at the doctors, they took my blood Oxygen three times - I finally asked them why (since the nurse didn't seem to think it was right) - it was only 92%. They also had me use a Peak Flow Meter to measure my lung function - out of 800, I only managed to blow a 320... I'm a singer, I normally push at least 550, up to 700 on a really goo day.

    As it is, I'm feeling a lot better than I was a few days ago... but this chesty cough and the rattling noise just won't go away... figure it'll probably take a week or so for my lungs to fully clear out.
     
  20. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    Humidifier and a nebuliser if you are only getting up to 320 with the peak flow meter. I am also an asthmatic and when I get bronchitis, it can get really bad. I stop using the ventolin puffer and go with the nebuliser if i need to use it (ie if your preventative isn't enough) and keep using the humidifier if I have a chesty cough with the flu or cold or have bronchitis. Usually, I only ever have to use the preventative. But when I get a cold, flu or anything that affects the lungs, and that tight feeling.. If I have a cough or feel or hear that wheeze or rattle though, I just go right for the nebuliser and use it every 4-6 hours and keep up with the preventative.. It's what my doctors have me do and I find my lungs seem to recover faster, or the wheeze and rattle goes away faster.

    If it gets really bad with your lungs, in that if they stay congested and you keep finding yourself needing to use your asthma medication, then the dreaded cortisone might be needed for a day or two to help treat your lungs. It's horrible to get bronchitis, especially if you are an asthmatic. And if you are congested, then you can also look at therapy for getting it all out (you know, the cupped hands smacking each side of your ribs to loosen it all up and make you cough (it hurts, but it does work). You just need to make sure to go back to the doctors if what you spit up is yellow or green, which for an asthmatic is pretty bad, as I am sure you are aware.

    I am really sorry you are sick Kitta, asthma is a pain at the best of times. With any type of illness that affects the lungs on top of that, it is bloody awful. And having both of you get it at once, isn't pleasant and it isn't easy. Take care of yourself. If you don't have a humidifier, drinking hot broths and drinks throughout the day also helps (just keep your nose hovered over the cup or bowl

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  21. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    Yep, damned straight. By ex-brother-in-law had a dunking in a pool at a party, didn't have his inhaler, and nearly died before anyone noticed that he was blue and not laughing..

    I drove him to the hospital. When we got to the ambulance-only ramp and hit the brakes, security and staff were on their way out to say, "You can't park there!"

    They saw Phil looking out the window, gasping and almost colorless. Changed that tune pretty quick! Got him in, on oxygen and a gurney before I could say anything. He was in for 4 days, I think..
     
  22. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    *nods* They gave me two nebulizer treatments, took x-rays to make sure it wasn't pneumonia - after the treatments I blew a 750 which is more normal for me

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    At home I've been on a Z-pack (Azithromycin 250mg antibiotic) and Methyl-Prednisolone (it's about double the strength of regular Prednisone). I'm feeling a lot better (having my albuterol rescue inhaler script refilled helped a ton as well!)

    Last few years my asthma has been a lot better (I think it in part to the breathing exercises I learned as part of my choir) and I rarely have a true asthma attack - mostly just a bit of wheezing after exercise, etc. This though... I have this stupid rattle and I can feel it in my chest as it happens and its so irritating feeling... it isn't difficult to breath per-say, but it's like every time air moves this gurgling/rattling noise happens and it tickles the shit out of my chest from the inside and makes me want to cough to dislodge it... which coughing does, for about thirty seconds XD Then its back... figure it's just phlegm probably...

    We have a humidifier, but it's late spring at the moment and humidity has been high as a result - though I do like hot showers and I've become fond of boiling some water with ginger, lemon, and allspice or clove added in. Also been drinking about twice as much water as I normally do.

    My wife is about two days behind me in the whole thing... she's starting to feel better but ya know... if I could suffer through it for her instead I would in a heartbeat. I'm used to being out of breath and wheezy... so it doesn't scare me as much. Her though... she keeps trying to tell me she's fine, but I can tell it really bothers her being out of breath like this.

    On the plus side, everything has been pretty much clear so far, and I've got some of my energy back so I figure my blood O2 is at least closer to normal now!

    *nod* Being unable to breathe is probably one of the worst feelings in the world... I remember a number of years ago I had one of my worst ever asthma attacks - woke up in the dead of night and just couldn't breathe at all... I ended up pounding on the door of my parents room (I was, if memory serves, about 11 or 12 at the time). My rescue inhaler was worthless because I couldn't inhale enough to use it. They drove me to the ER and we sat there for at least three hours before they took us back... by then the attack had passed and I had fallen back asleep! Needless to say, they were not terribly happy. That hospital isn't around anymore (got shut down a few years ago for some series of grievous health violations) but yeah... after two and a half decades of dealing with asthma I've come to accept it when it happens and found ways to work through it if I don't have my inhaler handy, but there are still times where it's damned inconvenient!
     
  23. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    As inconvenient as being a moderator, at least. I almost volunteered, since I seem to wake and check in just in time for all the freakin' loonies' posts.

    Hell, if y'all want me to, I guess I can be your CDT morning person.

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