Ken Katz Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 While this is all real fun, how much does a spam plugin for Invision community really cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 44 minutes ago, Ken Katz said: While this is all real fun, how much does a spam plugin for Invision community really cost? What’s the difference? In an unambiguous, declarative sentence our administrator said and emphasized with CAPS … Quote Nor do we have the ability TO ADD A SINGLE PLUGIN to this board. Nor does the corporate ownership have any plans on spending anything to acquire plugins. —TGOPS Perhaps a good time for the too-well-worn and none-too-subtle contemporary reminder, “It is what it is.” 1 1 "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Katz Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I would just like to know how much we are saving our corporate masters for crowd sourcing this endeavor. $12, $100, $250, $1000 per year? Since I am retired, usually have lots of time on my hands, and up late here on the East Coast, I would be happy to help if given the authorization to zap all of a spammer's postings with just a few key strokes. Given the limited PN audience at this juncture, what are the spammers gaining with their efforts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 4 minutes ago, Ken Katz said: corporate masters “Masters” implies you think of yourself as a slave, forgetting you have the choice not to be here. "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Katz Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 They are the current masters of this particular universe. Been here for 25 years, when Philip Greenspun was our lord and master. I will probably outlast our current owners or be witness to PN's ultimate demise. A website continuously loaded with spam will not attract real new users, and could result in the death spiral that I assume the new owners are trying to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin McAmera Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I'm not sure the new owners care one way or the other. I've said before, I don't think they had any intention of buying photo.net. They bought Creative Live, and got photo.net as an unexpected extra. It's not a significant asset. CreativeLive makes money; photo.net just costs money. They aren't charging anyone for using the site; they aren't hosting advertising, except for the plugs for CreativeLive courses on some of the forum pages; so they get no direct income from keeping photo.net running. So they already own it at a small loss; it's hardly surprising they aren't keen to spend more money on the site. Yet they are spending some money; they must be paying hosting costs, and they are allowing a few of their staff to do a little tech/top-level admin work. Everything we now have (free of charge) here is from their goodwill to what used to be a great community. Thinking aloud, it's conceivable that a group of active members could try to purchase the site. The site would become a medium-sized club. That would give the membership (or part of it) the power over things: whether to host adverts; what anti-spam measures to use; what membership should cost; etc. You'd need someone on board who could do the tech stuff; at least one of those. And people who can run the budget of something like that, with a few hundred members. Someone would need to find out the tax implications for the people doing such a takeover. If I were doing this (I wouldn't be, not in a million years, but if.. ) I'd restart paid memberships, and change the free membership to a read-only status: anyone can read the conversations but only paid-up members can post. I think that would stop spam in its tracks, but at the cost of running a payment system, which would have it's own hazards. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Vongries Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 The very few resources available are fully deployed to keep the site as usable and pleasant as possible. It remains to be seen if more will be added. Best case at this point, reserve judgment and go with the flow or take a vacation and revisit after a period of your choosing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels - NHSN Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 It is really discouraging. During the time it takes to report one, 2-3 new have popped up. As is appears now; it will never end. Not the way I wan't to spend my time. I really think approval of new user posts is the way to go. It would feel so much better to constructively approve sincere and real posts rather than playing catch-up with the crooks. Niels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 31 minutes ago, NHSN said: t is really discouraging. During the time it takes to report one, 2-3 new have popped up. As is appears now; it will never end. Not the way I wan't to spend my time. Thank you for your efforts. Totally understand your feel discouragement. My suggestion: don't report the spam, enjoy other parts of PN instead. The spam will be removed - just choose to ignore it until it is removed. *** 35 minutes ago, NHSN said: I really think approval of new user posts is the way to go. I am quite certain that idea is at the top of the leader board for adaptation. As I have mentioned before - all suggestions are read and appreciated: please understand that implementation of 'quality updates' is neither immediate, nor necessarily easy. WW 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 47 minutes ago, Normanski said: I’ve given up reporting spam. Understand. Thank you for your efforts thus far. I encourage you can put your mind to enjoying other aspects of PN during this demanding period. If I recall correctly, you have been around for along time and, not necessarily because of that longevity only, are a valued Member. WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Parsons Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 If you consult earlier posts in this thread, it appears that merely reporting one instance of spam emanating from a particular user-ID is sufficient to counteract all of their postings - please correct me if I'm wrong. I actually enjoy hunting down spam - it satisfies my hunter-gatherer instinct ! 😇 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Vongries Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 1 minute ago, Tony Parsons said: If you consult earlier posts in this thread, it appears that merely reporting one instance of spam emanating from a particular user-ID is sufficient to counteract all of their postings - please correct me if I'm wrong. I actually enjoy hunting down spam - it satisfies my hunter-gatherer instinct ! 😇 A moderator or admin bans, if on line after a report or on sight. Good morning! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Parsons Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Thanks, Sandy - that is, of course, what I meant. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels - NHSN Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 1 hour ago, William Michael said: Thank you for your efforts. Totally understand your feel discouragement. My suggestion: don't report the spam, enjoy other parts of PN instead. photo.net is very dear to me, and the situation pains me 😢- so I will probably continue. 2 Niels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Parsons Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Hey, folks, had a great idea : Instead of getting wound up, uptight, stressed or whatever about the dreaded spam, why not make an unofficial competition out of it ? Each time spam is reported, whoever does it posts on 'Casual Photo Conversations' (or wherever the mods choose), and the person with the highest number at the end of the day can go to bed with the warm comforting feeling of doing something for the site that informs and nurtures us all, and helping to fight the menace that is destroying areas of the Internet. 😁 😁 🙃 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaTango Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) Umm, I will take a raincheck on that. Good idea though, and I encourage everyone else to participate. Otherwise, I am hopeful for a site that does not require this level of intervention. But hey, no one should complain. As I am seeing, there are no limits on how much stuff or what image size that anyone can upload anymore. Ain't life grand? Edited February 14, 2023 by PapaTango 1 "I See Things..." The FotoFora Community Experience [Link] A new community for creative photographers. Come join us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 zapped 21 today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Parsons Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, SCL said: zapped 21 today Excellent ! We shall continue the fight until we run out of mice. Edited February 16, 2023 by Tony Parsons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
httpwww.photo.netbarry Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 There's a post at the top of the Portrait forum that's about SBC global customer service with nothing to do about photos or portraits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanKlein Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) On 2/8/2023 at 7:51 AM, Normanski said: It’s a helluva job being a spammer, ain’t it? I don't understand why they are doing it. What's the point? Could someone explain? Edited February 17, 2023 by AlanKlein Flickr gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/albums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin McAmera Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 They post these phone numbers in as many places as they can, as fast as they can, to maximise how many times the number appears on the web, and outrun the anti-spam measures that remove them. If anyone's ever fooled into phoning one of the numbers, they're probably speaking to some convincing guy who talks them into divulging bank details or a credit card number 'to check your booking', and then they steal a load of money. It's not that likely to work, but they only need it to work a few times to be in profit. And the web space costs nothing because they're stealing it from forums for old coots who like cameras. Some of them (the ones who post gallery pictures of wedding saris and custom trailers) are, I guess, acting for fools with businesses, who have paid for some cheapskate 'web marketing' deal, probably not knowing that what they're getting is spam they could do better themselves for nothing. They really are fools; this cheap stuff does nothing but harm to their reputation. We are one victim, because our forum is spoiled, but the business is another if they pay for this. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, AlanKlein said: I don't understand why they are doing it. What's the point? Could someone explain? 1) They are hoping you will accidentally or intentionally click on a link or call a phone number (I almost said “dial”, haha) thereby potentially compromising yourself. 2) In some ways, it’s like graffiti, though often less creative and interesting. Attention via landscape defacement. Edited February 17, 2023 by samstevens 1 "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Farrell Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Years ago, Photo-net had a spam problem like the current one. One evening, I opened a spammer's profile, to report them, and found I had a tab with moderator's tools - I could delete the spam and ban the spammer. I live in hope that something like this will appear here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Parsons Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 This may be a daft idea - some while ago, I think just after the update, many people mentioned that their user-ids were having random numbers attached. Is there any way that a) these numbers could be made official, and b) an id-filter be incorporated to reject, or at least quarantine, any id without this addition ? That is my ticket to Cloud-Cuckoo land for this week 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 31 minutes ago, Tony Parsons said: This may be a daft idea - some while ago, I think just after the update, many people mentioned that their user-ids were having random numbers attached. Is there any way that a) these numbers could be made official, and b) an id-filter be incorporated to reject, or at least quarantine, any id without this addition ? That is my ticket to Cloud-Cuckoo land for this week 😁 The reason it is likely a daft idea is that we’ve been told, clearly and distinctly, that no proactive measures other than after-the-fact cleanup are going to be instituted. So continuing to think up solutions that are not going to be adopted seems like, if not daft, at least an exercise in futility. It seems the spammers have hit a major nerve. It’s not getting fixed any time soon. Try to just let it go. Make it an exercise in dealing with a reality over which you have no control other than your own reaction. Or don’t! 😊 "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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