RIDDLE ME THIS

[Jari]

Anything gonna be done about proxy banning?

Not right away, at least. It takes some time to implement.

The methods you mentioned in that other thread are one option, and do work, but they are not the most effective way to ban proxies. The solution is both surprisingly clever and simple, if somewhat of a kludge. I'm not willing to go into details about it, though.

ps, putting him in charge really is the joke of the century

I'm glad that we could brighten up your day.

[titeguy3]

I've heard that some methods of simple proxy banning can have undesirable effects. (I believe Hulu blocked anonymous proxies, and at the same time, inadvertently blocked some countries from creating accounts)

Good to be assured that something'll be done *eventually* though.

[lyada]

Which, as a Canadian has always saddened me that I cannot use Hulu.

[Jari]

Gee, i wonder who this ryu_fire could be...he says "twat" so he must certainly be american...[/sarcasm].

And also "arse"

Curiously enough, not only that, but used a .co.uk-mail for registering and has his browser set to English locale. Go figure.

It certainly wasn't Hermoor, that's pretty sure.


EDIT: And it just so happens that he's borrowing proxies from the same subnet as our dear Seifer. Oh, hi, Seifer? Been spamming us with pr0n again?

EDIT2: Much like ammobroughtitonyou, it seems. Different proxy, yes, but the same UK locale, .co.uk-mail for registering, same OS and browser version as ryu_fire and Seifer. Surely a coincidence!

[The Seer of Shadows]

El Ammo Bandito!, now an admin... I did not see that coming.  Not that I've anything to say against it.  In fact, this should work out quite well, at least for the majority.

The majority is what matters most, wouldn't any self-respecting individual agree?

[Tekkie.X]

(I believe Hulu blocked anonymous proxies, and at the same time, inadvertently blocked some countries from creating accounts)

Wasn't Hulu always meant to be US only though.

[drfeelgud88]

Looks like I missed quite a conversation and a new promotion while I was off snoozing hehe. 

[Jari]

The Seer of Shadows & drfeelgud88: I dunno about the working out or the promotion, at least I meant this as a rather temporary measure.

Both the real admins really are busy with far more important stuff, so I asked Qhimm to give me the privileges temporarily to fix the pr0n rampage. And yeah, I did ask if he wanted them back, after I had dealt with it.

While I certainly appreciate being trusted with them, I don't get any particular kicks from it. It's just a job, and probably more often than not quite a thankless one. Much like moderating. I have seen people want mod or especially admin rights because of some perceived status associated with them, and let me tell you; those people are seriously f***ed up in the head. Or perhaps more likely; they have never before moderated.

So, do not be surprised if I'm a regular member one day. I certainly don't plan to grow attached to the title - but yeah, it's nice to be able to do something about stuff.


EDIT: Oh yeah. Forgot this. I'd prefer not to get any weird special treatment because I R ADMIN. This is the reason I once advocated anonymous moderating, and dual accounts for mods and admins - so that they could actually discuss shit with people, without the bizarre perceived balance of power issue, and moderate from another, anonymous account.

[ultima espio]

Hello, this is your new admin - for the day - speaking.

Just like the old days

[Prince Lex]

EDIT: Oh yeah. Forgot this. I'd prefer not to get any weird special treatment because I R ADMIN. This is the reason I once advocated anonymous moderating, and dual accounts for mods and admins - so that they could actually discuss sh*t with people, without the bizarre perceived balance of power issue, and moderate from another, anonymous account.

You'll always be Jari to me ^_^

[The Seer of Shadows]

So what happens if our porn stars find their way back after you relinquish your admin powers?  I'm sure Qhimm and The SaiNt would be seriously aggravated to have to come back again...

lol sorry if I gave/am giving you "weird special treatment"   It's unintentional, but I do realize that I react to "status" (in the form of those five, pretty little flashing stars *.*).

[Jari]

You'll always be Jari to me ^_^

So what happens if our porn stars find their way back after you relinquish your admin powers?  I'm sure Qhimm and The SaiNt would be seriously aggravated to have to come back again...

*shrugs*

There is the option of preventing registration behind proxies. The big reason why it's not implemented is that there's no ready-made solution for SMF, like there is for certain other forum software, so it would either require a conversion to another forum software, a port of the said plugin (depending on whether it's GPL'd, so it can be ported), or writing a plugin with similar functionality (the operating principle has been publicized, and you can't really copyright a concept) for SMF. Besides, considering the differences, it might well be less work to write it from scratch than try porting it. That however would require someone who knows enough about SMF, PHP and stuff to write it, has time to do it, and can be arsed to.

Then there's the option of admin approved registrations. It requires work, but less so than cleaning up spam.

I'm sure there are more options, like for example preventing users from posting images altogether. Which I did consider briefly, but couldn't find a checkbox for that in SMF group permissions - I was tempted to let Hermie and Seifer to keep their accounts but stop them from posting images and stop them from posting (means spamming) in the tech forums. Image posting privileges can certainly be removed, but I think it's a global setting. It's been a while since the last time I've toyed with SMF's admin-side.

[The Seer of Shadows]

Well, whatever is most appropriate... The situation is absurd, but these things happen on the internet, I guess.

[obesebear]

Im on the fence about the image posting being taken away.  As long as links can still be provided for images, we could still view projects' progress, but links to porn could also be added, so really, I think pics should probably remain.

Admin approved registration is all well and good, and would work if this site didn't have so many new members on a daily basis.  Granted a lot only come here to post about their problem and then leave, but it would be one helluva bother having to approve 5 members every day.


I also would like to note that "helluva" does not pop up as incorrect in the spell check...  interesting

[sl1982]

Any way there can be an invitation only member registration? Like some torrent sites? Member needs to basically vouch for the person. And member needs to be in good standing and been active for more then a month. Just a thought

[Jari]

Admin approved registration is all well and good, and would work if this site didn't have so many new members on a daily basis.  Granted a lot only come here to post about their problem and then leave, but it would be one helluva bother having to approve 5 members every day.

Yes. I'd say that it pretty much comes down to whether providing tech support is the desired purpose of the forums. One could always turn the Tech Support-forum free for all, also. There are no technical obstacles to turning on guest posting - it even used to have it, few years ago - except that it will be filled with spambots if you do that.

I also would like to note that "helluva" does not pop up as incorrect in the spell check...  interesting

That you'll have to take to the developers of aspell, pspell or whatever spell checking library the forum is using (because even without checking, I'm certain that they didn't bother reinventing the wheel; they use one of the many libraries present on *NIX-systems). Would seem like it's using an American English-dictionary, as well.

Any way there can be an invitation only member registration? Like some torrent sites? Member needs to basically vouch for the person. And member needs to be in good standing and been active for more then a month. Just a thought

No idea if there are actual plugins for it, but it could be done without them, as well. It would defeat the site's purpose as tech support place, though.


While this discussion is all well and good, keep in mind that nothing will happen in the very near future - for the next 2 to 3 weeks, at the least. Live I've stated before, Qhimm is very busy with way more important stuff, and I don't feel like doing this or that without asking him. I also won't be opening the lockdown for now, I'd say that you might have couple of weeks without new members.

[sl1982]

Admin approved registration is all well and good, and would work if this site didn't have so many new members on a daily basis.  Granted a lot only come here to post about their problem and then leave, but it would be one helluva bother having to approve 5 members every day.

Yes. I'd say that it pretty much comes down to whether providing tech support is the desired purpose of the forums. One could always turn the Tech Support-forum free for all, also. There are no technical obstacles to turning on guest posting - it even used to have it, few years ago - except that it will be filled with spambots if you do that.

I also would like to note that "helluva" does not pop up as incorrect in the spell check...  interesting

That you'll have to take to the developers of aspell, pspell or whatever spell checking library the forum is using (because even without checking, I'm certain that they didn't bother reinventing the wheel; they use one of the many libraries present on *NIX-systems). Would seem like it's using an American English-dictionary, as well.

Any way there can be an invitation only member registration? Like some torrent sites? Member needs to basically vouch for the person. And member needs to be in good standing and been active for more then a month. Just a thought

No idea if there are actual plugins for it, but it could be done without them, as well. It would defeat the site's purpose as tech support place, though.


While this discussion is all well and good, keep in mind that nothing will happen in the very near future - for the next 2 to 3 weeks, at the least. Live I've stated before, Qhimm is very busy with way more important stuff, and I don't feel like doing this or that without asking him. I also won't be opening the lockdown for now, I'd say that you might have couple of weeks without new members.

Well i can't say i am sorry to hear that. Most people that post either have a problem that could be solved by reading the damn forum a bit or the people that are like this: http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=9103.0

[Jari]

Yes, I know. The Search-button, so mysterious, yet so useful.