email validation?

Nevermind: without a fix nothing will be for the better.

If I wanted to post gibberish, I can create "n" number of yahoo or hotmail accounts, and use them to circumvent the e-mail validation process. If I am so bent to cause havoc, I would consider e-mail validation as only a minor inconvenience.

Spuddy has to just get bored with what he is doing, and he will go away.

TR could stop the full stop after the name (now two) drivel very easily though.
The email would make Spuddy sort of trackable, but it might put off new posters, making TR look like some less reputable sites, who only exist to collect email addresses.

Since Spud boy likes to target me for some reason, I have put a lot of thought to the problem. I don't know what the right solution is.

I have to agree with Tony and Onbliss though. I can create any number of valid email addresses and circumvent the check process so I don't think that email validation would be the right answer. I just can't think of what the right answer would be.

I do know that the situation is somewhat self correcting. No matter what, we always seem to catch this clown and call him on it. Very fortunately, I have gotten a peer message every time he shows up with yet another mis-spelling of my ID. So that tells me that folks are aware of the juvenile and recognise that it isn't me.

Sheesh! How silly must some people be???

With regard to the email validation thing. An email is sent to dingdong@spuddy.idiot.com. idiot must click to a confirmation screen, with the ip shown(no proxy's allowed). If they still continue on their merry way, you firewall the ip.

Using regex, only allow so many occurrences of a given alias. I know that they use some type of db here, ive seen error messages with the sql in it. Triggers with sql that issue notifications or blocks when a regex of a known alias appears, but is NOT that alias(extra letter, what ever). Admin comes in and eats the person alive.

The one thing I'm not real thrilled about with TR, you can change your alias. Well, stop that. Pick your alias, and go with it.

I am a errr, what ever tech on an irc network. We have fought the battle of spam bots and stuff. regex, enforce validation. Your people will moan and groan a bit, but when they recognize it is for their protection. They understand and go with it.

Also, every posting board that I have ever admined. I see the ip of the poster because I am the admin. Bloody block that ip completely. That falls under, go away twit. leave us alone.

With regard to stopping proxy's. There is various list's out there with known open proxy's. Unfortunately, there is always new ones. Spoofing ip's has become such an art form, but most case's simple protections will stop the script kiddies. And I would guesstimate that this person is nothing but a script kiddy. If it is found that this person keeps coming back, under the same ip and pretending to be tigger. This is a case of stalking, miss representation. Contact the isp(doesn't usually do squat, but you never know).

Dan

they want to if you get a false positive on a soundex or regex, but that would be a small price to pay to annoy the crap out of Spuddy.

... you are just trying to get TR to start using Perl :-), your favorite. The first that comes to mind when somebody mentions regex is Perl.

of $1 or 60p per account, paid by card!

What say ye then?

I have been hesitant to say anything because of the recent outbreak in "duplicates". I read some of the stuff that Spud had to say and was rather appalled by it. Thankfully, much of it has been pulled.

A Minnesota Meet would be fun. We might even be able to attract some of the Michigan contingent- even Ohio. Unfortunately, if the recent weather reports are close to correct, it sounds like the snow will start falling any day now. Winter is NOT my favourite time of year!

Could be interesting to try to time something for the same time as the Brits are meeting. GG said something about trying to establish some connectivity with the US. Hmmm. I shall begin plotting now...

Having active moderators is crucial. When the community KNOWS that there is a moderator around who can handle these types, they help ID them, and it happens pretty quickly. I was a moderator on a forum that had no active admin, and only a few active mods--it quickly deteriorated to the point that it was no fun for me to be there anymore. Now I'm an admin on a forum with 2 other active admins, and a slew of talented and active mods--very few problems. When something comes up, it's handled promptly and appropriately--if anything comes up that they can't handle, they notify the admin's and we step in. Having an active staff just for moderating will resolve most of the problems. And--mods don't have to be experts. Most of mine aren't. They are volunteers that help man the place, handle administrative tasks.

Also mjd420nova is from MN but living in California...

Some days, I think I should just stay home and stick to Diablo and not bother. Seems, I don't get any of my post's right.

;o)

Dab

The way i read it, Onbliss was responding to Spud boy.

You're okay. You communicate just fine as I see it.

See Tigger understood me, correctly. I was responding to Mr.Spuddy; he was asking Tigger to give him a break. After all that he has been doing to Tigger, I thought the comment would have been appropriate from Tigger's mouth.