Handling SPAM posts

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter Bromberg [C# MVP]
  • Start date Start date
P

Peter Bromberg [C# MVP]

Folks,
We *really* need to get a handle on how to eliminate the SPAM posts making
their way into this group and related group like ASP.NET. It has gotten to
the point where it just isn't any fun anymore, having to wade through this
crap to post a question or to help somebody.

If somebody doesn't come up with a good idea or take the bull by the horns
and get control over this stuff fast, I am gonna simply go somewhere else.
Thanks.
-- Peter
Site: http://www.eggheadcafe.com
UnBlog: http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com
Short Urls & more: http://ittyurl.net
 
Are there even any moderators for these newsgroups? The
SqlServer.Programming list is getting a bit of junk too...
 
Peter Bromberg said:
Folks,
We *really* need to get a handle on how to eliminate the SPAM posts making
their way into this group and related group like ASP.NET. It has gotten to
the point where it just isn't any fun anymore, having to wade through this
crap to post a question or to help somebody.

If somebody doesn't come up with a good idea or take the bull by the horns
and get control over this stuff fast, I am gonna simply go somewhere else.
Click to expand...


Its not just this group but most groups. I'm working on a NNTP application
similar to outlook that will give much more control over spam. I've wrote
most of the nttp protocol (I can get groups, view articles and bodies but
haven't added the rest yet).

I plan on having the ability to use regex directly on headers. So, for
example, if someone uses a partially different name such as many spammers,
you can easily check for it. Also you'll be able to combine many different
regex's on the different parameters in a header and apply it in general.

I'm trying to think of other ways to get spammers too, such as a internet
database for spammers, special hashing/verification techniques and others.

Of course the app will modernize nntp bit too by adding some features I
think it needs. ATM I have stopped to work on another project for a few
days but will continue. (I'm still trying to find better ways to handle the
large amounts of data and make a good interface too)

Maybe in a few months I'll have something decent.

BTW, most of the spam comes from google groups.

Jon
 
Peter Bromberg said:
Folks,
We *really* need to get a handle on how to eliminate the SPAM posts making
their way into this group and related group like ASP.NET. It has gotten to
the point where it just isn't any fun anymore, having to wade through this
crap to post a question or to help somebody.

If somebody doesn't come up with a good idea or take the bull by the horns
and get control over this stuff fast, I am gonna simply go somewhere else.
Click to expand...

The spam usually gets deleted after a few days. Someone at MS is watching,
they're just a bit too slow.

Michael
 
There's spam, yet, but it's not that bad. It really obvious so takes no time at all for users to
delete it.

Folks,
We *really* need to get a handle on how to eliminate the SPAM posts making
their way into this group and related group like ASP.NET. It has gotten to
the point where it just isn't any fun anymore, having to wade through this
crap to post a question or to help somebody.

If somebody doesn't come up with a good idea or take the bull by the horns
and get control over this stuff fast, I am gonna simply go somewhere else.
Thanks.
-- Peter
Site: http://www.eggheadcafe.com
UnBlog: http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com
Short Urls & more: http://ittyurl.net
 
You're assuming that the client allows you to delete messages... google
groups, for example (and possibly a lot of the other online ones)
doesn't let you do this AFAIK.

(OT: if anybody can tell me how to get Thunderbird to delete, rather
than attempt to revoke, I'd be grateful...)

But they are just a mild irritation really... nothing worse IMO.

Marc
 
Peter said:
Folks,
We really need to get a handle on how to eliminate the SPAM posts
making their way into this group and related group like ASP.NET. It
has gotten to the point where it just isn't any fun anymore, having
to wade through this crap to post a question or to help somebody.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I am some kind of MVP on the Borland/CodeGear groups, and
there, all members of TeamB (http://www.teamb.com) (that is how our
MVP-like program is called) have access to the server, and cancel
rights. So if we see spam, we cancel it immediately. Spam that is
posted to all 250+ newsgroups is cancelled by a simple bot that is run
by one or more of the members of TeamB.

Do MVPs have cancel rights here?
 
Folks,
We *really* need to get a handle on how to eliminate the SPAM posts making
their way into this group and related group like ASP.NET. It has gotten to
the point where it just isn't any fun anymore, having to wade through this
crap to post a question or to help somebody.

If somebody doesn't come up with a good idea or take the bull by the horns
and get control over this stuff fast, I am gonna simply go somewhere else.
Thanks.
-- Peter
Site:http://www.eggheadcafe.com
UnBlog:http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com
Short Urls & more:http://ittyurl.net
Click to expand...

I am forced to use Google Groups because of restrictions at my company
so to combat the spam, I use Firefox and the GreaseMonkey extension.
There is a script available called Google Killfile which works pretty
good. It'd doesn't actually eliminate the spam, it just prevents it
from being shown. Perhaps that will help you. You could even
customize the script for specific needs.

Hope this helps.

Chris
 
Jon said:
Its not just this group but most groups. I'm working on a NNTP application
similar to outlook that will give much more control over spam.
Click to expand...

There are many newsgroup readers out there, some open source and others
commercial, which are far better than Outlook [Express].

Pretty much any alternative is better than OE.
I plan on having the ability to use regex directly on headers.
Click to expand...

The newsgroup reader I use, Forte Agent, has this feature already. It's
only 30 bucks or so; you could save yourself a lot of work by buying it,
providing you can learn the interface. I'm sure other (probably free)
readers have similar features.

(Agent has an over-complex interface, but once you get used to it, it's
not bad at all. Most shortcuts are single-keys - e.g. R for reply, P for
post, N for next message, I for ignore thread, etc. Once you learn the
main shortcuts, you forget about the other complexity, until you need
it.)

-- Barry
 
Rudy said:
Agreed. I am some kind of MVP on the Borland/CodeGear groups, and
there, all members of TeamB (http://www.teamb.com) (that is how our
MVP-like program is called) have access to the server, and cancel
rights. So if we see spam, we cancel it immediately. Spam that is
posted to all 250+ newsgroups is cancelled by a simple bot that is run
by one or more of the members of TeamB.

Do MVPs have cancel rights here?
Click to expand...

No. Or at least I don't know how to do it.
 
Jon said:
Its not just this group but most groups. I'm working on a NNTP application
similar to outlook that will give much more control over spam. I've wrote
most of the nttp protocol (I can get groups, view articles and bodies but
haven't added the rest yet).

I plan on having the ability to use regex directly on headers. So, for
example, if someone uses a partially different name such as many spammers,
you can easily check for it. Also you'll be able to combine many different
regex's on the different parameters in a header and apply it in general.

I'm trying to think of other ways to get spammers too, such as a internet
database for spammers, special hashing/verification techniques and others.

Of course the app will modernize nntp bit too by adding some features I
think it needs. ATM I have stopped to work on another project for a few
days but will continue. (I'm still trying to find better ways to handle the
large amounts of data and make a good interface too)

Maybe in a few months I'll have something decent.
Click to expand...

Maybe a thunderbird plugin would save you a few months.

Alun Harford
 
Barry Kelly said:
Jon said:
Its not just this group but most groups. I'm working on a NNTP
application
similar to outlook that will give much more control over spam.
Click to expand...

There are many newsgroup readers out there, some open source and others
commercial, which are far better than Outlook [Express].

Pretty much any alternative is better than OE.
I plan on having the ability to use regex directly on headers.
Click to expand...

The newsgroup reader I use, Forte Agent, has this feature already. It's
only 30 bucks or so; you could save yourself a lot of work by buying it,
providing you can learn the interface. I'm sure other (probably free)
readers have similar features.
Click to expand...

Or I could just make one myself for free and save myself the 30$ bucks. At
least then I'll have complete control.
 
Ben said:
No. Or at least I don't know how to do it.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should ask your MVP-coordinators (or whatever you call
them). <g>

I am glad we can cancel. Removes all the spam quite quickly, so that
most users never get to see it. We can also remove unwanted content
(copyrighted code, severe insults, etc.) that way. Oh, it is a little
more work, and not every cancel is appreciated, but I can live with
that.

And if you use the XanaNews newsreader, cancelling is easy. And you
can, as moderator, even get a key to cancel multiple messages at once,
which makes cancelling even easier. <g>
 
There are many newsgroup readers out there, some open source and
others commercial, which are far better than Outlook [Express].

Pretty much any alternative is better than OE.
Click to expand...

Indeed. <g>

I love XanaNews, you seem to use Forté Agent. I particularly love
XanaNews because cancelling is so easy with it, but also for many other
little things. And you can download the source.

I don't think it makes a lot of sense to write your own newsreader,
these days, unless you see it as an exercise and/or hobby project.
XanaNews, Agent, Gravity and Xnews are very good newsreaders already,
with good filters, and it is hard to top them.
 
Jon said:
Or I could just make one myself for free and save myself the 30$
bucks. At least then I'll have complete control.
Click to expand...

XanaNews is free and comes with source (Delphi, though <g>).
SuperGravity is also free, these days, but no source, AFAIK.
 
Or I could just make one myself for free and save myself the 30$ bucks. At
least then I'll have complete control.
Click to expand...

Yes, but how much is your time worth? I don't know if you do contract
work or just program on the side, but for example if you charged $50
per hour for programming work and your custom program took 40 hours (1
week) then you've already spent $2000! Compared to $30 for an already
working solution, you haven't saved anything.

On the other hand, writing your own, you do have complete control as
you said and you could always try to sell your program to others.

Chris
 
Chris said:
On the other hand, writing your own, you do have complete control as
you said and you could always try to sell your program to others.
Click to expand...

Not much of a market anymore. Most good ones are already free or almost
free. Many use what comes with the OS.

--
Rudy Velthuis http://rvelthuis.de

"The mistakes are all waiting to be made."
-- chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)
on the game's opening position
 

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