Sticky about recent spam bot attacks

Well....I kept him away until 1:40 this morning but had to go to bed. He came back around 2 am.
I am here now....so no more new registrations will get by for long and as soon as Ben gets here massive cleanup will begin.
Once he realizes someone is here to stop the new accounts as quick as he creates them he leaves for a while.
Doesn't try to create any more new accounts.

I got here about 5:50 this morning and started blocking. He tried creating a new account shortly after 6 AM but I closed it before he could post anything with it. Once he realizes someone is blocking things immediately he leaves until the next attack.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:15 am

Well....I kept him away until 1:40 this morning but had to go to bed. He came back around 2 am.
I am here now....so no more new registrations will get by for long and as soon as Ben gets here massive cleanup will begin.
Once he realizes someone is here to stop the new accounts as quick as he creates them he leaves for a while.
Doesn't try to create any more new accounts.

I got here about 5:50 this morning and started blocking. He tried creating a new account shortly after 6 AM but I closed it before he could post anything with it. Once he realizes someone is blocking things immediately he leaves until the next attack.

That means you didn't get a decent night's sleep. Yikes! When I visited at about 8:00 am (7:00 am your time) this morning, there was one spam message, which quickly went away. I figured the reason there was only (!) one was because you or Ben were on the job. Thanks again for all you do.

Bertha deBlues wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:20 am

That means you didn't get a decent night's sleep. Yikes! When I visited at about 8:00 am (7:00 am your time) this morning, there was one spam message, which quickly went away

Yeah, that was me. Ben had already cleaned up the other stuff and that last one spam post was from a brand new account and the spammer was just testing to see if anyone was paying attention.
There's a predictable pattern here. Once it's obvious that he's been outed he goes away for a while.
Ben had come and gone by the time that last little spam showed up. Ben can do a clean up faster than me so when I come on line and see the active on line accounts what I do is shut them down first so that they can't post anymore and then I watch for new accounts and I can zap them quickly.
I do a little manual clean up but leave the bulk of it to Ben. It just takes me too long to clean up the mess with the tools I have at my disposal.

And yes...I didn't get enough sleep last night but there will be a nap in my future today most likely. I can't and won't make a habit of such short hours of sleep but I can bull through a few of those nights with naps.

1:40 a.m. to 5:50 a.m. I refuse to do the math on that for total sleep time.

But, for the record, I would rather have a forum full of spam than for the spam to have that much of an effect on your sleep, Pugsy.

I know you will claim that the spam wasn't what shortened your sleep time. And I will believe you. But please make sure that is 100% true, if you don't mind.

OK. None of my business. I know. And I won't push. I just needed to say it. It is said.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Same bat time. Same bat channel.

jnk... wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:32 am

I know you will claim that the spam wasn't what shortened your sleep time. And I will believe you. But please make sure that is 100% true, if you don't mind.

I have been battling some insomnia issues. Both sleep onset and maintenance. Secondary to pain...the joint injections I had last year that helped....have worn off.
So the pain meds wire me up and I can't sleep or stay asleep very long...and if I don't take the pain meds then the pain will prevent much sleep of any quality.

The spammer is fairly easily stopped once someone gets on line to stop him and fairly easy to clean up so I am not so much in battle mode because I know that whatever happens is fixable...annoying but fixable.

My sleep would be crappy no matter what right now. I figure that if it is going to be crappy that I might as well make productive use of the awake time and go killing SOBs.
I woke up on my own at 5:46 this morning even after going to bed at just before 2 AM. I was wide awake hurting and knew I had to get up and take a pain pill....which wires me up.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:38 am

My sleep would be crappy no matter what right now. I figure that if it is going to be crappy that I might as well make productive use of the awake time and go killing SOBs.

I get it. And as I said, I DO believe you. If the choice is lie in bed in pain or be helpful to other sufferers, which also distracts from pain, I fully get that choice.

But assuming you are like me in my propensity to fool myself a little bit, it may not be helpful long-term to insomnia to allow yourself that out. Only one layman's opinion, that. Only loving concern. Not criticism. You are a caring person. Caring people can easily forget to take care of themselves.

We all do what we have to do along those lines, so I support your choices. But if I can be so bold as to speak up for others, I think that if you want to keep our preference in mind, we don't expect you to be doing as much for us as you have been doing and don't want the thrill/satisfaction of the spam-hunt to ever become an excuse for not putting yourself ahead of us on this one.

I would prefer you to read the warranty on your fridge to lull you into a restful state just this side of sleep. The adrenaline that comes from shooting spammers can be as addictive as any other first-person-shooter game, unless you find it restful. Adrenaline can hide the pain, but it isn't exactly sleep-inducing. Focusing on restful approaches to ignoring the pain may be more productive for sleep hours. Just a thought.

Let's be careful/safe out there, officer. We want you more long-term helping people, not short-term keeping litter off the streets.

Oops. I promised to shut up and then didn't. Cut me slack.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:38 am

jnk... wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:32 am

I know you will claim that the spam wasn't what shortened your sleep time. And I will believe you. But please make sure that is 100% true, if you don't mind.

I have been battling some insomnia issues. Both sleep onset and maintenance. Secondary to pain...the joint injections I had last year that helped....have worn off.
So the pain meds wire me up and I can't sleep or stay asleep very long...and if I don't take the pain meds then the pain will prevent much sleep of any quality.

The spammer is fairly easily stopped once someone gets on line to stop him and fairly easy to clean up so I am not so much in battle mode because I know that whatever happens is fixable...annoying but fixable.

My sleep would be crappy no matter what right now. I figure that if it is going to be crappy that I might as well make productive use of the awake time and go killing SOBs.
I woke up on my own at 5:46 this morning even after going to bed at just before 2 AM. I was wide awake hurting and knew I had to get up and take a pain pill....which wires me up.

Pugs, thanks for what you're doing. Moderating isn't supposed to be a full time job, though, and not one that keeps you up late and gets you up early. I know the owners/admins are not keen on subforums and such, but one for newbs to "introduce" themselves and be validated before being allowed to wander into the main forum would go a long way towards reducing the effort you're expending.

Pugsy,

+1 to what jnk said so eloquently.
Take care of yourself.

Jean

Soothest Sleep wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:01 am

Pugsy,

+1 to what jnk said so eloquently.
Take care of yourself.

Jean

For sure, +2.

I was thinking that someone "downunder" could help;
but then it occurred to me that ResMed is in Australia . . .

Pugs, thanks for what you're doing. Moderating isn't supposed to be a full time job, though, and not one that keeps you up late and gets you up early. I know the owners/admins are not keen on subforums and such, but one for newbs to "introduce" themselves and be validated before being allowed to wander into the main forum would go a long way towards reducing the effort you're expending.
[/quote]
Especially an UNPAID full time job.
I am sure this is more than you expected when you volunteered as the first moderator.

Take care of yourself first. You are not replaceable.

The forum is both replaceable & fixable.

Hey guys and gals.
Thanks for the concern but please trust me to know my own limitations.
I learned a while back that if I wasn't healthy I wasn't much good to anyone. I will keep myself healthy.
I can handle occasional nights with less than optimal sleep hours...it's not like it is exactly new to me anyway for various reasons.
I got a really good nap today in bed with the machine and no one bothered me.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:15 pm

I got a really good nap today in bed with the machine and no one bothered me.

Glad to hear it!

I wish your energy could be reserved for helping with CPAP stuff and not drained on spam control. I realize we have folks all over the world, and the last thing we need is to put a desperate newbie off until the next day, but maybe it would be possible to just shut off new account creation or posting during off hours. Such a waste. Thanks for your service, Pugsy.
Jim

jim22 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:45 pm

I wish your energy could be reserved for helping with CPAP stuff and not drained on spam control. I realize we have folks all over the world, and the last thing we need is to put a desperate newbie off until the next day, but maybe it would be possible to just shut off new account creation or posting during off hours. Such a waste. Thanks for your service, Pugsy.
Jim

Perhaps new account creation could revert to an approval process during those times similar to what we had earlier.

If it cannot be time restricted, just temporarily reverting to approved new accounts for a week or so may be enough to discourage the spammers.

All of this is realizing you would need the Goodman’s blessing.