How do they get in?

[blackevilweredragon]

I'm getting curious, and a bit upset at it..  How are these bots getting in?  I don't remember the registration for this site, but doesn't it have you enter text from an image that's so hard to read?

Are these bots gaining the ability to do "OCR"  (i think that is what it's called), even on hard to read things?

[viletim!]

register?

[blackevilweredragon]

register?

Did you even read what I just said?

[blackevilweredragon]

Wait a minute, I just noticed that the spammers are "guests"..  oops, never mind....

but, i have seen on some forums, where a bot spams a forum, and is "registered", and those sites have the hard to read text..

[NFG]

I don't have a registration requirement, which some people (Hi viletim!) seem to like.  I prefer to encourage conversation, few things piss me off like having something to say on a forum I don't expect to visit frequently, and having to register to say it.

That said the bot problem isn't serious yet.  We'll see soon enough if it becomes serious.

[blackevilweredragon]

I don't have a registration requirement, which some people (Hi viletim!) seem to like.  I prefer to encourage conversation, few things piss me off like having something to say on a forum I don't expect to visit frequently, and having to register to say it.

That said the bot problem isn't serious yet.  We'll see soon enough if it becomes serious.

I just had an idea, that can possibly help keep Guests...

It seems the bots use the top-most forum..  Well, maybe it could be possible to have a forum at the top just called "Bot Alley", and it gets cleared weekly, and that way, keeps it out of the serious forums...

Like i said, just an idea  ..

[Endymion]

The only forums I know that have zilch in the way of bot problems are locked in order to read, that said I have zero problems with registering anywhere to read, or to post. Thirty seconds of my time is a small investment to make in a community in exchange for information, and shows my level of interest in the group--not just my own agenda. I'd have no problems locking it all up, but it's not my sandbox.