"Rick Rosson" <rrosson@mathworks.com> wrote in message <f82qpe$8he$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Is there any way to block advertisements and other spam from this newsgroup?
> Or at least delete them after they have been posted?
>
>
Just a suggestion here.
Everyone who is using this Forum for its designed purpose will have access to Matlab. Each Matlab has an individual licence number. Why not have a hidden field in which the contributor enters their licence number, (which is visible on the Matlab splash page - or from the help - about matlab option). This number is then checked against a database of valid licences, if its there the contribution is accepted, if not it is dumped.
If contributions from a given licence is marked as spam more than 'n' times, the licence is then black listed, and no more entries will be accepted from that installation.
"Rick Rosson" <rrosson@mathworks.com> wrote in message <f82qpe$8he$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Is there any way to block advertisements and other spam from this newsgroup?
> Or at least delete them after they have been posted?
>
>
i 'think' if several people use the flag as spam option it will be removed automatically. I think it takes 5 flags to get it removed. i really think that limit should be 1 and then that user should be blocked.
You can also use the "tag" feature to flag a message as "spam". You are
correct: if 5 people flag the message as spam, it will be deleted. But I
agree, maybe the threshold should be lowered to 2 people instead of 5.
Rick
"David " <dave@bigcompany.com> wrote in message
news:f84oui$55e$1@fred.mathworks.com...
> "Rick Rosson" <rrosson@mathworks.com> wrote in message
> <f82qpe$8he$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
>> Is there any way to block advertisements and other spam from this
>> newsgroup?
>> Or at least delete them after they have been posted?
>>
>>
>
> i 'think' if several people use the flag as spam option it will be removed
> automatically. I think it takes 5 flags to get it removed. i really
> think that limit should be 1 and then that user should be blocked.
>
"David " <dave@bigcompany.com> wrote in message <f84oui$55e$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> "Rick Rosson" <rrosson@mathworks.com> wrote in message <f82qpe$8he$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> > Is there any way to block advertisements and other spam from this newsgroup?
> > Or at least delete them after they have been posted?
> >
> >
>
> i 'think' if several people use the flag as spam option it will be removed automatically. I think it takes 5 flags to get it removed. i really think that limit should be 1 and then that user should be blocked.
>
What happens if someone either accidentally or inappropriately clicks the flag as spam button? Having a slightly higher number limits the risk of having something flagged when it shouldn't.
"Helen Chen" <helen.chen@mathworks.com> wrote in message
>
> What happens if someone either accidentally or inappropriately clicks the flag as spam button? Having a slightly higher number limits the risk of having something flagged when it shouldn't.
I'm flagging. Makes me feel good. A bit like swatting flies.
"Dave Robinson" <dave.robinson@somewhere.biz> wrote in message
news:f84ne8$5v6$1@fred.mathworks.com...
> "Rick Rosson" <rrosson@mathworks.com> wrote in message
> <f82qpe$8he$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
>> Is there any way to block advertisements and other spam from this
>> newsgroup?
>> Or at least delete them after they have been posted?
>>
>>
> Just a suggestion here.
>
> Everyone who is using this Forum for its designed purpose will have access
> to Matlab.
> Each Matlab has an individual licence number. Why not have a hidden field
> in which the contributor enters their licence number,
> (which is visible on the Matlab splash page - or from the help - about
> matlab option). This number is then checked against a database
> of valid licences, if its there the contribution is accepted, if not it is
> dumped.
There are three situations I can think of off the top of my head where a
poster may not have access to MATLAB but should be able to post, and I'm
sure there are others:
1) Users who don't yet have MATLAB, and are interested in using MATLAB, but
want to ask questions to ensure that MATLAB can meet their needs. This
newsgroup is a pretty good resource for those types of users, as you're
probably going to find _someone_ who's done something similar to your
application.
2) Users that are posting to the newsgroup from a machine other than the one
on which they use MATLAB. I know I sometimes post from home, and while I
have access to MATLAB pretty much wherever I am (one of the perks of working
here) if I didn't work here I might not have access to MATLAB from home.
3) Users that are posting looking for help because their MATLAB installation
won't start. They can't get access to their license number easily.
> If contributions from a given licence is marked as spam more than 'n'
> times, the licence is then black listed, and no more entries will be
> accepted from that installation.
Make that 4:
4) For certain types of licenses (group and concurrent, I believe) multiple
users can use the same license. If one of the users of a license posts
something that enough other people flag as spam, none of the other users of
that license would be able to post through MATLAB Central.
It's a good idea, but personally I think it would be too restrictive.
Steve Amphlett wrote:
> "Helen Chen" <helen.chen@mathworks.com> wrote in message
>> What happens if someone either accidentally or inappropriately
>> clicks
the flag as spam button? Having a slightly higher number limits the risk
of having something flagged when it shouldn't.
>
>
> I'm flagging. Makes me feel good. A bit like swatting flies.
And, unfortunately, probably about as futile if TMW portal accepts (as
it must, I think) usenet postings. It is, after all, still a usenet
unmoderated group. Still, keep after it, Steve, it _may_ help at least
a little? :)
Oh, BTW, still not wrapping lines, apparently. Helen's message was over
the 79 character limit in my viewer (T-bird).
"Steven Lord" <slord@mathworks.com> wrote in message <f851ar$mse$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
>
> "Dave Robinson" <dave.robinson@somewhere.biz> wrote in message
> news:f84ne8$5v6$1@fred.mathworks.com...
> > "Rick Rosson" <rrosson@mathworks.com> wrote in message
> > <f82qpe$8he$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> >> Is there any way to block advertisements and other spam from this
> >> newsgroup?
> >> Or at least delete them after they have been posted?
> >>
> >>
> > Just a suggestion here.
> >
> > Everyone who is using this Forum for its designed purpose will have access
> > to Matlab.
> > Each Matlab has an individual licence number. Why not have a hidden field
> > in which the contributor enters their licence number,
> > (which is visible on the Matlab splash page - or from the help - about
> > matlab option). This number is then checked against a database
> > of valid licences, if its there the contribution is accepted, if not it is
> > dumped.
>
> There are three situations I can think of off the top of my head where a
> poster may not have access to MATLAB but should be able to post, and I'm
> sure there are others:
>
> 1) Users who don't yet have MATLAB, and are interested in using MATLAB, but
> want to ask questions to ensure that MATLAB can meet their needs. This
> newsgroup is a pretty good resource for those types of users, as you're
> probably going to find _someone_ who's done something similar to your
> application.
>
> 2) Users that are posting to the newsgroup from a machine other than the one
> on which they use MATLAB. I know I sometimes post from home, and while I
> have access to MATLAB pretty much wherever I am (one of the perks of working
> here) if I didn't work here I might not have access to MATLAB from home.
>
> 3) Users that are posting looking for help because their MATLAB installation
> won't start. They can't get access to their license number easily.
>
> > If contributions from a given licence is marked as spam more than 'n'
> > times, the licence is then black listed, and no more entries will be
> > accepted from that installation.
>
> Make that 4:
>
> 4) For certain types of licenses (group and concurrent, I believe) multiple
> users can use the same license. If one of the users of a license posts
> something that enough other people flag as spam, none of the other users of
> that license would be able to post through MATLAB Central.
>
> It's a good idea, but personally I think it would be too restrictive.
>
> --
> Steve Lord
> slord@mathworks.com
>
>
Surely something has to be done about the amount of Spam coming through now. You can't realistically expect 5 busy boffins spending their valuable time mindlessly going through nearly 40 sequential cigarette adverts to mark them as spam. We are nearly in the position where the forum is becoming unusable. It really is a denial of service attack.
As to what can be done I am afraid I have no further ideas. It is, as you obviously agree, a very valuable facility for genuine Matlab users. pity these mindless morons have to wreck it.
"Dave Robinson" <dave.robinson@somewhere.biz> wrote in message <f8780o$pf5$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Surely something has to be done about the amount of Spam coming through now. You can't realistically expect 5 busy boffins spending their valuable time mindlessly going through nearly 40 sequential cigarette adverts to mark them as spam. We are nearly in the position where the forum is becoming unusable. It really is a denial of service attack.
>
> As to what can be done I am afraid I have no further ideas. It is, as you obviously agree, a very valuable facility for genuine Matlab users. pity these mindless morons have to wreck it.
I'm starting to think that filtering flagged spam creates an opportunity for new spammers to fill the void left behind. A kind of equilibrium effect.
this is what i do not understand:
according to the <view original format> entry (see below), the recent cigarette spam is launched by an individual/bot who actually has/seems to have a TMW account(!) AND posts/seems to post via the new newsengine...
"us " <us@neurol.unizh.ch> wrote in message <f87a8o$rjr$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Rick Rosson
> <SNIP on slautherhous SPAM...
>
> this is what i do not understand:
> according to the <view original format> entry (see below), the recent cigarette spam is launched by an individual/bot who actually has/seems to have a TMW account(!) AND posts/seems to post via the new newsengine...
>
> now, why can he/she/it not simply be removed?
>
Yes, this is part of our regular practice to remove account privileges of anyone who abuses it. Spamming certainly does fall into the area of "abuse"!
We at the MathWorks have been continually making changes to our servers intended to resolve problems with message delivery and spam. We expect to see improvement in both areas.
Honestly, I think that the flagging method is good enough. The 5 flags threshold is also acceptable: just think about how many people are reading the newsgroup at any given time.
However, I guess most of the people here don't go and open 10 or 20 obvious spam messages just to flag them as spam. But I know I would gladly do it if there was a convenient "flag as spam" button/checkbox/link right next to the message subject. So, basically, I think a simple solution would be to give us the possibility to flag spam messages without opening them. I bet the 5 flags limit would be reached in 2 minutes after the message appears.
Lorenzo
Lorenzo wrote:
> Honestly, I think that the flagging method is good enough. The 5
> flags threshold is also acceptable: just think about how many people
> are reading the newsgroup at any given time. However, I guess most of
> the people here don't go and open 10 or 20 obvious spam messages just
> to flag them as spam. But I know I would gladly do it if there was a
> convenient "flag as spam" button/checkbox/link right next to the
> message subject. So, basically, I think a simple solution would be to
> give us the possibility to flag spam messages without opening them. I
> bet the 5 flags limit would be reached in 2 minutes after the message
> appears.
It would seem reasonable to me for TMW to invest in a spam 'bot for
their own client/interface -- the types that are the significant problem
are pretty obvious. I've never looked specifically, but I would think
3rd party tools would be widely available that could be grafted in. For
anything that is fed from another server, at least w/ the other groups I
read on a regular basis the attacks are generally shortlived and/or
relatively infrequent.
And yet again, it would be nice to get the line length problem fixed... :)
Public Submission Policy
NOTICE: Any content you submit to MATLAB Central, including personal information, is not subject to the protections which may be afforded information collected under other sections of The MathWorks, Inc. Web site. You are entirely responsible for
all content that you upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available via MATLAB Central. The MathWorks does not control the content posted by visitors to MATLAB Central and, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of such content.
Under no circumstances will The MathWorks be liable in any way for any content not authored by The MathWorks, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, e-mailed, transmitted or otherwise made available
via MATLAB Central. Read the complete Disclaimer prior to use.
Feed for this Thread
