Dear all,
Sadly I've had to suspend new registrations to the forum. In the last 48 hours there has been a huge surge in applications from 'bot accounts' appearing from Russia, with 70 appearing this morning.
I will resume at the weekend when I can monitor this better, without my real job distracting me.
Cheers,
Chris/Tanks.
All the best with this, Chris. Sounds like a Herculean task.
Not wishing to make light of a serious problem, but it seems strange to me that they think they can achieve their aim of, I assume, bringing about the end of Western civilisation by targeting a model railway forum. Or is it just that the (AI?) bots are stupider than we realise?
Good luck,
Chris
Oh no! The Boss has brassed off Putin...................again :laugh:
That is indeed something you do not need!
Perhaps a verification page of some sort needed to show you are a human when applying. They pop-up on so many pages nowadays.
GE
Quote from: Papyrus on September 03, 2026, 02:52:10 PMNot wishing to make light of a serious problem, but it seems strange to me that they think they can achieve their aim of, I assume, bringing about the end of Western civilisation by targeting a model railway forum. Or is it just that the (AI?) bots are stupider than we realise?
I wouldn't count bots as an AI, they indiscriminately go after any website address, make accounts if possible, then after a while they spam post where they can all sorts of messages (usually adult in nature) with links to another website which will either try to sell you something or strip any details about you via accessing the website.
I use to run a forum years ago and had to deal with them then too, but they are mostly done by people who:
Want your money
Want your details
Because they're bored
Quote from: GlenEglise on September 03, 2026, 07:39:47 PMPerhaps a verification page of some sort needed to show you are a human when applying. They pop-up on so many pages nowadays.
I've got that (Google ReCaptcha) on my web site. It doesn't prevent the occasional flood of people attempting to leave comments with links to dodgy web sites.
From experience on another forum I run, most spam accounts are created by actual humans, who can therefore bypass whatever anti-bot checks you put in place. Some of them are relatively clever these days about avoiding detection, and use either their brains or AI to help make some seemingly relevant posts, which they come back to later to edit referral links into. Their goal is to have those referral links on the site as long as possible.
Combating them is a balance between stamping down on spam and inconveniencing new/existing users, and at the end of the day usually ends up mainly inconveniencing the kind people running the site who have to spend their time to manually detect and delete them and any posts they make.
Quote from: GlenEglise on September 03, 2026, 07:39:47 PMPerhaps a verification page of some sort needed to show you are a human when applying. They pop-up on so many pages nowadays.
Considering that self-driving cars can spot traffic lights and mopeds, I doubt it's beyond the abilities of a bot with only a modicum of AI built in to do likewise :D
Mind you, most sites that want to check only ask me to tick a box to say that I'm not a robot - hardly a strong verification requirement.
Ticking the box to show your human involves the website monitoring the time taken to do the click, where and how the mouse moves etc. Getting a bot to replicate the human movement is difficult.
Similarly, when you get asked to click on photos of traffic lights - it's the timing of the clicks that it's most interested (the clicked pictures also help identify images containing traffic lights that help AI learn).
So
@Tank could actually be a bot? ;D ;D ;)
Build an infinite feedback loop sending it a verification code that doesn't stop. The users that get fed up and go can be emailed the right verification code to get an account. The bots will just have their own world to play in.
Not a workable solution but a fun one nevertheless.
Time for a new member questionnaire that goes full rivet counter :) including draw the driving cab of a (insert random UK steam loco) and reject any that have a steering wheel :)
Quote from: zwilnik on September 04, 2026, 09:43:23 AMand reject any that have a steering wheel :)
But you'd need to make sure that it didn't mistake a screw reverser wheel for a steering wheel :smiley-laughing:
Quote from: chrism on September 04, 2026, 08:08:10 AMConsidering that self-driving cars can spot traffic lights and mopeds, I doubt it's beyond the abilities of a bot with only a modicum of AI built in to do likewise :D
Mind you, most sites that want to check only ask me to tick a box to say that I'm not a robot - hardly a strong verification requirement.
I mean this was 9 years ago!
I actually built one of those robot arm kits. I got more enjoyment out of building it than I have since :worried:
Our small team of Mods cannot be online 24/7 but if any bot/nutjob does actually get onto the site we're lucky in having a membership and reporting tool that, almost immediately, flags up spammers such that the Mod team can take action so - thanks Folks. Keep up the good work :thumbsup:
Quote from: Bealman on September 04, 2026, 09:20:27 AMSo @Tank could actually be a bot? ;D ;D ;)
Come to think of it, apart from on the forum, I've only had dealings with Tank over the phone, and that could have been anybody :hmmm: :worried: ;)
:laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost:
Quote from: Newportnobby on September 04, 2026, 10:09:53 AMQuote from: Bealman on September 04, 2026, 09:20:27 AMSo @Tank could actually be a bot? ;D ;D ;)
Come to think of it, apart from on the forum, I've only had dealings with Tank over the phone, and that could have been anybody :hmmm: :worried: ;)
Well, I'm happy to say that I have had the pleasure of meeting the illustrious
@Tank on a couple of occasions and I can confirm that he is indeed a bot. :D
Cheers,
Chris (the other one)
:smiley-laughing: :laughabovepost:
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/161/2-040926132427.jpeg) (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=161834)
Quote from: Bealman on September 04, 2026, 10:06:40 AMI actually built one of those robot arm kits. I got more enjoyment out of building it than I have since :worried:
Oh yeah, just the arm right. 'Cos you only need the arm right?
I've 'eard about your sort.