What will stop all the OffTopic Spam?

[Robert Macy]

This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

Why?

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

 

[Ron]

Robert Macy wrote:

This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

Why?

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

Set your filters. Block _all_ gmail, posts ending in .cn and .tw 126.com
and .163.com etc.

That`s presuming you are using a proper newsreader and not using
GoogleGroups!

Ron

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Ron" <ron@lunevalleyaudio.com> wrote in message
news:5OmdnVKt5oJiC_nXnZ2dnUVZ8tqdnZ2d@bt.com...

Robert Macy wrote:
This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

Why?

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

Set your filters. Block _all_ gmail, posts ending in .cn and .tw 126.com
and .163.com etc.

That`s presuming you are using a proper newsreader and not using
GoogleGroups!

Ron

Yep, works for me too.

Arfa

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:42:07 +0100, "Arfa Daily"
<arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:

"Ron" <ron@lunevalleyaudio.com> wrote in message
news:5OmdnVKt5oJiC_nXnZ2dnUVZ8tqdnZ2d@bt.com...
Robert Macy wrote:
This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

The surest sign of success is pollution. This newsgroup is polluted
and therefore is successful.

Why?

For the same reason that flies attend a picnic. That's where the good
stuff is found.

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

Set your filters. Block _all_ gmail, posts ending in .cn and .tw 126.com
and .163.com etc.

That`s presuming you are using a proper newsreader and not using
GoogleGroups!

Ron

Yep, works for me too.
Arfa

Likwise for me. I use the filter in Forte Agent 5.00. Not great, but
good enough to get rid of most of the junk. See:
<http://improve-usenet.org>
for how it's done.

In the past, I've also used Nfilter:
<http://www.nfilter.org>
which also works well.

I've also crafted a filter that blocks any postings that disagree with
my point of view. Unfortunately, that leaves only my own postings to
read, so I no longer use it.

Now, if I could only figure out how to filter out one-line replies
that quote the entire previous article. I did that when I was running
Cnews with trn but that was long ago.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Rich Webb]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:13:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:42:07 +0100, "Arfa Daily"
arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:

"Ron" <ron@lunevalleyaudio.com> wrote in message
news:5OmdnVKt5oJiC_nXnZ2dnUVZ8tqdnZ2d@bt.com...
Robert Macy wrote:
This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

The surest sign of success is pollution. This newsgroup is polluted
and therefore is successful.

Why?

For the same reason that flies attend a picnic. That's where the good
stuff is found.

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

Set your filters. Block _all_ gmail, posts ending in .cn and .tw 126.com
and .163.com etc.

That`s presuming you are using a proper newsreader and not using
GoogleGroups!

Ron

Yep, works for me too.
Arfa

Likwise for me. I use the filter in Forte Agent 5.00. Not great, but
good enough to get rid of most of the junk. See:
http://improve-usenet.org
for how it's done.

In the past, I've also used Nfilter:
http://www.nfilter.org
which also works well.

I've also crafted a filter that blocks any postings that disagree with
my point of view. Unfortunately, that leaves only my own postings to
read, so I no longer use it.

Now, if I could only figure out how to filter out one-line replies
that quote the entire previous article. I did that when I was running
Cnews with trn but that was long ago.

I agree. (Sorry, the temptation was just too great! ;-)

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

 

[JeffM]

Robert Macy wrote:

This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...
Why?

In a word: Google.

Gmail for free anonymous email for signups.
Google Groups for unregulated NNTP posting.

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions,
and later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Google doesn't care. It doesn't adversely affect their profits.

Some ISPs will take action if you report spammers to them.
(Do a reverse DNS on the Posting Host.)
Chinese ISPs, however, are as scummy as their subscribers.

You seem to be aware that this isn't "Google Groups".
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.freeware/msg/4a83eaad102e7efe?q=*-a-service-for-*-*-*+Usenet+*-Wikipedia+hide.the.fact+*-*-policed+concerns-*-*-*-*-about-the-Google-interface+*-*-follow-Usenet-customs-and-*-rules+*-*-*-not-*-mustered-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*+*-*-*-*-*-*-*-software+less-*-savvy-*+*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-is-now-legendary+zzz+*-summary+qq+Web

The solution is to stop accessing Usenet via Google.
To that end, there are 3 steps:
Get the proper software:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Usenet_newsreaders

Get a proper NNTP provider:
http://ngprovider.com/

Set up a local proxy:
http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=nFilter+OR+NewsProxy+Hamster+Leafnode+-jeffm_+-News.Proxy+-inurl:www&num=100
The filters must be tweaked by hand.
..
If you can *only* get Port 80 access,
there are several screen filters available:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.arch.embedded/msg/7229473dd5232f65?q=on.ANY.site+holysmoke+*-are-*-*-filters+zz-zz+qq+penney+uu+source9

Broken link replacement:
http://www.holysmoke.org/ggf/index.htm

 

[Ken Layton]

If you do access through Google, then get the free "Trollkiller"
program here:

http://www.source9.com/trollkiller.html

I use Google and don't see the spam anymore thanks to Trollkiller.

 

[Bob Larter]

Robert Macy wrote:

This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

Why?

If you look at them, you'll find they nearly all come from Google.
Google ignores spam reports about their users.

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Killfile everything posted from Google. How to do that will depend on
which newsreader you're using.


--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Bob Larter]

Ron wrote:

Robert Macy wrote:
This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

Why?

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

Set your filters. Block _all_ gmail,

That is unnecessary. Many people (eg; me!) use Gmail addresses, but
don't post through Google. The reverse is also true.

posts ending in .cn and .tw 126.com
and .163.com etc.

That helps a bit.


--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Bob Larter]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

I've also crafted a filter that blocks any postings that disagree with
my point of view. Unfortunately, that leaves only my own postings to
read, so I no longer use it.

LOL.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Xavier Roche]

Bob Larter wrote:

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Use a server with Cleanfeed and NoCem - you won't see any spam.

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

"Jeff Liebermann" <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote in message
news:4pf9651e4ptsestor93ose8ddsguimig4r@4ax.com...

I've also crafted a filter that blocks any postings that disagree with
my point of view. Unfortunately, that leaves only my own postings to
read, so I no longer use it.

Now, if I could only figure out how to filter out one-line replies
that quote the entire previous article. I did that when I was running
Cnews with trn but that was long ago.

Too bad you didn't find a fix for the tendency for Usenet to bring out the
smart-ass in most of us.

Leonard

 

[Nicholas Bodley]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:10:38 +0100, Ron wrote:

Set your filters. Block _all_ gmail, posts ending in .cn and .tw 126.com
and .163.com etc.

That`s presuming you are using a proper newsreader and not using
GoogleGroups!

I must be in the minority; am using Pan for Linux. It's only at ver
0.133, and doesn't provide for attaching files. Doesn't have filtering,
yet, but I de-spammed about four month's worth of headers by typing in
shrewdly-chosen key words to select only messages containing them, did a
ctrl-A to select all, and "deleted" them. After about a dozen such, I
was almost spam-free. Took less than 10 min. to clean house.

For what it does, and as I use it, Pan is superb, imho.

I hope IPv6 won't permit spam.

Good luck!

--
Nicabod =+= Waltham, Mass.

 

[Nicholas Bodley]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:13:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Now, if I could only figure out how to filter out one-line replies that
quote the entire previous article.

I'd say that total quoting is justified only when you reply to a thread
that ended a long time ago. Do most people not know how to select text
that will appear in a reply? Most likely, they are just really lazy.
Bitspace used to be precious, and bandwidth very narrow...

(If you think of bandwidth in terms of bits per, say, month, the
expression "wasting bandwidth" on unnecessarily big files makes more
sense.)

Another one that used to send me ballistic, firing off very hurtful
messages that didn't use any foul words, was finding my e-ddress included
with dozens (in one case, about 850) other e-ddresses in the Cc: field.

I've since learned to urge people to Google on [why use bcc]. Btw,
nothing else made me go ballistic, and I never got into flame wars.

I did that when I was running Cnews
with trn but that was long ago.

--
Nicabod =+= Waltham, Mass.

 

[Xavier Roche]

root wrote:

I agree, the newsserver is the solution. Highwinds has no filter
and has become unusable.

Highwinds is (one of the many, many) binary provider (pron, images,
movieZ, ..), definitely not suitable for text.

 

[root]

Xavier Roche <xroche@free.fr.NOSPAM.invalid> wrote:

Bob Larter wrote:
How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Use a server with Cleanfeed and NoCem - you won't see any spam.

I agree, the newsserver is the solution. Highwinds has no filter
and has become unusable.

 

[GregS]

In article <1bee3a52-ab38-483d-a356-bb6abba6d5be@a37g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, Robert Macy <macy@california.com> wrote:

This group has a ton of off topic spam, jeans, tennis shoes...

Why?

How to stop it? It makes it difficult to find real questions, and
later searching through archives will be horrendous.

Other public groups don't seem to thave this much, just one every week
or so. What's the breakdown here?

Robert

Most will tell you to block it. To stop it you complain to those responsible.
I have done thant many times and will continue. If no
one complains it just goes on.

greg

 

[GregS]

In article <pan.2009.07.21.11.22.21@speakeasy.net>, Nicholas Bodley <n_bod_ley@speakeasy.net> wrote:

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:13:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Now, if I could only figure out how to filter out one-line replies that
quote the entire previous article.

I'd say that total quoting is justified only when you reply to a thread
that ended a long time ago. Do most people not know how to select text
that will appear in a reply? Most likely, they are just really lazy.
Bitspace used to be precious, and bandwidth very narrow...

Bandwidth on Usenet used to be important. I like to see the whole post.
My favorite newsreader does not save posts. I have to go to the Google
Usenet archieve to retrieve old posts. It makes for more work.

greg

(If you think of bandwidth in terms of bits per, say, month, the
expression "wasting bandwidth" on unnecessarily big files makes more
sense.)

Another one that used to send me ballistic, firing off very hurtful
messages that didn't use any foul words, was finding my e-ddress included
with dozens (in one case, about 850) other e-ddresses in the Cc: field.

I've since learned to urge people to Google on [why use bcc]. Btw,
nothing else made me go ballistic, and I never got into flame wars.

I did that when I was running Cnews
with trn but that was long ago.

 

[Nicholas Bodley]

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:48:18 +0000, GregS wrote:

My favorite newsreader does not save posts.

If it's a favorite, you are not likely to want to change, but imho that's
amazing. Guess I'm spoiled by Pan, which saves body text or attachments
equally easily. It's a teeth-eroder when you forget to switch it, and
find that you've downloaded a bunch of undecoded attachments.

Now, I can better understand why total quoting happens...

--
Nicabod =+= Waltham, Mass.

 

[Nicholas Bodley]

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:44:01 +0000, GregS wrote:

To stop it you complain to those responsible. I have done that many
times and will continue.

Coupla Q.:

1. How much luck do you have locating the source, with enough confidence
that you have actually found the people who sent the spam? You must be
having better luck than I'd thought.

2. Hate to ask, but do you think complaining changes any minds?

I really do wish that what you do makes a diff., but I fear that spammers
are totally-uncivilized opportunists who misuse a system set up for
civilized people. Friend of mine says that spamming might stop (or
decrease a lot) after a few serious spammers are assassinated, and word
gets out.

I suspect that IPv6 might have very little spam, but as well, it might
not be as accessible to all as the present, which is IPv4 -- wait --
we're using NNTP here. Maybe IPv6 is irrelevant?

--
Nicabod =+= Waltham, Mass.
never stop hoping