Spam ads on ChessTalk

[Vlad Dobrich]

Why all the ad spam on ChessTalk? Is the moderator asleep? If all the trolls don't kill this site than the Spam ads might do the trick. Very sad!:(

[Hans Jung]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Hi Vlad, should I keep posting to eventually scroll off these spammers or do you just want the moderators to do their job?:)

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Hi Vlad, should I keep posting to eventually scroll off these spammers or do you just want the moderators to do their job?:)

The moderator has not done much in the past so why expect him to do something now? There are trollers on this sit who cannot stay on topic and hurl gratuitous insults at intelligent posters to drive them off the site. And the moderator does nothing.

[Larry Bevand]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

The moderator has not done much in the past so why expect him to do something now? There are trollers on this sit who cannot stay on topic and hurl gratuitous insults at intelligent posters to drive them off the site. And the moderator does nothing.

Hi Vlad,

Would you like to moderate the board? We can set it up for you for a trial 30 day period to start.

Larry

[Bindi Cheng]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

The moderator has not done much in the past so why expect him to do something now? There are trollers on this sit who cannot stay on topic and hurl gratuitous insults at intelligent posters to drive them off the site. And the moderator does nothing.

LOL, you mad brah?

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Hi Vlad,

Would you like to moderate the board? We can set it up for you for a trial 30 day period to start.

Larry

Sure Larry. When do I start?

[Larry Bevand]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Sure Larry. When do I start?

Great!

I will look into doing this tomorrow...maybe you should state your moderating criteria...especially if it is different from the criteria I have stated above. I would gladly hand this function off to someone else...I hate being a policeman :)

Larry

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Great!

I will look into doing this tomorrow...maybe you should state your moderating criteria...especially if it is different from the criteria I have stated above. I would gladly hand this function off to someone else...I hate being a policeman :)

Larry

Likely an Attila the Hun approach going from his complaint about the current situation.

The result could be dull, boring and as active as the CFC forum.

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

I like the spam ads. I learn a lot about shoes and electronics from them.

[Larry Bevand]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

I like the spam ads. I learn a lot about shoes and electronics from them.

I know Tom...you are such a consumer :)

Larry

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Great!

I will look into doing this tomorrow...maybe you should state your moderating criteria...especially if it is different from the criteria I have stated above. I would gladly hand this function off to someone else...I hate being a policeman :)

Larry

I don't know Larry... *you* are the person who 'owns' this board by virtue of paying for the hosting and the policing etc. I think YOU should decide on the criteria and any and all moderators would simply enforce your rules...

I see the CFC board has moved to a more recent version of the software that runs the message board; perhaps Chesstalk should do the same? I presume that the recent version might have fewer known vulnerabilities and might therefore be more robust and prevent random spammer signups?

I can understand this is just a service that Strategy Games provides, but it is far more readily used than the CFC board and generally more lively... (ahem)

I could do without the climate change and political crap, but at least that is limited to fairly obvious threads and usually does not spill over into the 'serious' chess threads - lol

[David Ottosen]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

I had offered a while ago to Larry to assist with moderation and that offer remains standing. Since he mentions it here, I will indicate what my beliefs should be:

1) Spam insta-deleted

2) Profanity not permitted

3) Personal attacks - attacking ideas or attacking the comments of someone is fine as long as you're posting under your name. Attacking the person directly is not - ie: "You play the french, that's a stupid defence" = fine. "You are a stupid person because you play the french" = not fine.

4) Way you can have better chances of having a transgression overlooked or receiving a warning rather than more severe punishment: regularly contribute valuable material to the board. Put another way, the percentage of bad posts you make will be considered when you make one - if it's 1/4, you're gonna have a bad time. If it's 1/100, you may get by.

5) If action is taken on anything you post (excluding obvious spammers), you'll receive a PM explaining what was done and why. If you disagree, I will listen to your explanation and change decision if your case is good enough.

6) Advertising would be deleted, with possible exceptions if it's something that does not conflict with CMA business and is clearly and obviously something of use and value to chess players (eg - someone posts there is a sale on flights to wherever the Canadian Open is: useful to the board, not competing with CMA, would probably be allowed. Posting that there is a special deal on Amazon on the newest Kasparov book - not allowed)

7) Eric and/or Aman will post annotated games and/or beefcake photos weekly. (What, you never heard of a politician promising something he had no hope of delivering?).

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

i do some moderating on the English side.

A number of ChessTalkers send me a note (using ChessTalk) and I get over here as best I can. I have to manually delete the offending threads, or posts, mostly one by one. I can't touch the French side and that's probably good as my French is weak. (I could probably tell what is spam, fyi, and if an account posts spam in English then they're probably posting spam in French as well.)

But maybe, Larry, if it is possible to add the ability to freeze or delete an account for mods like me then this problem would be less annoying. Basically, we have spam accounts that post over and over again. They are mostly pretty easy to identify as they don't use a legitimate name. And that's the bulk of the problem, I think.

Having people use their actual name solves most of the rest of the problems in advance. And saves time.

I have a lot on my plate that gets higher priority than moderating here. So what I do is complaint-driven. C'est la vie.

signed

Nigel, lowly moderator.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

I had offered a while ago to Larry to assist with moderation and that offer remains standing. Since he mentions it here, I will indicate what my beliefs should be:

1) Spam insta-deleted

2) Profanity not permitted

3) Personal attacks - attacking ideas or attacking the comments of someone is fine as long as you're posting under your name. Attacking the person directly is not - ie: "You play the french, that's a stupid defence" = fine. "You are a stupid person because you play the french" = not fine.

4) Way you can have better chances of having a transgression overlooked or receiving a warning rather than more severe punishment: regularly contribute valuable material to the board. Put another way, the percentage of bad posts you make will be considered when you make one - if it's 1/4, you're gonna have a bad time. If it's 1/100, you may get by.

5) If action is taken on anything you post (excluding obvious spammers), you'll receive a PM explaining what was done and why. If you disagree, I will listen to your explanation and change decision if your case is good enough.

6) Advertising would be deleted, with possible exceptions if it's something that does not conflict with CMA business and is clearly and obviously something of use and value to chess players (eg - someone posts there is a sale on flights to wherever the Canadian Open is: useful to the board, not competing with CMA, would probably be allowed. Posting that there is a special deal on Amazon on the newest Kasparov book - not allowed)

7) Eric and/or Aman will post annotated games and/or beefcake photos weekly. (What, you never heard of a politician promising something he had no hope of delivering?).

Why do you want to be the moderator?

1. So you can remake Chess Talk into what you think it should be?
2. Ego?
3. To be able to hand out punishments?
4. Be boss of the transgressions? (your term) In most cases it's a subjective opinion.
5. If some of the off topic threads don't have value, how come they have so many views? People seem to be reading the posts.

In my opinion, and it's only an opinion, sometimes nothing says it like a bit of profanity.

As an example, I like being an Corr. IA because I like the chess lawyering and interpreting the rules and settling the disputes so the games can be finished. Decisions which are subject to appeal.

So why do you want to be the moderator?

[Bindi Cheng]

Re: Spam ads on ChessTalk

Gary, I think David is just being a troll, he wouldn't be fit to be a moderator of this brilliant and uplifting site. However, in the case that David, Vlad or some other party-pooper attains the power to limit free speech, I have prepared the following conditional eulogy for chesstalk:

For the past few years, this site has served as part of the joy and bane of my every-day life. It will truly be a sad day in Canadian chess history if more policing is enforced. I think the artistic beauty and originality of Chesstalk will be forever ruined if one of these two men gain control of such a vital piece of the online community. The value of having blatantly off-topic and controversial discussions is what differentiates this forum from every other forum out there.

Why else would viewers be naturally drawn to epic, verbal encounters between two or more men sitting behind computer screens in the safety of their homes? By closing off topics or discussions not related to chess and censoring individuals who seek to make this forum a fun and enjoyable place to shave off 5 minutes of their lives everyday, Chesstalk will never be the same again and with that, the horror of having to go on the Chess.ca forum for tournament information may arise.

Such a day must not come as I will sorely miss topics that I have personally created as well as other ones like the response that Victor gave to Porper here, anything that Paul Bonham posts, Jean Hebert's politically correct response to playing in U2400 sections and tournament updates from organizers and strong players. I will definitely not miss Climate Control threads...

End eulogy.