At the very least, move the ignore key down to the right hand side of the screen next to the complain button so we dont have to take that extra step of clicking on the name and bringing up a new screen. Right now, anyone who uses a crude comment of anykind I just hit ignore quite liberally. I used to put up with a few comments, but have learned to hit the ignore key on the first go round and be done. Dumb questions, rude remarks, etc. Quick ignore.
I have placed on ignore at least 3 different individuals with this thread who, might be different, but do appear to respond in the same ways. The last message demonstrates ((from godofwar(aka tradingod, aka ???) why Baron should relocate the ignore feature to a more readily accessible place. Its a shame because I will never hear if the ignored users have anything intelligent to say. I bet they do, but rest assured, they will be coming back under different ids so I will have at least 2 or 3 more chances to see their writings and then they will be placed yet again on ignore.
How does one do that? Are you talking about going through a proxy server designed for that purpose? From what I hear it makes websurfing real slow. Of course if they are really determined, trolls can still get through but at least it adds a layer of difficulty for them.
Some years ago I took an introductory scuba lesson while in St. Thomas. During the briefing one of the ladies says something to the effect "What if I see a shark, those things make me kinda nervous." The instructor replies "You don't like sharks? I tell you what you do. You see a shark, just turn around and look the other way. Now you won't see the shark any more."
I think you are being a bit hard on Baron, evidently T28 is something of a genius with computers and can circumvent any security
Well, he shouldn't be surprised when after some time no students show up anymore. That is a crap measure for a serious problem. As it is, the situation with spammers and charlatans is getting worse. The OP's request for serious measures is an apt one. I think that 1) new members can not start a new thread 2) IP-bans should be considered. I know that at least one member was IP-banned; ironically it was one of the most valuable and knowledgable contributors. To be able to ban a person like that and leave us with the 'unbannable' trash we're with now is a gotspe. Ursa..
Yeah, a quick google search for "free proxy" does the trick. The mods are working on adding more layers of difficulty though, like possibly resolving "REAL" ips from proxies, forcing the offender to pay for a premium anonymous proxy service, or even maybe getting the offender's ISP involved (really easy to check their ISP's info and get abuse #s). Some of them are pretty determined though, yeah. I got one guy (T28/tradinggod/macdaddie/recidivist/etc/etc) who stalks me on ET and makes one new alias every day to PM me with msgs like "i bet you didnt make a cent today, i made a fortune with SPM." So I ignore him and marvel at the fact that he is still bothering to PM me. The only conclusion that I can come to is that 1) his method only works if he recruits a ton of other people to do it too 2) he really admires me and wishes I were participating in his SPM thread or 3) he has a man-crush on me. You know how little boys punch the little girls (or boys!?) they have a thing for? No other explanation for his behavior, lol. Annoying at first, but now a daily source of amusement. Flattering, to say the least.
I have my suspicions, but I think Baron is the one who throws up some of these "idiot" questions that we see come up all the time so he can get hits to the site. About every other day we see a question come up that seems rather basic from a user who just created his id and then what follows is a mountain of replies. I dont know the tricks of the website business...but I think that might be one of them.
Hardly, the guy is an absolute psycho. He cannot find profitability himself so he has devoted his life to trying to bring down others.