I was trying to make a comment. I was blocked. I wasn't posting links or anything. It would appear that Sift are totally incompetent. Why block my comment? I've shown how they can avoid this but they don't seem to be dealing with it sensibly.
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How do they decide
Wonder how it decides - surely you should be on the 'safe senders' list by now Peter :)
I couldn't even ...
... make an OP on my own blog!! (presumably because I was trying to share a cool summer tune with you guys)
Surely a registered blogger should be vetted and exempted!
Wouldn't that make you a 'gold star' member?
... make an OP on my own blog!! (presumably because I was trying to share a cool summer tune with you guys)
Surely a registered blogger should be vetted and exempted!
I think your suggestion is sensible, but others think it would create a 'class divide'.
It would be helpful
... if Mollom informed you why your post was blocked.
If you are doing something wrong then how can you change without feedback, or is there no feedback because people are being stopped from doing something that wasn't wrong in the first place?
As for not allowing any links at all ... I dare not complain else Mollom will extinguish me (and I'll end up annoying a few members who complain about the complaints - now there's an oxymoron for you). :)
Why your post is blocked.. or not
Hi Guys,
Couple of points to add..
@ ShirleyM - I'd love to tell everyone why an individual post has been blocked. At the same time we don't want to give the spam crowd the tips they need to get a post through.
@PeterSaxton - You've been a member a long time, and I think we've even met once or twice over the years. I appreciate your feedback as you've always tried to be balanced and reasonable in your comments. On this occasion, I don't share your opinion about the way we run our site, or the way we make decisions. Granted. the onsite experience for members has been up and down over the last couple of weeks, but what you're not seeing is the number of blocked accounts, posts and comments that the moderation tactics we use have prevented from appearing on site.
We know we've got more work to do, and we have a talented and committed team delivering new fixes every day. I know it's frustrating for regular users, but please bear with us, we'll get there.
Have a good weekend, and do remember to email member services if you have an issue, and you can PM me with any feedback.
here's the member services email address: [email protected]
Ben Smith, AccountingWEB UK
How did you post an e-mail?
That is surely spam. I will try it
www . bbc . co. uk
So basically any URL link whatsoever is spam.
What an intolerant bunch ....
... must be the heat.
As Ben says, we don't know what crud is getting caught in their net, if temporarily we can't post links because the post we want to make gets caught with the 10,000 spam posts happening at the same time then suck it up and wait whilst things are sorted.
If the link is that important then type it out without the internet bits
And listen to this to chill out whilst you wait
youtube dot com forward slash watch?v=SJ5cg0KNKH0
Thanks Tom ...
... as well being a cracking tune for a summer's day, I liked the irony of the lyrics too!
Peter ..
.. i am worried about you, you seem to be turning in to Victor Meldrew, and insulting everyone constantly is not becoming.
Sift are having problems, they are trying to sort it so we can use their FREE service as we wish, so give them a chance and stop throwing your toys out the pram.
FREE service?
.. i am worried about you, you seem to be turning in to Victor Meldrew, and insulting everyone constantly is not becoming.
Sift are having problems, they are trying to sort it so we can use their FREE service as we wish, so give them a chance and stop throwing your toys out the pram.
Unbelievable! There is nothing more precious than my time. Does yours have no value? Don't worry about Peter, I'm far more worried about you.
#Fanfare#
Sift are having problems, they are trying to sort it so we can use their FREE service as we wish, so give them a chance and stop throwing your toys out the pram.
#Trumpets blare#
Congratulations Sir/madam, you have been awarded with the prestigious 'only sane person plaque for posting a sensible comment in this thread! There was a danger that your title would be taken from you, what with the further page or so of posts that followed, however a quick skim confirms that you retain your title!
#Crowd goes wild/angels descend from heaven/exit pursued by bear#
User experience is at the heart of Sift's decision making, apparently. My user experience over the past week has been the worst I've known. I don't see why it is wrong to criticise. Why should I be interested in how or why it has happened? That's for insiders and those with a specialist interest to discuss.
I also find it amusing that one or two rebels are turning into sycophants. Most odd.
I'm blocked again
Fourth time.
So anyone waiting for the benefit of my advice on time limits - you're in luck.
There is criticism ...
... and there are foot-stamping tantrums like a three year told he can't have any sweets!
Mistaken
Your are mistaken if you think your interpretation of someone's post is the only interpretation. Talk of tantrums and toys and prams can be a crude tactic to smear a poster with whom you disagree. If you can cut out the personal stuff, does Peter have a valid point? Of course he does. You agreed with him so to make him appear clownish is counter-productive.... and there are foot-stamping tantrums like a three year told he can't have any sweets!
Absolutely
Talk of tantrums and toys and prams can be a crude tactic to smear a poster with whom you disagree..
In the interest of balance though I would make the observation that the people complaining about the over-zealous spam blocking this weekend, are, with one absentee, the same people that were complaining about the lack of response to the spam last weekend
I wonder what Abraham Lincoln might say. :)
Just blocked a link to HMRC webpage
I really can't be bothered with Aweb anymore. Just tried to add to a discussion and include a webpage link to the gov uk website and Aweb blocked it. This site is dead in the water if long established members can't post a weblink to a government website.
The internet is all about links to other webpages. A blanket ban on any links is plain crazy. A whitelist for "approved" websites is a basic minimum, such as for HMRC, gov . uk etc for an accountancy website.
Criticism
If the criticism is constructive, then I don't see a problem with it. The alternative is to stop posting if you aren't seeing any improvement..
It would be interesting to know how the post count has changed since Mollom was introduced.
Why was Mollom abandoned last time around? There was mass criticism last time. Isn't there any spam prevention that won't block valid posts? Mollom is falsely marking valid posts as spam. How can anyone think that is acceptable? If Mollom can't be trained to accept AWeb & HMRC links, then it's useless for this forum. The only workaround would be to have a 'white list', as has been suggested by several people.
Mollom
Don't expect Sift to know. Apart from John S they were all still at school when it was last used.Why was Mollom abandoned last time around?
Well said OGA.
Has anyone tried contacting Ben or Member Services? Or do they just like to use the platform that is Any Answers to have a good old moan?
Well, while we are having a good old moan
Why are people such hypocrites? It seems odd that people moan about other people moaning while having a good old moan themselves.
Is it a case of 'do as I say' ?
I haven't yet started a thread moaning about something.
Yet Mr Saxton has managed several in the last few days. Some would even call it Spam.
I said I couldn't comment on ideas to prevent spam.
I have no qualifications or experience in this field. Nor do I have any desire to tell people how to do their job.
Fed up
You may not think Peter's moans are justified. Others do.
I have just been blocked (no swear words, no links) from making a response. I'm totally fed up with AWeb.
I never said they weren't justified. I just think they could be directed somewhere better.
If you're that fed up, try coming off the site for a couple of hours and spend a bit of time with your family. I'm sure you will feel better for it.
That's what I'll be doing now. Peace out!
I'm going to stop caring
I'm like this with clients. I care more about their deadlines than they do.
I am going to stop caring about AWeb. If members get fed up and leave, then so be it.
It would help if we had more info from AWeb, ie. they are working towards stopping valid posts being blocked as spam and allowing links. All we get is 'we can't tell you anything because it would help the spammers', which doesn't help at all. The blocking is really REALLY frustrating. If we had an explanation why it was blocked then it wouldn't be so frustrating, but that would help the spammers! Why am I a suspected spammer? It really doesn't give the 'good user experience' that AWeb say is so important!
Absenteeism is not a vote for anything. On the contrary. Taken to its extreme, absenteeism means nobody cares, nobody posts, nobody mourns the death of AccountingWeb..
Hi Portia - keeping well?
To add my twopenn'th - I am not computer minded being a dinosaur and perhaps I only see what I want to see but
Isn't it only by looking at blocked items that you can then create a black/white list?
Didn't they say early on that the 'temporary' reintroduction of something was having to learn good and bad from scratch? and that the fewer clues the spammers got the less likely they would be to manage such a successful attack again?
Lots of people post links to other Aweb threads - and if I get an email with links to HMRC I always assume it is spam too!!
Plus I could never post links anyway and apart from a couple of Captchas (?) I haven't been blocked either