I had an idea, need computer people to help.

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Valkyrie-Lemons
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I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Valkyrie-Lemons » 05 Dec 2012, 14:51

So I came up with this idea in the aftermath of the AmaraSPAMeggon, or whatever it was called, and it has to do with banning accounts and the like.

The thing is that I only have a basic knowledge of computers so I want some of you more computer literate guys to tell me how possible (or good/bad) this is.

So, as far as I understand, from working as a Mod on some other sites, that when you ban accounts, you normally ban the IP right? Or something like that.

Would it be better if you put something in their cookies that banned them? Since as far as I understand, you can change IP addresses and the like via proxy and stuff, but isn't cookies stored on the individual PC? Plus it's something that I doubt a lot of people really check. I could be wrong, but I've never personally looked at what is exactly stored IN the cookies, just that there is a cookie.

A simple line that will ban all new accounts or something?

Now I know we've upgraded our defences recently, so hopefully this sort of thing won't happen again, but I'm just interested on a theoretical level on how possible this is.

Anyways,I might sound really stupid for saying this, and you guys in the know might be like "You can't do that," or "That's what we already do" etc. But it just struck me as a neat idea.
Last edited by Valkyrie-Lemons on 05 Dec 2012, 14:54, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Keab42 » 05 Dec 2012, 14:54

The important thing to remember about cookies is that you can delete them from your computer.
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Valkyrie-Lemons
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Valkyrie-Lemons » 05 Dec 2012, 14:57

I know that, but thinking from the spammer's side of things, would they suspect the cookies was the reason they couldn't make new accounts?

This is a genuine question, since it might be something really obvious to someone with good computer skills, but to me it wouldn't seem that obvious.
Prospero101 wrote:...is it weird that I REALLY hope that someday I say something memorable enough to be quoted in someone else's signature?


I'm trying this 'Twitter' thing, if you just want to send a message/question/joke, please send it to: @Valkyrie_Lemons , thanks!
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby ElementalAlchemist » 05 Dec 2012, 15:29

It may at first seem to work, but spammers will do lots of things to get into anywhere.
I'd be surprised if they don't already clear cookies as a way of logging out.

My conclusion/suggestion: It's an interesting idea. Perhaps implement it, but only alongside existing methods.
Definitely do not take down existing methods.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby taza » 05 Dec 2012, 16:42

I'm afraid your idea is entirely without worth.

Spambots delete all cookies constantly and effortlessly.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Lord Hosk » 05 Dec 2012, 16:52

Furthermore, wouldn't you have to tag a spambots IP so the next time they visit the site they get hit with said "cookie" Do spam bots frequent sites?
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Lorithad » 05 Dec 2012, 17:30

I'd be surprised if spambots had cookies enabled to begin with.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Master Gunner » 05 Dec 2012, 17:37

Spambots are essentially just complicated scripts, they don't keep cookies.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Sieg Reyu » 05 Dec 2012, 20:33

There were a couple of games that I came across once upon a time that you could only play once. From there on out, every time you launched the game, it would just show your death. And one, if not both of them, had some super secret way of logging that info. Maybe we could harness that technology if we knew what it was.

One was a mario-esque platformer where you played a stereotypical nerd whose girlfriend gets kidnapped by some Bowser-esque monster.

The other is a fairly rudimentary game where you played a scientist who accidentally unleashes some super lethal virus that starts killing everyone, and you have a few days to try and save the human race.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Master Gunner » 05 Dec 2012, 20:40

Assuming these were browser-based games without an account you logged into: Cookies + IP logging.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Sieg Reyu » 05 Dec 2012, 21:01

They were, and it was neither of those.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Slack Mesa » 05 Dec 2012, 21:06

Were they using Flash local storage?
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Kapol » 05 Dec 2012, 22:35

I know the second game he's talking about (it's rather good and fairly depressing, but I can't remember the name). It is, as Slack Mesa seems to have noticed, thanks to flash storage. I remember because I looked for how to delete it to play again.

The game was called One Chance. There we go.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby phlip » 05 Dec 2012, 23:26

Flash LSOs aren't going to do anything, the bots aren't going to be running Flash. The new web storage APIs won't do anything either. The only reason spambots even carry cookies is that they're required to log in and post... when you're writing one of these bots you need to go to specific effort just to keep the cookies you need around, for long enough to make your posts and get out. The bots aren't going to keep their cookies from one session to the next - there's no need, so the writers aren't going to have put in the effort to make them persistent. Once one spam round is done, the next will be starting from a clean slate, and will be sending the same request details regardless of what cookies you may have set before, and it'll only be identifiable by the timing and the fact that it came from the same IP.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Lord Chrusher » 06 Dec 2012, 03:08

Also we do not want Flash to be a requirement to use the forums since we could no longer use our phones to access the forums.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Valkyrie-Lemons » 06 Dec 2012, 04:03

Ah well. That another one of my ideas that's bitten the dust.

But one of these days I shall have an idea that'll make me a millionaire. : )

Well, thanks guys, at least I've learnt something today, so that's a positive.
Prospero101 wrote:...is it weird that I REALLY hope that someday I say something memorable enough to be quoted in someone else's signature?


I'm trying this 'Twitter' thing, if you just want to send a message/question/joke, please send it to: @Valkyrie_Lemons , thanks!
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby AdmiralMemo » 06 Dec 2012, 09:40

Lord Chrusher wrote:Also we do not want Flash to be a requirement to use the forums since we could no longer use our phones to access the forums.
What's wrong with Flash on phones? I use Flash on my phone all the time. (Not to say that I think we should require Flash for the forums, which I don't, but just asking in general.)
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Valkyrie-Lemons
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Valkyrie-Lemons » 06 Dec 2012, 09:49

I think it's because iPhones or some other Apple product doesn't support it.

I could be wrong, but it's something like that.
Prospero101 wrote:...is it weird that I REALLY hope that someday I say something memorable enough to be quoted in someone else's signature?


I'm trying this 'Twitter' thing, if you just want to send a message/question/joke, please send it to: @Valkyrie_Lemons , thanks!
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Lord Chrusher » 07 Dec 2012, 05:36

Also Flash support has been dropped from Android going forward.
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Re: I had an idea, need computer people to help.

Postby Keab42 » 07 Dec 2012, 11:12

Flash is a dying technology. Even Adobe is getting into HTML5 these days. They brought PhoneGap and renamed it Cordova and are starting to push forward with it quite heavily.
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