Charcoal HQ

2:08 AM

0

Q: Review Auditing too highly weighted toward Spam

When doing triage reviews, I find a lot of audit reviews are for spam questions. Not sure what the percentage is, but I'd guess around a third of audit questions are spam. In the 'wild' though I've only ever seen one real spam question. Questions are far more likely to require closing because o...

SmokeDetector

3:14 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive answer detected: how to decode a url in vb.net by Grassman123 on stackoverflow.com

Restart: API quota is 5562.

SmokeDetector

4:15 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in title, blacklisted username, blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: As you age, your body’s ability to produce testosterone by gartjuriya on gaming.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

tripleee

I see the "false positive?" item in the flag dialog box with the new FDSC

so that's an improvement

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link at end of body, link following arrow in body, pattern-matching website in body: How to get Fair Skin? by pearliepatrick on superuser.com

tpu- by tripleee

angussidney

@tripleee it was in there for a while, we just had to rollback the script to fix authentication issues.

tripleee

@angussidney I imagine so, just reporting what I'm seeing ... Anything else I should be looking for?

I'm a relatively new user, only started using it with the previous, rolled-back version

angussidney

If the post hasn't been reported yet, the script will prompt for whether or not you want to report it.

And with this newest version that is done via the MS api rather than interfacing with chat, so it will be less noisy than it was before.

SmokeDetector

4:41 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, bad keyword in link text in answer, pattern-matching website in answer: Correcting paper size in Microsoft Word without losing the existing page formatting by yesh Noti on superuser.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body: EFI VMWare Virtual SCSI Hard Drive (0.0) by Giorgi on superuser.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in body, link at end of body: 3 Important Habits For Healthy Skin by donadleresn on security.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] No whitespace in body: Mmmhvushdjxjcjcjcjcjcjcjfj by Sir Dick on apple.stackexchange.com

SmokeDetector

5:14 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in title, pattern-matching website in body: X Alpha Muscle Building up your muscle tissue is aspirational? by Arianna Martin on graphicdesign.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

tpu- by tripleee on Mmmhvushdjxjcjcjcjcjcjcjfj

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: that endorsed Serious Skin Care and from years by Joycesanderson on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in answer: On second glance, at second glance, on a second glancing, etc by Nowunoe on english.stackexchange.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: On A Mission To Get The Best Skin Maintenance Systems? by Duaewfasne on superuser.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, link following arrow in body, repeated URL at end of long post: Your survival. Whether you come up with your own by Amy Ryan on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, repeated URL at end of long post: The natural resistance of the disease by NildaBaker1 on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

SmokeDetector

5:57 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, pattern-matching website in body: I work in network marketing. On my website by jodiarnold on superuser.com

tpu- by tripleee

SmokeDetector

6:09 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, link at end of body, link following arrow in body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: Skin Care Tips For Several Skins? by muraoodfe on askubuntu.com (@ThomasWard)

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: In any case, less bodyweight but instead more by adame2278 on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted website in answer: Display Subcategories and Direct Products by Hercure65 on stackoverflow.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: is a muscle enhancer that naturally by ksjn nelly on drupal.stackexchange.com

tripleee

@SmokeDetector k

Wai Ha Lee

6:29 AM

!!/report stackoverflow.com/a/40337379/1364007

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer: how to get image using html parsing with jsoup by kelam23 on stackoverflow.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, pattern-matching website in body: Inteligen Review - Your Ultimate Brain Supplement by matthew.chuchak on drupal.stackexchange.com

tripleee

@SmokeDetector k

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: A wake up call to your monocytes. Your monocytes by Sandra Franklin on stackoverflow.com

tpu- by tripleee

SmokeDetector

6:59 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: together with may boost your skin by zonewio on askubuntu.com (@ThomasWard)

tpu- by tripleee

Backoff received of 10 seconds on request to questions/130000;130001?site=mathematica at 07:00:43 UTC

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, link at end of body, link following arrow in body, pattern-matching website in body, pattern-matching website in title, repeated URL at end of long post: basiccleanseplus.com/alphadrox/ by user68884 on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: Slim Fit 180fat-burning supplement doesn’t by hendreazrel1 on apple.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch

SmokeDetector

7:17 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: These pieces fundamentally spun by Whol1936 on workplace.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Pattern-matching website in body: How many days a week should by haziltara154 on stackoverflow.com

tpu- by angussidney

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad character in title: to my cuzi darian good luck 👍for ur exam😘 by danika pillay on security.stackexchange.com

Magisch

I don't know about the one above

Kyll

sd k

It's abuse

angussidney

I'm doing abusive.

Magisch

Not spam imo but if NAA for questions existed, that would be it.

I'll refrain

angussidney

It's mostly gibberish

@Undo that post above with emoticons in the title wasn't mirrored by MS, possible unicode bug?

Magisch

7:30 AM

Meh, I'm not quite comfortable red flagging that

But I see where you're coming from so I'll just refrain from flagging/feeding back on that alltogether.

SmokeDetector

7:43 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, blacklisted user: Is there a software available that can make one game on server playable by multiple clients? by alalshi on superuser.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, blacklisted user: How to block outgoing packets to Google DNS Servers on dlink router? by alalshi on superuser.com

tpu- by Magisch on Is there a software available that can make one game on server playable by multiple clients?

Magisch

@SmokeDetector why

SmokeDetector

Body - Position 42-48: RSGold, Position 76-82: rsgold
Blacklisted user - blacklisted for http://superuser.com/a/1138615 (https://m.erwaysoftware.com/posts/by-url?url=//superuser.com/a/1138615) by http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/33112438#33112438

tpu- by Magisch

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer: Bullet vs ODE to simulate robotic arm by user15159 on robotics.stackexchange.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in link text in body, blacklisted website in body, pattern-matching website in body: Causes of mobile radiation by schwans on physics.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch on Bullet vs ODE to simulate robotic arm

tpu- by Magisch

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in answer: Collatz function by Kevin on stackoverflow.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer: Developing Event Receivers in Sharepoint 2016? by user61405 on sharepoint.stackexchange.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body: Topic modelling or simple case of calculating probabilities? by user21980 on datascience.stackexchange.com

angussidney

8:09 AM

@Magisch what was that german person saying?

SmokeDetector

tpu- by angussidney on Developing Event Receivers in Sharepoint 2016?

Magisch

@angussidney That they don't speak english

@SmokeDetector why

SmokeDetector

@Magisch Body - Position 936-945: diet plan, Position 1001-1010: diet plan

angussidney

What's the recommended flag for foreign-language posts? I forget

Magisch

@SmokeDetector f

angussidney

8:11 AM

@SmokeDetector f

Magisch

@angussidney Translate it if you can, NAA/VLQ otherwise. If its hot garbage (like this) abusive will do

Glorfindel

@angussidney posts like these, rude/abusive.

SmokeDetector

tpu- by angussidney on Collatz function

SmokeDetector

8:31 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: HyperTone Force following nutrients by sarahbenjamin547 on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, blacklisted website in body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: aids in refining your vigour degree? by prmashelly on stackoverflow.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: Deconstructing False Skin Product Claims by miguelsgreleys on askubuntu.com (@ThomasWard)

tpu- by Magisch

Magisch

@SmokeDetector k

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer, blacklisted user: Bullet vs ODE to simulate robotic arm by user15159 on robotics.stackexchange.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: How Place In An Easy Diet Plan by billyolivier on gaming.stackexchange.com

Magisch

@SmokeDetector k

not sure why that was reported again

SmokeDetector

tpu- by Magisch

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in answer, repeating characters in answer: Quicksilver to email an item by aaa on apple.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: Appear and if you're a sun lover by Jodannoran on workplace.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, pattern-matching website in body, pattern-matching website in title: More Info : www.toptryloburn.com/garcinia-slim-fit-180/ by alletalt on superuser.com

tpu- by tripleee

tripleee

8:54 AM

@Magisch translation is inadvisable because the OP can't be expected to be able to follow up in English

SmokeDetector

9:07 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer: How could I get a mandarin teacher since I lived in a small town without Chinese schools/institutions? by Ethan Gao on chinese.stackexchange.com

DavidPostill

!!/report superuser.com/a/1140685/337631

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer: Batch script to remove # from a file name (only in a specific directory) by Penny Lopez on superuser.com

tpu- by DavidPostill on How could I get a mandarin teacher since I lived in a small town without Chinese schools/institutions?

tpu- by Magisch

Magisch

Strike one for den4b.com (Next occurence will get them blacklisted)

DavidPostill

@SmokeDetector k

angussidney

@Magisch no need to announce it in chat every time; it's fine to just do it silently when it gets spammed multiple times

SmokeDetector

9:14 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, blacklisted website in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: Attempt another black diamond force, the recently propelled, by adame2278 on superuser.com

tpu- by DavidPostill

Restart: API quota is 4126.

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: The equation is deductively made to keep by Wainvis49 on workplace.stackexchange.com

tpu- by DavidPostill

API quota rolled over with 4102 requests remaining. Current quota: 9999.

stackoverflow: 778
askubuntu: 395
superuser: 314
unix: 180
math: 173
english: 164
electronics: 153
travel: 122
drupal: 113
mathoverflow.net: 108
apple: 100
gaming: 99
academia: 92
chemistry: 92
wordpress: 85
ell: 79
physics: 73
security: 73
meta: 71
ru.stackoverflow: 69
scifi: 69
gis: 65
mathematica: 61
stats: 58
salesforce: 58
dba: 58
es.stackoverflow: 57
android: 57
diy: 56
history: 55
gamedev: 54
arduino: 54
crypto: 49
movies: 49
tex: 47
codegolf: 45
magento: 43
cs: 42
softwareengineering: 42

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Shortened URL in body: Is The Riemann Zeta an Infinite Function by Hokusai on math.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch

CI on 2d8df3f succeeded.

ProgramFOX

9:44 AM

!!/pull

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] SmokeDetector started at rev 2d8df3f (ProgramFOX: +beautyforever) (running on ArtOfCode/EC2)

Restart: API quota is 9892.

angussidney

I'm going to blacklist that Thierno_M._Sow person, 13 tps

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in title, bad keyword with email in body, blacklisted website in body: INFORMATICA ONLINE TRAINING by raskeen5588 on stackoverflow.com

DavidPostill

@angussidney For your amusement [Emails from a disturbed individual ](randomprocessed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/…)

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Shortened URL in body: The Riemann Zeta Function is an Infinite Function by Ulysses on mathoverflow.net

CI on 9f37d88 succeeded.

angussidney

9:56 AM

!!/pull

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] SmokeDetector started at rev 9f37d88 (angussidney: + Thierno M. Sow) (running on ArtOfCode/EC2)

Restart: API quota is 9821.

DavidPostill

@angussidney Good timing - another user has just posted the same garbage.

angussidney

But I was just a bit too late :(

DavidPostill

!!/report superuser.com/a/1140748/337631

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer: How to enable push to talk for Skype for Business by user340923 on superuser.com

DavidPostill

10:00 AM

@SmokeDetector k

SmokeDetector

10:15 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link following arrow in body, pattern-matching website in body: How Do You Look After The Skin by dawnneal on graphicdesign.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch

SmokeDetector

10:39 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, blacklisted website in body, blacklisted website in title, repeated URL at end of long post: x4up.org/hyper-tone-force-reviews/ by Ores193 on graphicdesign.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Magisch

SmokeDetector

10:53 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: Find The Correct Anti Aging Eye Cream by user658467 on superuser.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: How will Niacin Max Reviews Work? by felipjekint on gaming.stackexchange.com

tpu- by DavidPostill

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: Testo Vital - Scam or Legit product? Get Free Trial Here! by onow9268 on drupal.stackexchange.com

tpu- by DavidPostill

DavidPostill

11:11 AM

lol enthusiast badge for drupal just for flagging spam ;p

SmokeDetector

Backoff received of 10 seconds on request to questions/27622?site=parenting at 11:10:45 UTC

Backoff received of 10 seconds on request to questions/22694;22694?site=french at 11:10:58 UTC

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Pattern-matching website in body: Compiling and linking C and C++ by Ujjawal on stackoverflow.com

SmokeDetector

11:37 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: Right away, in case you're by sallubhao45 on superuser.com

Magisch

@SmokeDetector k

M.A.R.

@DavidPostill Well, you ARE an enthusiast

Just not an enthusiast of Drupal itself

But related facial creams

SmokeDetector

11:52 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in body, no whitespace in body: Hover on parent div not working by reavcn on superuser.com

M.A.R.

SD TP-

DavidPostill

@SmokeDetector vandalism

SmokeDetector

12:11 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: which you will get from Skin Opulent by Noned1928 on workplace.stackexchange.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: It's lighting up day cream in a container with gadget. by Cellology Cream on drupal.stackexchange.com

Wai Ha Lee

sd k

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer: sharepoint cross site publishing by supriyaseth on stackoverflow.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in link text in body, link at end of body, link following arrow in body, pattern-matching website in body: How to Watch UFC 205 Live Stream? by Acton Cav on superuser.com

tpu- by Jan Dvorak

SmokeDetector

12:35 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer: What does the 'strength' mean (in numbers)? by Les on coffee.stackexchange.com

Backoff received of 10 seconds on request to questions/130021;130012?site=mathematica at 12:34:25 UTC

Ferrybig

Oops

SmokeDetector

naa- by Ferrybig

Ferrybig

Wanted to flag as naa instead of spam, but mis clicked the naa button before I pressed submit flag

!!/rmblu coffee.stackexchange.com/u/3390

SmokeDetector

@Ferrybig User removed from blacklist (3390 on coffee.stackexchange.com).

Jan Dvorak

Don't worry, you can still revert your NAA flag and flag as NAA instead.

Processed Meat

12:51 PM

0

Q: To spam flag or not to flag, that is the question

I happened to see this (10k+ only) - now deleted - answer today. It was posted by a 1-rep-user, member since today, no other contributions. It contained a line or so of text, a link to a microsoft page (with useful & detailed information about the topic that the OP was asking about), and a signat...

discussion flags spam

Glorfindel

Should this answer be reported to Smokey? puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/45190/11110

M.A.R.

@Glorfindel Page Not Found

Glorfindel

Now I have to rely on my memory. It was something like 'Alooooooo zadrovie wuiaohg :D ....'

I expected it to be detected by Smokey, but apparently it didn't. It was a couple of minutes old, but Puzzling is not a regular spam target.

Jan Dvorak

caching

Glorfindel

Yeah, could be.

DavidPostill

1:02 PM

@JanDvorak Erm that doesn't make sense ;p

SmokeDetector

Backoff received of 10 seconds on request to questions/584930;584983;584291;584977;584979;584977;584690;584977;584930;584986‌?site=ru at 13:04:19 UTC

SmokeDetector

1:23 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, pattern-matching website in body: It is an crucial a part of the bodybuilder's arsenal to X Alpha Muscle? by KyleWinston on graphicdesign.stackexchange.com

Andy

Good Morning Room.

We need to have a brief discussion about how we are presenting ourselves to sites across the network. A recent discussion on Graphic Design has raised complaints about behavior and presentation of Smoke Detector and the users here.

3

SmokeDetector

tpu- by tripleee

Andy

We are discussing this meta post and the associated chat.

The complaints raised include:

1. Abrasiveness of Charcoal users
2. Demands to do things a certain way - especially on a site where users making such demands have no participation
3. Lack of communication

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body: He moreover insists that the show by Texplass1940 on workplace.stackexchange.com

tpu- by tripleee

M.A.R.

@SmokeDetector k

Andy

1:25 PM

I understand we all want to reduce and eliminate spam, but barging into a site that we have little participation on and telling moderators what to do, is not the way to do that.

Additionally, flooding a chatroom to gang up on local users and mods, comes across as unfriendly.

Magisch

I never saw it that way

SE has some site wide procedure for dealing with spam

M.A.R.

. . .

Magisch

People not knowing how to do that is their failure, imo. Not ours.

tripleee

@Andy There is more to it than just that one meta.GD post; also the discussion we had in the Ink chatroom on Friday

hang on, digging up the link

Andy

@Magisch You're right. But, relaying that information doesn't need to come from 3-5 people joining the room and telling the mods they are doing it wrong

M.A.R.

1:29 PM

@tripleee Andy linked it already

Magisch

@Andy I was alone in that

M.A.R.

in The Ink Spot, Oct 28 at 10:20, by M.A.R.

@Ryan Hello Ryan. We're active users of a chatroom named Charcoal HQ and we detect, flag and destroy spam across the network. The post you locked was spam, and that was why Magisch came in to see what was going on.

I'm sorry, should I have done anything else?

tripleee

@M.A.R. oh sorry, missed that

Magisch

The mod reacted .... unkindly, due to my tone, for which I apologized as I didn't mean it to sound that brash. After that I had an inkling that my tone was gonna get me some negative CM attention

M.A.R.

I mean, shouldn't have we raised the issue or something?

Magisch

1:30 PM

from then on out I had nothing more to do with that

hichris123

@M.A.R. Don't say anything.

Let one person talk. Don't gang up.

M.A.R.

And we didn't gang up

Magisch

I figured talking to a mod in chat was a more amicable way to resolve some misinformation rather then to complain to a CM to tell them how to handle spam.

M.A.R.

It didn't look like that when I joined that room.

Or is the physical appearance of entering a room harsh in itself? If so, I've missed that.

Andy

There is nothing wrong with raising the issue. The problem is how everything started. The meta post leaves a lot to be desired. "HEY! YOU HAVE SPAM! LET'S DISABLE THIS FEATURE YOU USE!"

Magisch

1:31 PM

I assume the chat in the ink box was about the one post that the mod locked and incompletly edited the link out to.

M.A.R.

Oh well, I should go grab some lunch, since I'm not to blame for any of this. I was neither active on meta nor in chat in the time you mentioned.

Magisch

That was the only part I was involved in.

tripleee

it's not entirely clear from the chat transcript, but I asked Magisch about the chat he was having with Ryan, and then several of us joined the room where that was happening

Andy

No offense to @BardiHarborow, but I don't recognize you. Linking Smokey and MetaSmoke in such a feature request and not briefly explaining what the data is from is not helpful. A comment of "Undo wants me to note that Charcoal is not explicitly asking for this.", starts the conversation on the wrong footing

tripleee

the "ganging" was uncoordinated but unfortunate, but in the end, just a few of us said anything in the other room

I can see how it could feel like we were barging in but there was not a lot of piling on or anything like that going on, to my mind

Andy

1:33 PM

@tripleee That is not the impression GD got, at all.

tripleee

if you think I was piling on, I apologize, and would appreciate some guidance

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, link at end of body, pattern-matching website in body, repeated URL at end of long post: This is significant things to pick best and common supplement by llolpokipusy on drupal.stackexchange.com

tripleee

@SmokeDetector k

Magisch

I had nothing to do with the FR on GD's meta, my FR (on meta.SE) was asking for that being done for all sites, with no exception. The only reason I responded there at all was because someone responded to me there, and the discussion kept going a bit. I see how it comes across as abrasive that we're suddenly focusing a lot on GD SE because they're now target in a spam campaign, but ultimately dealing with the spam there is an issue we can only do ourselfes so much, so we need them to at least

DavidPostill

I made one post. Which was immediately starred.

in The Ink Spot, Oct 28 at 10:03, by DavidPostill

See Should Spam posts be edited?.

Magisch

1:35 PM

not interfere (like editing out spam links or locking spam posts), because bringing up a case a week or more to a CM is likely very unconducive to what we set out to do.

DavidPostill

in The Ink Spot, Oct 28 at 10:03, by Vincent

Such a link might be nice to have and star here.

JohnB

Hi! I can answer any questions from GD's perspective if there are any

DavidPostill

I don't see anything confrontational or "ganging up" in that single response, merely some friendly advice.

Andy

My guidance: When we make posts Meta sites and mention metasmoke or smoke detector data, briefly describe what we are. Don't just link to data. Providing the additional perspective of what we are trying to do, instead of bludgeoning them with data points, helps to show what we want to do (remove spam).

When we help to educate a chat room or other mods, manage the tone. Nothing that was said in the chat room is inaccurate, but the combination unclear meta post and multiple users in chat didn't provide the right tone and GD got defensive.

tripleee

@JohnB thanks for turning up here

JohnB

1:37 PM

I have the room starred but only for the bot pings, I don't participate here much

DavidPostill

@Andy I don't see any complaints in the transcript or meta post.

Ryan

I'm here as well, just busy and listening. I find its better to listen than speak most of the time.

Andy

Hey @Ryan and @JohnB. I didn't see you hop in.

JohnB

sneeky

Jan Dvorak

These inline images demotivate me from helping with moderation on sites that allow them.

Magisch

1:38 PM

I wanted to avoid making a MSE or GDMeta issue out of the locked spam post. No need to embarass moderators on meta when it can be helped more easily and discreetly.

Jan Dvorak

Anyways, welcome here

Magisch

as for the inline images, I'll need to write a US to block them. I help fight spam at work and my boss walking by with a cursory glance while one of these images is open could really really mess with my job.

Jan Dvorak

Not to mention workspaces that crawl your browser cache just so that they can fire you.

Andy

@DavidPostill They were not mentioned in a public setting.

JohnB

@JanDvorak that's okay, but we fought for to have that feature; it was originally restricted to however much rep. If you don't want to touch our site because of that, no hard feelings

@JanDvorak see I just don't understand this logic. If your position is that volatile, why even risk it?

Jan Dvorak

1:41 PM

Why don't you like the alternative of having users link to images hosted by stack.imgur?

tripleee

@JanDvorak hasn't that been discussed enough in the meta post already? meta.stackexchange.com/questions/286117/…

Magisch

@Andy I'd like to hear complaints levied specifically against me directly, and from whom they come. If thats possible.

tripleee

the other meta, mind

JohnB

@JanDvorak We're a visual site, we like to see things. Before, we would make lots of edits to make them inline. Where they're hosted doesn't matter much to me other than I prefer imgur to prevent link rot

Andy

@Magisch The discussion here is not about a single user. It's about how we can/should present ourselves to sites across the network.

tripleee

1:43 PM

I too think the discussion would be helped by some concrete pointers, but I understand if you don't want to cast blame and name names one way or the other

so do you have a proposal? Should we coordinate here before approaching a "victim" site?

Magisch

I think this entire thing has shown that we need some better side-wide guidance for users as to what to do with spam, in general.

Jan Dvorak

Would it be possible to ban images based on their bitmap hash?

JohnB

@Magisch As Andy said, it's not one person. Ryan locked the post because he wasn't sure if something changed from that recent Meta discussion. Having four strangers jump into the chat room to tell him he's doing his job wrong was intrusive and I completely understand why he went on the defensive

Ryan's been a mod for years, trust that he knows how to handle spam :)

tripleee

@Magisch I think the resources already exist, the problem is communicating them clearly but tactfully

Magisch

@JohnB Handling spam includes deleting it, not locking it though. And editing links out of a "Buy this supplement enhancement $random keyword BS" post doesn't sound appropiate either.

tripleee

1:45 PM

@JanDvorak I have been thinking about that briefly, but so far, I don't recall seeing two identical images

Magisch

Again, the reason I came to chat was to avoid putting the mistake into the spotlight of MSE.

tripleee

and it's easy to bust the hash without really alternating the visual end result if you want to

JohnB

@Magisch please re-read what I wrote. Ryan locked the post for a reason, he wanted to discuss it with the other mods. And he did, in our backroom chat.

Magisch

If I made a mistake like that I certainly wouldn't want to have it plastered all over meta for people to correct me a hundred times on.

@JohnB Why not delete it temporarily then? Locking ensures it gets more views and can't be destroyed.

Thats literally the worst thing from the site's interests that you can do to a spam post.

Jan Dvorak

I only remember two unique inappropriate images, and I think each had multiple imgur IDs. Maybe it would make sense to have an image blacklist.

JohnB

1:47 PM

@Magisch He did what he did. The site will endure past one locked spam post. We're still alive, not on fire. But I appreciate your concern.

Jan Dvorak

@Magisch Hmm... bountying it, then locking would have been worse.

tripleee

@JanDvorak disabling outbound links in low-rep image posts would seem like a much simpler and direct solution

Magisch

I mean, yeah. the deal probably isn't the biggest.

Alternatively I could have raised it on MSE

All in all undesireable.

Jan Dvorak

I don't mind spammers linking to their images. I want to avoid seeing the images.

tripleee

@JanDvorak most of us would like to avoid seeing the spam at all, which hopefully could be one possible outcome

Jan Dvorak

1:49 PM

There is a surefire way to avoid seeing spam at all ;-)

JohnB

@JanDvorak If that is a serious concern to you, I suggest avoiding our site. It's a calculated and minimal risk for me as a moderator to potentially see NSFW images from time to time. If that could get you fired, please don't risk it! We will fight hard to defend new users' right to have inline images :)

Magisch

I can't relate to that. If I had to come up with a system, uploading and/or linking to images at all would be a 1k rep privilege

Jan Dvorak

It can't get me fired, but thanks for your concern.

Ferrybig

I don't think images should be blocked on GD, the abuse isn't too severe, the images were just like advertisement banners. I have seen worse image links used in spam/abusive across SE

Andy

@Magisch, different site, different scope and different audiences.

tripleee

1:51 PM

so anyway, should we have a protocol for situations like this? coordinate here and designate an owner/spokesperson for reaching out to a particular member site or user when there's a need?

"be bold, but be transparent"?

Jan Dvorak

I believe the best option will be to provide spam fighters with image blockers (which we can do client-side). I agree that regular users are not at risk of seeing inappropriate content.

Magisch

We could also not, and just open a MSE post when it happens, and let the site people come there themselfes if they want

Less "barging in" and less annoyance all around.

tripleee

(sorry to the graphics design people for trying to mix boldface and transparency)

JohnB

well, for GD you can always just ping me. As I said, I have the room starred but rarely actually poke my head in. In the future, I would just recommend against the "grey wave" if you'll allow the term. Other chat rooms get riled up when a "blue wave" happens for chat flags, the same applies to any group

maybe just open the room in incognito to see if someone's already mentioned it

Ferrybig

@Magisch You could block images using google chrome by going to https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/ preccing the lock icon in the upper bar, and then turning off images

tripleee

1:54 PM

@JohnB oh, that's a good one

@Ferrybig I guess there's a few more sites where you could want to do that

Jan Dvorak

@Ferrybig If you want a blanket log, just set up a CSS rule in uBlock. But I do want to see images on GD, if they're in legitimate posts.

Andy

@Magisch Feature requests on a per site meta are appropriate, but I'd really like to see more context around the problem if we are using Meta Smoke data. Remember, this room is pretty small in the grand scheme of Stack Exchange. Just throwing a link up isn't as helpful to others without context.

Magisch

I always found the MS Ui to be self explanatory to a fault

Ferrybig

@JanDvorak You can always use the right mouse button to load the image in a new tab, or press the image itself, as they are usually image links

Andy

@Magisch You sit in this room, though and are involved in the project.

Magisch

1:57 PM

@Andy for some 6 months now

Jan Dvorak

@Ferrybig It also requires HTTPS-everywhere, which I don't like.

Magisch