So good I couldn't bring myself to edit it.

Metl, make this a sticky! 

that url, maybe something fappable lies in wait 

Perhaps these bots are contributing to the slowness of func recently... If they aren't registered they're probably downloading the entirety of threads they visit to post in them, perhaps they just do it too often for the database to cope. 

that wouldn't make sense since it'd cost them bandwith, but you might be right. Maybe they're using hijacked computers, dunno.

Oh, will the pestilence never end?

I still think it's not a solution to require registration for posters... Maybe make a mathematical calculation for the anonymous posters, like:
what is 5-3? [answer here]. Func's such a small place that nobody'll bother to code a bot to handle that. (you need image recognition for blogspot etc..) 

There are systems (called CAPTCHAs or something) people have developed to force humans to type in text or whatever to prove they're human. I could do something like that.

However, I'm thinking of going with a solution of using javascript heavily enough behind the scenes that a javascript-disabled agent (like a web spider) wouldn't even be able to tell what form needed to be submitted, nor where it needed to be submitted to. That way there would be no change in usability for humans. I don't think most spam bots run the javascript they find on a page. 

For starters, use a javascript button calling form.submit() instead of the typical submit button (sure hope the spambots are not reading this). If that doesn't work, go from there - create the form, elements etc using javascript DOM. And so on. Until either you or the spammers get fed up with it =). 

that's exactly what i had in mind.

by the way, i already have a button that calls a function that does form.submit -- the problem is the agent can simply submit the form itself. At the very least, i think i'd need to hide the form.action by creating it using javascript instead of HTML. Beyond that, i might have the input elements outside of the form, not have a form at all, and create the form with javascript when you click the button. Anyway, i'll mess around with it. 

i browse regularly with javascript disabled. Don't loose backwards compatibility just because you get spammed by a few bots. i stopped posting at mapcenter because i had to type in that stupid number every time i visited. 

i browse regularly with javascript disabled. Don't loose backwards compatibility just because you get spammed by a few bots. i stopped posting at mapcenter because i had to type in that stupid number every time i visited. 

Maybe another way to solve this is to have people vote spam threads and messages off (e.g. put a button "report as spam" next to each message, and if at least x people click it, hide that message). 

server hung when posting and refresh of the thread didnt shot my comment :/