Admin Announcement: New Spam Filter

I’ve(typhon) installed a “bad faith spam filter” at the site.

It uses a complex algorithm that picks up on key phrases and terminology to determine if a commentator is employing bad faith in their comment. It is, apparently, 99.9% accurate although we’ll find out if this claim is true.

If someone’s comment ends up in the “bad faith filter”, it will appear as “under moderation”. If the admin team has time they will look at the comment to see if there is anything on-topic and substantive. If there is the admin team will remove anything that will trigger the bad faith filter and post it.

Off-topic posts are highly likely to trigger the filter; likely off-topic posts are identified through use of key words. Excessive use of the word “you” is also likely to trigger the filter, as well as insults.

Thanks for your patience!

Clarence is also on moderation for the time being.

(This is a joke, it just pulls into moderation every post with the word “you” in it.)

admin

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  • Druk

    How did you come to that 99.9% figure?

    And did you develop this filter somehow, or acquire it from an outside source?

  • typhon_admin

    @ Druk

    Trade secret.

  • Druk

    Damn NDAs.

  • Ginkgo

    It grabbed one of my comments, so we know it’s working.

  • typhonblue

    You commonly argue in bad faith, Ginkgo? 😛

  • Ginkgo

    I’m subtle like that. No one can tell……

    It was weird to get one of the bloggers’ comments flipped inot moderation. I still wonder how it happened because it was a short comment with no links.

  • http://www.genderratic.com Xakudo

    I may have more to say on this later, but for the time being I simply want to register my discomfort with this post and how things are being handled. :-/

  • JDCyran

    I may have more to say on this later, but for the time being I simply want to register my discomfort with this post and how things are being handled. :-/

    I do lots of things for the Time Being, too. I don’t want to end up in the middle of some temporal paradox, accidentally falling in love with one of my ancestors and thereby preventing my own birth, or being stepped on by a dinosaur, so its completely understandable that you might want to register your discomfort for him so he doesn’t have to experience it himself.

  • http://stonerwithaboner.wordpress.com stonerwithaboner

    um, the heavier the moderation, the less the love of free speech what is zie so afraid of???

  • typhonblue

    @stonerwithaboner

    “the heavier the moderation, the less the love of free speech what is zie so afraid”

    I’m not afraid of free speech, I’m tired of people freebasing their outrage on space I pay for.

    No more insult slinging, no more histrionics, no more flamewars, no more bullshit.

  • Crimson Wool

    “(This is a joke, it just pulls into moderation every post with the word [REDACTED] in it.)”

    Why would u do this?

  • typhonblue

    It slows down the rate of insults.

  • HidingFromtheDinosaurs

    So one must now write in a more formal style, reminiscent of an academic publication?

  • typhonblue

    If one wishes.

    At least it will lend the insults an air of class.

    One is quite like a flea upon the hind end of a canine, etc. (This is just for illustrative purposes.)

  • Snake Oil Baron

    “It slows down the rate of insults.”

    Good. I like insults to be slow. Maybe with some jazz.

    It’s a little odd transitioning between loosey goosey, flame-them-if-you’ve-got-them websites to ones like this where people are trying to present and evaluate ideas in some kind of honest manner. I think I might be getting culture shock. No, wait… That was just a loose cord on my iPad–I’m fine now.