It may have helped. I don't see as much as I have in the past weeks. Happy /merry to all the editors at O/S

No, really I'm not just sucking up.

All right, all right, so I am sucking up a little. That doesn't mean my wishes are insincere.

The little I've been here this week, I had no trouble...whatever you're doing, it seems to be working over here. Yay!
Happy New Year's, Kerry!

i've only been around late at night the last couple days but didn't see much then. the real test, i think, will be from tonight (thursday) through the weekend; that's when it really ramps up. hope the fix works, kerry.

~waving from the far west edge~

It seemed better

As Candace stated, the real test will be from Thursday through the weekend. I've got my fingers crossed, and am hoping for the best!
Thank you for attempting to stop the Spam machine.

Kerry, it seemed better to me, too. With luck the spammers won't reverse engineer whatever is being done to stop them and they won't come back in droves! A very Happy New Year to you and yours!

Definitely better...and I, for one, am thankful for it.

Happy New Year, Kerry. May 2012 bring you and OS lots of good things.

Haven't been around much in the last month but I hope the spam-attack is working. I appreciate the effort.

Not much spam, but not much regular commenting either, but I guess that's to be expected during the holiday season. Thanks to you and your team for all your efforts not just in battling the spammers but in fixing any bugs that slowed down our access to the site. Wishing great success for OS in 2012!

Yes, it's been refreshing to see nothing but real bloggers in the feed. And pages have been loading rapidly. I hope OS can stay like this in 2012.

I've been here a lot
For the past 7 days
With nary a spammer in sight
Day or night.

Sorry, just had to rhyme that.

It's better big Kahuna

I'm not here long enough to really notice any difference with spammers, though the good reads are fewer than there when I first signed on as a member.

I've noticed an improvement over the last few months. Not getting as many spammy comments overall. And more actual bloggers in the feed.

Happy New Year, Kerry!

It seems better to me, Kerry. Thanks, and Happy New Year!

No spam in the feed, which is cool, and the site seems to be working faster.

I'm guessing the experiment is cutting off new membership which is awesome for the short term(who needs new blood anyways...wait...I do!! I NEED NEW BLOOD!! ~pout~) unless I'm missing something, like shotguns for spam hunters, in which case, I'D LIKE TO APPLY AS A SPAM HUNTER!!! :D

Happy New Year Kerry, may your head be shiner in 2012!!! Lubs u!!!!!! No, not much, but still, LUB YOU!!! :D

~wanders off~

During the week, it has been fine. Last weekend, as usual, it was jammed with spam.

No spam that I noticed, although I assume -- as the Damn Cat said -- that's because you aren't allowing anyone new to sign up. What happens when you open the doors again?

Yes.

worth trying again

After a few chores
a brief snooze
a spam burp
a fortune
kooky
a quickie
we be back
we still wonder
why you delete?
Answer please?
Any Refunds?
Hi Kerry L.
You be cool.
Tell truths.
Be nice too.
`
bebop-o
GoodCelery!
clownsense
goat gouda blueberry
`
No make funny faces
buy discount mattress
buy gold core discount
get beauty sleep @ OS/

MUCH better. Whatever you did---keep doing it! Thank you!

Better. Happy New Year.

This is really hard to take seriously. I mean...

I've lived on OS for the past four days, and I've not seen any odd and unusual names and titles- SPAM.

Much better. Hope everyone wanders back from the holidays soon; it's I'm a bit lonely and bored because of the lack of posts and comments, as well as the EP drought and the static cover.

Better indeed. Thanks, and Happy New Year, Kerry!

It does seem like less spam to me of late. And no more solicitations in my PM's!

Seems better Kerry. Please keep it up and happy 2012.

I have noticed there is not so much...it used to be impossible to wait on page loads, not now! Thanks for your efforts!

I think it is better.

It seems better, but watch out for bobbot, he's a suck-up. (and Tink)

I noticed the difference a few days ago, Kerry. As others have said, the test will be over the weekend but, nonetheless, THANK YOU for doing what you can to bring back the good ol' OS days! There are so many here that would appreciate being spam free again.

Sorry, have not been on much, but was able to get on when I wanted to.

Yes, it is much better. Thank you.

The number of "real" posts seems to be down too. I hope your solution isn't blocking legitimate posts.

I still expect better communication from you!

It seems to be working. I didn't see any spam invasion nor a server slow down. You might want to check on the Link Farmers.,d

To be honest with you, I don't usually have to deal with any kind of spam here on OpenSalon. It's slow at times, but that's all.

Kerry Lauerman.

I keep getting popups. Warnings. One reads This word for word:
`
MAIL CANNOT VERIFY IDENTITY OF : SYMPAUTH .. email.

An SSL Error occurred and a SEcure Connection to the Server Cannot Be made.
You might be Connecting to a Server that is Pretending to be "Sympauth" ... email.
This would put your Confidential Information at Risk. Would you Like To Connect to the Server Anyway? ( I always 'hit' Connect.)
`
Kerry L.
I save all comments.
Can you explain this?
I save this question.

Whatever you're doing seems to be working. Far more effective than my method--throwing rocks at my computer.

Though I have to admit, I am feeling oddly lonely all the sudden. Like in-laws I guess--I don't mind them being around, as long as I don't have to actually interact with them.

Much better. Thanks.
Ande in Florida

Here is a link to the Spam Link Farmers.

This link should work. Spam Link Farmers.

Whatever you are doing is working. I stopped in last night and checked the newest posts and it looked amazing without the spammers! Happy Holidays to you~

I keep getting spam from some chick named Kerry. How do I get rid of this?




No, seriously, connectivity seems much improved. However I am still constipated.

It's working. Many thanks. And let me know if you'd like to see a LIVE broadcast of the Bills-Patriots game Sunday. . .

It's Saturday morning and there is not one sports "post" in the feed. Truly beautiful...

I notice less spam in the feed. Also, my log in is finally persistent between sessions, but that may be because I upgraded my Safari. Before that, it would log me out with only a few minutes of inactivity.

I notice less spam in the feed. Also, my log in is finally persistent between sessions, but that may be because I upgraded my Safari. Before that, it would log me out with only a few minutes of inactivity.

Still can't log in from my Droid though.

It was lovely to come back to OS this afternoon and find NO SPAM. That's a really beautiful change. If it continues, I think that many of us will be very happy.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Bravo!

Glad to hear there's some improvement.

It's all thanks to Emily and her good suggestions -- she's running this show. I just check in from time to time.

And we appreciate it, Kerry, we really do.

Really.














Really.

Actually I have not noticed any...HNY to U BIGTIME.

All is well. Happy New Year!

No spam.
Baked beans.

I definitely see a big improvement! Thanks and Happy New Year!

It was just like old times...until Tuesday, when I started to see a smattering of spam in the feed. Huge improvement!

Lezlie

They're back at it again! Didn't take long before they noticed the "welcome mat" - Join Now button.

at least yr still in existence and i'm not being blammed.

Kerry,

A much belated thanks to you and Emily.

We are nothing if not merry and happy.

V

XOXOXO

::skips away humming a happy tune while hearing just a whisper of "Emily, who is that kid anyway?...":: :)

Much better Kerry...and thanks for your continuing efforts!

Thanks for the updated site, Kerry. Sure don't envy your job dealing with us scattered cat OS-ers but hey, you offered yourself up for our complaints, no? It _does_ help to feel there's a ?"human bean"? to reach (however infrequently?) when frustrated by losing contact with so many people. I for one have had a terrible time much of yesterday and most of today connecting to OS. Anyone else?

Vastly better.

I assume the trick is simply to shut off new accounts by disabling the new account control when no staff are on duty.

Unfortunately, once new accounts are permitted, the spam starts up again. I deleted some spam accounts for about 30 minutes this evening. In that time I deleted 18 spam accounts that together generated 258 spam posts. I saw 2 other new accounts that may not be spam accounts, though it was hard to tell.

With few exceptions, new accounts are spam accounts. Given current site functionality and processes, you have can new accounts, or you can have no spam, but you can't have both. I vote for no spam. And perhaps new people could be admitted by sending an email to a staff member explaining why they want to have an account here. It would be more work, but that way you'd have new accounts and little or no spam.

It is an unfortunate truth, but without some kind of account management process this place will never work like it should, and account management means extra work for someone. Perhaps it could be an intern or some volunteers.

Vastly better.

I assume the trick is simply to shut off new accounts by disabling the new account control when no staff are on duty.

Unfortunately, once new accounts are permitted, the spam starts up again. I deleted some spam accounts for about 30 minutes this evening. In that time I deleted 18 spam accounts that together generated 258 spam posts. I saw 2 other new accounts that may not be spam accounts, though it was hard to tell.

With few exceptions, new accounts are spam accounts. Given current site functionality and processes, you have can new accounts, or you can have no spam, but you can't have both. I vote for no spam. And perhaps new people could be admitted by sending an email to a staff member explaining why they want to have an account here. It would be more work, but that way you'd have new accounts and little or no spam.

It is an unfortunate truth, but without some kind of account management process this place will never work like it should, and account management means extra work for someone. Perhaps it could be an intern or some volunteers.

I just got back. Hello, how you been. And why is your face always on the front of my blog?

@Victoria, Kerry's face is under your list of favorites. The last six people you added as a favorite will always appear under your favorites in the top right. He is at five, she was the second of the last six people you added to favorites. If you add two more favorites, his picture will disappear off there forever. And ever.

Corrected:

@Victoria, Kerry's face is under your list of favorites. The last six people you added as a favorite will always appear under your favorites in the top right. He is at five, since he was the second of the last six people you added to favorites. If you add two more favorites, his picture will disappear off there forever. And ever.

What I really want to know is when is that UK Spam Farmers / Barcelona Boyoyo Boys game?

Hi, Kerry. Hope you're fine and fluffy. Hurt the spam, please. For those of us with ADD, long load times are a deal breaker. Also, my DSL has ADD and wanders off muttering when pages won't load. However, I must admit to a fondness for the "Lots of Errors Occurred!" screen and I will miss it when the site's problems are fixed. Maybe you should issue a retro edition of OS sometime, with the Lots of Errors page and the mop and bucket.

Thank you for whatever y'all did! Now I can send friends here with no forewarnings about anything like spam or crazy Nigerian chain letters...

:)

Bravo big K!

Congratulations. The site is working well and the spam is still missing. It's good to have OS back.

Cue the "Rocky" theme... and knock on wood!

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Kerry, I have a new avatar too!