Shopsmith Forums

I hate to mention this, but most of those silent newbies are probably a couple of generations removed from the pre-existing member set.

That so, they do not have the excess time that us dilettantes have.

Also they are likely just getting into the game and really do not have much to add.

Hopefully they are coming back and at least 'lurking' and that we are not driving them away with our old fogey sense of humor etc.

All joking aside Dusty makes a good point. It's hard to say those are legit registrations, even if individually they pass a lenient smell test.

So the question becomes, why automate mass registrations?

The simple answer would be to post spam on the forum, because they are already viewable without registering. Or scan user profiles for e-mail addresses.

The more sophisticated answer is they are creating addresses the server can trust, used at a later date to hack usernames and passwords. Why? Because a lot of people use the same username and password across websites, so they take info from sites like this and try to log into online banking, email, etc.

Just a thought. I recently had my bank account frozen due to identity theft after buying something online (allegedly a reputable site). You can never be to careful.

JPG40504 wrote:I hate to mention this, but most of those silent newbies are probably a couple of generations removed from the pre-existing member set.

That so, they do not have the excess time that us dilettantes have.

Also they are likely just getting into the game and really do not have much to add.

Hopefully they are coming back and at least 'lurking' and that we are not driving them away with our old fogey sense of humor etc.

I represent that remark.

Something else is going on, Inspector Dusty has brought up too many coincidences and facts that don't add up. My earlier thread about a membership exposion and Dusty's notes of who's on at the same time ect...fishy I tell you, fishy.
I'm pretty sure I'm being followed as well, I've been noticing more cars behind me than normal and the drivers all look suspicious. Some even wearing sunglasses. They can't fool me. I think they are all trying to follow me home to see where I keep my SS's.
Tonight I am gonna paint them all camo and hide them in the shrubs right out in the open...they'll never look there.
Watch over your shoulders friends, they are there.

frank81 wrote: So the question becomes, why automate mass registrations?

The simple answer would be to post spam on the forum, because they are already viewable without registering. Or scan user profiles for e-mail addresses.

I agree, if they go the the trouble to register and they are spammers, why not spam while they are here. That is what most spammers do.

joedw00 wrote:I agree, if they go the the trouble to register and they are spammers, why not spam while they are here. That is what most spammers do.

But why sign up for a board that doesn't need a membership to read and never post? Perhaps, it like internet domain names and they are trying to get all the good names.

I believe C3PO-R2D2-#1STARWARSFAN is still available.

Well I certainly do not know what is going on but it seems obvious to me that the rapid growth in membership is "not for real".

There has been 69 new member names added to the forum membership list already TODAY.

At the beginning of the day member #16135 was the first member in March. The last member name to be added was for member #16204.

I don't know what it is but someone is "up to go good". I am just fearful that whatever they are up to, we will some how regret that they have been able to do this.

BTW, only one of today's new members has posted to the forum.

I didn't realize but it shows our full birthday in the public profile!

I am going to fix that right now, at least on my profile:eek:

So the newest member I noted was u=16207 and the member shows 16163 members what is the status of the 44 missing? Is it always 44? Are those the pending # who have not responded to the "test"? Members removed for what ever reason?

I'm still not worried, should I be?

I've got a much larger list of worries so I'll pass on this one. I do like to keep a full box of worries and they do get shuffled from time to time but I don't see this as ever making it in to my box.

Ed

dusty wrote: There has been 69 new member names added to the forum membership list already TODAY.

Make that at least 70.

Hello all. I'm the semi-proud new owner of a beat-up '56 greenie. I've been digging for the last few hours to figure out my next step, and finally decided to register to say thanks for all of the great info!

My machine has a broken belt and a lot of stiff bearings, but everything else looks like it's in pretty good shape. It also looks like the previous owner tried to remove the main spindle the hard way, so there may be a few issues in there as well; I won't know 'till I get the hood off and start poking around. For now, it's back to the archives and the maintenance section.

Jay