Thread: Cross Post Warning

  1. #1
    Registered User Char*Pntr's Avatar
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    Unhappy Cross Post Warning

    Somehow a post of mine got cross posted to another similar website without my knowledge or permission:

    Assignment Errors - C Programming

    It also looks like I am member there; I am not. I don't understand how this could have
    happened. I emailed the Webmaster here.

    I accidentally found it when I googled my nick today when this site was down. Others may
    beware of this, that their posts here may be highjacked to another website as a cross post.

    And for future reference, this is the only C programming board that I am a member of.
    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Lots of scumbags harvest posts off other boards when they start out so it looks like they actually have traffic. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

  3. #3
    Registered User Char*Pntr's Avatar
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    Smile

    Rags_to_Riches, I am happy that you were the first to reply. Because I noticed that you warned in another thread (compiler errors) of a crosspost.

    I gave the link of my thread that was cross posted. How can you tell whether a member here
    actually does a cross post, or whether it was done without their knowledge?

    I suspect that most cross posts are done by new members here with a very low post count
    of 1 or 2.

    Thanks for your help! :-)

  4. #4

  5. #5
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    How can you tell whether a member here
    actually does a cross post, or whether it was done without their knowledge?
    He can't. It's just that we are aware of other, actually popular sites and people are too lame to be inconspicuous.

  6. #6
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    Duly noted and moved to General Discussions

  7. #7
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    Hey, thanks for reporting. I have removed the thread and I see that this are some users who makes such posts to increase the post count and then they can spam with links (We do not allow links until user has few posts) and as you said you are not the member of my forum so I banned the user and removed the thread.

    Do let me know if you see some more such incidents and I will be more than happy to ban the IPs as well.
    Last edited by sean; 09-10-2010 at 08:03 AM. Reason: Removed URL

  8. #8
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    This would not happen if everyone used CBoard.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  9. #9
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    I don't think I buy it; I think MY explanation is the right one. I think you needed to look like you had content, so you harvested some from here with a bot. I could be wrong, but the duplicated posts I see are single posters over there. Doesn't jibe with your explanation.

    The following threads are all duped over there.

    Need help for repetition method!
    What code could i use?
    what shud be the condition?
    Confusions regarding the GCC compilation steps
    Last edited by rags_to_riches; 09-10-2010 at 01:34 PM.

  10. #10
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
    If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.

  11. #11
    ... kermit's Avatar
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    Hey! They have the candy enabled!

  12. #12
    'Allo, 'Allo, Allo
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    Quote Originally Posted by shabbirbhimani View Post
    I see that this are some users who makes such posts to increase the post count and then they can spam with links
    You have some dozy users if they make posts under different user names to increase their own post count.

  13. #13
    Registered User Char*Pntr's Avatar
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    Wink


    Given the scope of this at hand, I wouldn't be surprised if our Webmaster has
    his own account there too! (without his knowing it) :-D

  14. #14
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    We have never done any harvesting and I investigated the ips of those user and it looks like some bots from Russia.

    We have a plugin where user is not allowed to post links before few posts and so I assume this is done for that reason.

    We had similar issue on go4expert and we had to ban the ips of the server where we had such programs.

    Looks like it is now this forum.

    I have blocked most of those type of ips and do let me know ( By PM here or even by forum reporting feature my forum ) and I will be more than happy to take such things down.

  15. #15
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    Just how rubbish is your "security" that some random bot (not controlled by you) can register and post at will?

    I looked at your registration page, and it needs both a valid email address AND a CAPTCHA phrase. I'm also guessing here that you also send a confirmation email with a link that must be clicked before allowing a post.

    Here's a heuristic for you.
    If something clicks on the registration page, "registers", "presses the confirm link" and presses "submit post" all within say 30 seconds, then assume it is a bot and deal with it. No actual human could manage all that in less than 90 seconds - probably longer (try it).

    What about those links we've highlighted?
    a) you haven't taken them down yet
    b) what do the registration IP addresses and email addresses tell you?

    What is your background joining rate for new members? I'm guessing that you never get anywhere near "4 in one minute", so that should be another red flag in your system.

    Updating to a newer version of vbulletin wouldn't be a bad idea either.


    Maybe one of your members has something to do with it.

    bitwise hack for swapping
    compare with
    bitwise hack for swapping - C++ Programming
    Now I wonder where the reply on your cloned thread came from

    They're not above copy/pasting answers from someone else without due credit as well.
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
    If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.

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