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  3. I was thinking about the latest wave to "black magic" and "astrology" spam in QA

I was thinking about the latest wave to "black magic" and "astrology" spam in QA

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  • OriginalGriffO Offline
    OriginalGriffO Offline
    OriginalGriff
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

    Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

    "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
    "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

    Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK J L B M 7 Replies Last reply
    0
    • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

      And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

      Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
      Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
      Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      OriginalGriff wrote:

      solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem

      And they will report you for 'black magic'!

      Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

      "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

        And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

        Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

        J Offline
        J Offline
        Jochen Arndt
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        OriginalGriff wrote:

        We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post!

        When reading this I visualised mentally a poor guy that has to solve a problem similar to the question he wants to ask :-D

        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • J Jochen Arndt

          OriginalGriff wrote:

          We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post!

          When reading this I visualised mentally a poor guy that has to solve a problem similar to the question he wants to ask :-D

          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
          Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          That's just cruel... :laugh:

          Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

          "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

          OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

            That's just cruel... :laugh:

            Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

            OriginalGriffO Offline
            OriginalGriffO Offline
            OriginalGriff
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            Good idea though! :laugh:

            Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

            "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
            "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

            Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

              Good idea though! :laugh:

              Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

              Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
              Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
              Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              It will drop QA traffic near zero...There will be time to handle all the 'black magic'...

              Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

              "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

              OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                It will drop QA traffic near zero...There will be time to handle all the 'black magic'...

                Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                OriginalGriffO Offline
                OriginalGriffO Offline
                OriginalGriff
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                You think the spammers are brighter and more technically literate than most QA posters? :omg: Could be, when I come to think about it...

                Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                S 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                  And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

                  Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  I cannot solve capcha; plz send codz, urgent.

                  OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L Lost User

                    I cannot solve capcha; plz send codz, urgent.

                    OriginalGriffO Offline
                    OriginalGriffO Offline
                    OriginalGriff
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    Yes - but they'll have to post that on SO...:EvilLaughSmiley:

                    Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                    "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                    "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                    N 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                      And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

                      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                      B Offline
                      B Offline
                      BillWoodruff
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      OriginalGriff wrote:

                      Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well

                      How about a check-box with the question: "Can you levitate ?" We could have a weekly vote on which value of the CheckState would ban the logger-head in order to confuse hackers who write spam-bots.

                      «A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards ... as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push»  Wittgenstein

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                        And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

                        Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Or one of those "1+1+1+1*0" things that 99% of the people on social media gets wrong. If a programmer gets it wrong, they are beyond help.

                        OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • L Lost User

                          Or one of those "1+1+1+1*0" things that 99% of the people on social media gets wrong. If a programmer gets it wrong, they are beyond help.

                          OriginalGriffO Offline
                          OriginalGriffO Offline
                          OriginalGriff
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Do you think we should tell them there are bots that can get that right? :sigh: Sometimes I think you should have to pass a captcha in order to breed...

                          Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                          "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                          "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                          J 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                            Do you think we should tell them there are bots that can get that right? :sigh: Sometimes I think you should have to pass a captcha in order to breed...

                            Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                            J Offline
                            J Offline
                            Jorgen Andersson
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            I think you've just solved the overpopulation problem.

                            Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                              And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

                              Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              Marc Clifton
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              OriginalGriff wrote:

                              "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it."

                              I consider myself a rational person and have no problems believing in black magic (or white) or astrology. You may think that's really weird, but it doesn't cause any conflict for me. Now, mind you, I try to be discerning -- there's a lot of new age noise out there that sadly has risen to the level of a shriek in the last 20 years. Anyways, I just thought I'd speak up here, as a person of "rational thought." ;) Marc

                              Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!

                              OriginalGriffO M 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • M Marc Clifton

                                OriginalGriff wrote:

                                "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it."

                                I consider myself a rational person and have no problems believing in black magic (or white) or astrology. You may think that's really weird, but it doesn't cause any conflict for me. Now, mind you, I try to be discerning -- there's a lot of new age noise out there that sadly has risen to the level of a shriek in the last 20 years. Anyways, I just thought I'd speak up here, as a person of "rational thought." ;) Marc

                                Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!

                                OriginalGriffO Offline
                                OriginalGriffO Offline
                                OriginalGriff
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                You believe in astrology? Really? Do you mind if I ask why? Isn't it all predicting a person's future from lumps of rock and gas following Newtonian laws a seriously long way away?

                                Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                                "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                                "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                                M 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                  You believe in astrology? Really? Do you mind if I ask why? Isn't it all predicting a person's future from lumps of rock and gas following Newtonian laws a seriously long way away?

                                  Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Marc Clifton
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  OriginalGriff wrote:

                                  Isn't it all predicting a person's future from lumps of rock and gas following Newtonian laws a seriously long way away?

                                  Personally, the "predicting the future" part is where I feel the layman's understanding of astrology has taken a wrong turn because of all the charlatans out there. I like wikipedia's definition: To ancient astrologers, the planets represented the will of the gods and their direct influence upon human affairs. To modern astrologers the planets represent basic drives or urges in the unconscious,[ (planets, of course, including the sun and moon in addition to the 5 visible planets in ancient times -- yet another interesting discussion.) A good astrologer can be very insightful (and cost a lot less than a shrink) into "forces" that potentially are behind your personality. And yes, I do believe there are things we don't understand, know about, or can measure (yet) that can affect personality and therefore, "destiny" (in broad brush strokes) as well. It's sometimes useful to get insights in these things, and if you accept those insights, you can work on improving them, becoming more "conscious", so those forces aren't just "unconscious drives/urges" as the wikipedia quote states.

                                  OriginalGriff wrote:

                                  ollowing Newtonian laws a seriously long way away?

                                  Heck, even the planets and gasses don't follow Newtonian laws -- you need a sprinkling of relativity to actually get everything right -- Newtonian laws are just a decent approximation when velocity and mass are in some sort of a "normal" range :) Marc

                                  Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!

                                  L 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                    You think the spammers are brighter and more technically literate than most QA posters? :omg: Could be, when I come to think about it...

                                    Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                                    S Offline
                                    S Offline
                                    SoMad
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    Yeah, I am afraid they would be able to Google themselves to an answer. Besides, they deal in magic, so... :)

                                    "When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                      And I thought to myself, "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it." "So...why not have a 'Developer Capcha' on QA posts?" We could make everyone who wants to post a question solve a small (two lines, maybe) C# (or even - gawd forbid - VB) coding problem, or fix a syntax error before they can post! That'd keep 'em out! Then I realised why it wouldn't work: most of the QA question posters would fail...and quite a few of the answerers as well... :sigh: Ho, hum. Back to the drawing board...

                                      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                                      M Offline
                                      M Offline
                                      Mark_Wallace
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      As someone who once wrote a program that helps people pick numbers for the UK National Lottery, I feel that I have a vested interest in this discussion, so should not take part. (I won't mention the small fact that if you read the code of that prog, you'd instantly see that I was taking the piss out of the nutters)

                                      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • M Marc Clifton

                                        OriginalGriff wrote:

                                        "These are pseudo science: nobody with any form of rational thought believes in it."

                                        I consider myself a rational person and have no problems believing in black magic (or white) or astrology. You may think that's really weird, but it doesn't cause any conflict for me. Now, mind you, I try to be discerning -- there's a lot of new age noise out there that sadly has risen to the level of a shriek in the last 20 years. Anyways, I just thought I'd speak up here, as a person of "rational thought." ;) Marc

                                        Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Mycroft Holmes
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        Ghosts, vampires, fairies and little people that live at the bottom of the garden as well or is it just the pseudo sciences that you cannot refute one way or the other? I am constantly astonished by the things rational, sensible people can believe in, this includes all religions of course.

                                        Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                                        M M 2 Replies Last reply
                                        0
                                        • M Mycroft Holmes

                                          Ghosts, vampires, fairies and little people that live at the bottom of the garden as well or is it just the pseudo sciences that you cannot refute one way or the other? I am constantly astonished by the things rational, sensible people can believe in, this includes all religions of course.

                                          Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                                          M Offline
                                          M Offline
                                          MKJCP
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          It is great hubris to think there are not vast areas of knowledge yet to be understood or discovered or that if it can't be proven, it can't be. Scientists are often so smug. As far as pseudo-sciences, I am reminded of economics. Here, two "experts" can argue about some economic principle and throngs will line up behind each expert fully convinced their side is correct. One side, if proven wrong, would be denied acquiescence by their ego and\or their vested professional interest in their conceptual framework. Astrology has a batting average on par with economics. I used to think I knew it all. The older I get, the more I realize I don't understand.

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply
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