Chat Room
02-04-2015, 12:13 PM
I know that I've upset some new users when, in chat or a PM, I'll comment about their location.
Let's face it, about 1/2 of our new "users" are spammers and I've tried over the years to keep this a secure and clean website. We want to be able to talk about what we want to without someone knowing much, if anything, about us. One of the ways that I keep us secure is by monitoring who logs in from where - most spammers come from Russia, Thailand, etc. More importantly, I check to see if the IP (Internet Provider) address is on one of the blacklist sites (sites that have lists of the IP's used by spammers).
I am not trying to intrude on your personal privacy, unless you mention where you're from I never will
One of the sites I use to check IP addresses is StopForumSpam, they're one of the better "blacklist" sites. I also use WhatIsMyIP which shows the location of the IP through which you're reaching us. At no time do I really know your specific location, just a general location.
Okay ... WhatIsMyIP is offering an e-book about how to keep yourself safe on the internet. While I consider myself somewhat of a techy, there were some comments in it that were new to me. Times change, things happen and staying abreast with those changes helps. One of their recommendations is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). I use Firefox almost exclusively as my browser and there is an add-on (ZenMate) that allows you to automatically set up a free VPN that selects from five different locations through which to route your traffic - in fact, if you use a VPN any web site you visit will "think" you're located in someplace that you're (probably) not. For example, I currently am being routed through their British hub so it appears as if I'm in London, UK.
One of the concerns I've seen with using a VPN is a possible loss of speed. My download speed without the VPN is 3.02Mbps while with the VPN it's 2.98Mbps ... a slight but insignificant loss of speed for added security.
Your opinions and concerns are important to me, feel free to comment //al
Let's face it, about 1/2 of our new "users" are spammers and I've tried over the years to keep this a secure and clean website. We want to be able to talk about what we want to without someone knowing much, if anything, about us. One of the ways that I keep us secure is by monitoring who logs in from where - most spammers come from Russia, Thailand, etc. More importantly, I check to see if the IP (Internet Provider) address is on one of the blacklist sites (sites that have lists of the IP's used by spammers).
I am not trying to intrude on your personal privacy, unless you mention where you're from I never will
One of the sites I use to check IP addresses is StopForumSpam, they're one of the better "blacklist" sites. I also use WhatIsMyIP which shows the location of the IP through which you're reaching us. At no time do I really know your specific location, just a general location.
Okay ... WhatIsMyIP is offering an e-book about how to keep yourself safe on the internet. While I consider myself somewhat of a techy, there were some comments in it that were new to me. Times change, things happen and staying abreast with those changes helps. One of their recommendations is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). I use Firefox almost exclusively as my browser and there is an add-on (ZenMate) that allows you to automatically set up a free VPN that selects from five different locations through which to route your traffic - in fact, if you use a VPN any web site you visit will "think" you're located in someplace that you're (probably) not. For example, I currently am being routed through their British hub so it appears as if I'm in London, UK.
One of the concerns I've seen with using a VPN is a possible loss of speed. My download speed without the VPN is 3.02Mbps while with the VPN it's 2.98Mbps ... a slight but insignificant loss of speed for added security.
Your opinions and concerns are important to me, feel free to comment //al
We live by each other and for each other. Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.
-- Helen Keller
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