• Validation emails - worth

    From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to JAGOSSEL on Tuesday, July 04, 2017 16:45:00
    I knew that I got back into BBSes for close to over a year now, I assumed you J>was around much longer than that. I do distinctly remember that I saw jibberi J>in a message editor and then I was disconnected. Oh well, memories of me J>passing out do tend to get a bit cloudy.

    Ironically, I met the woman who would eventually become my wife, on a
    BBS on a BBS that was run by the Computer Science Department at the
    University Of Arkansas At Little Rock (UALR -- I have a Bachelor's
    Degree from there in Radio/TV/Film, with a minor in music). UALR and the Computer Science Department are still there, but the BBS is long gone.

    I just watch YouTube videos late at night now-a-days. The vidoes I watch are J>educational and interesting to watch during my waking hours; however, I J>typically only get time late at night after I get off of work and the kids go J>to bed. So, that's usually around 9:30PM to 11PM at nights; very easy to pass J>out then.

    I like watching the classic TV deals, such as "What's My Line?". The
    one night where Groucho Marx steals the show is an absolute scream!!
    Back then, the entertainment was all CLEAN...not so today.

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ I hate Indian Givers. No, wait...I take that back!!
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Elwood@VERT/DOSNETZ to Daryl Stout on Wednesday, July 05, 2017 08:43:04
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Daryl Stout to KK4QBN on Tue Jul 04 2017 08:44:00

    Hi Daryl,

    I think, that a kind of captcha for new IP addresses would be useful. Something:"Which colour has the sky?"
    But, no maths, the get too fast. In our Linuxforum we have also switched from math to meaning questions and bazinga, the Spamuser were outside. :-)

    THX & greetz
    Juergen
    aka Elwood
    BBS-Internet-Mail: elwood@bbs.dosnetz.de ------------------------------------------------
    Synchronet BBS.DOSNETZ.DE - Telnet via Port 1023 ------------------------------------------------

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ DOSNETZ BBS - TELNET 1023 - BBS.DOSNETZ.DE
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Daryl Stout on Wednesday, July 05, 2017 09:36:04
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Daryl Stout to JAGOSSEL on Tue Jul 04 2017 08:42 am

    Years ago, on dial-up, there was a callback verifier. At one time, Al Lawrence of Sunrise Doors Software, had a door called "Caller ID Check" (obviously only works with dial-up connects). If the Caller ID data matched the data they entered in the door, they were validated and upgraded.

    There are email verification scripts you can use these days. When a new user signs up, the email validator will send them a code via email that the user must enter to be upgraded to a regular user account. I used to use one of those on my BBS, but I have removed it for now.. I noticed some users would get to that point and hang up, and perhaps some users didn't want to provide their real email address.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to NIGHTFOX on Thursday, July 06, 2017 08:53:00
    There are email verification scripts you can use these days. When a new user N>signs up, the email validator will send them a code via email that the user N>must enter to be upgraded to a regular user account. I used to use one of N>those on my BBS, but I have removed it for now.. I noticed some users would N>get to that point and hang up, and perhaps some users didn't want to provide N>their real email address.

    Even though the messsage spells it out that "You will NOT receive
    email, unless you violate the rules, or leave Feedback To Sysop", they
    still don't to follow directions...or they can't understand English.

    When I started The Thunderbolt BBS over 25 years ago, I was committed
    to keeping user data STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL...releasing it ONLY for a Law Enforcement Subpeona (which the BBS has never had...in fact, at one
    time, one of the judges in Pulaski County was a user on the BBS)...or in
    case of BBS rules violations, notifying Confirmed Visiting Sysops, so
    that they may protect their systems.

    Even when my late wife and Co-Sysop was alive, even she did NOT have
    access to the data...that's how SERIOUSLY I took that commitment.

    Now, that may cost me some users, but I'd rather have QUALITY than
    QUANTITY. What folks do OUTSIDE THE BBS, is THEIR BUSINESS. But, they're
    A GUEST IN MY HOME AT LOGON. To me, in this day and age, if you let a
    total unknown stranger into your home, you have a Death Wish.

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ I can't be overdrawn at the bank!! I still have checks!!
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Daryl Stout on Thursday, July 06, 2017 13:28:35
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Daryl Stout to NIGHTFOX on Thu Jul 06 2017 08:53 am

    to keeping user data STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL...releasing it ONLY for a Law Enforcement Subpeona (which the BBS has never had...in fact, at one
    time, one of the judges in Pulaski County was a user on the BBS)...or in case of BBS rules violations, notifying Confirmed Visiting Sysops, so
    that they may protect their systems.

    Back in the 90s, when I ran my first BBS, I got a few users who emailed me saying they heard mine was a warez BBS and asking how to get access. I never ran a warez BBS, so I always told them it wasn't. I always wondered where they heard I ran a warez BBS, but years later I realized they could have been from law enforcement trying to see if they could find and catch sysops running warez BBSes.

    Even when my late wife and Co-Sysop was alive, even she did NOT have access to the data...that's how SERIOUSLY I took that commitment.

    Do you mean your wife was the co-sysop? That's pretty cool if so. I know a lot of wives aren't really into computer hobbies.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Nightfox on Friday, July 07, 2017 08:49:00
    Nightfox wrote to Daryl Stout <=-

    Back in the 90s, when I ran my first BBS, I got a few users who emailed
    me saying they heard mine was a warez BBS and asking how to get access.
    I never ran a warez BBS, so I always told them it wasn't. I always wondered where they heard I ran a warez BBS, but years later I realized they could have been from law enforcement trying to see if they could
    find and catch sysops running warez BBSes.

    Yeah I never got into warez either, just your garden variety shareware and info. Actually didn't keep a lot of files. I was more interested in developing the messaging side of the system from day 1. I did know some warez BBS sysops, but I stayed away from that scene myself.

    Even when my late wife and Co-Sysop was alive, even she did NOT have access to the data...that's how SERIOUSLY I took that commitment.

    Do you mean your wife was the co-sysop? That's pretty cool if so. I
    know a lot of wives aren't really into computer hobbies.

    Not common, but cool. :)


    ... Senseless massacre and carnage? Where do I sign up?
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS in Bendigo, Australia.
  • From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to NIGHTFOX on Thursday, July 06, 2017 21:10:00
    Back in the 90s, when I ran my first BBS, I got a few users who emailed me N>saying they heard mine was a warez BBS and asking how to get access. I never N>ran a warez BBS, so I always told them it wasn't. I always wondered where th N>heard I ran a warez BBS, but years later I realized they could have been from N>law enforcement trying to see if they could find and catch sysops running war N>BBSes.

    Yeah, I had folks inquiring about warez as well. I only post freeware,
    public domain, or shareware programs on the BBS.

    Do you mean your wife was the co-sysop? That's pretty cool if so. I know a N>lot of wives aren't really into computer hobbies.

    Yes, she was. Ironically, we met on a BBS that was run by the local
    college, the University Of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) Computer
    Science Department. While the college and the Computer Science
    Department are still around, the BBS is long gone.

    We were friends for 17 1/2 years, and never thought about marriage,
    let alone to each other. We hit it off on 2002, and got married in
    2003. Tragically, she died of a massive heart attack 3 weeks shy of our
    4th anniversary. I didn't get married until I was 43, but never dreamed
    I'd be a widower at 47.

    As for Co-Sysop, she also took an active part in the doorgames, and we competed fiercely in them. She was a great winner, but she sure was a
    sore loser!! <G>

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ I may not always be right, but I'm never wrong.
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to NIGHTFOX on Friday, July 07, 2017 01:43:00
    Nightfox,

    If I replied to this earlier, my apologies. I had started the QWK
    packet, when an area of thunderstorms moved in. I had to hurriedly
    disconnect, so a rogue lightning strike wouldn't fry all of my stuff.

    Back in the 90s, when I ran my first BBS, I got a few users who emailed me N>saying they heard mine was a warez BBS and asking how to get access. I never N>ran a warez BBS, so I always told them it wasn't. I always wondered where th N>heard I ran a warez BBS, but years later I realized they could have been from N>law enforcement trying to see if they could find and catch sysops running war N>BBSes.

    I never had warez online. The only thing I have is freeware, public
    domain, or shareware. The closest thing to warez, is where a key has
    been released, because the software is now abandonware.

    Do you mean your wife was the co-sysop? That's pretty cool if so. I know a N>lot of wives aren't really into computer hobbies.

    Ironically, I met her from a local BBS, that was run by the University
    Of Arkansas At Little Rock (UALR), with their computer science
    department. The school and computer science department are still there,
    but the BBS is long gone.

    We were friends for 17 1/2 years, and never thought about marriage,
    let alone to each other. We hit it off in 2002, and got married in 2003. Tragically, she died of a heart attack 3 weeks shy of our 4th wedding anniversary, over 10 years ago now. I didn't get married until I was 43,
    but never dreamed I'd be a widower at 47.

    On the BBS, she was a great winner, but a sore loser!! <G> Plus, she
    said "I want to know the moment nightly maintenance is done". When I
    said "OK", BOOM!! She was logging on. :) I run the BBS now, dedicated to
    her memory.

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ I'm Dyslexia Of Borg. Prepare To Have Your Ass Laminated.
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Daryl Stout on Friday, July 07, 2017 09:18:31
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Daryl Stout to NIGHTFOX on Thu Jul 06 2017 09:10 pm

    Do you mean your wife was the co-sysop? That's pretty cool if so. I
    know a lot of wives aren't really into computer hobbies.

    Yes, she was. Ironically, we met on a BBS that was run by the local college, the University Of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) Computer
    Science Department. While the college and the Computer Science
    Department are still around, the BBS is long gone.

    We were friends for 17 1/2 years, and never thought about marriage,
    let alone to each other. We hit it off on 2002, and got married in
    2003. Tragically, she died of a massive heart attack 3 weeks shy of our 4th anniversary. I didn't get married until I was 43, but never dreamed I'd be a widower at 47.

    As for Co-Sysop, she also took an active part in the doorgames, and we competed fiercely in them. She was a great winner, but she sure was a
    sore loser!! <G>

    That's certainly an unusual story. :)

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to NIGHTFOX on Friday, July 07, 2017 18:10:00
    As for Co-Sysop, she also took an active part in the doorgames, and we competed fiercely in them. She was a great winner, but she sure was a sore loser!! <G>

    That's certainly an unusual story. :)

    When I still ran dial-up, I came over to her apartment to visit (this
    was before we got engaged, and then married). I got to her computer,
    pressed the macro key to logon, and nothing happened.

    Then, I realized the following:

    1) You're not at the host console.
    2) You don't know your password.
    3) You can't logon to your own BBS.

    Can you say "humble pie and salted crow"??!! :P

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ Inflation has gone up over $1 a quart. - W.C. Fields
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Daryl Stout on Saturday, July 08, 2017 18:36:00
    Daryl Stout wrote to NIGHTFOX <=-

    Then, I realized the following:

    1) You're not at the host console.
    2) You don't know your password.
    3) You can't logon to your own BBS.

    Can you say "humble pie and salted crow"??!! :P

    Oh dear, you'd feel like the biggest goose out! :D


    ... Command not found. Damn, it was here a minute ago... hold on...
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS in Bendigo, Australia.
  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Nightfox on Saturday, July 08, 2017 09:24:37
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Nightfox to Daryl Stout on Wed Jul 05 2017 09:36 am

    There are email verification scripts you can use these days. When a new user signs up, the email validator will send them a code via email that the user must enter to be upgraded to a regular user account. I used to use one of those on my BBS, but I have removed it for now.. I noticed some users would get to that point and hang up, and perhaps some users didn't want to provide their real email address.

    An email verifier makes sense if you're providing email services so people don't auto-sign up, but my gut feeling is that a new user validation with limited access before validation probably worked best in my setup.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.org
  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Nightfox on Saturday, July 08, 2017 09:40:10
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Nightfox to Daryl Stout on Thu Jul 06 2017 01:28 pm

    Back in the 90s, when I ran my first BBS, I got a few users who emailed me saying they heard mine was a warez BBS and asking how to get access. I never ran a warez BBS, so I always told them it wasn't.

    I have mostly old t-files on my BBS - lots of telco phreaking stuff, conspiracy theories and zines. I'd get the semi-weekly request for Elite access.

    At one time I had a greyed out option for "Elite Files". Other times I'd had an option for Elite files without a letter highlighted, and made "e" hang up the caller. It was more fun to watch then I thought it would be.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.org
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Poindexter Fortran on Saturday, July 08, 2017 10:20:23
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Poindexter Fortran to Nightfox on Sat Jul 08 2017 09:24 am

    An email verifier makes sense if you're providing email services so people don't auto-sign up, but my gut feeling is that a new user validation with limited access before validation probably worked best in my setup.

    What type of new user validation do you usually do? One thing I liked about an email validator is that it's semi-automatic - It would automatically send a validation email to the user, and the user could go get it and put in the code.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to MRO on Saturday, July 08, 2017 10:34:00
    email validation just works well to keep out
    a lot of bad people.

    This is true. If they enter a funky email address, then they realize
    they can't get the validation code, they're screwed.

    But, I give them 48 hours from initial logon to complete the New User
    Logon process...if they fail to do that, I zap them.

    All I'm wanting from them, besides their basic info, is a New User
    Feedback Message, telling where they heard of the BBS, and what they're
    looking for in it. My BBS does have a lot of things, but it may not be
    what they're looking for.

    Then, they have to complete the Telenet Email Verifier. If they do
    that, and have a satisfactory New User Feedback, I upgrade them.

    I also offer additional upgrades for Donating Users (who donate money, equipment, etc. to the BBS), Amateur Radio Operators (proof of their
    amateur radio license is required), and Confirmed Visiting Sysops (proof
    of their BBS is required).

    For the BBS Sysops, I also offer to list their system in the "Selected
    Other Telnet BBS's" bulletin, and as a choice in the "Telnet To Other
    BBS's" door category.

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Daryl Stout@VERT/TBOLT to MRO on Sunday, July 09, 2017 10:24:00
    it has an even bigger place in today's age. bbsing is dead, people dont want M>what we have to offer. THAT is the problem. going around and saying 'hey i'm M>retro, come visit' doesnt do jack shit but get someone to visit you once to M>never return again.

    There was an interesting article from Allen Prunty, in a recent issue
    of The FidoGazette, on "The Relevance of BBSing in 2017"...I thought it
    was good reading...so much so, that it's on my bulletins menu.

    Daryl

    ---
    þ OLX 1.53 þ Mufflers don't die. They just get exhausted.
    þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
  • From Mro@VERT/BBSESINF to Daryl Stout on Sunday, July 09, 2017 17:01:14
    Re: Validation emails - worth
    By: Daryl Stout to MRO on Sun Jul 09 2017 10:24 am

    There was an interesting article from Allen Prunty, in a recent issue
    of The FidoGazette, on "The Relevance of BBSing in 2017"...I thought it


    i'll take your word for it.
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Daryl Stout on Monday, July 10, 2017 09:47:00
    Daryl Stout wrote to MRO <=-

    There was an interesting article from Allen Prunty, in a recent issue
    of The FidoGazette, on "The Relevance of BBSing in 2017"...I thought it was good reading...so much so, that it's on my bulletins menu.

    Wouldn't mind reading that one.


    ... Hypochondriac: someone who enjoys bad health.
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS in Bendigo, Australia.