Spammer blocking question

[Sylvia Bernstein]

We're now to a size where we are attractive to these spam bots that want to place links in here.  In order to block them I have a captcha in place in the application process, and I read every application (and reject about half of them) but I'm thinking we can do more.  Someone has suggested to me that we should put a logic question in the application process, like "what is one and one?".  But we might as well have some fun with this, right?  So I was thinking of "how do fish move through the water?"  But does anyone have any better ideas?

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Alex, are you being a bad, bad boy? 

Alex Veidel said:

Oh, I'm not picking on her. Just teasin'. 'Tis all in good fun.

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Thanks for pointing that Privacy feature out, David, and I think your hypothesis is correct.  While I've nuked Frank, these slimeballs will keep getting past me and doing what they are doing...and that is one way of stopping them in their tracks quickly. And don't ever post your email address directly in the public spaces of this site (not that any of you have, but I"ve seen it happen in the past). I'll keep trying to weed them out a the front end but our best line of defense it is members like you guys reporting this kind of thing the minute you spot it so we can clean house quickly....exactly what you are doing here, and what Lisa did through both the IM board and a direct message to me.  Thank You! 

David - WI said:

If you're just getting an e-mail from Aquaponic Gardening saying that someone added a comment, like the one above:

"FRANK KWABENA added a comment to your profile on Aquaponic Gardening"

Then there is no direct link to you - he isn't contacting you directly and doesn't have your contact info; it's just the board software sending you a "notification" that someone posted a comment on your profile.

I would suggest (just a suggestion) that you go to your profile and look under "Privacy Settings" where you can check a box that requires any comments to your profile to be "approved" by you before they get published.

[Lisa Tingle]

Yes, thank you, David. I did change that just before you posted that. But, I had not thought of it before I got the message. So, good advice. Thanks.

[Lisa Tingle]

Why do worms end up all in our street after a big rain storm? Anyone know? And, are these worms (night crawlers) good for the garden (I've gathered up a bunch to save them from drying out in the street!) lol... feeling like a kid... just need my rain boots to stomp in the puddles. :D

Jonathan Paul Grenard said:

5)  Do Worms drown under water?

  No

[Bob Terrell]

yes,  earth worms (Eudrilus eugeniae)  will drown, this is why you will find them trying to escape pools of water after a rain.

earth worms, bad for fishing,because they die underwater, bad for aquaponics.

Now, Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) on the other hand need water to keep their skin moist so they can breath.  They will do very well in an aquaponics system.  EF's will eat your solids and produce things that the plants like.  Most APer's soon learn that to have a complete AP system you need Red wigglers.

Lisa Tingle said:

Why do worms end up all in our street after a big rain storm? Anyone know? And, are these worms (night crawlers) good for the garden (I've gathered up a bunch to save them from drying out in the street!) lol... feeling like a kid... just need my rain boots to stomp in the puddles.

Jonathan Paul Grenard said:

5)  Do Worms drown under water?

  No

[Alex Veidel]

Wait, I thought that all worms technically can drown under water, it's just a matter of how much oxygen is available. So earthworms drown no matter what? I know the redworm is better to use because it's small, it likes to tunnel (as opposed to nightcrawlers, who create permanent burrows), and likes large amounts of organic matter in its media, but I didn't know that they were special among the worm family because they can breathe underwater.

Bob Terrell said:

yes,  earth worms (Eudrilus eugeniae)  will drown, this is why you will find them trying to escape pools of water after a rain.

earth worms, bad for fishing,because they die underwater, bad for aquaponics.

Now, Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) on the other hand need water to keep their skin moist so they can breath.  They will do very well in an aquaponics system.  EF's will eat your solids and produce things that the plants like.  Most APer's soon learn that to have a complete AP system you need Red wigglers.

Lisa Tingle said:

Why do worms end up all in our street after a big rain storm? Anyone know? And, are these worms (night crawlers) good for the garden (I've gathered up a bunch to save them from drying out in the street!) lol... feeling like a kid... just need my rain boots to stomp in the puddles.

Jonathan Paul Grenard said:

5)  Do Worms drown under water?

  No

[Bob Terrell]

Too much moisture can interfere with one of the worms requirements – oxygen! Water can only hold a certain amount of oxygen (a lot less than air), and as such can go ‘anaerobic’ (ie lose its oxygen) quite quickly – especially in the case of organically-rich liquids which are full of oxygen consuming microorganisms.  This problem is normally cured in an AP system by the flow of water in the grow beds drawing O2 down into the system thus preventing the system going ‘anaerobic’.

Alex Veidel said:

Wait, I thought that all worms technically can drown under water, it's just a matter of how much oxygen is available. So earthworms drown no matter what? I know the redworm is better to use because it's small, it likes to tunnel (as opposed to nightcrawlers, who create permanent burrows), and likes large amounts of organic matter in its media, but I didn't know that they were special among the worm family because they can breathe underwater.

Bob Terrell said:

yes,  earth worms (Eudrilus eugeniae)  will drown, this is why you will find them trying to escape pools of water after a rain.

earth worms, bad for fishing,because they die underwater, bad for aquaponics.

Now, Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) on the other hand need water to keep their skin moist so they can breath.  They will do very well in an aquaponics system.  EF's will eat your solids and produce things that the plants like.  Most APer's soon learn that to have a complete AP system you need Red wigglers.

Lisa Tingle said:

Why do worms end up all in our street after a big rain storm? Anyone know? And, are these worms (night crawlers) good for the garden (I've gathered up a bunch to save them from drying out in the street!) lol... feeling like a kid... just need my rain boots to stomp in the puddles.

Jonathan Paul Grenard said:

5)  Do Worms drown under water?

  No

[Bob Terrell]

And how did we get to discussing worms in the spam blocking blog???????

Bob Terrell said:

Too much moisture can interfere with one of the worms requirements – oxygen! Water can only hold a certain amount of oxygen (a lot less than air), and as such can go ‘anaerobic’ (ie lose its oxygen) quite quickly – especially in the case of organically-rich liquids which are full of oxygen consuming microorganisms.  This problem is normally cured in an AP system by the flow of water in the grow beds drawing O2 down into the system thus preventing the system going ‘anaerobic’.

Alex Veidel said:

Wait, I thought that all worms technically can drown under water, it's just a matter of how much oxygen is available. So earthworms drown no matter what? I know the redworm is better to use because it's small, it likes to tunnel (as opposed to nightcrawlers, who create permanent burrows), and likes large amounts of organic matter in its media, but I didn't know that they were special among the worm family because they can breathe underwater.

Bob Terrell said:

yes,  earth worms (Eudrilus eugeniae)  will drown, this is why you will find them trying to escape pools of water after a rain.

earth worms, bad for fishing,because they die underwater, bad for aquaponics.

Now, Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) on the other hand need water to keep their skin moist so they can breath.  They will do very well in an aquaponics system.  EF's will eat your solids and produce things that the plants like.  Most APer's soon learn that to have a complete AP system you need Red wigglers.

Lisa Tingle said:

Why do worms end up all in our street after a big rain storm? Anyone know? And, are these worms (night crawlers) good for the garden (I've gathered up a bunch to save them from drying out in the street!) lol... feeling like a kid... just need my rain boots to stomp in the puddles.

Jonathan Paul Grenard said:

5)  Do Worms drown under water?

  No

[Alex Veidel]

Lisa, worms are good for the garden, but I don't think the point is to add worms to your (soil) garden. Gardeners use worms more like an indicator of the quality of their soil. The more organic material (humus) that is in their soil, the more food there is for the worms. So if you have large quantities of worms in your garden, then you have large quantities of organic material in your soil, which is a sign of healthier dirt. And last I checked, the exact reason why worms all surface after a rainstorm is still a mystery. I've heard the rain simulates the sound moles (worm-predators) make as they tunnel through the ground, so the worms all surface. The same thing can be accomplished through a certain method called worm calling (or grunting), which involves rubbing two notched sticks together, causing ground vibrations that bring earthworms up to the surface.

Hey, and I found a video on worm grunting that supports a lot of what I just said! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ILoGcSxCAY

Lisa Tingle said:

Why do worms end up all in our street after a big rain storm? Anyone know? And, are these worms (night crawlers) good for the garden (I've gathered up a bunch to save them from drying out in the street!) lol... feeling like a kid... just need my rain boots to stomp in the puddles.

Jonathan Paul Grenard said:

5)  Do Worms drown under water?

  No

[Alex Veidel]

Because, worms are exceedingly awesome and already permeate the majority of our soil, so it makes sense they should permeate our forums as well. Especially silk worms, since this is a forum "thread" :)

Bob Terrell said:

And how did we get to discussing worms in the spam blocking blog???????

[Bob Terrell]

Alex, your funny , and I like that!

Alex Veidel said:

Because, worms are exceedingly awesome and already permeate the majority of our soil, so it makes sense they should permeate our forums as well. Especially silk worms, since this is a "thread" on a forum

Bob Terrell said:

And how did we get to discussing worms in the spam blocking blog???????

[Alex Veidel]

Lol, thanks Bob.

Bob Terrell said:

Alex, your funny , and I like that!

Alex Veidel said:

Because, worms are exceedingly awesome and already permeate the majority of our soil, so it makes sense they should permeate our forums as well. Especially silk worms, since this is a "thread" on a forum

Bob Terrell said:

And how did we get to discussing worms in the spam blocking blog???????