You may have noticed an increase in the spam postings and comments on this site recently. Unfortunately, this is a caused by the increasingly sophisticated programs or "bots" that trawl the internet these days. They search for sites such as this one and drop their "payload" in the hope of either generating sales or increasing the Google page rankings of any links they post.

They get in exactly the same way our genuine members get in. These programs are now so sophisticated that the "captcha" or verification code is no longer a serious impediment to them. This is a serious problem for all site administrators all over the world as ways of countering them are developed. It's a kind of arms race with no end in site.

We will continue to deal with these annoying interlopers as quickly as we can and look for new methods to keep them out. But unfortunately this site is seen as high value target due to it's popularity.

In the meantime, please remember to use the "Report Spam" link in the left hand panel as it make finding and dealing with them much easier.

Regards,
Philip
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On Tony's Behalf