Forum Purge

[EEVblog]

I just went through and cleaned up over 20,000 spam registrations (not verified so could never post), and purged any account with zero posts who hadn't logged in in the last month.
So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.
Will try and do this regularly.

[SeanB]

Thanks Dave, not that that uses space but at least searching the memberlist becomes easier.

7000 active users, that is quite good, certainly among the most I have seen on a blog.

Did the bulk of those 20k of registrations occur during the multimeter giveaway?

[EEVblog]

Did the bulk of those 20k of registrations occur during the multimeter giveaway?

Nope, just the usually couple of hundred per day buildup. Yep, it's that frequent.
The forum software flags the spammers (based on global database), but unfortunately does not automatically delete the accounts or reject them. So if I don't periodically kill them, they build up.

[EEVblog]

7000 active users, that is quite good, certainly among the most I have seen on a blog.

Yes, it's quite impressive. Almost all of those have made at least one post (the rest are zero posters in the last month).

[baljemmett]

So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.

Yes, but how many normal members? 

[Skimask]

A shame there's no effective way to purge stupid with a script...

[SeanB]

Almost all of those have made at least one post (the rest are zero posters in the last month).

Those with zero posts in the last month are most likely Mechanical Turk accounts being dormant for a 3 month period, where most blogs then unflag them from monitoring so then they will start posting spammy links......

[EEVblog]

Those with zero posts in the last month are most likely Mechanical Turk accounts being dormant for a 3 month period, where most blogs then unflag them from monitoring so then they will start posting spammy links......

They don't get unflagged here, just deleted 

[SeanB]

just said they are more intelligent spammers, not actually intelligent. Sort of slightly above pond scum in intelligence, well below that of a worm.

[EEVblog]

Just did another forum purge of zero post accounts pre 1/2/2020 for account creation and last active.

[vk6zgo]

So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.

Yes, but how many normal members? 

Most of us are distinctly odd!

[Muttley Snickers]

Just did another forum purge of zero post accounts pre 1/2/2020 for account creation and last active.

I'm not sure how the purge works but I still see over 4 pages of zero posters in the members list going back to 29/05/2012. Click Members - View the members list, then click the furthest right column header Posts, wait for the page to load then click Posts again to display post counts starting from zero. The member count is currently 44158.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/mlist/?sort=posts:start=0

[Nusa]

Just did another forum purge of zero post accounts pre 1/2/2020 for account creation and last active.

I'm not sure how the purge works but I still see over 4 pages of zero posters in the members list going back to 29/05/2012. Click Members - View the members list, then click the furthest right column header Posts, wait for the page to load then click Posts again to display post counts starting from zero. The member count is currently 44158.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/mlist/?sort=posts:start=0

Don't forget the "and last active" part. Spot-check a few of those, see if you find any that haven't been active this year. There are a LOT of people who read some part of this forum regularly but have never posted.

[rrinker]

So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.

Yes, but how many normal members? 

 Normal? You think ANY of us here are normal? 

[schmitt trigger]

A good EE is anything but "normal".

Case in point: tidiness.
Any normal person sees the workbench of an EE who is developing a product, and is appalled by "The Mess".

A fellow EE comes by and marvels at the complexity of it all, the snaking of all sorts of wires, the inscrutability of all the test equipment,  and the ability to find that elusive SOT23 transistor scattered among a random pile of components.

Everyone here must be familiar with the workbenches of Jim Williams and Bob Pease, arguably some of the greatest analog designers ever.
If not, google them.

[Mr. Scram]

A good EE is anything but "normal".

Case in point: tidiness.
Any normal person sees the workbench of an EE who is developing a product, and is appalled by "The Mess".

A fellow EE comes by and marvels at the complexity of it all, the snaking of all sorts of wires, the inscrutability of all the test equipment,  and the ability to find that elusive SOT23 transistor scattered among a random pile of components.

Everyone here must be familiar with the workbenches of Jim Williams and Bob Pease, arguably some of the greatest analog designers ever.
If not, google them.

When you're as good as either you can have a desk like that. 

[WattsThat]

Yeah, I’ve tried the Jim Williams route, it doesn’t seem to help, I’m still dumb as a rock. But, I must say that this web site and the internet in general has helped. With my technical abilities, not the bench. Now if I could only find a solution to my people skill issues... nah. Screw it, too old to change now.

One of the smartest people I’ve had the privilege to work with would put every tool back in its pre-ordained space every night before going home. Every probe, every lead, everything, every night. Seemed like a waste of time to me. He said doing that helped to clear his mind towards a problem and that most times he’d solve the problem getting everything out again in the morning and starting fresh. It’s about routine. Whatever works 

[EEVblog]

Just did another forum user purge, deleting any accounts with zero posts and haven't logged in for the last 3 months. A bit over 5000 accounts I think.

[coppercone2]

https://www.watertechonline.com/process-water/article/14071807/understanding-and-preventing-heat-exchanger-fouling

barnacles on a information exchanger. Forum runs similar to power plant.

[pcprogrammer]

Just did another forum purge of zero post accounts pre 1/2/2020 for account creation and last active.

I'm not sure how the purge works but I still see over 4 pages of zero posters in the members list going back to 29/05/2012. Click Members - View the members list, then click the furthest right column header Posts, wait for the page to load then click Posts again to display post counts starting from zero. The member count is currently 44158.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/mlist/?sort=posts:start=0

Looks like just shy of 3000 members that do not post but log in regularly. The first one in the list last logged in a couple of days ago, but registered way back in 2012. 

That is what I call a die hard lurking fan 

So the purge clearly uses the filter constraint Dave uses on the last login date.

[mfro]

So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.

Yes, but how many normal members? 

I wouldn't be here if this forum had only "normal" members.

[RoGeorge]

 

[timenutgoblin]

So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.

Yes, but how many normal members? 

I wouldn't be here if this forum had only "normal" members.

@RoGeorge is uncharacteristically normal. Normally he's just odd.

[ebastler]

So the 7000 odd members should be a genuine figure now.

Yes, but how many normal members? 

I wouldn't be here if this forum had only "normal" members.

You are a bit early with your tenth anniversary reply. 

[EEVblog]

So the purge clearly uses the filter constraint Dave uses on the last login date.

Yes, I search for accounts with zero posts who haven't logged in for the last 3 months.