# About Cecil Replying on the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 11, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566 "2003-05-11T23:26:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/21 "2003-05-13T02:47:09Z")
[sigh] Have you seen his new revised Shakespeare? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/22 "2003-05-13T03:21:14Z")
Someone writes the columns. That someone is Cecil, whether or not his real name is Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/23 "2003-05-13T03:22:49Z")
There is no Cecil Adams, he told me so himself. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/24 "2003-05-13T10:16:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Irishman \* > \*\*Someone writes the columns. That someone is Cecil, whether or not his real name is Cecil. \*\* “I write the columns that make the whole world think…” ---
**Author:** ![Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayfield_St.Cloud)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/25 "2003-05-13T10:36:19Z")
What the… How in the devil did that MartL person or thing manage to get in 85 spam-posts before getting banned? Is that some kind of auto-program type thing, or did a real person actually register and speed type 85 (probably, I didn’t actually read any others) identical posts to different forums, 1 or 2 minutes apart? I’ve never seen anything like that on this board before. What’s the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/26 "2003-05-13T12:54:57Z")
**MartL** posted over 80 times before someone caught and banned him. I looked at four or five that were identical, spam with link to hot sexy etc. It was presumably some sort of nasty infiltrate-and-post program that posted to each thread in order. I leave it to others more knowledgable to describe more fully. His posts have now all been deleted, so they’re gone, but the system still shows his name on lots of threads as “most recent post” until someone else posts to that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayfield_St.Cloud)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/27 "2003-05-13T13:09:18Z")
Thanks for the info, C K Dex. If that was an auto-posting program, I sure hope it was a one-time thing and not a glimpse of an evil future. Something like that would have a decidedly negative effect on all message boards, including this one. One shudders to think. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/28 "2003-05-13T13:53:29Z")
No, it’s not a one time thing. It’s happened on this board before. It’s difficult to fight, though. Some boards have entry restricted by having a moderator examine each application for membership. But no matter how hard you make the entry exam, a human can always get through it. And once through, they’re free to launch the spam-bot. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/29 "2003-05-13T13:56:43Z")
Those damn, dirty humans… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/30 "2003-05-13T14:02:05Z")
gah… from now to eternity, **danthman** will look like Dr Zaeus in my mind’s eye. [Nova] \*! \* [/Nova] ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/31 "2003-05-13T14:02:10Z")
Get your hands off me you damn dirty spam-bot. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/32 "2003-05-13T16:07:08Z")
It wouldn’t be terribly difficult to make it impossible for a bot to post, but it would be inconvenient for the human posters. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/33 "2003-05-15T13:12:47Z")
Theres a 1 minute limit between posts IIRC. He must of been posting for at least 80 minutes before they caught him then. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/34 "2003-05-15T13:17:29Z")
Interesting question, **Shalmanese** , I’m not sure how he avoided that…or whether he avoided it. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/35 "2003-05-15T13:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*Well, for the record, Cecil is NOT non-existent… although he is mightily amused by the notion. \*\* Wait a minute…isn’t that a double negative?? I’ve put forth several theories as to the true nature of what Cecil Adams actually is, so far Cecil has not denied any of them. So I can only conclude that he is either: A Master Vampire (hence the ‘perfect master’ comment under his username), or a robot (come on, no one knows THAT much), and I think I might have made a matrix reference somewhere-indicating that Cecil was actually a “Mr. Smith”. I’m currently working on the theory that Cecil is a genetically engineered super soldier, who has been instructed since birth to answer questions correctly…Sort of like that guy in the show “John Doe”. Granted the evidence of this theory is sparce… 😃 I do have a question for the admins/mods: Has any post of Cecils every been deleted? Cecil ever rage out against a poster? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/36 "2003-05-15T14:53:23Z")
“Has any post of Cecils every been deleted? Cecil ever rage out against a poster?” No and no. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/38 "2003-05-15T19:12:12Z")
Define “rage out against a poster”. As I recall, he once told **Coldfire** to “Eat shit and die”, but in the ensuing discussion, we came to the conclusion that he probably meant it in the best possible way :D. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/39 "2003-05-15T19:15:39Z")
Why is this guy (the one post wonder) stalking you, **Wink**? Seems like we can’t have a thread mention socks even in passing without the stalker/sock showing up. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/40 "2003-05-15T19:22:12Z")
A couple of things. The spammer referred to posted about once every minute to four minutes – I saw it, and reported it, at about post #19. The begger just started in ATMB, worked its way down, then went onto the next forum, like a stain. Also – I don’t think it has ever been established, **Side Show Rob** , that **Cecil** is or uses socks. For all we know, his place has perfect air conditioning all year round. Welcome to the SDMB. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566/41 "2003-05-16T01:26:43Z")
Cecil’s last post on the board was just a few days back. In the BBQ pit. To a thread titled [Cecil, you putz!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3391728#post3391728) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecil-replying-on-the-sdmb/174566.md?page=3)