# ella1985 - bot or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 28, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141 "2011-06-28T14:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/21 "2011-06-28T21:26:58Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > How do you determine this? Do you check the IP address against other sites that have already determined it is a bot? If you ever get a PM from a Moderator asking you about some weird story about a tortoise that’s lying on its back in the desert, you’d be well-advised to carefully consider how you reply. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/22 "2011-06-28T21:30:34Z")
What’s a tortoise? ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/23 "2011-06-28T21:31:31Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > 1. How/why would a bot decide that “regionalism” is a bad thing? (Maybe the thread was supporting regionalism…) > > The second quote, I guess a decently written bot might have been able to link “definition” and “nothing”. I guess. > > The third quote is extremely generic, could be plugged into almost any thread here. > > 1. Most importantly (from my curiosity’s sake), why does a bot need to establish credibility? Why wait to spam? Some bots are set to PM spam as well, and certain boards have a user/post limit set before you can start sending PMs, so it may be a bot set to try and circumvent that control as well. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/24 "2011-06-28T21:34:08Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > Some bots are set to PM spam as well, and certain boards have a user/post limit set before you can start sending PMs, so it may be a bot set to try and circumvent that control as well. Huh. I didn’t know that, thanks! ---
**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:** [June 28, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/25 "2011-06-28T21:58:26Z")
You know what a turtle is? Same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/26 "2011-06-28T22:49:35Z")
Which of the following would you most prefer? A, a puppy; B, a pretty flower from your sweetie or; C, a large properly-formatted data file? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/27 "2011-06-28T22:57:06Z")
Is the puppy mechanical in any way? ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/28 "2011-06-28T23:09:44Z")
No, it is the bad kind of puppy! ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/29 "2011-06-28T23:52:07Z")
**Marley** , would it be possible for you to tell us which post numbers the bot was in each of those threads, originally? I would like to go back to those threads and see which posts it knew about when it posted it’s “replies”, without getting any bad data from looking at ones after it posted. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/30 "2011-06-29T01:03:56Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > **Marley** , would it be possible for you to tell us which post numbers the bot was in each of those threads, originally? I would like to go back to those threads and see which posts it knew about when it posted it’s “replies”, without getting any bad data from looking at ones after it posted. In the [How do I put down a nice bead of caulking?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613624) thread, it came just three minutes after the last post you can read. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/31 "2011-06-29T01:09:40Z")
In the [I have a problem with “Nothing” Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=614040), it was between post 34 and 35. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/32 "2011-06-29T01:12:31Z")
In the [American regionalism](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13964689#post13964689) thread it occurred between post 22/23. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/33 "2011-06-29T01:16:11Z")
As an aside, 90% of all the spammers we get are located in India, the Russian Federation, and the Philippines. So, we get lots of these guys signing on in the early morning hours EDT US. I pity the night crew. But, they do a good job. Marley, of course, doesn’t sleep and gets these vermin while the rest of us dream of how we’ll spend our outlandish compensation for moderating these boards. I currently have a Lambo on order. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/34 "2011-06-29T01:18:31Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I currently have a Lambo on order. 😛 [This one](http://www.acromann.com/images/KC28712%20Lambo%20Diablo%20SV%20yellow%20V1R2.jpg), right? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/35 "2011-06-29T01:23:30Z")
If a bot made interesting posts, didn’t try to spam, and the programmer didn’t have an account here (making it some kind of sock-bot), would you still ban it, or would you let it post? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/36 "2011-06-29T01:56:27Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > In the [How do I put down a nice bead of caulking?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613624) thread, it came just three minutes after the last post you can read. So at original post #47? I wasn’t reading that thread. > [@samclem](#): > > In the [I have a problem with “Nothing” Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=614040), > > it was between post 34 and 35. After **iamnotbatman** ’s post? (I was actually following that thread, and didn’t see shit.) > [@samclem](#): > > In the [American regionalism](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13964689#post13964689) thread it occurred between post 22/23. After **Argent Towers** ’ post? Ok, I was following one of the last two, and saw some amusing spammery, but I don’t remember which it was. Good enough info for my purpose, assuming it’s correct. Thanks bunches… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/37 "2011-06-29T02:18:44Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Ok, I was following one of the last two, and saw some amusing spammery, but I don’t remember which it was. Good enough info for my purpose, assuming it’s correct. Thanks bunches… 😉 _Assuming it’s correct???_. I love you too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/38 "2011-06-29T02:21:16Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > If a bot made interesting posts, If a bot actually made interesting posts, it would pass the Turing Test and would probably go undetected. None of the posts in the OP I think count as “interesting.” However, they’re probably closer to passing the Turing Test than some posters I have seen. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/39 "2011-06-29T02:34:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If a bot actually made interesting posts, it would pass the Turing Test and would probably go undetected. > > None of the posts in the OP I think count as “interesting.” However, they’re probably closer to passing the Turing Test than some posters I have seen. 😉 We want names! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141/40 "2011-06-29T02:58:16Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > If a bot made interesting posts, didn’t try to spam, and the programmer didn’t have an account here (making it some kind of sock-bot), would you still ban it, or would you let it post? > **[Constructive](https://www.xkcd.com/810/)** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ella1985-bot-or-not/587141.md?page=3)