# I was banned, and now I'm not? A late April Fool's joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589 "2013-04-13T11:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/1 "2013-04-13T11:39:02Z")
Earlier today, I was banned, and couldn’t even contact the admin (link wouldn’t click). Glitch, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/2 "2013-04-13T12:32:18Z")
Amazing Glitch How cursed the scene that blocked my posting hand… I once was banned but now I’m back couldn’t post but now I can! ---
**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:** [April 13, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/3 "2013-04-13T12:36:53Z")
**Marley** is just reminding us of what he could do. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/4 "2013-04-13T13:24:12Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Amazing Glitch > How cursed the scene > that blocked my posting hand… > I once was banned > but now I’m back > couldn’t post > but now I can! I just sang that to the music of “Gilligan’s Island”! ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/5 "2013-04-13T14:17:59Z")
What kind of ban? Sometimes we apply IP bans on spammers and they catch the innocent as well as the guilty. It’s quite possible that an overly broad ban to slam the door on a spammer also caught you. These days most IP addresses are assigned as you sign on and so it’s a different IP address each session. And for that session where you could not access the board you were in that banned IP range. If you find this happening again please obtain your IP number by going to this site: > **[What Is My IP?](https://www.whatismyip.com/)** > > Check the IP address assigned to your device. Show my IP city, state, and country. What Is An IP Address? IPv4, IPv6, public IP explained. Contact me or Marley showing the IP number you got from that site and ask us to investigate. We’ll sort it out for you. Sorry you had a problem. We want to keep spammers off the site but not to the disadvantage of our users. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/6 "2013-04-13T14:35:56Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I just sang that to the music of “Gilligan’s Island”! I was thinking Amazing Grace… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/7 "2013-04-13T16:19:17Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I was thinking Amazing Grace… Try singing the words from “Amazing Grace” to the music from “Gilligan’s Island”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pfS6pAr5sTk/maxresdefault.jpg "Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan's Island") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfS6pAr5sTk) Both are improved! ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/8 "2013-04-13T16:37:00Z")
Now sit right back, And you’ll hear a tale, A tale of an amazing glitch… That impeded poor Boomerwang From scratching his Dope itch… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/9 "2013-04-13T17:15:09Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I was thinking Amazing Grace… Any text that’s written in ballad style fits with any music that was written in ballad style. It could also be sung to several Christmas carols (such as “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Also Cliff Richard’s “Little Town”). Also “Greensleeves.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/10 "2013-04-13T18:48:29Z")
If you ever go to Straight Dope, You better not argue, you better not fight Cause the Mods they’re gonna ban you, They’re gonna take you down (and) You can bet your bottom dollar, You’ll be 4chan bound. Let the World Wide Web sites Shine their light on me Let the World Wide We-eh-eh-eh- eh-eh-eh-eh-ebb sites Shine their everlovin’ light on me. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/11 "2013-04-13T19:07:33Z")
You were never actually banned as in the account wasn’t banned for cause. It’s just that the IP Address that you were using was blocked. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/12 "2013-04-13T20:24:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Any text that’s written in ballad style fits with any music that was written in ballad style. It could also be sung to several Christmas carols (such as “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Also Cliff Richard’s “Little Town”). > > Also “Greensleeves.” It was more the text (“amazing glitch”) that led me there. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/13 "2013-04-13T20:36:37Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Amazing Glitch > How cursed the scene > that blocked my posting hand… > I once was banned > but now I’m back > couldn’t post > but now I can! Somehow I just knew this was coming… ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/14 "2013-04-13T21:02:33Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > What kind of ban? > > Sometimes we apply IP bans on spammers and they catch the innocent as well as the guilty. > > It’s quite possible that an overly broad ban to slam the door on a spammer also caught you. > > These days most IP addresses are assigned as you sign on and so it’s a different IP address each session. And for that session where you could not access the board you were in that banned IP range. > > If you find this happening again please obtain your IP number by going to this site: > > [http://www.whatismyip.com/](http://www.whatismyip.com/) > > Contact me or Marley showing the IP number you got from that site and ask us to investigate. > > We’ll sort it out for you. > > Sorry you had a problem. We want to keep spammers off the site but not to the disadvantage of our users. Thanks for not replying in song 🙂 I’m always logged in, but I opened the SD page… and got a message saying I was banned (not just blocked), and if I had a problem with that, to contact an admin on a link that didn’t work O\_o But as you say, it seems it was a temporary thing, for that session. And it’s good, anyway. I didn’t know Weird Al posted here, or that he had so many socks! ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/15 "2013-04-13T21:03:34Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > Now sit right back, > And you’ll hear a tale, > A tale of an amazing glitch… > That impeded poor Boomerwang > From scratching his Dope itch… IT’S NOT A DOPE ITCH, IT’S HIVES FROM THE POLLEN! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/16 "2013-04-14T01:09:28Z")
> [@boomerwang](#): > > Thanks for not replying in song 🙂 > > I’m always logged in, but I opened the SD page… and got a message saying I was banned (not just blocked), and if I had a problem with that, to contact an admin on a link that didn’t work O\_o But as you say, it seems it was a temporary thing, for that session. > > And it’s good, anyway. I didn’t know Weird Al posted here, or that he had so many socks! The text was most likely “The administrator has banned your IP …” Hopefully you won’t see it again but we won’t know until you do, pretty much. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/17 "2013-04-14T18:38:08Z")
> [@boomerwang](#): > > I’m always logged in, but I opened the SD page… and got a message saying I was banned (not just blocked), and if I had a problem with that, to contact an admin on a link that didn’t work O\_o But as you say, it seems it was a temporary thing, for that session. I didn’t do it, honest. 🙂 I’ve banned a spammer in a thread and accidently banned a legitimate poster at the same time. Just clicked a box accidently. I’ve always corrected this within minutes. But I can see accidently banning a legit poster and not noticing it until later. Perhaps that happened in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/18 "2013-04-14T20:13:00Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I didn’t do it, honest. 🙂 > > I’ve banned a spammer in a thread and accidently banned a legitimate poster at the same time. Just clicked a box accidently. I’ve always corrected this within minutes. But I can see accidently banning a legit poster and not noticing it until later. Perhaps that happened in this case. Out of curiosity, is there a notification that goes to the mod loop or something when you ban a user, so another mod might notice? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/19 "2013-04-14T20:15:21Z")
We can go look that user up. Usergroup status is indicated. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589/20 "2013-04-14T20:19:32Z")
But no, there’s no notification – which, given the substantial number of spammers we ban per day, vs. a few bans per month for cause, is a good thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-banned-and-now-im-not-a-late-april-fools-joke/655589.md?page=2)