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FPGA FAQ and the spam problem

Having seen way too much spam on this newsgroup lately, I have come with a possible solution that just might work.

Add a section to FPGA FAQ where the known names on the newsgroup will list the companies they recommend (plus some explanation). Next time someone spams the list about "high quality PCB", or what the hell it is, we post a polite response saying that no one should support spammer companies and we suggest you choose another manufacture from the list below (link to FPGA-FAQ follows).Given that spammers only care about money, seeing they are loosing customers might stop them from spamming the list.

This way, you will also support the local companies that you think are doing a good job ;)

We could also add another section about newsgroup netiquette, 3leet English and what we think about doing other peoples homework. This is of course not as big problem as spammer, but it is still a little bit annoying sometimes.

Furthermore, someone should contact Google, notifying them about the existence of a group FAQ. I think the biggest problem with the FAQ is that the ones that dont know about it are the ones that really need to read it :)

regards - Bruns

Reply to
burn.sir
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You're assuming that they actually read any responses :) Still, not a bad plan.

Jeremy

Reply to
Jeremy Stringer

Considering they dont read responses, and often its via a 'bot' anyway, i dont think it will help..

Though supporting good companies is always a good thing to do.

Reply to
ziggy

The people that spam our news group do not read this news group.

And they certainly don't read the FPGA FAQ at

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People with poor net hygiene don't read FAQ's either.

Actually I think the real problem with the FAQ is the poor coverage of Frequently Asked Questions. The content of the FAQ web site can be roughly broken down into 3 pieces:

The archive of the news group (about 88.1% of all visitors, 13 GB/month) The list of FPGA boards (about 10.4% of all visitors, 1.2 GB/month) The FAQ questions and answers (about 0.5% of all visitors, not worth measuring)

The FAQ section has been open to anyone to write up articles that they feel would enhance this area. There have been very few participants.

Writing good articles takes time and most of us have schedule pressures that means that as soon as we get a resolution to a problem, we move on to the next issue. Taking time to write it up for the FAQ is not on anyone's radar.

Fortunately, we have the news group, which though it does not present condensed answers to FA questions, there are enough keywords, and high quality search engines, so that the collected wisdom can be re-used.

About 34 mainstream search engines crawl the archive per month (and generate about 1/2 the total bandwidth), and so questions that have enough key words often get you into the archive pretty close to a discussion on your topic.

This leads to about 3500 to 4500 visitors a day.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the FAQ section is VERY welcome, email me with your topics!

Philip Freidin

=================== Philip Freidin snipped-for-privacy@fpga-faq.org Host for

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Reply to
Philip Freidin

I think you have totally missed the point. posting a link to the FAQ in answer to questions is (1) smarter if the same question pops every now and then (2) makes it show up less often in future (3) can give a more comprehensive answer (4) makes more people aware of the FAQ. It works like this in many other groups, and it works rather nice for Mike Treseler in this newsgroup too :)

about the spam part, well... if you start posting things that hurts their business, believe me they gonna notice.

and even if they dont, it is still better to have a list of good suppliers at hand

Saying that was very stupid of you.

Back to the subject. In either case, it is always nice if people contribute and try to extend the FAQ.

Bruns

Reply to
burn.sir

Nice. You've managed to insult a person who's not only maintained a high-quality FAQ, but who's spent considerable time posting valuable information to this newsgroup.

Stop worrying about newsgroup spam; I think you need to get your own house in order first.

Bob Perlman Cambrian Design Works

Reply to
Bob Perlman

If you think it is worth your time to flame a spammer, please do it on his turf, not in the newsgroups. This thread is already close to the recent spam postings in bandwidth.

I appreciate your intent, but this is as off-topic as the spam.

The target group for your advice does not read this newsgroup regularly. Those of us who do read, may post a pointer for interesting on-topic faqs but ignore the rest without judgment.

-- Mike Treseler

Reply to
Mike Treseler

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