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MrHen comments on Open Thread: January 2010 - Less Wrong
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For some reason, my IP was banned on the LessWrong Wiki. Apparently this is the reason:
Any idea how this happens and how I can prevent from happening again?
Assuming you were using your own computer at home and not a public Wi-Fi hotspot or public computer then it could be that you use the same ISP and you were assigned an IP address previously used by another user. Given the relatively low number of users on lesswrong though this seems like a somewhat unlikely coincidence.
Hmm... I was at a coffee shop the other day. I don't see how anyone else there (or anyone else in the entire city I live in) would have ever heard of LessWrong. The block appears to have been created today, however, which makes even less sense.
I'll be more careful with "Ban this IP" option in the future, which I used to uncheck during the spam siege a few months back, but didn't in this case. Apparently the IP is only blocked for a day or so. I've removed it from the block list, please check if it works and write back if it doesn't.
It works again.
Honestly, I have no problem not editing the wiki for a few days if it helps block spammers. It's not like I am adding anything critical. I was just confused.
It'd only be necessary to block spammers by IP if they actually relapse (and after a captcha mod was installed, spammers are not a problem), but the fact that you share IP with a spammer suggests that you should check your computer's security.
Well, in the last week I've probably had at least three IP address assigned to my computer while editing the wiki. It is hard to know where to begin. I think someone I know has a good program to detect outgoing traffic... that may work.
"Bella" was blocked for adding spam links. Could your computer be a zombie?
Mmm... it's a Mac so I never think about it. I have no idea where I would have picked it up. Does anyone know a way to check? (On a Mac.)
A spam bot using your ISP is not unlikely, that's probably what's happened.
My ISP? Or my IP address? I assume the latter.
Most ISPs recycle IP addresses between subscribers periodically. So someone using the same ISP as you could have ended up with the same IP address.
Ah, okay. I completely misinterpreted your previous comment.
But how many users do you expect sit on the same IP? And thus, what is the prior probability that basically the only spammer in weeks (there was only one another) would happen to have the same IP as one of the few dozen (or less) of users active enough to notice a day's IP block? This explanation sounds like a rationalization of a hypothesis privileged because of availability.
I didn't know the background spamming rate but it does seem a little unlikely doesn't it? A chance reuse of the same IP address does seem improbable but a better explanation doesn't spring to mind at the moment.
Not a reason to privilege a known-false hypothesis. It's how a lot of superstition actually survives: "But do you have a better explanation? No?".