Spambot post and subsequent discussion

[PEMCREELT]

As many people hit middle age, they often start to notice that their memory and mental clarity are not what they used to be. We suddenly can't remember where we put the keys just a moment ago, or an old acquaintance's name, or the name of an old band we used to love. As the brain fades, we euphemistically refer to these occurrences as "senior moments."

While seemingly innocent, this loss of mental focus can potentially have a detrimental impact on our professional, social, and personal wellbeing.

It happens to most of us, but is it inevitable?

Neuroscientists are increasingly showing that there's actually a lot that can be done. It turns that the brain needs exercise in much the same way our muscles do, and the right mental workouts can significantly improve our basic cognitive functions. Thinking is essentially a process of making neural connections in the brain. To a certain extent, our ability to excel in making the neural connections that drive intelligence is inherited. However, because these connections are made through effort and practice, scientists believe that intelligence can expand and fluctuate according to mental effort

[EnigmaMTC]

why would anyone make a spambot say something like this?

[Lotharsson]

I'm wondering if they try to put their spam URL in the post somewhere, but the forum software edits it out without them twigging...

[QwertyCat]

Can you ban them though their IP Address? That might work.

[Lotharsson]

Can you ban them though their IP Address? That might work.

I haven't checked, but I doubt there's just one IP address involved. I've been banning usernames who join and then first-post some spam. I left this one in to see what would happen.

[QwertyCat]

Hmm..

*Stares at that account name & picture for a VERY long time*
*Gets out paint, copies picture, enlarges it*

I don't even know what this is.

Ah well, if the botter/s put more bots on, we could get more information, right?

[honnza]

Now the bots are getting nastier... one of them, from a new account, copied a helpful comment from another gaming forum (THPS, likely) and posted it as a reply. It looked legitimate but it did not make sense in the new context, and no anti-spam robot could possibly detect this.
It's always the same - They come, they post, they retreat.
I suggest a captcha for first-time users to bounce-off this attack and hope for nothing more to come.

[reyals]

Maybe ask them real questions vs captcha
Something that pretty much requires a much more complex thought to solve...
IE
If have I have 5 apples and I eat 3 oranges how many apples do I have left?
I wonder if even IBM's Watson can solves random shit like that?

[honnza]

Maybe ask them real questions vs captcha
Something that pretty much requires a much more complex thought to solve...
IE
If have I have 5 apples and I eat 3 oranges how many apples do I have left?
I wonder if even IBM's Watson can solves random shit like that?

I can totally imagine a human respond "2"