Internet 301 - "Mole catching for fun and profit!"

[benburch]

It is really very easy to catch moles who post on Right Wing boards and come here to disrupt us, and I'll tell you all how you can do it!

First, you need to have a web server that you control and which you have full access to the logs of. This isn't hard as apache is public domain and easy to configure on most platforms.

Second, you need to make a one pixel transparent PNG file, such as this one;

Cant see it, can you?

The link to is is http://66.92.134.175/~benburch /example.png and you should feel free to copy it. (Remove the space just before the last / !)

Next you establish an account on the target board. Create a Yahoo mail account or similar like "NRA_Supporter" or "Condi_For_President" and use that account to log in. Say nothing a RW goon wouldn't say, EVER, no matter how odious they are. Once they accept you, the fun begins.

Post something really controversial here. Nothing you wouldn't be happy posting ordinarily, but make the title into a Fascist Magnet, like "Gun Control Means Killing Fascists", you know what I mean. Drop your PNG into a reply to the original message, not the original message itself.

Wait a half-hour, and then post a message on the RW board, something like "Those damned DUers are threatening to kill us! Lets turn them in!", link in the thread here, and put some nice RW clip art into your posting, something you also host on your server.

Wait.

Then compare the logs. Look for IP addresses that appear on the logs for both files. By looking at the timestamp of postings on each board, and comparing that to the hit times on the image files, you can get a pretty good idea about the IP addresses of those who replied to you message on the RW board and those that replied to your message here.

You will also see people who merely keep an eye on both places, just as you are doing, so do not be quick to accuse.

Best to repeat the exercise a couple of times to gain confidence in your identification of the trolls.

Have fun, and remember, we are smarter than they are!

[steve2470]

1. you are brilliant, thanks ! nt

[benburch]

2. Not brilliant. Just sneaky.

We LIEberals cannot be trusted you know! :evilgrin:

[LincolnMcGrath]

3. You need to come to my house and get my CPU squared away.

The pay isn't good, but on the bright side, neither are the bennies! You sound like a real Techspert.

[benburch]

5. What do you need done?

I'm NOT a huge Windows expert, though I write Windows device drivers. I try hard to avoid the squalid thing.

[benburch]

4. BTW, one good way to seem just like one of them...

Is to save up good bits they post and re-word them a little.

The Fascists are too stupid to realize when you do this.

I've been on several of their boards for YEARS on that basis.

[benburch]

6. Hehe! I've gotten three pieces of hate mail already for this!

One threatened to shove a shotgun up my ass and pull the trigger!

:)

[Bush_Blows]

7. Okay, Ill bite.

Once I've done this what do I do with this information? It seems totally useless.

[benburch]

8. One really fun thing is to get them to lose their jobs.

I've done this a few times now.

If they are posting from work, you can usually track back the IP address to their places of employment.

Most employers have a policy against personal use of the Internet.

A carefully worded complaint to the employer with as much information as can be determined about the poster is often enough for them to track down and discipline the miscreant.

Usually they only get warned, but a couple of times, especially when they posted from government computers, I've gotten their asses canned.

At least it usually scares them enough to put an end to their trolling!

[MrModerate]

9. Excuse me, but I already waste way too much time here . . .

As it is.

Now I'm supposed to set up a watch operation on disrupters? And while you may consider it "easy to configure <apache> on most platforms," I suspect a lot of people here would find it pretty challenging. I know I would.

I've got a better idea: ignore the disrupters, except twitting them for sport. They can only be disrupters if we let them disrupt us. If they violate the rules, spend a moment or two to spit in their soup, alert the mods, and then move on.

Trackin' 'em down sounds a bit, I dunno, compulsive?

[benburch]

10. It's a hobby.

YOU can do as you wish.

Personally, I like finding ways to fuck them up.

[MrModerate]

11. OK, I can live with that . . .

Except I do still think that spurning a turd is superior to shouting at it.

Just me, though.

[benburch]

12. Oh yes...

YOU might find apache installation a challenge, but most people would not.

If all you want is to serve one directory and a couple of files, there is almost nothing to configure.

[MrModerate]

13. I'll take your word for it.

But then I use FrontPage, so what the hell would I know?

[benburch]

14. It's not hard to learn to do this stuff.

Just read the "how-to" carefully, make notes, and never panic.