china spammer

[Jose]

did anybody see the spam invasion from a chinese spammer this morning?

it was posted at 2:30 am. Every section, 5 to 8 spams each.

I spent an hour deleting the garbage.

Tom, maybe it's time to prevent guests from joining the forum unless they provide CAR and VIN information.

[cass3958]

I think putting car and Vin information in is a good thing anyway and should be compulsory. Problem is unless you are specific about the layout of the vin ie P1B****DN or BW then a spammer can just make it up and get in anyway or view someone elses post with their chassis number in their signature and copy it.

On some forums you can only join "read only" until you submit a post to the moderator who reads the content, approves it and adds it to the forum. Once the moderator has confirmed that the member is writing about an S Type related topic their membership rights can then be changed, allowing them to post direct as we do now.

Other forums have the same idea with photos, where you can only submit photos once you have posted a set number of posts. I am not encouraging this though, it is only an example of what others can do as I think photos are important in describing an item or directing someone to something.

If this creates too much work for Jose as the one moderator than perhaps a second should be appointed.

[Jose]

I like the idea of having to answer a few questions before being allowed membership.

it is a deterrent to spammers and robots.

I know who are the real members of this forum, it is the ones who join and never post that worry me, makes me think they are spammers-in-waiting.

[David Reilly]

I had no idea when the three of us, 21 years ago, had the idea of an ‘S’-type Register that it would be such a wonderful journey with so many great experiences with countless amazing people. There is nothing I am prouder of than the International Jaguar ‘S’-type Register, its superb website (better than any make or club website I know of) and the ‘S’-type owners that I have been privileged to know through it.
The question of ‘spammers’ is one of several questions that we should ponder regarding the Register and its future. (Perhaps Jose will want to move this to a new thread!). The Register doesn’t belong to one person, but to all of its ‘members’.
A basic question is “who is a ‘member’”? Let’s look at a few statistics.
I have tried to record the details of any existing ‘S’-type. Probably all of you sent in a Registration Form. Thank you! I have also recorded any ‘S’-type that comes up for sale (if I can get the chassis number), cars parted out, derelict, or that I become aware of in any way (Even hanging on the wall of Omelets Express – see Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 3 if you don’t recall this).
There are currently 702 chassis numbers recorded. I will be getting the updated list to Tom in the next few days for putting up on the website.
Of these 478 have an owner’s name recorded, but some of many are out-of-date as people sell their cars and don’t tell us, or the new owner is not interested. There have been only a handful of cars that have been ‘re-registered’ by a new owner
We have 199 active email addresses of ‘S’-type owners. I let an email address fail 3 times before deleting it from the distribution list.
46 ‘S’-type owners subscribe to the Newsletter.
371 people are currently registered on the FORUM.
Regarding the FORUM. Tom and I saw it as a social place for ‘S’-type owners to connect, exchange information and share on any and all of the issues that we have with our beloved cars. In my view, there are two ways for ‘S’-type owners to use the FORUM: one is active exchange through posts and we all recognize the names of those who both ask, respond and answer. Thanks to all of you.
We also have ‘S’-type owners who read the FORUM but do not post. I am sure that this has as much value to them as we ‘posters’ receive.
Leaving spammers aside, which none of us want, I see no value of non-‘S’-type owners registering and posting on the FORUM. Jag-Lovers have many forums where anyone can, and does, post anything on their mind. I’m not entirely sure I’m OK with non-‘S’-type owners even reading the FORUM, as there is some information and exchanges that I feel are better left with our community.
Also, we make a LOT of information available to anyone who visits the website: PRESS, TV and FILM appearances; ‘S’-type LITERATURE of all kinds; Loads of information on THE ‘S’-TYPE; and photos of MERMBER’S CARS. I try to add material to these to keep them fresh and interesting but it is not high on my priority list.
The WEBSITE. Tom and Jose do a GREAT job maintaining the website, but perhaps someone would like to get involved with website content in the public areas.
The REGISTER. I spend several hours every week maintaining the Register, adding cars when a form is sent in, replying to questions, updating car information, searching for cars for sale (and the trying to get the chassis number!). When we started all of this everything was on paper and there are MANY folders of early car information. I have spent 3-4 hours a week digitizing files and have completed all of the 3.4-litre cars. I will start the 3.8-litre cars files as soon as {Patricia and I get settled in the new house and plan to be done by the end of 2019. Maintaining the Register and keeping it up-to-date is a stand-alone job, so if anyone would like to be the Register’s Registrar……
The ARCHIVES. Patricia and I are just entering our 80s, so one day there will be the question of what happens to all of the material that has been accumulated. A substantial number of pieces are now digitized (91 GB, 40,718 files). But there are hundreds of magazines, technical docs and manuals, photos, press releases, recordings of films and TV shows, postcards, cigarette cards, and othe ‘S’-type ‘stuff’. There, of course, a lot of ‘personal’ items that will remain with P1B79909DN, but what will happen with the archives? I have thought about donating the archives to ??somewhere??, as it that vast amount of information not be lost.
The NEWSLETTER. We plan to continue writing the Newsletter for as long as we are able. We have a backlog of ideas and information that will last us for a long long time, but if anyone is interested in getting involved with writing, editing, producing ….
Cheers,
David

[Jose]

David, thank you for your insights.

I am in my late 60's so you win!

I am also going through life changes, unsure if I want to remain in Florida or go north to Minnesotta, selling my two Jags is a "no way Jose", my sister won't let me and my girlfriend says "I'll kill you" if I even mention selling them.

but I am iinlove with a 1950 MG-Y Sedan so I'm lost in space. Storage is always a problem and money even worse.

I will continue swatting spammers until I get fired, then Cass or Glyn can take over. Until then, Watch Out Spammers!

Otherwise David, this thread is fine where it is, no need to move it.

[cass3958]

I think most of us on the forum and most of us who own an S Type are of a similar age. I am 61 in May but willing to take an active role in the forum. I did offer to David to look after the registry some time ago and the offer still stands.

I think most classic cars not just S Type Jaguars are owned by people of our age group. We understand the cars having been brought up with them, Most of us are retired so we can maintain the cars in our down time. Most of us are of a financial position where we can afford to buy, restore and maintain the cars. Youngsters might have youth but boy do they waste it nowadays sat in front of a computer typing rubbish to people they have never met. Kids!

[Glyn Ruck]

Thank you for discussing your vision for the forum David. It is a wonderful resource.

Since I joined last October 2018 the recorded membership has increased from 70 to 372. I discussed this with Tom a while back. I suspect that many in that growth number are not S Type owners & many probably require to be purged.

I appreciate your recognition that ~ "The Register doesn’t belong to one person, but to all of its ‘members’." A very healthy approach.

[Orlando St.R]

Yes, David, your thoughts are very insightful and much appreciated. As are your continued efforts in keep us all informed via the newsletter.

Thinking of the physical archive, I'd guess there are several possible homes. JDHT is the first that comes to mind. But also any of JCNA, JEC or JDC might be interested.

The digitised archive might also find a home at any of the above, but I (and perhaps others) would I'm sure pay good money for a copy of the 91GB on a 128GB memory stick. Then there would be copies in several locations around the world, so reducing the exposure to hard disk failure, physical damage or loss or whatever.

Another thought is that, these days, a subscriber to Microsoft's Office 365 product is allowed 1 terabyte (1024GB) of storage, so some of it could be made available online, though if there is personal information in there, we do have to think about data protection legislation.

I'm also happy to help with the website if Tom or Jose want any help.

[cass3958]

The digitised archive might also find a home at any of the above, but I (and perhaps others) would I'm sure pay good money for a copy of the 91GB on a 128GB memory stick. Then there would be copies in several locations around the world, so reducing the exposure to hard disk failure, physical damage or loss or whatever.

I like this idea and would like a copy of the archive on a memory stick. As Orlando states this would protect it against corruption or loss of a single hard drive.

[David Reilly]

I lost some data many years ago, so now there are copies in three hard drives and I back every month.
My working files I (try to) back up weekly.
Cheers,
David