Hey ZZZ, for the last few days I've had to say I wasn't a robot before I could post. No big deal. Then I wrote a long response to TxAgFisher re part-time flying jobs, and it became ridiculous. First I had to say I wasn't a robot. Then I had to pick which pictures were of store fronts, and then which ones showed popcorn. Apparently it didn't like my choices, and suddenly it simply erased my long post. Grrrrrr!

Cary

I know, it can get ridiculous. What's really ridiculous though is a server that becomes unresponsive from being overwhelmed by bot traffic.

Bots are programs written by bad guys, that can run in parallel, and live on systems distributed around the globe. They can be coordinated to comb a server looking for ways to penetrate and infect it with malicious code, all from different origin IP addresses, making them difficult to block effectively. Sometimes this can be described as a "DDOS" attack, which stands for Distributed Denial of Service. It's a technique used by bad guys to overwhelm a server, which can sometimes reveal more vulnerabilities, possibly giving them access.

I use a service that sits in front of my server that identifies the unique attacks and signature behavior of bots, but it's not always easy, so sometimes it has to present a challenge to ensure you're a real human.

I've only gotten that challenge a few times while posting on BCP, and I'm not sure what I did to be identified as a threat. What I do know is that our server is overwhelmed to the point of a freeze at least 5 times a month so I'm okay with an occasional slight inconvenience.

Bottom line is, anytime you've drafted something you'd rather not lose, highlight and copy it before submitting. Make it a habit, on all websites you participate in. CTRL+A (select all), CTRL+C (copy), then if you need to CTRL+V to paste the text.