Getting messaging block but not copying & pasting. Am I the only one??

Hello Hans.b,

You meet people by participating in the forums. Participating in not just your local forum, but forums all over. Post topics, reply to other topics that have been posted. You will soon have a contact list that's not only full to overflowing, but one that consists of people from all over the globe.

Since many of us either can't or don't want to just block all incoming mail Expat-blog must go the extra distance to protect members from SPAM, that includes you as well. As Brazil Animator my mailbox must be accessible to everybody, I can't block unwanted mail. So the result, mailboxes get filled with junk copy and paste messages from people who come here with the specific intent on spamming until they get caught and bounced from the blog. I get everything from get rich schemes, better mousetraps, to women looking for a man who will bring them from some impoverished country to Brazil, offers of marriage, etc. All of this.... you guessed it! Copy and paste. It's not only a colossal pain in the backside, but it is harmful to the serious members of the blog who need my assistance too.

I've never sent out copy and paste messages, even before the anti-spam system. Haven't sent them out on other sites either. Nobody needs to do that, any reason I've ever been given is pure bull, just an excuse for spamming. Even before I became Animator my contact list was big, people contacted me from all over the world... why? Because I participated in the forums, I had things to say that were interesting and relevant, I gave good information and advice because of my years of experience here in Brazil and as a teacher. My contact span the globe, even have some there in Jakarta.

Nobody needs to copy and paste........ nobody, end of story! The membership is lucky that I'm not in charge of the anti-spam system because I'd bounce anyone from the blog after the very first copy and paste. The weekends turn into a nightmare here on the blog since nobody in head office is working. Membership applications soar off the map on weekends, almost all spammers who know they can send out their garbage through PMs and on the forums over the weekend until they get caught and bounced. I've been here for a while and seen my share of them.

So you can say that you don't copy and paste, that I respect. But, when you ask "but seriously how can you start a conversation?" don't look for any sympathy from me. What kind of conversation are you looking to start with a copy and paste mailout to hundreds of other members? Duh! Are we talking about a mass copy and paste assault.... "hi I'm new in town, single and BTW do you wanna get it on?" Sorry, won't get any moral support from my end if that's it.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Mr. Woodward,
As I was saying before I am simply trying to start a few not hundreds of conversations with a simple introduction one sentence infact. "Hello, my name is Hans from America" after that each message was completely different. These people are currently living in the particular cities I will be visiting and appear to have a working knowledge of those cities and after all this site is to exchange information. I have no interest in flirting with anyone. These few messages were sent to old, young, men, women, american and locals. If anyone had questions about the countries I've been to or lived in I would be more than happy to give my opinion and not just make assumptions. I understand the other avenues to network and thank you for pointing them out but I choose what I thought to be the quickest path.

Hi again Hans,

Well if the PMs are all different then there will be no problems with the anti-spam system at all provided that there isn't any part of them that have a common copy and paste portion to them. You certainly are able to copy and paste hyperlinks to websites, these are not counted.

Good luck in the job searching and trying to expand your network of contact. Hope to see you over on the Brazil Forum from time to time. I'm sure the more you get to know about us over her the more you will think of Brazil as a viable option for you.

Have a great weekend. BTW I'm an English teacher with a 25 year career, have written 11 textbooks to teach ESL/EFL to Brazilians and I've been living in the country for eleven years now. Feel free to contact me whenever you wish if you want to pick my brains or bounce ideas off me.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

PS. Sure won't turn down your contact request if you send one!

What if someone wants to send a PM and quote something you said on the forum?  Wouldn't that be a spamless copy & paste?

Hi again Hailey,

How are you doing? BTW I love your posts, you've got a terrific sense of humor as well as asking many very valid questions to provoke conversation and make people think on their feet.

You're exactly right, that is an innocent copy & paste that is really the only kind acceptable to us. It is for that exact reason the system permits 5 copy and paste PMs. You can also copy and paste hyperlinks to legitimate outside links without the anti-spam system kicking in. So you see there is a bit of flexibility around here.

Also, in cases where there is a really good reason to send out bulk PM messages to members in you country's forum or the general membership, such as appeals to assist some worthy cause, promote an Expat-blog meet-up you want to organize you are invited to send a copy of the text you wish sent out to the TEAM and they will review the text and if it meets their approval they will send out the PM mailout for you. In the case of meet-ups for example you should send with the text a list of individual members you wish to invite or indicate that it go out only to members in a specific city. You would even find that they will arrange for such announcements to be sent out with instructions to R.S.V.P. directly to you in advance of the event.

You can see that despite the magnitude of the spam problem TEAM has tried their hardest to come up with the fairest and least invasive method of protecting all members. Further, it is a system that is constantly under review and when we receive good suggestions as to how to improve it even more they are studied quite carefully and if they are viable they get implimented quite quickly. Even in the past few months there have been a number of behind the scenes changes that make things better, more effective and less restrictive for serious members while dropping the hammer on those who come here with the intention of being nothing more than "spam robots".

Having said that, the single best line of defense against spam continues to be our members themselves, who make prudent use of the "REPORT" button for topic posts or private messages that are spam, inappropriate or offensive. It is probably for this reason that over the next few months, if you watch closely, you are going to see many more instances of new members having their status suddenly change to "BANNED" and lots of inappropriate or abusive postings will just vanish. These are the "SPAMBOTS" and "hustlers" being rooted out more quickly than before as a result of fine tuning the system.

Glad you asked the question because it is something we've not really given great detail about.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat~blog Team

wjwoodward wrote:

Hi again Hailey,

How are you doing? BTW I love your posts, you've got a terrific sense of humor as well as asking many very valid questions to provoke conversation and make people think on their feet.

Is that the polite way of saying I'm a pain in the ass?

And I'm doing great.  Thanks for asking.  I almost forgot how to be polite for a minute.

How are you doing?

Hi Hailey, I'm doing fine thanks looking forward to Christmas and spending lots of time all over the blog.

Far from being a pain in the butt.... LOL

Actually I find your humor very refreshing and many of your postings provoke real dialogue and stimulate people to think.

If you ever decide to volunteer as a local Animator, you have my full support. Think about it.

Cheers,
James

I haven't even started thinking about Christmas yet.  I just finished Thanksgiving.  It's hard to think of it as Christmas time without any snow.

Hi again Hailey,

Tell me about it girl! I'm here for eleven years and doubt I will ever get used to seeing Christmas lights on palm trees. Kind of seem blatantly wrong, ya know?

Come on over to the Brazil Forum and check out my traditional Brazilian recipes for Christams, I'm sure you'll love them. They'll put you in the holiday spirit and if you try them out probably keep you working out at the local gym for a few months in the New Year. LOL

I don't do LIGHT.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

I exercise a lot every day, so I can probably handle a big Christmas meal.  The problem is I live in a place that doesn't really care about Christmas.  The malls all have sales and restaurants have special meals, but that's more about all the capitalism in communist China than about Christmas.

You never get that Christmas feeling here.  It's not just the heat & humidity, it's mostly the people.  No one has the Christmas spirit because it means less to them than Chinese New Year means to me.

Am I hearing correctly?
Expats expecting religious and racial celebrations to be what it is like back home?
When I was in Sydney, Xmas was burning hot with bush fires spotting everywhere. Then they started the dragon dance in China town.
When in Rome, do as the Romans.
but i am not in Rome.
(to that i say, you are home away from home)