Miscellaneous Incoming!

[turf3]

SOTW is being inundated by a new wave of spambots; get ready for another influx of refugees. (Personally I figure VSAdmin are probably the ones releasing this latest infestation.)

 

[Tuppertn]

Let's hope so. With tariffs chewing away at Pete's business we could use more paying members.

 

[Ghr9204]

get ready for another influx of refugees.

You rang?

 

[progger]

I'm glad and grateful for Pete's pro-human stance in this strange new internet, along with the other relatively few sites out there which share it.

 

[PigSquealer]

Publicly available information indicates a sinking ship. AI will either work and save them or not.
Open and read “Dive Deeper”.

VerticalScope Holdings Inc (FORA) Stock Price & News - Google Finance

Get the latest VerticalScope Holdings Inc (FORA) real-time quote, historical performance, charts, and other financial information to help you make more informed trading and investment decisions.

www.google.com

@turf3 here’s the public announcement on the AI agenda from July 9, 2026 in case you missed it.

VerticalScope Announces Strategic Investment in AltaML

TORONTO, July 09, 2026--VerticalScope Holdings Inc. ("VerticalScope" or the "Company") (TSX: FORA; OTCQX: VFORF), a technology company that has built and operates a cloud-based digital platform for online enthusiast communities, today announced an approximately $6.1 million investment in AltaML...

finance.yahoo.com

Heck, just google the company and read the news.

vertical scope stock at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[progger]

Whoa! That is quite a damning graph. 😂

 

[PigSquealer]

@Tuppertn , reading one of your posts yesterday. You mentioned the place had unintended links in your old posts. I looked. It’s not just yours. It’s everyone. You don’t see these logged in. Only logged out like guests.
Every single link leads to Amazombie. That’s paid ads that aren’t disclosed. That I think is an advertising violation?
I doubt Amazombie allows this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazombie asks for a refund, cuts them off or sues them. Not to mention the possibility of a class-action lawsuit for using members content in an unintended way. Like the members placed the link. How sad they’ve gone to this level.

 

[Ghr9204]

Every single link leads to Amazombie. That’s paid ads that aren’t disclosed. That I think is an advertising violation?

I seriously doubt it. I have clicked on a few of those links embedded in a poster's message without poster involvement. Directly linked to this particular on-line store, as advertising it generates revenue directly or indirectly for that store with Vee-E$$ getting a small percentage in return based on the volume of hits from people clicking these ads.

When viewing I enable an ad blocker because lately, ads have made their forums so difficult to view and reply to (when I was a member) that it made reading and posting unpleasant tasks.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I doubt Amazombie allows this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazombie asks for a refund, cuts them off or sues them. Not to mention the possibility of a class-action lawsuit for using members content in an unintended way. Like the members placed the link. How sad they’ve gone to this level.

It is an Amazon Asdociate account. Anyone can sign up to it and get a commission on sales made via the link. The terms require a clear disclosure that they are doing that.

Amazon.com Associates Central - Associates Program Operating Agreement

affiliate-program.amazon.com

The question is, how clear is their disclosure? They would say it is clear as it’s there on the bottom of every page, although I bet most members don’t see it of know the links are inserted.

I have seen the generated links in posts I’ve written and do not like it, especially if it’s a link off the word saxophone and goes to what may be a pile of junk on mason so looks like I’m recommending it. I don’t that the links on UGC per se is illegal, as they own the rights to the content. But who knows, a lawyer may find something actionable.

Most members will not know about these as they only show when not logged in.

 

[Vetinari]

Whar happens when one ai talks to another ai and does not realise that it is not talking to humans?
Do they send spam and ads to eachother?

 

[Pete Thomas]

Whar happens when one ai talks to another ai and does not realise that it is not talking to humans?

I doubt LLMs differentiate between human and non-human in the way they “talk”

 

[Dr G]

Argh, every time I see the subject line of this thread, I duck and cover.

PTSD, anyone else?

 

[progger]

It is an Amazon Asdociate account. Anyone can sign up to it and get a commission on sales made via the link. The terms require a clear disclosure that they are doing that.

Amazon.com Associates Central - Associates Program Operating Agreement

affiliate-program.amazon.com

The question is, how clear is their disclosure? They would say it is clear as it’s there on the bottom of every page, although I bet most members don’t see it of know the links are inserted.

I have seen the generated links in posts I’ve written and do not like it, especially if it’s a link off the word saxophone and goes to what may be a pile of junk on mason so looks like I’m recommending it. I don’t that the links on UGC per se is illegal, as they own the rights to the content. But who knows, a lawyer may find something actionable.

Most members will not know about these as they only show when not logged in.

You mean I could have been making easy money on SOTW this whole time?! So many posts wasted since the '00s! Better double down on the affiliate links here.

(......Just kidding, to be clear.)

 

[Pete Thomas]

get ready for another influx of refugees.

Probably not, or not yet. By the look of it everyone’s having too much fun talking about it.

You mean I could have been making easy money on SOTW this whole time?! So many posts wasted since the '00s! Better double down on the affiliate links here.

I think that members using an affiliate link on SOTW is against Verticalscope terms so no you may not post links with a referral code.