WHY A SOLUTION MUST NOW BE REACHED BEFORE WE LOSE GENUINE CONTRIBUTORS TO POL.

I don't think the situation has quite reached 'critical' as yet but is probably heading that way. Robert and Dawn do keep an eye on things but of course these pests just re-invent themselves and sign up again once they have been deleted from the system. Dawn did in actual fact delete 3 or 4 last week on my request and I presume that it was Robert who zapped that 'student' bloke this morning, I don't see what more can realistically be done. They are easy to spot in the main, I can spot them a mile off but it is clear that other's can't and do contribute to the scam thread which of course is what they want to happen. These Chinese lot have been the worst offenders recently with their dreadful paintings and nonsense ramblings, they are easy to spot and if we don't reply then the post will disappear to the bottom of the page quite quickly, that's if Robert or Dawn haven't deleted it before then. As I pointed out a day or so ago, I have had my gallery attacked by mindless half-wits on two occasions now but there is little that can be done as I commented in a post yesterday. Stick with it Adele and don't let them beat you, that's what they want and they sure as hell won't beat me. (famous last words!)...

Twenty-seven thousand members, from all over the world - we're bound to pick up our fair proportion of spam. Even major newspapers which have dedicated staff to pick up on this sort of thing get it. The best thing to do with any spam post here is simply report it, DON'T, tempting though it may be, reply to it - I realize of course that spam isn't always immediately obvious. But they reveal themselves sooner or later: wouldn't be any point in their posting if they didn't. We'll stamp out this wave eventually - but there'll be others, in future: that's just the internet; people with the ability to operate their pc's, Ipads, Smartphones, but not the intellectual capacity to use them for any constructive purpose.

We have touched on this before Sylvia and yes we should have names rather than obscure letters and codes. Common sense must prevail regarding acceptable comments etc, and remember that it is a free site; not a site to advertise your products. This has been the case with the Chinese based posters or scammers recently, and it just isn't acceptable. If you put your work on the gallery you are inviting comments, some of these comments may not always be to one's liking but that may happen, not often mind you, most of us will offer constructive critique but only if requested.

I don't find much about art on here ,,, a thread like what was your last art related purchase does very well on w canvas and has daily comments ,same with palette addicts . here it is mostly personal ,,,,,i FORBIDDEN QUESTIONS -------what are your ideas for setting up your palette colours ,,what colours do you prefer for a summer scene . what is your favourite palette , ,,, lets not be overbearingly clever to newcomers with our advice , we are not all experts .or nincompoops

I too have become reluctant to post as I have difficulty being sure that unfamiliar names are not scammers following recent discussion. I think the moderators do a good, and very difficult, job. let's just hope the scammers get tired if they are not getting the response they hope for. in the meantime the best course seems to be to restrict responses to postings by recognised names.

A member has been in touch to suggest that people should be wary about clicking on any links in posts if you don't know the person who's made it, which seems a good precaution to me - just as you wouldn't click on an attachment in an email if you weren't quite sure who sent it to you. Just report them; don't reply, it encourages them. And don't click on attachments or website links unless you're sure you know what they are. In the meantime - Keep Calm and Carry On!

I'm a Forum moderator at Guitar Noise dot com. New members' posts show up in a Moderation queue and are actively moderated; those members' posts don't go directly to the Forum pages until they've had five posts approved. I've gone into the queue some mornings and dis'd upwards of 20 posts from the same numpty about wooden flooring, or road-laying machines (go figure). It keeps the Forum tidy because nobody ever gets to see those posts (and I like to think of a spammer sitting there looking at 20 e-mails saying "Your post has been disapproved") I'm sure the same system would work here; the functionality should already be in the Forum software.

Indeed it is Syd, after a few weeks of unwanted interruptions from our Chinese friends and their tacky art we need to get back on track with some interesting topics.

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But hang in, do what you do best, encourage and help. And of course paint. I have a small query that you collectively may be able to solve. I have hunted through the internet but cannot find any answer. I have found a Lidl watercolour paints set, comprising 24 numbered tubes. They are German made I think, and I would like to send them to a friend's young daughter who is just starting to enjoy painting. However, I don't want to confuse her as I explained how to mix different colours and washes, and in this Lidl set numbers 5 and 6 are both yellow, and 6 I guess is lemon yellow and 5 may be cadmium yellow, but I cannot be sure. They are marketed under the name Crelando. I know that they show up from time to time, but I do not have the original packaging. Any help will be appreciated. BTW plan B is to give them to my granddaughters' nursery school as they don't mind about such subtle distinctions. Tom Mason (Thos2017) (Thos2017)