I'm so disappointed! Fake posters on here.

dusty, I for one, will be happy when you leave our site.. never in all my years on this site have I read such crap coming from one person..... if it is 'demon infested' , it wasn't that way until you started posting.....if you are so disturbed by the ads which are necessary to keep us up and running... why wait..... get off now...... I can't speak for assa, but to me, you are who she was talking about.....you take up space for people who need and appreciate this site and in no way feel the way you do.... why don 't you 'research' malcontent...... or even the term 'bully'..... I'll be glad when you are gone..... that is silly to wait another week .... just another thing you rattle on about that makes no sense....

Dusty I have no problem with ads!! As LadeeM said without ads this wonderful site would not exist..

Just give it a break!! Leave already!! You can find your answers somewhere else. Stop threatening me, I don't care if you leave. I have enough whining to deal with on a daily basis..

Now look at that! You have made me disappointed again and I have resorted to saying something not supportive.. But I refuse to apologize..

I personnelly have found AC to be very helpful and comforting. If I didn't I wouldn't waste my precious time on here..

I recently was in the market for a brass floor lamp. I shopped around online, checked out various places that sold lamps, and then moved on to other things. The next day, guess what happened?

An ad for brass lamps appeared on my laptop, as if summoned from the deepest pits of hell by lamp demons!

The same thing happened when my husband was researching electric cars online. Ads for electric cars came up. Demonic ads. They wouldn't stop coming, no matter how much incense we burned or how much holy water we scattered about.

Of course we summoned an exorcist right away, because we didn't want demons possessing our computers. The exorcist came highly recommended, and he even looked a little bit like the actor who played Father Damien in the movie "The Exorcist," but even he couldn't help us. The demons had taken control.

The only way to stay out of the clutches of the demons that are possessing this site is NOT TO GO TO THIS SITE!

This site is a godsend for caregivers. Yes, you get the trollers, looneys and fakers, but you soon learn to spot them. Concentrate on the posters who support and help you with your situations. What I am curious about this site is why some of the words in the postings are being underlined and when clicking the underlined words and ad pops up and opens a tab that takes you to that advertisement!!!!! This is something new.

This site has grown in an unbelievable way !!! In order to keep us up and running, there has to be advertisements..... I personally have not had this experience.... but possibly it leads you to a product you have asked about or may need.... don't know... as I said.... people have no idea how many people are on this site.... and it takes money to keep us here, safe, informed, and able to talk with others with similar experiences..... There are a lot of new things on AC that wasn't here when I first came here..... I can access a lot more information without having to search the internet for hours....so I say HOORAY to Admin for keeping us up and running... we have no idea how hard they work to keep this site going.... and they do not owe us an explanation..... take what you need and leave the rest... simple...

I visit this site on my smart phone and never have any of the problems pop up that have been mentioned. Add me to the list of people who will be glad to no longer hear from Dusty. What a crackpot. What's sad however is that she will go on being an expert in all issues in life, computers, stocks, religion, research, legal matters and of course caregiving. Perhaps we should all send out good vibes through the universe for those who have her in their life. Amen.

shakingdustoff, I started getting lots of popup ads on here, which was weird because that had never happened before. Just beefed up 'Adblock' and did a sweep of Malware etc. and it's back to normal. No prob.

assandache7, I agree it is sad to have spammers here, well, anywhere. You never know whos being honest. For me, I haven't realized any spammers on here ( haven't been on as long as most of you) and I am probably "missing" the signs of one anyways. You have a good point.

All I can say is I'm real and the dog in my avatar, Ashley, an old black lab who came from rescue last year, is real too. In fact she's laying by me as I type, farting up a storm. Dog farts are lethal lol

Anywhere on the internet, if you click on something under lined or in light blue type it will take you there, be it an ad or another site so be careful where you click.

Looks like our bigtime stockbroker turned into a systems analyst with a huge computer firm. What will we do when she is gone? I always enjoy the humor. She even had me wondering if the Rapture was going to start Jun 30.

BTW, Bitdefender, McAfee, and Norton all make good computer exorcist programs. Microsoft also has an exorcist that people can use for free to get the demons out. People who are out in the internet wilderness without the full armor of a good viral/malware program are just asking for the type of problems described.

BTW, when you search for something, companies log your IP address and add you to their list. Google also does this. It is the beauty of using a Do Not Track program. It keeps your IP address private.

I love this site.It's just when using your computer just beware.Remember just recently several of us had what I call a Nigerian come on posted as a pm on our walls. I found it hilarious it was so outrageous but that's me.However, there are also a lot of emotionally vulnerable people on this site and I feel protective of them, me being one of them. I think the site admin was contacted immediately by several of us and it was removed.As always use common sense and if you are suspicious of something contact the site admin and also send a shoutout to the other members on here. Try to take care of each other.

Oh, JessieBelle, bless your heart for trying to be helpful, but everybody knows the IP in IP address stands for "imp poltergeist." That's now the demons get in.

Trying to block the Imp Poltergeist address just results in more demons getting into the computer, except now they're invisible demons. The internet is all about demons. And LOL cats, which are witches' familiars in the guise of adorable kittenz. So yeah, basically all demons, all the time.

LOLOLOL Sodone !!!!!!

Along with Avast I run a Glary Utilities scan and fix often.. It's free for personal use and gets rid of lot of rubbish that slows you down, erases tracks as well if you wish.

Just thought how lucky we are to have computers. Demons used to need possession of living things. Now they're happy to hang out in computers. They also fell prey to the modern way of life. Old timey demons were after your soul. Modern ones just want your money.

To answer assanache7's question, all of us are real, in the sense that we occupy physical space. Most of us are who we say we are, but I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that a few of us aren't, not exactly, anyway.

While I chose not to display a picture of myself as an avatar because I don't want my breathtaking beauty to detract from the pithiness and wisdom of my comments, I can assure you that I am me: a carbon-based lifeform with powerful jaws and poor night vision who has a MIL with mild to moderate dementia who, fortunately, lives in another state. I also make it a point to do no harm, although sometimes I'm snarky.

Delusions of grandeur, also known as megalomania, is a mental illness where the person believes they are very important and superior, or a tendency to do very extravagant things. It is so sad when a person's self esteem is so low that they need inflate who they really are. Caregivers are caregivers, even if they are slightly off the wall in their approaches on this site. Goodbye Dusty, I hope you find what you are looking for.

I guess I could put a picture of myself. My young one would look like Jennifer Aniston. My more recent one looks like Willie Nelson. A picture would certainly take away from the anonymity, though.

I am laughing so hard JessieBelle.... thank God for caregivers.... I wouldn't care if there were 25 Dustys on here.... threads like this absolutely make me laugh out loud..... caregivers can take something ugly and turn it into humor always.... Oh Thanks ladies for making me laugh until I have tears in my eyes...... deep breath..... I can't see what I'm writing..... lol

When I see that shakingdustoff has once again rudely commented on someone else's post, especially if that someone is new and is reaching out, I always comment and tell the person that we're not all like that, that this is a wonderful site for support and to not let one comment define this site. But shakingdustoff sure needs a lot of damage control with her comments and I'm sure some slip past. I get concerned because I don't want someone new who is hurting and needing support to be scared away from shakingdutoff's ignorant and careless comments.

I've been concerned about this for a few weeks but didn't know who to talk to or how to even bring it up. Thank you assandache7 for bringing this up.

I'm not as sharp as you all. I tend to believe everyone who comes here. Except for those who are gungho religious and start condemning us for not being patient, loving, and how our parents did this for us and we should, etc.... Sometimes, I see a poster as so rude, judgemental, attacking other posters. And I jump in. I just never realized they were trolls or imposters. I've always been grateful when someone whispered a warning to me. Then I know to be careful.

As for spyware, adware, malware stuff, I haven't used it. I'm so afraid that if I run the malware program and it finds a problem, it will pop open a window asking me what I want to do. Heck, I don't know! I once almost hit the button and the IT guy on the phone panicked and said "DON'T HIT the button!!!" I asked why. He said that by hitting YES to that question, it would make the spyware(?) go even deeper into my file. At the moment, it was immitating my files. But if I had hit the button, it would go even deeper and he would have a headache trying to find it that deep. This was one spyware/malware that required taking my computer to go to him. Since then, I've been terrified of running those spware/adwares/malwares programs. So, I don't do anything. And my computer is definitely slowing down.

Dusty, I really thought you gave some great answers here on AC. And yet, you also tended to say some hurtful stuff. I guess if almost everyone believes that you a fake poster, then you must be one. Too bad. Since you did give some good answers. Maybe counseling might help reconcile the good and the mean sides of you. Hopefully, the good comes out the winner.

There may be Face books pages for Caregiving. I haven't looked. But that would be one way that people could post just to each other. I am on several crochet groups that are "secret." No one else can join and only people in the group can see the discussion.

The thing about FB groups is that moderators have to choose who to let on. I co-moderate one fairly large group and am faced with decisions of who to let on. There are a world of people. We've made some mistake and block the problem person, but there are a lot of people who never post anything. FB is never private. Nor is AC, but at least here we can be anonymous.

JessieBelle....oh Lord....from Jennifer Aniston to Willie Nelson....hahahahaha......I'm feeling a lot like that these days .....I personally have come to depend on this site more than FB...I have found a lot of great information, have found a lot of compassionate folks and I guess there may be some fake posts as well. At least here I feel like most of us know what we're all talking about, since while our paths may be a little different, the same basic issue unites us...I am somewhat embarrassed because I can sometimes feel like one of the "all sunshine and roses" poster, then have a few bad days in a row...or even one....and I am on here losing my mind. I am thankful yall even understand that....I love Mama, but I find myself all the time thinking what in the world have I done to myself...oh well, day by day. I don't get a lot of issues with the malware and such since I rarely click on anything other than the threads that seem to have something going on that is similar to something I am going through. I hope I don't ever offend anyone on here.....this stuff's too hard to be hurting someone else in the same situation...I think I have a lot of friends on here.....it's odd to feel like you have friends who you know only by their avatar and their "name".....but better friends than a lot of folks I have KNOWN for decades...

Knock on wood, the only ads I see are the banner advertisements around this website.... so far no advertisement has followed me home, so to speak. My computer is set up to remove all the *cookies* and *history* when I turn off the computer. It's a fresh start every day.

Now back to assandache7 original post about fake posters, there are times when I wonder if what I am reading is a real question/vent, or just someone who enjoys making up stories.

I also will see questions being asked again by someone who had asked something in the past.... I see no problem with that since I see new screen names answering which means new people are finding this wonderful website, thus they might have new ideas.

I have to admit, the first time I saw one of "Captain" postings, I didn't know what to think.... oh my.... is that person for real? Then after reading more of his postings, I then stared to enjoy reading his outlook on life... I was left smiling.

Help, ideas, suggestions and smiles are what we all need :)

A&A, the bane of many forums is that they're ripe opportunity for trolls and spammers. Just this morning I saw another poster who offered good advice but posted in her profile that she was selling certain objects related to caregving. Is that an abuse? Well, if she starts hawking her own products it is.

The trolls are worse; they're clever in creating almost believeable posts which draw attention from honest people trying to help. This goes on and on and eventually we begin to realize this is all a ruse. Yet even after exposing the troll, many people still continue to believe her/he/it and continue as if the query is genuine.

There do seem to be more pity party trolls here, but that's the nature of the forum. The Admins have eliminated these posts when I've reported them, and that's key.

Last year one of the forums I post on was hit by a DDOS - distributed denial of service. Bot spammers began attacking and posting ads, sometimes with pornographic inferences, every few minutes. This was Christmas Eve, and even though many of us reported the attack it wasn't until after the holidays that the Admins could block the bots. By that time over 2000 spam posts had completely shut down the forum. A similar event occurred on another forum around a holiday - over 100 posts which were spit out in such rapid fire that they prevented legitimate posts.

SoDone, what probably happened is that your cookies weren't deleted after your browsing session, the site you visited collected cookies and used them to contact you directly.

I've had that happen too, which is why I delete cookies on exiting the web and do a quick scan after every browsing session.

Got a kick out of your computer exorcism tale!

Debralee, I haven't had the experience of being redirected to ads, but I never, never click on links. If I want to check out the link, I copy it, go to Google, then copy the link into the search box. That way I can tell what it is without going there and leaving cookies, and I can also tell by Norton's "this page is safe" button whether it's a safe or compromised site.

Just another comment on the fake posters and the posters who post strong, sharp answers. Sometimes I do the latter, because a post just seems to be so obviously false or so full of self pity and refusal to even consider options. There was one poster who presented a multitude of problems but had a "yes, but" response to nearly every one. It was pretty clear to me she/he didn't want to change but just wanted attention and to "jerk our chains."

And typically those posts also blame someone else for causing all the problems.

Those posts to me may be real, but more likely they're someone wanting pity, again and again and again, even under different screen names.

I loved all the computer demonology theories! What a sense of humor you folks display!

Thanks for the laughs my AC friends. Since I posted this one of my no show siblings decided to grace us with her presence today.. I have no idea why!!