4 ms·

What browser are you using? We fixed our Tor handling long ago. Would like to understand what you are seeing.

lrvick 8y ago
Chromium on Android got captchaed only once so far so I am using that now. My preferred app is https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/com.manuelmaly.hn https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/com.manuelmaly.hn but that stopped working today around the same time chromium captchaed me.
- lrvick 8y ago
  Related: I also get captcha harrassed by other cloudflare fronted sites constantly in Chromium on Android and have simply given up on browsing sites that use it at this point. HN put me over the edge to complain.
  - jgrahamc 8y ago
    Thanks. Let me take a look internally.
torthrow123123 8y ago
(Not the OP.) I'm using Tor Browser on a desktop/laptop. I'm seeing different problems: (1) Rate-limiting: My regular account (this is a throwaway) has thousands in karma, but after around 4 comments I still get the 'you're posting too fast' rate limiter. Perhaps HN could disable rate-limiting after the Tor user has a certain amount of karma. (2) Comments seem penalized, starting in the middle of threads instead of at the top. This issue has come and gone a couple of times (it's happening now on my regular account). It seems to stop when I have had an interaction with the mods; I wonder if they notice and disable it. It seems to restart after I get several downvotes in a short period; perhaps that triggers some algorithm which decides that comments over Tor are shady. (3) Registering accounts requires a captcha and is frustrating, though something I rarely have to deal with. To register this throwaway account I got a captcha, completed it, approved. HN said the username as taken, and when I entered another username the process started over - another captcha. Then the username was too long, so I started over again.
- torthrow123123 8y ago
  Well, HN won't let me delete or edit the parent comment for some reason (new accounts can't edit or delete their comments?). I just realized that the parent is from Cloudflare, not HN, so my comment isn't very applicable. Sorry. I'll copy it to its own thread. HN can blame itself for the spam (unless they block me from posting it anew, too.)
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  I suspect these are not related to your use of Tor. Note that jgrahamc is at Cloudflare, not HN, and was asking about the Cloudflare interactions people on Tor are having, as the CAPTCHA the OP is speaking about is implemented by Cloudflare. I am currently rate-limited, I have been on rate-limiting before, and I've had my rate-limiting disappear. This has more to do with how happy (or unhappy, as the case is) the mods are with your commenting habits than what browser you are using. I do not know if your rate limit penalty has an expiration date or if they manually remove you, HN mods rarely if ever discuss rate limiting, but it is almost surely to curb what HN mods consider poor quality comments and ensure they don't overwhelm a discussion.
  - dang 8y ago
    It's not so uncommon that we discuss rate limiting. We do that all the time when people email us and I've posted not infrequently about it: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0&query=by:dang%20rate%20limit https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme.... People are welcome to ask questions, though as the site guidelines ask, it's better to do that by emailing us. Being rate limited is annoying, so I appreciate the even-handedness in what you wrote.
gradschool 8y ago
I've had this problem as well when using a Tor proxy with Firefox. A page is displayed that says "Prove you're legit." Disabling other privacy plugins so I can accept a tracking cookie isn't my idea of a fix. Is there a threat model that includes anybody in his right mind attacking HN?
DanBC 8y ago
Tor browser bundle is painful to use for some sites that use Cloudfare. And privacypass just doesn't work - it's impossible to generate any passes.

Chromium on Android got captchaed only once so far so I am using that now. My preferred app is https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/com.manuelmaly.hn https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/com.manuelmaly.hn but that stopped working today around the same time chromium captchaed me.

lrvick 8y ago
Related: I also get captcha harrassed by other cloudflare fronted sites constantly in Chromium on Android and have simply given up on browsing sites that use it at this point. HN put me over the edge to complain.
- jgrahamc 8y ago
  Thanks. Let me take a look internally.

torthrow123123 8y ago

(Not the OP.) I'm using Tor Browser on a desktop/laptop. I'm seeing different problems: (1) Rate-limiting: My regular account (this is a throwaway) has thousands in karma, but after around 4 comments I still get the 'you're posting too fast' rate limiter. Perhaps HN could disable rate-limiting after the Tor user has a certain amount of karma. (2) Comments seem penalized, starting in the middle of threads instead of at the top. This issue has come and gone a couple of times (it's happening now on my regular account). It seems to stop when I have had an interaction with the mods; I wonder if they notice and disable it. It seems to restart after I get several downvotes in a short period; perhaps that triggers some algorithm which decides that comments over Tor are shady. (3) Registering accounts requires a captcha and is frustrating, though something I rarely have to deal with. To register this throwaway account I got a captcha, completed it, approved. HN said the username as taken, and when I entered another username the process started over - another captcha. Then the username was too long, so I started over again.

torthrow123123 8y ago
Well, HN won't let me delete or edit the parent comment for some reason (new accounts can't edit or delete their comments?). I just realized that the parent is from Cloudflare, not HN, so my comment isn't very applicable. Sorry. I'll copy it to its own thread. HN can blame itself for the spam (unless they block me from posting it anew, too.)
ocdtrekkie 8y ago
I suspect these are not related to your use of Tor. Note that jgrahamc is at Cloudflare, not HN, and was asking about the Cloudflare interactions people on Tor are having, as the CAPTCHA the OP is speaking about is implemented by Cloudflare. I am currently rate-limited, I have been on rate-limiting before, and I've had my rate-limiting disappear. This has more to do with how happy (or unhappy, as the case is) the mods are with your commenting habits than what browser you are using. I do not know if your rate limit penalty has an expiration date or if they manually remove you, HN mods rarely if ever discuss rate limiting, but it is almost surely to curb what HN mods consider poor quality comments and ensure they don't overwhelm a discussion.
- dang 8y ago
  It's not so uncommon that we discuss rate limiting. We do that all the time when people email us and I've posted not infrequently about it: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0&query=by:dang%20rate%20limit https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme.... People are welcome to ask questions, though as the site guidelines ask, it's better to do that by emailing us. Being rate limited is annoying, so I appreciate the even-handedness in what you wrote.

gradschool 8y ago

I've had this problem as well when using a Tor proxy with Firefox. A page is displayed that says "Prove you're legit." Disabling other privacy plugins so I can accept a tracking cookie isn't my idea of a fix. Is there a threat model that includes anybody in his right mind attacking HN?

DanBC 8y ago

Tor browser bundle is painful to use for some sites that use Cloudfare. And privacypass just doesn't work - it's impossible to generate any passes.