Bill Davidson is a desperate and persistent troll. He despises people who engage in serious weight training (allegedly, he's a jogger), and he has an overwhelming need for attention. He changes his username and fake email address constantly, sometimes with every post. He may be difficult to filter or killfile, but with practice, his posts can easily be recognized with a quick glance at the headers. At this point, he is posting messages through three different means:
[1] Posting through his regular news server at Verizon Online, using Forté Free Agent;
[2] Posting through Google Groups using a web proxy; and
[3] Posting through a free anonymous remailer at Twistycreek.com.
I'll address how to purge all of his posts through each of these portals.
Verizon Online News Server:
It appears that Mr. Davidson is currently posting through a Verizon Online news server that can be identified by its IP address. If you have downloaded and installed NewsProxy/Nfilter, and if your news server will provide the proxy with all headers (not just “From” and “Subject”), you can target that string like this:
NNTP-Posting-Host: 71.127.14.226If you cannot filter him by the "NNTP-Posting-Host" header, it also appears that he is the only one in MFW who is currently using the 3.2 free version of the Forté newsreader, so try looking for this string:
X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 3.2/32.830
If you have downloaded and installed NewsProxy/Nfilter, and if your news server will provide the proxy with all headers (not just “From” and “Subject”), you can target that string in the "X-Newsreader" header. Otherwise, you can still use it as an identifier, along with the "NNTP-Posting-Host" header, and filter or "killfile" the email address of any message that has both. If he upgrades his Free Agent newsreader, I will update these killfile hints. (I doubt he will spend any money of the full version of Agent, since it doesn't improve his trolling ability.)
If you cannot killfile or filter his posts with NewsProxy/Nfilter, but if you use Forté Agent, you can use Agent's Global Search to purge all of his Verizon Online postings immediately after downloading. The process works like this:
Ctl-G (this opens the Global Search dialog box)
Cut and paste the following string: NNTP-Posting-Host: 71.127.14.226This needs to be done only once. After the first time, it will automatically appear, unless you do another Global Search. Even then, all you have to do is go to History: Alt-H and click string
Alt-A (This activates Find All to search out all the posts)
Alt-V (This activates View All to view all posts in main window)
Ctl-A (This activates Select All and highlights all the posts)
Delete (All Bill's messages go to the Trash Folder!)
To return to the regular message window, just click the little binoculars icon at the top of the subject column.
I also recommend that complaints about his abusive postings be directed to:
abuse@verizon.net
The Verizon Online Acceptable Use Policies can be found here.
Google Groups:
Target his email addresses instead of his user ID. On the occasions when he posts through Google Groups, he is required to have a real email address. In recent posts through Google Groups, he has exposed several real email addresses, making them available for immediate filtering:
Bagpip@gmail.com
VeryFastRunner@gmail.com
steamingpileofturd@gmail.com
CurtJaimes@gmail.com
RoidsRgood@gmail.com
WeightedFreek@gmail.com
AlSalaz@gmail.com
Every time one of his real email addresses is filtered, it means that he has to go through the process of creating another anonymous webmail account, applying to Google Groups to post with that account, and waiting for Google Groups to email him confirmation. It’s a boring and time-consuming process that he probably isn’t willing to do every day, much less several times per day.
On other pages, I have posted simple, keystroke instructions for filtering or "killfiling" email addresses in both Forté Agent and Microsoft Outlook Express.
Twistycreek.com Remailer:
Mr. Davidson has recently begun posting through a free anonymous remailer at Twistycreek.com. These posts are a lot easier to filter or killfile than you might think. The posts through Twistycreek.com are easy to recognize: regardless of the username he uses, the fake email address is always anon@comments.header. Just use the instructions for filtering or "killfiling" email addresses in Forté Agent and Microsoft Outlook Express.
Bill Davidson is clearly an annoyance. Just think of him as the mentally ill vagrant who stands on the street corner and screams obscenities at everyone who passes by. The best thing to do is ignore him.