"Total time logged in" bug and accounts with long time logged in

[hosseinimr93]

I tried to find out how "Total time logged in" is calculated.

Here is what I did

I refreshed a page using my account
Then I visited my profile using a device which wasn't logged in. I refreshed the page every minutes. After 18 minutes my status changed to "offline"
Then I refreshed a page again using my account. "The total time logged in" didn't change.
Then I refreshed a page using my account after 3 minutes. "The total time logged in" increased by 3 minutes.
So, the system is working fine for me and I guess it's working fine for almost all of the users.
"Total time logged in" increases as long as the time difference between two consecutive activities of the user is less than x.

This is exactly what I expected. But according to Bitcointalk Statistics Center, there are some users that have been online more than the time they've been a member of the forum.

Here are the accounts.
hmblm1245
btcnfan
froastie
keewee
randomie
bcfan
micey
liliam
randomnessie
papperbag

I logged in my account on two different devices simultaneously. Refreshed a page by both devices continuously. Both was contributing to "Total time logged in". In every minute, my "Total time logged in" increased by 2 minutes.
So, it seems that those accounts with that long time logged in are using several devices simultaneously. They are always online and never post. What are they doing? Except hmblm1245 all of them has been created in August 2018.

[TheBeardedBaby]

I have already started a thread about it, but no actions were taken. See here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5179823.0

[Findingnemo]

Is there any browser which keeps refreshing the pages for every few seconds when no actions taken on that page automatically?

If yes then those accounts using this method to increase their total login by following it on multiple devices.

[jackg]

I have already started a thread about it, but no actions were taken. See here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5179823.0

This thread answers your question then?


These users are most likely bots. There's a limit to refresh of 1 second which becomes a bit of a pain if you're trying to archive a lot of stuff from a site. I think it took vod about 3 months to rebuild his database of the 2 million profiles on here for example.

They could also be aiding the running of a few of the phishing sites too with upto date information...

Is there any browser which keeps refreshing the pages for every few seconds when no actions taken on that page automatically?

Therell definitely be an add on for it if it's not in the settings on most browsers since it's a way to get past remote attackers editing the page source you're viewing (or it makes it a lot harder for them to do).

[hosseinimr93]

If yes then those accounts using this method to increase their total login by following it on multiple devices.

What is the benefit of increasing "total time logged in" While your rank and merit is zero?

These users are most likely bots. There's a limit to refresh of 1 second which becomes a bit of a pain if you're trying to archive a lot of stuff from a site. I think it took vod about 3 months to rebuild his database of the 2 million profiles on here for example.

I tested this. I refreshed a page manually about 10 times in a minute. In this case "total time logged in" increases 1 minute per minute. I guess they are using several devices. I don't think they are only trying to increase that useless time. They have other purposes which personally I am not aware of.

[Findingnemo]

If yes then those accounts using this method to increase their total login by following it on multiple devices.

What is the benefit of increasing "total time logged in" While your rank and merit is zero?

These users are most likely bots. There's a limit to refresh of 1 second which becomes a bit of a pain if you're trying to archive a lot of stuff from a site. I think it took vod about 3 months to rebuild his database of the 2 million profiles on here for example.

I tested this. I refreshed a page manually about 10 times in a minute. In this case "total time logged in" increases 1 minute per minute. I guess they are using several devices. I don't think they are only trying to increase that useless time. They have other purposes which personally I am not aware of.

I don't know what is the real intention of this increasing their total login time but if they got higher stats then they will be noticed too just like high merit holders.

[jackg]

These users are most likely bots. There's a limit to refresh of 1 second which becomes a bit of a pain if you're trying to archive a lot of stuff from a site. I think it took vod about 3 months to rebuild his database of the 2 million profiles on here for example.

I tested this. I refreshed a page manually about 10 times in a minute. In this case "total time logged in" increases 1 minute per minute. I guess they are using several devices. I don't think they are only trying to increase that useless time. They have other purposes which personally I am not aware of.

I meant they'll be using several devices to keep stuff up to date or one device with multiple IPs. I assume if you use 2 browsers on the same IP it'll still increase (not that that's particularly helpful on its own) but a bot configured to get a new vpn identity every 10ms and pull data could be a tactic employed by a bot.