What was reported

The investigator published a code snippet allegedly present on the archive.today CAPTCHA page that used a repeating timer to perform requests every ~300ms to a blog’s search URL, with randomized query strings preventing cache reuse. The primary writeup and community threads are linked in Sources. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

The example observed by the investigator showed a `setInterval(..., 300)` pattern with a randomized query string; see source link in the Sources section. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}

Technical explanation (plain language)

- A short timer-based loop in JavaScript (`setInterval`) can execute repeatedly while a page is open.
- If the loop builds unique URLs on each tick (for example by appending a random token), common caches cannot reuse responses.
- Each unique request forces the origin server to do work (search, database queries, render), multiplying server load as more clients run the loop simultaneously.

Embedded evidence

Sources & primary materials

• Gyrovague — investigator’s detailed post (code snippet, screenshots, correspondence). :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
• Hacker News discussion — thread analyzing behavior and verification. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
• Reddit /r/DataHoarder — community thread with logs and commentary. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}
• Public paste: redacted correspondence (linked from the investigator’s post)
• Lobsters thread (community link)