Parasite that Kills Host Kills Self
In nature, parasites that kill their hosts commit suicide. So too, blog comment spammers, given a sufficient burden of "infestation" of their host blogs eventually lead to the blogger closing comments or abandoning the blog altogether. I mention this because I'm a frog hair away from doing one or the other of these parasite-stopping measures. All I do is clean up from the steady stream of blogspam. I've had it!
I know I need to update to the current version of MT. I've read the instructions. It does not compute. Is the upgrade something that, given my ignorance, I could do with a few tips in MT-for-Dummies language? I had thot version 3 of MT would be out by now. Of course, upgrading to that version I'd be limited by the same ignorance and lack of expertise that hampers me at this stage.
The spam has gotten to the point where much of the pleasure of the weblog is gone, and all of the "Oh boy I've got mail" reflex is extinguished when 4 out of every 5 emails is notification of waste matter being dumped on Fragments. What's a dummy to do?
Comments
Fred,
MT Blacklist (http://www.jayallen.org/comment_spam/) would significantly alleviate your problems. It should take a dork like me about 10 minutes to install it. I'd be happy to do it for you.
Posted by: Chris O'Donnell | April 28, 2004 11:25 AM
You could also switch to Typepad. They've done something to take care of the spam issue. I've had maybe 2 spam comments ever.
Posted by: Trey | April 28, 2004 12:02 PM
Patience...don't decide until 3.0, if that doesn't work well then grab a pillow, jump up and down on it, bite it, kick, scream as loud as you can at it and, presto all your troubles will be gone.
Thinking of which, I once took a meditation class where the guy said, "imagine a jar. Now, put all your troubles in it, then put the lid on."
...it didn't work :-(
Posted by: Philip | April 28, 2004 5:23 PM
I've read your complaint about spam comments several times. What are they, exactly? Is it the usual viagra-teenage sluts spam mail, or is it some harrassment in the context of your posting, or of who you are? (I'm unaware of this problem because neither of my two readers leave comments.)
Posted by: Reno | April 28, 2004 7:13 PM
I've had one comment spam at livejournal. And that was it. I don't know what the lj folks do, and I know you have more features on MT than I do on lj, but at least I'm mostly spam-free.
I love Reno's comment about his/her two readers. I know the feeling. On lj, I've managed to attract a few more readers this year, and it feel great! But that two-reader feeling is still familiar. Sorta bitter-sweet. Sweet because at least there're two.
But I'm always reminded of what Jane Bowles said: "I can't keep writing plays for 500 of my goofy friends."
Posted by: travelertrish | April 28, 2004 9:36 PM
I use Typepad and have only had one or two spammers - but then again I'm like Reno and probably don't have enough hits to make it worth while. Perhaps also a factor is that I use the typepad blogs domain and not my own.
Posted by: Ian | April 29, 2004 5:52 AM
Suck it up man! I come here everymorning!
Posted by: Seth | April 29, 2004 9:16 AM
I'll second the MT-Blacklist. It will do until MT 3.0 comes out. I catch 100's of spam every day before it hits my comments section...
Posted by: Greeblie | April 29, 2004 1:00 PM
The photos here are outstanding! If you took them yourself, kudos! I sympathize on the spam issue. Hang in there, though. The world needs the kind of beauty you bring to it.
Posted by: Rick | April 29, 2004 6:40 PM
Fred I am another happy Typepad user. I do get the odd blast of spam but it is set up to enable me to rid myself easily. I am no A list blogger but do get a lot of traffic so i suspect that it is holding up quite well
Posted by: Robert Paterson | April 29, 2004 8:36 PM