Published September 5th, 2008
in Blog Spam.
One of the great SPAM problems on the web is blog comment spam.
People or robots that troll the web looking for blogs to place comments on are getting to be a real problem.
But there is hope! I’ve been using the Akismet plugin for WordPress for a couple of years now, and there has been a HUGE reduction in my spammy blog comments. The plugin is available right in the standard WP install these days, so take quick advantage of it.
One caution though…
It can catch REAL comments once in a while.
So if you really value every last blog comment, you’ll want to open up that Akismet queue of spams caught and scan throught it once in a while.
Until next time!
Published January 14th, 2008
in Uncategorized.
As an avid spam hunter, and Net denizen since 1982, I’ve found some pretty excellent solutions to the spam problem. I got my first email address in 1992, and almost immediately had to deal with spammers. Back then, they were met with extreme intolerance. The typical reaction to a mass-solicitation via email was to reply several hundred times in disgust… “flaming” the spammer into repentance.
What makes me uniquely suited to fight this problem is that I’ve been on both sides of the equation. Once email marketing had become commonplace, I tried my hand at sending commercial email to lists I purchased. This is loooooong before the CAN-SPAM act. I had absolutely amazing success… it was addictive! I’d send an email; watching my web server churn away as I took a nap… and I’d come back and see all the sales! It was like some sort of financial crack.
What made me different than most of the mass mailers of the day was that I actually cared what people thought. When someone would reply to an email, I would read it and respond! The “Reply-To” in my emails was genuine, and got back immediately to me. My personal information may not have been available anywhere, but I was a real-live person sending these mass emails.
When I’d get the ubiquitous extreme-flame email from someone… full of vile language and hate… it would actually hurt me, and I would reply to it. Most people were stunned that someone had seen their reply and acknowledged it. That kind of emotional attachment to my readers was the end of the fun. I couldn’t send after a while. My spamming days were over.
I still have my lists someplace… just to remind me of my checkered past. But this experience from long ago uniquely equips me to understand the other side of the inbox: I know what these people are up to, and still have friends “on the dark side”. I can pry information out of them… on their latest tactics for getting their emails delivered past the filters and blockers.
So this site is the repository for all the information I find on defeating the spammers! With enough information, you can Eliminate Spam!
