Friday, October 26, 2007

Inspired by Spam


As of today, I’ve joined the ranks of those who use Word Verification in the Comments section.

Sorry, folks. I know it’s a bit of a pain but so was deleting all that SPAM I received.

Imagine. Me. A target.

I really don’t understand what leaving this junk on a blog is supposed to accomplish. What do these spammers think? My readers are going to hop to it and check out comments relating to bodybuilding, thyroid and anxiety medications?

Well, yes, because my blog has proven itself to be such a reliable source of information regarding these topics.

Strange how a url with the word Viagra in it managed to leave this nice comment on an old post: “Great article!”

I could get rude here (“Why, thanks, it wasn’t hard to do…) but I won’t.

And I’m wondering why my new friend Viagra the Spammer didn’t leave a comment on my most recent post. My twisted mind has managed to come up with a few suggestive answers to this question but I WILL STOP RIGHT HERE.

(Perhaps I am too well rested after yesterday’s “nap.”)

20 comments:

Mrs. G. said...

I hate these word verification things but for you and your commitment to quality literature, I will knuckle through. I hate spam! Oh well, I'm off to explore possible penis enlargement...and narcotics available online...and...

Cipriano said...

Ach!
I know what you mean, Beth.
I used to get Spammala Andersoned all the time at my site.
I HARDly wanted to go to the word-verification thing either, but in the end, I had to get it up there.
Your decision to also "get it on" will, I am surE, RECTify your own current dysfunctions!
Without preventative measures in place, Global Mass-Spammage would one day, I reckCON, DOMinate the Earth!
When it comes to spam-impregnation, the WVM [Word-Verification Method] is really the only French-safe... I mean fail-safe blog prophylactic out there!

Shari said...

I wondered how that worked. I took the word verification off my blogs a while back and hadn't noticed anything. I probably really don't get enough traffic.

P.S. I wonder how long it took Cipriano to write that comment. That must have took some thinking to come up with that. Brilliant!! :)

Gary said...

I think that it's probably hard for that Viagra spammer to get up for his day. Maybe he needs a stiff drink or two just to rise to the occasion.

Okay, that's bad - sorry! I put in work verification because of spam world too.

oreneta said...

No problem about the word verification...it is a pain...but the spam sucks....I am not up to cipriano's wittiness at this point so sorry....

JR's Thumbprints said...

A friend of mine works for a marketing firm. They've turned to blogs to get their message out. He thinks the tactic you speak of is useless. I agree.

Sherry said...

I too hate word verification but seriously...I have blog owner approval because of the weird things I was getting, not just spam..religious tracts that were 10 plus pages...of wild ranting by very strange people...

The spam is everywhere...and I keep getting on my email...viagara, a larger penis (I wonder if I'd grow one if I started using it?), replica watches and on and on and on. They've done something to by-pass the filter...and it's nauseating.

You're a hard hitter Beth!! ;)

The Author Of This said...

Personally, I like spam. Makes me feel wanted.

Beth said...

mrs. g.:
Just for me? You are too kind...
As for your explorations - I think you've just increased the # of hits to my blog....

cip:
I'm still laughing.
You are a brilliant man of (English) letters - your skill is exceeded only by your wit and perversion.
(So many other responses come to mind...I just can't go there...)

shari:
It probably took CIP less than a minute (and that includes typing).
He's that good...or bad...

gary:
No apologies. I started it!
(My R rating status continues..)

oreneta:
Way to much spam - couldn't deal with it.
(And I don't think anyone can equal or surpass Cip.)

jr:
They certainly underestimate the intelligence of bloggers.

sherry:
Ten plus pages? Yikes.
I'm lucky with my two e-mail accounts - maybe one piece of junk mail on each per month.
And don't fall for that spam!

Beth said...

all mod cons:
That's very sad to hear - and I'm sure NOT true.
And, hey, don't you use Word Verification too?

Anonymous said...

I heat ya sister it sucks to be spam-attacked - especailly by something you're not even remotely affiliated to..I have another site where I was so spammeed out that I had to close part of it..boo hiss for sapmmers!

Anonymous said...

I have absolutely not hard feeling about word verification. It's only a small step, and it saves you a ton of spam.

Anonymous said...

I totally undertand! I was thinking about switching at some point too. I'm starting to get all kinds of strange stuff, they imply that I contacted them. I hate that.......I suspect soon the majority of us will be heading down the same road.
XOXO

Cipriano said...

Truth is, [Shari] it actually took me only about 30 seconds to write the original comment.

But it was really short.
And just... lying there.

So I stared at it a bit.

And then I rubbed it a few times.

And, [amazing] within a minute or so it grew, and grew, and GREW into the multiple paragraphs you now see!

Beth said...

princess extraordinaire:
My attack certainly doesn't sound as bad as what you experienced. I'll consider myself lucky.

adrienne:
WV is definitely a minor inconvenience compared to getting rid of the spam.

eileen:
You may want to join our ranks before the attack!

cip:
I knew it was going to happen. You've OD'd on all your cold meds!
Get those tablets out of your nose...

Shari said...

I am out of my league. LOL

No comment. ;)

Princess Pointful said...

There is a really great documentary that sometimes plays on CBC Newsworld about Spam. It is interesting how cost-effective it is, and how so little actual purchasing is needed by a naive consumer to make it worth the spammer's time.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Attila the Mom said...

I actually got 236 spam messages in about an hour once. I'm still reading old posts and finding them. grrrrr

Beth said...

attila:
OMG. That's a slew of spam. And I thought around 20 was a pain in the a**.