Comment spam

For various reasons, the centralised blacklist used by the antispam plugin I use for this blog has been taken offline, reducing my protection against spam. As a result, I had over 100 comment and trackback spams to deal with this evening (the first time in months I’ve had more than one or two a week!). So, for protection, I’ve added a new step for commenting. Once only, you need to answer a silly new question on the comment form (thereafter, it will be saved in a cookie, like your name details are) to show that you’re a real person rather than a bot. Sorry if this feels unwelcoming but I think it’s the least obtrusive method available – let’s hope it works!
Update
There seems to be a little confusion – you don’t have to comment on this post to be able to comment in future! This was just a little ‘heads up’ so that people knew what was going on. The question box will appear on every comment form, and you just have to make sure that the answer is there (which it will be every time except the first, provided you have cookies enabled). But thanks to those who’ve commented already – it shows me that it’s working properly :-) It’s also blocked over 60 comment spams already since I put it in place!

pax et bonum

Article posted at 8:47pm on 12 October 2005
Category: Computers, Life, Struggling, General