Blog Spam

It was bound to happen sooner or later. My blog was hit by a spammer. The first round was a comment to nearly every article on getting a larger penis, slimming down, and I think increasing your staying power…big surprise. I actually clicked through the miriad of links to find the company the spammer was being an “affiliate” for, and forwarded everyone of the approval message I received right to them.

Saturday, the spam came in from some on-line poker operation. Again, I found an email address for the host of the sites, and forwarded all the messages. They actually called me and promised to put a halt to the problem. I was surprised.

I had, in a spirit of free speech and openess, tried to keep the commenting part of the board wide open. As the first round of message started coming in, I invoked the moderation requirement.

This afternoon, I took time to add some additional functions to the board that will hopefully prevent additional attacks, while keeping the discussion component of the blog open for everyone. After 14 days, posts will no longer be open for comments, and when you do comment, you’ll have to enter one of those sets of random characters.

Sorry for any inconvenience, but its better than having to lock things down even tighter.

B. John

B. John Masters writes about democracy, moral responsibility, and everyday Stoicism at deep.mastersfamily.org. A lifelong United Methodist committed to social justice, he explores how faith, ethics, and civic life intersect—and how ordinary people can live out justice, mercy, and truth in public life. A records and information management expert, Masters has lived in the Piedmont,NC, Dayton, OH, Greensboro, NC and Tampa, FL, and is a proud Appalachian State Alum.