A man giving the thumbs up signI just upgraded the weblog software that I use for mashby.com, MovableType, to version 3.15. While I was at it, I also upgraded MT-Blacklist to the latest version and additionally installed MT-DBSL, which is a new plugin for this site.


I made all these changes primarily due to reading the SixApart article “Six Apart Guide to Comment Spam.” If you run a weblog and are sick of comment and trackback SPAM, then this is definitely worth a read. Adding the plugins was very easy and after I test the waters with MT-DBSL, I’ll probably install either Phil Ringnalda’s Real Comment Throttle, or James Seng’s MT-Bayesian. Heck, I might just install both, however I’ll take it step-by-step to see just how well one small step does before I take another.

For those of you that don’t run your own weblogs, then you may not be aware of just how bad comment and trackback SPAM can be. Just picture your personal web site being bombarded with hundreds of fake comments all pointing to “sites of ill repute.” Each time a comment is posted an e-mail is sent to your inbox, so not only do you have 100’s of e-mails to delete, but then you have 100’s of comments to delete as well. And guess what? The more popular your site is, the worse the problem can be. The plugins I’ve listed already certainly help stem the flood, but nothing so far has provided a 100% solution.

I’ve often wondered why these scumbags (aka link spammers) go to so much trouble to make my life miserable. With the protection I have in place, no comment SPAM is actually published. In other words, my readers will never see it. So why go to all the trouble? Granted, I know that it’s just a script that’s actually doing the publishing, but still, what’s it all about. Well, The Register published an article this week that answers all my questions. It’s entitled, Interview with a link spammer. After reading the article, I still loathe and despise these crap bags, but at least I now know WHY these weasels do what they do.

Last but not least, if you run into any problems using this web site, please let me know. I’ve made enough changes that something could have gone haywire along the way and I could use your help if you find something. Either post a comment to this thread, or use the Contact Form to e-mail me.