Pond Scum and the Fifth Food Group
I apologize in advance for digressing off-topic this morning. It is just that I am up to my eyeballs in spam. Spam for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Spam as a midnight snack. I predict that the downfall of our society and perhaps our species will not be due to global warming, nuclear war, or even the next Kevin Federline album. Instead, some future civilization will unearth the ruins of my inbox and my own remains, index finger frozen in time on the “delete” key. Only then will they know with certainty the catalyst of our demise.
I’m all for free enterprise, but the deluge of unsolicited, unwanted garbage coming my way is wearing on me and affecting my productivity. I suspect I am not alone. I am being slapped cyber-silly through email and now, at a frighteningly increasing pace, through our blog.
I do NOT want cheap prescription drugs, Viagra, a young Russian bride or a new mortgage. I am not stupid enough to follow your link to reactivate my PayPal account, respond to the query from no_reply_we_think_you_are_a_moron@WellsFargo.com to verify my personal information, confirm the “recent purchase” of a flat screen television which will be “charged to my credit card shortly”, or get the lyrics (”for free!”) to Daniel Powder’s “Bad Day”. I am writing my own words to that one as we speak. If I want to know about your new listing, I will find it through my MLS, and if I want to know how to “take my business to the next level” or if I need a website redesign, I will call you.
How does this affect productivity? Well, there is the obvious time spent wading through the email inbox to find the one legitimate pearl among my thousands of daily oysters (I don’t like oysters). Sure, I have a spam catcher, but it doesn’t catch it all. And sometimes, it catches the good stuff. Which brings me to the second productivity-crippling issue. I spent too much time resending three emails containing a counter offer to an agent yesterday and another half hour on the phone with her as we tried to “find” it, which we finally did - In her spam folder. In the time it took us to harness the power of technology, I could have carried it to her on crutches. Then there is the necessary, periodic visit I must make to the depths of my own spam folder to “find” my incoming, misdirected mail. I often wonder how many lost opportunities have landed in my spam graveyard. “Come list my house in five minutes or else”.
Spammers are now preying on the blogs. In my case, I have what I used to consider a very workable system and a very respectable spam catcher. Until last week, it would search and destroy about 100 “comments” a day, most suggesting that we visit their website to watch someone doing something with someone they shouldn’t be, if you know what I mean. Other comments from first-time visitors would be held in moderation pending my green light. This past week, the volume of crap has logarithmically skyrocketed, however. I guess I have hit the big time. In the past ten hours, while my spam killer has intercepted 1,275 evil messages, it has missed another 86 which are now awaiting my moderation. And I will never know if one of the 1,275 was not evil at all.
And back to lost productivity. I do most of my blogging on my laptop through a wireless broadband connection. Since this doesn’t give my computer a unique IP address, some bottom dwelling spammer has ruined it for all of us. I am no longer able to post comments on many blogs; Marlow and Phoenix Real Estate Guy, I’m talking to you. I suspect I am losing some comments at my end along the way as well.
I will be looking into implementing the “type the squiggly numbers and letters in the box” method of approving comments. In the meantime, and for the sake of all that is good and decent, for the sake of the human race, take your business elsewhere. Pick on someone stupid and gullible enough to actually appreciate your smorgasbord of junk food. May I recommend KevinFederline.com?
January 26th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Two wordpress plugins have helped me get it under control (without using a captcha — the squiggly numbers and letters in a box) — SpamKarma2 and BadBehavior.
January 26th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Thanks, John! Coincidentally, I haven’t had the same deluge today. Perhaps the spammers got my cease-and-desist vibes. I am on a mission to correct the problem, however.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:10 am
What?!? You’ve been trying to post comments? Agreements? Disagreements? Hairstyle tips? What happens? Is my spam filter set too high? Please assist and tell me what kind of message you’re getting so I can make a fix.
THANKS!!!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Ahh, Kris. This problem will only get worse. These guys pay people in Romania and India (for the most part) to run scripts for them and post their crap all over the internet. The sad part is, it works wonders for them and unfortunately leaves the ethical crowd knee deep n that Viagra pitch you have been digging through. Anyway, I haven’t been around lately, but I have been enjoying your posts on myhousekey! Your Charges bit the bullet and my Barber retired, while the eagles whipped me into a distressed mess. I’m going to come back and show you something I have been working on in a few days. I plan to launch this in 2 weeks and I hope to receive a few lookers out of it. It’s pretty, there’s a few of them on the internet, I love them all, and there fun to read! I’ll be back, great start to the New Year…besides the spam part, but you have to take the good with the bad! Talk to you soon Kris!
January 28th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Thanks for stopping by Vince. Next time, leave the Chargers out of it.
Marlow, no hairstyle tips from me. You look marvelous! Yes, I think the spam filter is up one too many notches. This happened with the Bawld Guy, and he was able to correct it. The unfortunate side effect is that you may get my comment but more spam. Not sure I’m worth the trade-off. The message is along the lines of my IP address being identified as on a black list of known spammers. I assure you that it is a case of mistaken identity.