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04/27/2005 Entry: "Grrr..."
I hate spam.
And I hate spammers all the more.
And spammers that use zombie machines to fill my blog comments with crap are right at the bottom of my Christmas card list.
I know I can ban certain IP addresses (and I do) but I'm seriously considering a "register to post comments" option for the new site... which is coming along nicely, thanks for asking.
Would anyone have any objection?
Replies: 5 comments
Hmm. The problem with IP address blocking is that it assumes that the IP address will be static, and it ain't necessarily so.
However, it's quite easy to use php and the GD library to cook up a "turing test" (a random piece of text in different fonts with a bit of random noise chucked in there to confuse OCR systems) which should screw up the automated posts.
A registration script should also cause problems for human spammers.
Posted by Steve Dix @ 05/02/2005 11:04 AM GMT
Hmmm... Pivot, you say...
I'm currently re-writing the site in PHP (just to test a few ideas for another site I'm doing), so I'll look into it.
Thanks for the pointer!
Posted by Ross @ 04/28/2005 01:50 PM GMT
Go for it Ross. I'll register, and comment.
On my own site, which is now PHP backended, I use Pivot, and with that Pivot Blacklist, which is a fairly handy anti-comment-spam tool. Something similar probably exists for Greymatter - have a look around.
--c.
Posted by clive @ 04/28/2005 10:47 AM GMT
I'd say it's a necessary inconvenience in this spammy day and age, and considering how much you're being targeted, I don't think anyone could blame you if you went down that road.
Posted by [5x5] @ 04/28/2005 12:34 AM GMT
Bastards, the lot of 'em!
I've temporarily suspended the comment facility on my blog (at least until I can move to Movable Type, which apparently has better protection against spamming). The registration option is another thing I've considered; it's a pain for users, but could work well as long as people accept cookies.
Posted by adrian @ 04/27/2005 10:08 PM GMT