http://norman.walsh.name/2006/06/19/commentSpam 9 60 2006-06-19T14:36:01-04:00 $Date$ Norman Walsh 2006 Norman Walsh It took several years, but the spammers finally launched a successful attack on my comment system. St. Patrick May you be defeated in every engagement you take part in and in every assembly you attend may you be spat on and reviled. I'm confident that St. Patrick wasn't thinking of spammers when he wrote that curse, but it seemed more appropriate than publishing the apoplectic stream of imprecations and profanity that escaped my lips this morning when I discovered nearly 60 spam comments on one of my essays. The pattern of comment spam has always puzzled me. There are three or four essays on which it has occurred, several times at random intervals. I have always assumed that it was the work of individuals. But the appearance of 60 spam comments overnight on a single essay suggests that someone's spamming script has grown enough flexibility and heuristic power to work through my “one off” comment system. That's game over for an open comment system. So now your comments will be queued up and won't appear until I approve them. I'm sorry. I really am. I'll try to be prompt. I wrote the new system on my flight from BDL to ORD. When I have more time and inclination, maybe I'll try to tie it into some sort of distributed identity service so that at least some commenters can publish without waiting for moderation. Oh, and by the way, I'm about to install the new system right before leaving on a flight for CDG. This is one of those times when moderation may be delayed.