Comments on: Again with the spam blocking. http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/ apparently much happier in person Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:03:04 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82662 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82662 will do, merlin. I might get to play with that this weekend. forecast has it dropping down to -20C and staying there till sometime next week. Should help productivity a bit, at least... will do, merlin. I might get to play with that this weekend. forecast has it dropping down to -20C and staying there till sometime next week. Should help productivity a bit, at least…

]]> By: merlinofchaos http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82664 merlinofchaos Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82664 Let me know if you get akismet ported to D5; it's one of the things I need for angry donuts too. I'm also tempted to install captcha just to slow down the bot attacks. It's still a waste of resources to let all those through and then ahve to delete my queue every now and again. Let me know if you get akismet ported to D5; it’s one of the things I need for angry donuts too.

I’m also tempted to install captcha just to slow down the bot attacks. It’s still a waste of resources to let all those through and then ahve to delete my queue every now and again.

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82698 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82698 Kent, that's basically what I'm running here. There are occasional spamments that get through, but I think they are the manual surveillance probes that are used before unleashing a bot attack. They get past the sniffer because it's a human doing the probing, but once they throw the switch on the bot, they get blocked. There were 2 of these comments that got through last night, and they were likely just from sources not yet recognized by the Akismet cloud. Kent, that’s basically what I’m running here. There are occasional spamments that get through, but I think they are the manual surveillance probes that are used before unleashing a bot attack. They get past the sniffer because it’s a human doing the probing, but once they throw the switch on the bot, they get blocked. There were 2 of these comments that got through last night, and they were likely just from sources not yet recognized by the Akismet cloud.

]]> By: Kent Bye http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82701 Kent Bye Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82701 Have you tweaked the Akismet options at all? Over time there are clusters of comments that get through, and I thought that I would share what I set up (which is mostly defaults). I'd be interested if anyone has any additional tips or devations from this. In particular, whether it is better to set up any 503/403 error actions or let them think that they are succeeding by delaying or taking no action at all. Akismet Service Options * WordPress.com API key: xxxxxxxxxxxx * Akismet connections: Enabled * Connection timeout: 10 General Options * Check for updates every: 1 week * Remove spam older than: 3 days * Records per page: 50 * Number of blocks: 1 * E-mail notifications: Disabled Node Options * Check for spam in these node types: blog, page, story, book ... * Show publish/unpublish links: Disabled * Show submit spam/ham links: Disabled Comment Options * Check for spam in comments: Enabled * Show publish/unpublish links: Enabled * Show submit spam/ham links: Enabled Spam Counter Options * Spam counter: 14723 * Counting since: 2006-10-3 * Date format: November 24, 2006 Anti-Spambot Options * Delay when spam is detected: 1min * Identify spambots by: X Content that has already been identified as spam. * Actions against spambots: X HTTP error 503 (Service Unavailable), showing a simple blank page. Have you tweaked the Akismet options at all?
Over time there are clusters of comments that get through, and I thought that I would share what I set up (which is mostly defaults).

I’d be interested if anyone has any additional tips or devations from this. In particular, whether it is better to set up any 503/403 error actions or let them think that they are succeeding by delaying or taking no action at all.

Akismet Service Options
* WordPress.com API key: xxxxxxxxxxxx
* Akismet connections: Enabled
* Connection timeout: 10

General Options
* Check for updates every: 1 week
* Remove spam older than: 3 days
* Records per page: 50
* Number of blocks: 1
* E-mail notifications: Disabled

Node Options
* Check for spam in these node types: blog, page, story, book …
* Show publish/unpublish links: Disabled
* Show submit spam/ham links: Disabled

Comment Options
* Check for spam in comments: Enabled
* Show publish/unpublish links: Enabled
* Show submit spam/ham links: Enabled

Spam Counter Options
* Spam counter: 14723
* Counting since: 2006-10-3
* Date format: November 24, 2006

Anti-Spambot Options
* Delay when spam is detected: 1min
* Identify spambots by:
X Content that has already been identified as spam.
* Actions against spambots:
X HTTP error 503 (Service Unavailable), showing a simple blank page.

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82712 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82712 Bryan - I absolutely refuse to use a Captcha for philosophical reasons. All it does is penalize humans, and the extra step really detracts from a conversation that's easy to participate in. And they exclude anyone with visual impairments - blind or partially sighted people can't do much with a Captcha, and dyslexics would have to struggle. That's not what I want on my website. Chris - I think most of the time, they don't even know if their comments stick. They just employ tools like Blog Comment Uzi, set it to run overnight, and forget about it. If 1% of their attempts actually make it through on a couple of blogs per day, they're winning. And, I completely agree that the economic incentive needs to be removed. rel="nofollow" isn't the answer, as it breaks the web. I've explicitly not employed nofollow on comment links here - if a comment survives spam detection, it's valid, so links are valid as well. Bryan – I absolutely refuse to use a Captcha for philosophical reasons. All it does is penalize humans, and the extra step really detracts from a conversation that’s easy to participate in. And they exclude anyone with visual impairments – blind or partially sighted people can’t do much with a Captcha, and dyslexics would have to struggle. That’s not what I want on my website.

Chris – I think most of the time, they don’t even know if their comments stick. They just employ tools like Blog Comment Uzi, set it to run overnight, and forget about it. If 1% of their attempts actually make it through on a couple of blogs per day, they’re winning.

And, I completely agree that the economic incentive needs to be removed. rel=”nofollow” isn’t the answer, as it breaks the web. I’ve explicitly not employed nofollow on comment links here – if a comment survives spam detection, it’s valid, so links are valid as well.

]]> By: chris garrett http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82715 chris garrett Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82715 Keep up the good fight, I am not getting bored of your posts on the subject! I just wish there was a way to take the economic incentive away but unfortunately 99% of time they don't care if the comments stick or not, they just carpet bomb away. Keep up the good fight, I am not getting bored of your posts on the subject! I just wish there was a way to take the economic incentive away but unfortunately 99% of time they don’t care if the comments stick or not, they just carpet bomb away.

]]> By: BryanSD http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82716 BryanSD Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82716 I have found that a mix of Captcha and Akismet solved most of my spam comment problems. Yes, those spam "redirects" in the logs are quite annoying too. Some of those URLs are pretty clever and have deceived me a few times. Good luck to everyone... I have found that a mix of Captcha and Akismet solved most of my spam comment problems.

Yes, those spam “redirects” in the logs are quite annoying too. Some of those URLs are pretty clever and have deceived me a few times.

Good luck to everyone…

]]> By: Christoph C. Cemper http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82779 Christoph C. Cemper Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82779 Hey D'arcy, good to hear you are also on the spam fight and wait for the akismet DP5 release... dammit... I wish i could upgrade now as well as the cool RC1 is out... best,christoph PS: still need to fix that damn comment_notify bug... Hey D’arcy,

good to hear you are also on the spam fight and wait for the akismet DP5 release… dammit… I wish i could upgrade now as well as the cool RC1 is out…

best,christoph

PS: still need to fix that damn comment_notify bug…

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/11/22/again-with-the-spam-blocking/#comment-82780 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 2133570114#comment-82780 Cristoph - I had to give up on Akismet (again) because too much crap was sneaking through. I'm back to Spam.module, and it seems to be catching everything (touch wood). Cristoph – I had to give up on Akismet (again) because too much crap was sneaking through. I’m back to Spam.module, and it seems to be catching everything (touch wood).

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