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January 22, 2005
Rhetorica update...
My hearty thanks to all Rhetorica readers who have gone to trouble of registering with TypeKey. I consider that effort a great complement. And I wish to reward you. My goal is to stop using the TypeKey system as soon as possible. I have taken steps to hasten the day:
1. I installed a MovableType a plugin to insert the rel="nofollow" attribute into third-party links created in comments and trackbacks. The links work, but the bots from Google, Yahoo, and MSN do not follow them or count them for site rankings (as I understand it anyway). This takes away the biggest reason to leave comment spam: increasing search engine ranking.
2. I installed a plugin that blocks comments from open proxy servers.
For the moment, anyone may leave a comment on Rhetorica, even those who do not have a TypeKey username. Any comment made will have to wait for my approval unless you sign in with TypeKey. This allows readers who would rather not use TypeKey to comment on Rhetorica.
Blog spam is apparently now completely automated. Within moments of changing my TypeKey configuration--I'm talking 2 minutes--comment spammers attempted to leave 5 comments. I walked away from the computer for one hour to see what would happen. I came back to find 120 attempts to post spam. Wow.
So you can see the problem and, I hope, why TypeKey is necessary--at least for a while longer.
Posted by acline at January 22, 2005 2:24 PM | | Spotlight