Comments on: The joys (or otherwise) of spam comments http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/ This is a blog about me, my recently diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis and my struggles to stay positive about it! Thu, 23 May 2013 11:06:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: pollyannapenguin http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-571 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:47:46 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-571 I’m going the slow route, a very little bit at a time, as I have zero capacity for languages. I’m using ‘Coffeebreak Spanish’ which is free from itunes (although you pay if you want various extras including a written synopsis of the lessons. It takes it very easy and is funny to boot. I’ve been astonished at how much I am managing to absorb, even though really it’s so far only a smattering of grammar and a handful of words!

I’ll look at Visual Link Spanish though – although I’ve also borrowed a set of learn Spanish cassettes and a book that belong to my mum, though, so I don’t want to confuse myself by trying to learn from three different things at once. ;o) Not that keen on the one that’s mum’s though so I might go for the Visual Link one if it looks like my cup of tea.

]]> By: WarmSocks http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-570 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:38:22 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-570 Do you have a curriculum you like? My daughters are using Visual Link Spanish, and seem to be making pretty good progress. If you google it, you’ll find a sample lesson on their website.

]]> By: pollyannapenguin http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-569 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:33:25 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-569 LOL! Kanji looks prettier than Spanish though … and let’s face it, you probably don’t WANT to read it. ;o) As to my understanding of Spanish, having come back from my trip I’m trying to learn Spanish, but as yet I can only string together a few short sentences!

]]> By: WarmSocks http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-568 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:07:24 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-568 But I can’t read kanji (their symbols)! I can barely get the jist of romanji (transliterated into english characters) if I have access to a good dictionary. At least you probably have a general idea of what the Spanish spam said.

]]> By: pollyannapenguin http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-566 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:33:34 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-566 Japanese spam? Cool! You win.

]]> By: pollyannapenguin http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-565 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:33:11 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-565 I’ll give the mattress people 10/10 for effort – they must have hit just about every RA blog going – I wonder how many other health related blogs they’re targeting. I hope it all backfires on them badly!

]]> By: pollyannapenguin http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-564 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:30:49 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-564 I use Akismet and it generally works, but of the course the mattress folk are actually getting humans to write the comments (I assume), as there is always a comment pertinent to the post before the ad starts.

I welcome the rules too – I don’t think there’s any harm in people with influence such as journalists being given freebies to review, provided it’s on the understanding that that won’t guarantee the review is favorable. On the other hand … you run the risk fo the journalists enjoying the freebies too much and thinking if they make unfavorable comment then the stream of freebies will dry up … hmmm, …

]]> By: carlascorner http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-562 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:21:58 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-562 PollyAnna: I got what sounds like a very similar comment on my RA blog about the mattress. It was supposedly from an RA sufferer who personally used the mattress. It sounded believable enough that I almost allowed the comment, but since the spam filter labeled it as spam, I followed their advice and deleted it. It truly does seem to be an attempt at bad marketing. Thanks for mentioning it on your blog so the rest of us are aware.

]]> By: RA Guy http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-561 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:08:58 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-561 Automated comments is the only way to go! There is so much spam from spambots or otherwise, and I prefer to not subject my readers to the latest “testimonial” of Viagra! I was absolutely overwhelmed with spambots until I installed NoSpamNX plugin for wordpress – it adds a hidden field on the comments form, which spambots fill out but humans do not…if that hidden field is touched, the spam comment does not even get submitted!

Yes, I read about the upcoming disclosure rules for bloggers. Obviously there will always be gray areas, but I follow a lot of technology podcasts and blogs, and actually welcome the new rules. In the past years, there have been numerous scandals involving people “reviewing” computers, smartphones, and other pricey items that they had received for free…

]]> By: WarmSocks http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-560 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:49:41 +0000 http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-joys-or-otherwise-of-spam-comments/#comment-560 Spanish spam? I had one in Japanese.

That matress comment made it through my spam filter, too. I thought, “maybe I’m being too cynical,” but the next day I saw the same comment on someone else’s blog (by a “different” commenter) and was glad that I’d flagged it as spam. I’ve seen it a few more times since then. Glad to see you posting about it – get those comments deleted.

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