This is also being posted in PHOTO Notes, as a follow-up to earlier entries here on this subject. Earlier this week we had to turn off Comments. We were hit by a baffling graffiti-spam two days in a row, where a person or bot (not sure which) posts links to objectionable sites. They are offensive and unwelcome, easily deleted, but otherwise harmless.
We were not sure at first why we were targeted. We discovered the problem is as old as interactive web pages, and the purpose is to raise the Google ranking of the offensive sites. Click “Continue Reading” to find out more about this bottom-feeder phenomenon.
We apologize to our readers for any concern this may have caused. We’ve since taken reasonable additional steps to prevent posting of a known collection of objectionable links. We’ll gradually open up Comments to recent postings, although (author’s message) not enough of you were using them.
Please note that, at this point, we have not installed a cuss words filter here (we do have one). There are many cuss words that have perfectly inoffensive non-slang meanings. At some point, common sense has to prevail. When it does not, those of us with authorship privileges can always delete inappropriate comments with the click of a button.
In the continuation page of this article, you can read what a notable authority, Jay Allen of MT-Blacklist, has to say about this phenomenon.
Continue reading →
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