December 01, 2009

Spam...Bleh!

After going to the mailbox today I just about wore out my paper shredder disposing of all the useless credit card offers, fliers and other junk mail. It always reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer took on the post office about his junk mail. One scene has him taking all of his junk mail catalogs back to the sender, throwing them at the door and yelling "How do you like it!"

Of course, I actually kind of enjoy those free catalogs myself and lets be honest, who doesn't secretly like using a paper shredder. Come on, I bet you do too. In the end a lot of that useless junk mail gets recycled into the compost pile to become something very useful indeed, not so useless after all. I don't really mind junk mail much when I think about it that way. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for spam. It is everywhere online, it jumps out at us as intrusive pop-ups, it fills our inbox with crap that nobody can compost and really just annoys us all. It even tries to find its way into website guestbooks and blogs like this one.

This brings me to the point of this post. I realize that some readers of this blog may wonder why I have comment moderation activated on it. Let me promise you it is not to moderate or censor your comments or opinions in any way. I value all readers comments very much, including the ones that may disagree with me! Legitimate comments will always be appreciated and approved to be posted here. Unfortunately, the first week I started this blog I got a couple spam comments which was nothing more than the type of drivel that annoys us all in our email inbox. Oh I know they promise us all that we can get rich quick or win the online lottery while we get hot girls, not go bald and well I will just stop right there because we have all read them...and continue to have to read them every time we venture online.

I continued to get a few each month posted to this blog so I left the comment moderation on. Lately the amount of spam comments has increased to almost every day. They try to be sneaky by posting their spam in posts often a year old or more. I could delete them after they posted but some are offensive, while at least a couple have been scams and I don't want them on my blog for even a few hours. I very much appreciate the people that come to this blog and read, I know they do not want to read annoying or offensive spam on it anymore than I do.

I am afraid for now the comment moderation will have to stay on. I wish I knew who the people are that spam me and everyone else. Wouldn't we all like to know THEIR emails so we could follow Kramer's example, proclaim "How do you like it!" and give them a taste of their own Spam. Which makes me wonder, if you could spam a spammer...what would you spam them with?

Maybe I would send them up-close nose pictures of goats every day for a year. I got plenty of those laying around. I don't know who has been trying to post so many more spam comments on this blog lately, though judging by the content and promised "enhancement" of most of them, I just bet a certain Smiling Bob must surely be sitting behind a computer somewhere, spamming my blog and smiling that gosh darn ridiculous smile of his. So this message is to Smiling Bob and anyone else that spams this blog, because it will never get past my delete key. Smile on that....Bob.

27 comments:

KathyB. said...

Great post! I have to admit that I do love to shred paper..and I get so much junk mail to shred too. I have only had a very few spammers to my blog , you must be very popular to merit such attention( maybe I just had myself cursed here)and the spam was in a foreign language...and I just deleted it. I like your question about what I would choose to send spammers...well, I have a few pictures of the rear-ends of sheep and dogs...

Magaly Guerrero said...

I don't get that much spam as blog comments, but by the Gods they horrible when it comes to my email! It is horrible and like you said, some of them are quite mean. I just send them straight to the spam folder and you know what? They have decreased.

Your question has me wondering too. How does one spam a spammer? Hmmm...

Boozy Tooth said...

Go Jennifer! Go Jennifer! Be a Spamming Nazi! Whatever it takes. I hate spam too... the email kind and the kind in the can.

Smiling Bob creeps me out. Just thought I'd let you know. LOL

Gail said...

I dislike WV. I left it off a while and got covered with nonsensical messages.

Alison said...

Yeah, what you said! (I have to admit to loving those Smiling Bob commercials; they are so over-the-top.)

I've never gotten a single spam comment on my blog, but I think it's because when I set it up I didn't open it to being Google-able. Or else because I activated the word verification feature.

I don't mind the comment moderation at all. Whatever it takes to stay safe and sane in the blogosphere!

Twisted Fencepost said...

I hear you! And I totally agree.
Bob just gets under my skin. I despise those comercials as much as SPAM.
Luckily, my blog platform has a program built in that catches the SPAM. And I don't have to moderate.

Jen's Farmily said...

I know what you mean. I have a spam quarantine on my blog so that if a new person comments, I have to approve it. There for a while I was getting hundreds of spam comments a day. I also found it helps if there's a particular post that's getting a lot of spam, I just add a password to it.

Anonymous said...

haha, Bob! I know what you mean. I never used to get the annoying comments, but now I'm getting them in Chinese even (I believe it's Chinese....I should let my sister-in-law see them so she could confirm that for me)

Tonia said...

I have gotten some spam on my blog. I get email spam too. Most of it gets caught in the spam folder! But every once in a one sneaks thru to my inbox and then I am Guaranteed to be given Lots of money!! lol
I would send all my blurry pics!

Mom L said...

I'd like to be able to send my cat's litter through the ether to any spammers! I haven't gotten any in my email since I moved out here and changed internet providers, and I don't have a blog - yet. But I used to get emailed spam. There are just some people with too much time on their hands and no knowledge or ambition to be truly productive!!

Nancy in Iowa

Anonymous said...

We usually deposit the junk mail in the bin that our post office has though but we will shred if need be.

I had some spam through my blog too but not so much at wordpress though.

Amy

http://goatpod2.wordpress.com

Mary said...

I don't mind comment moderation at all. You are reading the comments, and care about what is posted...it is a good thing.

Yep...the ones that sneak into a year old post are amazing. Delete buttons are valuable tools.

I could send the spanners some pics of goat berries. No, not just some, I'll program them into a daily calender so they receive regularly. LOL!

Barbee' said...

I don't mind having it turned on. I did that on my blog, too. I'm sure other bloggers understand.

brokenteepee said...

Most of my spam lately has been in Japanese. I mean really...Japanese? On months' old posts.

Why?

That's what I want to know...WHY?

Michelle said...

And seriously, what's the point? I mean, WHY? It's not like we are going to read it and suddenly realize we need some chinese prescprition. Don't you get them in chinese, or is that just me?

I don't WANT to go to moderation, but I'm getting spam every day now. I didnt use to. BUT EVERY DAY is a little much. Man, I hate to do it, but i just may have to. BUMMER.

I think I'm visiting you from my SITS day a while back. I"m so lame...but not as lame as the spammers.

Leslie said...

I agree,SPAM and junk mail are so annoying, right up there with telemarketing. All of them are coming into what I consider my personal space without being invited. I don't mind comment moderation, I completely understand why you would want to leave it on.

Callie Brady said...

We add all the paper spam to the kindling for the wood stove. How thoughtful of the spammers to send us free fire starters. I added moderation to my blog too because I can't stand spammers, so I understand where you are coming from.
Moderation is the only way to go! Well, until someone finds a way to get rid of the spam.

Minky Moo said...

I love, love, love the shredder! And I also have the moderation on my blog due to spam!

Chaotic Kristy said...

I don't secretly love to shred paper I openly love it. I also love getting catalogs in the mail if you sale it and you have a catalog mail it to me because I love to check out new things. I don't however like spam and I have changed my email address so many times until I realized it will never go away and I will just have to filter it better.

If I new a spammer I think I would send him some kind of money scheme everyday for a year hoping he just might answer it. Or maybe a virus that would destroy their computer.{If only I knew how}

Sarah and the Gentlemen said...

I like your idea of sending the spammer goat nose close-ups everyday. Could you do it every hour though?
I'm enjoying your blog.

Unknown said...

The spammer haven't found me yet. It sounds like it is a real pain.

Jewel Allen said...

I finally had to moderate, too. Spam is obnoxious and pointless.

Does anyone really get any traffic from the typo-ridden drivel??

There. I feel better now :-)

Congrats on your SITS day!

Montessori Moments said...

Happy SITS day!

AdriansCrazyLife said...

That's hilarious! I dare you to do it. I'd love to see the spammers get theirs!

Charlotte said...

Peeps is adorable and she is already too big for your husband's lap!! I liked the butt fruit, we used to get some butt apples at our old house. I loved to sneak them onto my husband's pillow for a good laugh.

Charlene said...

I don't think you need to apologize. These tools are here for a reason. (I use comment moderation as well.) Happy SITS Day!

Kat @ TodaysCliche.com said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE the pic of SPAM coming out of the laptop! LOVE IT!