My general email address has been public for well over a dozen years, so I get a lot of spam. I’ve got some pretty good filters nowadays, but the amount that piles up in that trash folder can be pretty staggering.
This really didn’t bother me until I started writing this blog. I am amazed at how many spam blog comments pop up each day. I’m fortunate to have the controls of WordPress in place to hold back the swarm of this shite from you “real” readers, but it honestly makes me wonder about the logic behind the development of these “bot monsters.”
I’ve been down the automated spam road before. As admin of the forum over at Forkers Central, I’ve had to deal with my share of automated and people-based spammers over the past couple of years.
It used to be that you could easily baffle the non-human spammer with simple captcha. When Skynet figured out how to read captcha, developers were forced to put logic into the registration process in order to comment on a forum or blog. It looks like even that isn’t working these days.
For some odd reason, I have always envisioned spammers akin to the Cavity Creeps of Crest toothpaste commercials of yore.
Yup, that’s just how my twisted brain works. It makes sense that, since they’ve been out of work for years, the Cavity Creeps would naturally gravitate to online mayhem. Isn’t that what all ailing villians eventually do? It’s not like the convention circuit is all that great for these denziens of tooth decay.
I know, I know. How could animated baddies send out comments about real estate scams and penis pills? Hey, it’s the internet. If you’ve thought of it, it’s probably already out there. Don’t even get me started on cereal fetishists.