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To Those of Filthy Mouths

The longer I live the more crass the world becomes.

It is commonplace today for many to use curse words at will — equally against the beloved and strangers.

Where is this awfulness in spirit and communication born; is it a lack of accountability, education or self-worth?

When the first words out of a mouth in space or fingers in email is
a curse word, one is immediately branded as an unfortunate ingrate for
invoking such wretched language.

The wages of that sin is an eternal and ephemeral death at the hands
of the unwilling who refuse to listen to or respond to that kind of
innate negativity.

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Web Cruelty 2.0 and the Myth of Kindness

I’ve written a lot about how cruelty has ruined Web 2.0:

Hate Mail and Spam
Why Do You Hide Your Identity?
Impulsive Web Rage
Anti-Social Networking
Sycophants in Rejection: Making Terroristic Threats

Continue reading → Web Cruelty 2.0 and the Myth of Kindness

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Captcha if You Can

The New York Times had a great article concerning the bane of “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart” — “captcha” for short — on our virtual lives.
If you don’t recognize the word “captcha” you will certainly recognize their semiotic power over your online life:

Continue reading → Captcha if You Can

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Hate Mail and Spam

I have decided there is no difference between Hate Mail and Spam. Nobody wants to get either one; they each share the intent to bother and wound; Hate Mail and Spam live to burden and bother.

Do you agree Hate Mail and Spam are the same thing?

If not, what’s the difference between the two?

What is the worst piece of Hate Mail you received?

What was the silliest Spam you found in your Inbox?

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How to Spam a Blog

We all know what a traditional Spammer looks and smells like. They overload your blog with links to diet pills and fat creams and breast enhancers and penis extenders. You can smell their nastiness permeating across the universe.

Continue reading → How to Spam a Blog

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Big Akismet Spam Trouble

Akismet is a Spam Plugin for WordPress and it is giving me great trouble the last two days. I have the problem using the 1.1 and 1.2 version of the Plugin.

All comments are being marked as Spam so regulars and newcomers alike are getting caught in a false Akismet Spam Trap! Please keep posting your fine comments and I will clear them for publication as soon as I can –¦
Yesterday and today I asked for help on the Akismet website and this morning I even posted a cry for help on the Akismet blog.

I will let you know if I hear any news of a resolution from them.
I have even gone as far as completely deleting Akismet from my server but still, somehow, Akismet remains active and snaring every single comment and the only way to see those comments is to re-upload Akismet and re-enable the Plugin and there the comments somehow sit marked as Spam.
I have searched my .htaccess file for Akismet phantoms but did not find any lingering settings or calls.
If you are a WordPress Guru — where and how is Akismet staying active on my blog and blocking all comments even when it is deactivated and completely deleted from my server?

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Of Spam & Politics

by Hugh Faulkner

Do we need to make laws against distasteful behavior or do we need to expect tolerance from ourselves? A recent news article grabbed my attention. It said something to the effect that the world’s most prolific Spammer, one who sends unsolicited email, was getting out of the business for good.

Eating Spam
Sandford Wallace, known by many as the “Spam king” (and also “Spamford Wallace”) is giving up on the idea of spewing out hundreds-of-thousands of unsolicited emails. His company, Cyber Promotions, has been kicked off one ISP after another and doesn’t currently have a supportive ISP through which to do its business.

Continue reading → Of Spam & Politics