CommentLuv and Spammers Redux

Blogging, Spam

After my CommentLuv and Spammers post, I figured I was done with the topic. After all, I had figured out the spammers’ latest tactic and the CommentLuv authors had figured out a workaround. Alls well that ends well, right? Well, not quite. Turns out there’s a wrinkle to this story.

I should have seen this coming, to be honest. My initial spammer, who called himself “Bruce”, actually posted two comments. One had the hijacked CommentLuv link but the other didn’t. I felt this was odd but didn’t look into it. Then, a few days ago, I was looking through my spam posts, since valid comments sometimes get mistakenly marked as spam, and I found what looked like just another CommentLuv-hijacked spam comment. It was on my Aloha Friday: Happy B-Day JSL & Your Favorite Winnie the Pooh Character post.

The first interesting thing was that this spammer hijacked B’s CommentLuv link. At first, I chuckled over this as I know for a fact that B’s real name isn’t “Emily” (the spammer’s supposed name). As I was about to delete it, I stopped, though. Emily had written: “Eeyore since he is adorable in his positively pessimistic mannerisms ;)” Now that seemed awfully familiar. Almost like something B would write. So I looked back at B’s comment on my post and sure enough, it was the same. Emily had not just stolen B’s CommentLuv, she had stolen B’s entire comment! The CommentLuv link was just going along for the ride. (As an example of irony, a spammer named “Steve” stole the entire comment that Andy, the CommentLuv developer, left on my CommentLuv and Spammers post.) I looked back at Bruce’s previous comments (which I had kept in my Spam queue). Sure enough, they were lifted from other, real commenters.

So it looks like the spammers’ new method isn’t “lift the CommentLuv links”, but rather “pull some random comment from a post and use its text for your own comment.” The hope here (for the spammer) is that the author will see the text as being relevent to their post (which it is being from a real comment and all) and let the spam post through, thus allowing a link to the spammer’s website.

The good news is that Akismet seems able to catch these and send them into the Spam queue. All that bloggers need do is exercise a little caution when approving comments. Keep an eye out for spammers posing as legitimate commenters and you should be fine.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Vines and TechyDad Tarzan

Photos, Videos, Wordless Wednesday

On Monday, we decided to clear some grape vines that had been growing behind our garage for a long time. These vines were quite big and we were worried that they would soon begin damaging the garage. First, I cleared a weed-jungle from the side of the garage and then I was able to tackle the vines. The problem was that these vines were thick. I mean between 2 and 4 inches thick. I had to use a saw to steadily rip them apart.

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After they were detached from the source, I had the fun task of pulling as much as I could down. Some were tangled on lines (not power, possibly cable or phone) so those weren’t touched. However, the ones that were tangled up in our tree were fair game. While the kids looked on, I pulled and pulled and pulled. The vine didn’t budge. Finally, I put all my weight on the vine and it still didn’t move. But I did. I swung a short distance and suddenly felt like Tarzan. Yes, I’ll admit that I considered leaving it up for a fun backyard activity, but thought better of the idea. Our neighbor came over and pulled with me. The vine was tolerating both of us for a bit but slowly gave way. Eventually, the whole thing came down. I didn’t measure it but I’d estimate it was about 30 feet long. Impressive. Most impressive.

Here I am being swallowed by the vine.

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Then I went to work on its cousin. This time, B videoed my not-so-successful Tarzan attempts. It wasn’t that the vine couldn’t support my weight, but rather that I found it tricky to get a good grip. Otherwise, I could have easily swung around the yard doing Tarzan yells. (Now *that* would have made for a good video!)

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Now I just need to call someone to remove the vines from the cable/phone/whatever lines.

Excitement With The Boys Euphamism-Style

Fatherhood, JSL

Before I begin, I must warn you that I’m testing out the new Euphamism-inator Turbo 3000.  This post will contain references to some pretty dirty activities but, these references will be masked with something a little more palatable.  I think I’ll set it to "Star Trek."  While it warms up, let me set the scene.

On Sunday, I decided to spend time with the boys and give B some time off.  First, I needed some supplies for an upcoming Cooking With TechyDad series.  While B went with her parents to shop for dresses (for BlogHer and an upcoming wedding), I took my shopping buddies to Price Chopper. We had a great time getting everything on our list (and a few things not on the list).

At one point, we smelled a heavenly smell and followed our noses to the Price Chopper bakery.  There we saw some wonderful looking breads.  As we examined which ones we might like, one of the bakers came over and handed the boys a slice of bread each.  As they devoured their slices, we picked out a loaf of Tuscan bread, finished our shopping and headed home to put the refrigerated and frozen foods away.

After putting the food away, I noticed that… wait a second, it looks like the Euphamism-inator Turbo 3000 is warmed up.  Perfect timing.  I’ll switch it on now. » Read more

My Bullied History, Part 4 – The Essay

Bullies, Life, School

As I said last week, during my first semester of college, I was taking Creative Writing and decided to write about my High School experiences.  The following is the essay in it’s entirety.  This was painful for me to read even though it has been nearly 2 decades since I left High School.  The events in this essay are entirely true (except for some name changes… my name’s not Alan) and really happened to me.  (Including the recurring dream.)  I may have mashed events together a bit for the sake of the story, but I think it gives a really good look into my mind at the time. » Read more

Aloha Friday: From Crib To Bunking In A Bed

Aloha Friday, JSL, NHL

Before NHL was two, we went for a trip to see some friends in Pennsylvania.  While there, NHL slept in a bed by himself for the first time.  (He was still sleeping in his crib.)  When we got back home, NHL was restless at night.  We quickly figured out that his problem was that he had gotten a taste of a big boy bed and wanted more.  We got a twin bed, put it in his room and retired his crib to the basement for storage.

After JSL was born, the crib was brought back out and JSL slept there.  As he began approaching three, he seemed to have more and more restless nights.  We would often find him pushing his body against both sides of the crib at once or with arms and legs in the crib slots (at which point we would need to help him get free before he woke up).  We would get him a bed like NHL’s but their room isn’t big enough to support two beds.  There would be literally no space to walk past the beds.

We’ve considered our options and right now our best bet seems to be bunk beds.  JSL would get the bottom bunk and NHL the top.  Of course, we’re worried about potential dangers of bunk beds, but we also don’t see any other option considering their room size.

My Aloha Friday question for this week is: Have you ever had bunk beds?  If so, what do you recommend we look for/look out for?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #40

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