Quick newsflash: as some of you may have noticed we have been getting a lot of spam recently, in the form of inane comments on three year old posts (usually, for some reason, the exact same three year old post) purportedly sent by commenters with unlikely names such as 'Britney' or 'Hqwxxxcjuyyt'. I suppose I could just delete the three-year old post being targeted but hell, it's got as much right to its place in the archives as any of the other 152 and why it should be hounded out of existence by such automated abominations I'm sure I don't know. After due consideration then, I have taken the less draconian but admittedly still rather irritating step of clicking the button in the back control room here at Crinklybee Towers that will require you to prove that you are human by, when leaving a comment, copying into a box some letters written in funny squiggly script.
Now as you know we at Crinklybee Towers pride ourselves on the intimate understanding we have of our readers' needs- so we are distinctly aware that this fiddly development may go down poorly with the approximately 43% of you who are habitually moved to comment only while under the influence of strong liquor and who consequently find that the even the normal straight up lettering tends to veer alarmingly towards squiggliness on occasions. We ask that you bear with us during these testing times- hell, it's not as if we don't empathise as there will no doubt be occasions during the coming weeks when, like a drunk fiddling vainly with his front door keys I find my own squiggly-letter test beyond me and am rendered incapable of posting on my own blog and have to sleep outside in its front garden. Testing times indeed, but as I hope you will agree if the new measures protect us against Britney and her ilk then all will have been worthwhile.
That is the end of the Newsflash, we return you now to your scheduled programming.
Which post was it, out of interest? Because I, in my own inattentiveness, hadn't noticed anything.
Posted by: MQ | August 07, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Hqwxxxcjuyyt
Posted by: Vicus Scurra | August 07, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Hi, I really enjoyed your thoughtful writing, but wondered if your life has ever seemed empty and meaningless? Mine did, and then I discovered the secret of true happiness. Contact me and I will share the joys of inner peace with you.
Tiffany
xxx
Posted by: beth | August 11, 2007 at 03:10 PM
Hi, I really enjoyed your thoughtful writing, but wondered if your life has ever seemed empty and meaningless? Mine did, and then I discovered the secret of true happiness. Contact me and I will share the joys of inner peace with you.
Tiffany
xxx
Posted by: beth | August 11, 2007 at 03:10 PM
A quite perfect pastiche of my automated tormentors Beth, right down to the comment appearing identically twice. I was going to delete one of them but will leave them both standing as a tribute to... oh to something or other.
Vicus- nice set of letters. Be lovely when they're finished.
MQ- I refer you to February 24th 2005, or (this is the quicker option), go to the 'search Crinklybee' box in the sidebar (I bet you've never noticed that either!) and type in 'Tequila Mockingbird'. This will take you to an early Crinklybee post reviewing that venerable USA blog... which mysteriously ceased trading about five minutes after I wrote about it. The other blog reviewed there is Bury's finest Eeourjohn, who doesn't post so much nowadays but occasionally still pops up in the comment box...
Posted by: jonathan | August 12, 2007 at 09:57 AM
Oh- I just came up against the squiggly letters test and for one moment had absolutely no idea what was going on... seems to be keeping Britney and her ilk away though!
Posted by: jonathan | August 12, 2007 at 09:58 AM
I didn't mean to post it twice, but it was a genius idea!! argh - the machine has a better sense of humour than I do!!!
Posted by: beth | August 12, 2007 at 09:45 PM
I can't be bothered any more. Oh go on then, just for you.
Posted by: looby | August 14, 2007 at 12:06 AM