Saturday, February 27, 2010

Comment Span

Logged onto my computer this morning and strolled over to the email account where I get these sweet little emails saying someone has commented on my poor, forlorn blog. My eyes about popped out of my head when I saw that there were TWELVE new comments on various posts.

Then I opened the first email and it was gobble-de-garbage. Comment spam. YUCK!

How on earth did that happen? I've had this blog for four years now and was very careful to ensure that posters couldn't be anonymous when I did the comment settings. I also added word verification to the mix in an attempt to keep the bots out.

Looks like the bots have gotten smarter. It's obvious these are bot posts. All twelve happened within a 2-3 minute span. They all have the same "poster id" and all have the same text (if you can call it that).

There was no way I was keeping that stuff on my blog, even if the comments were only on much older posts. Who knows what search engine link might bring some otherwise interested person to a particular post? So I've just finished scrolling through my blog and deleting them. How totally irritating!

What's even more irritating, sort of, is that I'm now requiring that posts be moderated before they hit the screen. Not that I get that many posts in any given day, or week or month, for that matter.

Why can't these people just leave us alone? We weren't bothering them, were we?

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I'm Responsible

I really didn't plan it that way. I thought I was just doing things 'decently and in order' when I sent my application for COBRA insurance to the board that handles such things. I found out how much to send. I filled out the application. Enclosed a check for said amount. Sent the darned thing "return receipt requested" so I'd know it got there.

And it did.

My return receipt said it did. The board says it did. They even have proof! Praise God!!

The problem is that between the photocopy room where they made a permanent record of my check and the accounting room where the check would make a permanent dent in the amount owed ... well, it disappeared! Into thin air (or thick walls - I've always had this skewed belief that poltergeists squirrel away missing papers, hoarding them until some grand moment when they all burst from the walls. *chuckle*)

So, it's off to the bank to get them to stop payment on the missing check and writing a replacement check. The board's being really good about it and covering any fees the bank charges. (Yay, board!!) They also said I could include the amount in my next premium payment. Another good thing.

And the best thing? Because of me, they're changing the system so checks don't wander off into oblivion in the future.

Sometimes it feels good to be an instigator of change ...




... even if it was unintentional.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Absolutely Appalled

On this, the morning after a pilot deliberately flew his small plane into an IRS building in Austin, I was checking news stories for more information and to confirm that fatalities and injuries were limited. In spite of the horrific nature of the act, I was feeling truly grateful that the numbers were so small, not like the Murragh building in Oklahoma City.

I scrolled down the page, looking for any information that was more current than the earlier links.

And there it was. The Austin Airplane game.

I couldn't believe my eyes, so I clicked on the link. Yes, less than 24 hours after a deliberate attack on a building with what had to be more than 200 innocent people in it, killing at least two, injuring around 11, there is a video game where you, too, can crash a plane into an IRS building in Austin.

I had hoped that the comments section underneath the initial link would be filled with "Sicko." and "How could you possibly?" and other expressions of outrage.

Wrong.

There were numerous comments praising the game, saying how "awesome" it is, and that they had "hit a car on the very first try" (not completely sure what that was about, but apparently taking out a car with even more innocents scores points). Out of the 41 posts on the first page, only 4 of the comments were about the tastelessness of the game. Most were ecstatic that someone had 'stuck it to the man' or that the IRS deserved it.

Absolutely appalling!

I'm still sitting here more or less in shock at the callous nature of the game's creators and those who revel in playing it.