Wednesday, May 15, 2013

I give up!



Not only did DH and I wake up to this view of the hills across the valley (in mid-May!) but when I logged on I was greeted with a positive blizzard of spam, not all of which had been caught by Blogger's spam filter. Sigh….   I won’t ban anonymous comments, otherwise several people I care about couldn't comment, and I don’t want to put on comment moderation, as I know some of you like to talk among yourselves when I’m not there. J

The ray of light in this gloomy situation is that the latest version of word verification is very much easier to decipher, so that even I can usually do it first time. This means that I can switch it on without feeling too guilty, until the spammers give up and go away. The sound you hear is Perpetua swallowing her principles and admitting herself beaten – for the moment…..

62 comments:

  1. Outrageous weather ! We arrived in France yesterday, to lovely sunshine, but cold grey skies have replaced that today, and rain is forecast for the next few days. Sorry to hear about all your spam. I have started receiving some recently, but not the cascade you are talking about. Whatever you do...don't give up though. Summer will arrive, and all will be well. Jx

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    1. It's quite extraordinary, Janice. I'm so sorry you're getting grey skies and rain so far south, but since Annie had snow in Spain not long ago, I don't think anywhere is exempt this year. I've been getting some spam for a while, but this last week has been very much worse, with a fair bit getting through the filter and onto the blog, so I need to persuade them to stop trying. As for summer, I'll believe it when I see it. :-)

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  2. Oh, Perpetua, how annoying! So far, fingers crossed, I'm not having a problem. Word verification is also annoying -- but not so annoying as not being able to read your posts!

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    1. I know word verification is annoying and I'm sorry to inflict it on you, Broad, but it's a less time-consuming option for me. Comment moderation means a delay in comments appearing and I still have to delete all the spam, whereas word verification does seem to deter it completely and comments gets published immediately. I'll see how it goes....

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  3. I've had a bit of spam, but so far Google has caught it. Things will improve, Perpetua, soon.....soon.

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    1. I do hope you go on being lucky, Bonnie. If the filter would catch it all, I'd have no problem, but I reckon nearly half has been getting through onto the blog, and I won't give the spammers the satisfaction. Grrr! As for the weather, I'm now prepared for absolutely anything....

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  4. Snow in May should be illegal. I say that as a well-infromed Canadian. :-)

    The spam thing is very frustrating. I have noticed it seems to happen in waves. Hopefully this latest wave doesn't last for very long!

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    1. With your winters, you certainly have the right to think so, Kristie. The last time we had snow in May it was followed by one of the longest, hottest summers I can remember, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

      As for the spam, I think you're right about the waves, but this one is proving particularly long and heavy. Hopefully I'll be able to take the word verification off again before long.

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  5. I'm very sorry about your weather Perpetua. Maybe I shouldn't tell you that here in Prague, I'm writing this in short sleeves, with the balcony door wide open, & it's 25 degrees Celsius & bright sunshine outside :-)

    However, as for spam?????? Despite having a simple CAPTCHA on my blog with which you are familiar, I still get masses of spam which I constantly have to delete. In the last 24 hours, I've had to delete over 200 spam comments. Like you, I don't want to make leaving genuine comments difficult. But having to deal with the current volume of spam, making sure I don't kill the occasional genuine comment, is rapidly driving me to despair :-(

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    1. Grrrr! I'm not sure I want to hear about 25C heat, when I'm back in all my winter layers. :-) Still, the last time we had snow in may to my recollection was in 1975 and was it was quickly followed by a very long heatwave. Let's hope history repeats itself....

      Your spam would drive me demented, Ricky, and I don't know how you put up with such volumes all the time. It makes mine look like a fleabite by comparison. Is there no way you could introduce a more complex Captcha without making life too difficult for your readers?

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    2. I don't remember snow in May 1975 but I do remember the warm dry summer of that year, followed by a very dry winter & then the hot & dry summer of 1976. We had water rationing in Lampeter, the reservoirs got so low :-(

      Speaking to my technical guru, aka as Sybille, she says that if I make my CAPTCHA more complicated, I'm likely deter genuine commenters. As always, this is the dilemma.

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    3. I think there's a balance to be struck, Ricky, and having a Captcha so simple that it allows through 200+ spam comments a day seems to me to be erring on the side of favouring the spammers. Why not try a more complex version for a while and see whether your commenters are actually deterred and what effect it has on the amount of spam you receive?

      As far as the snow is concerned, my memory has played me false. It was actually JUNE 2nd 1975 as you can see in this article:

      http://www.lccc.co.uk/news/this-day-in-1975-snow-stopped-play/2894

      Within a fortnight the heatwave had started!

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  6. Hari OM
    Good gracious - "Aitch" had told me the weather was forecasting more snow, but I was inclined to think they were just being overcautious! I trust this is just a last hurrah and a super glorious summer is about to burst forth.

    I don't envy you the decision re the comments - I admit that I find the wordsmith thing a tad difficult and often have to repeat my attempts. But I only do it when it's for the blogs I love and respect.

    So here I am &*>> Don't think of it as a surrender of principals; rather it is diplomacy in action. Here's to your space being spam-free 'in perpetua'.

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    1. So did, I, Yam, so we were genuinely surprised when we looked out of the window this morning. The heavy rain this afternoon has melted it all and I trust there will be no repetition.

      Sorry to make life more difficult for you with the word verification. I really hate doing so, as I've always found it difficult myself, though I do think the current version is the easiest since I started blogging. I'll keep it on for a few days and then try again without it - anything to make the dratted spammers decide not to waste their time here. If only Blogger's spam filter worked consistently, there wouldn't be a problem at all.

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  7. I was wondering whether you'd had snow this morning - we had some above us as well. And the central heating has been switched on again, as I'm frozen, even in winter weight stuff! Hope your hares are OK. In yesterday's paper the forecaster was saying that the jet stream seems to have stalled, and if it stays that way the 'summer' could be like last year. What an 'orrible thought - PLEASE God, not again! We so need some warmth and sunshine, not just the 2 days we had a few days ago.
    What's the matter with these folk who spray spam around - are they sick in the head or something? It doesn't contribute anything to anyone, just causes trouble and irritation. Sorry you're having so much bother with it. From what little I've seen it's virtually meaningless anyway. I suppose it's the electronic version of vandalism.

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    1. No snow here, but a good covering across on the hills above Llandinam. As for heating, we;ve been lighting the room-heater every day this week and I've even had the central heating on a couple of times, which is unheard of for us in May. I'm still in my winter layers too. Please don't say that we may have another bad summer. Three in a row is just too much!

      The old spam used to be easy for the Blogger spam filter to pick up and quarantine as it was, as you say, virtually gibberish. The new wave is more subtle, almost making sense at times and often with better disguised links so that it gets through onto the blog. Up with which I will not put. :-)

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  8. We had several bad-ish waves of spam so when it go too bad we turned off the anonymous comments as that didn't seem to impact on anyone who posts regularly with us. Now hardly anything gets through -- touch wood!

    Chilly here. In fact so much so we caved in and have had the heating on in the early mornings/evenings.

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    1. Turning off anonymous comments is much the best way to deal with spam, but I have a daughter and several friends who don't want to have to have a Google account in order to comment, so I can't do that.

      The chilly weather seems to be the same all over Western Europe and I think we all agree it's time for a bit of improvement. Do you think we can will the jet stream to move back where it should be?

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    2. Oh I wish! I'm tired of it wandering out of its regular 'orbit'!

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    3. Well despite the gloomy headlines in some of the press, the Met Office doesn't seem to think we should give up on summer just yet:

      http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/tag/jet-stream/

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  9. Spam and snow - my sympathies are with you.

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    1. These things are sent to try us, but at least the snow has now disappeared. :-)

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  10. I was getting more and more spam but since I went into settings and said which were spam it seems to have stopped. Must have been the same site sending over and over. Worth trying?

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    1. You've obviously switched off anonymous comments, which works really well in stopping spam. Unfortunately if I do the same, my daughter and several of my friends, none of whom want to have a Google account, will no longer be able to comment on my blog and I don't want that. Hence the temporary use of word verification, or alternatively comment moderation, to try to deter the spammers. Hey ho.....

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  11. Word verification is easier since they got shut of the arabic numerals that look liked house numbers taken through a blurred lens. Now it is one proper real word and one bit of curvy nonesense it is usually quite easy to solve.

    This week's weather in Wales has been just SILLY. I am hoping for closer to seasonal norms soon. In time for my birthday/our tenth wedding anniversay (which as you know, since you so splendidly officiciated at the wedding, is one and the same day, 31 May).

    SURELY by then we can have sun, sea and sangria, or something approaching! Sun, Pimms and Picnics, anyone?!

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    1. Officiciated? What kinda word is THAT?

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    2. The kind that follows a nice glass of white wine, perhaps? :-)

      I totally agree about the new word verification which is SO much better that the version with numbers. I often had to try as much as 5 or 6 times to solve that, which is why I wouldn't inflict it on my readers and became a target for the spammers.

      It would be wonderful if you could promise me that the weather on your wedding anniversary would be as glorious as it was on your wedding day. That was what I call proper edge-of-summer weather. The outlook this year seems to be for a real mixture, though we in the west should get the best of the sun for once. :-)

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    3. I won't wear reading glasses or turn up the font size on my pooter, is mostly what causes it! I do proofread but I miss the odd typo.

      I am determined to exercise those eye muscles for as long as I can! So far it is working; the presbyopia has cancelled out my small amount of short-sightedness so my distance vsiion is the best it's been since I was in my teens. I have 1.5+ dioptre reading specs, but I rarely use them. Tiny type on packaging is all I get them out for - either that or I hand the item to The Husband to read as he wears varifocals.

      I can even manage to read a musical score without specs, if the lighting is good enough. Long may this continue.

      But a nice glass of chilled white rarely goes amiss, so you may be right at times, and that can be a contributing factor. Except I don't drink in the evnings as a rule, and I typed my comment at 8.30pm...!

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    4. Two typos in the text above and I've only had coffee so far. No, the main reason is carelessness. Despite my best efforts, I am still a tad slapdash - LOL!

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    5. I think carelessness and not proofreading is what cause most typos, Marion. I'm as guilty as the next person, even though I do turn up the font size, as otherwise I wouldn't be able to read a thing, even with my extra-strong varifocals. The only thing I can read clearly without my specs is the ultra tiny-type you need yours for. I shall miss that ability when I have my new built-in lenses. :-)

      For you, use it or lose it is definitively the best idea and I hope you can manage without your reading glasses for many more years.

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  12. I won't mention our weather.....and can scarcely believe yours! Absolutely dreadful.

    I've seen a verification I like on S.C. Morgan's blog on her life in Costa Rica http://www.scmorgan.com/
    is, I hope, the link...I am not on my own computer and this one is playing up.

    With this one you have to complete a simple sum....as in 3 plus ? = 10 which is much easier on my eyes - even though the new word verification is so much easier than the old one.

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    1. Don't feel guilty about your wonderful weather in Costa Rica, Helen. If the weather isn't good in the tropics, there's not much hope for the rest of us. :-)

      I do like the comment verification method you refer to, but unfortunately Blogger doesn't give us any option about which system we use. It's theirs or none at all.

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  13. Dear Perpetua, I was getting a lot of span but I kept marking it as spam and as "Junk mail" and for the past two weeks I haven't received any. I really, as you know, don't understand much of anything about this blogging business and my site. Peace.

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    1. Spam does seem to come in waves, Dee, and then leave us alone, but this last wave has been by far the worst I've experienced. I kept dutifully marking it all as spam and deleting it, but it still kept coming, so finally I just had to do something. Sigh....

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  14. The weather is so unpredictable this year. What a pain to be having all those spam messages finding their way through the spam filter. Been fortunate so far on that score

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    1. The recent extremes in the weather are amazing and not just here in Wales. The whole of Western Europe doesn't seem to know what to expect from day to day.

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  15. So far, spam has been minimal for me. Knock on wood!

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  16. Dear Perpetua - I do not think that I have ever heard of snow in May before, and mid-May at that. We are not alone it is across this side of Europe, but it is so cold. Every night I am reluctant to put on the central heating but it is too chilly without it - dread to think what the fuel bills will be like.
    Hope that the word verification works for you - fortunately blogger seems to have made it much clearer than it has been.
    Are those wind turbines on the top of your hills?

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    1. I can remember one other incidence of snow out of season, Rosemary, which I thought had been in May, but it was in fact in June 1975, as you can see in this article:

      http://www.lccc.co.uk/news/this-day-in-1975-snow-stopped-play/2894

      Within a fortnight the hot summer of 1975 had started, to be followed by an even hotter one in 1976! If only we could believe we have a hot summer to look forward to this year, but I have my doubts. We too are still using the heating, despite being swathed in winter woollies.

      No spam since I switched on the word verification, so it does appear to be doing the trick.

      Those are indeed wind turbines on the hills across the Severn valley - the largest wind farm in Europe when it was first installed. Mid-Wales is a very popular place for wind farms....

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  17. Spam can be quite funny- as long as it doesn't make it on to the blog. The WordPress Askimet system is very efficient; I've only had three survivors that made it through in over a year. I'm sure they'll beetle off eventually, and it's worth taking the time to be moderated if it means that I don't have to wade through Viagra adverts to read all the feedback on your lively articles. :-)

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    1. It can indeed, but not enough to make me want to deal with it all the time. Sadly the Blogger spam filter is nowhere near as efficient as Akismet and yesterday morning my patience finally ran out. Interestingly my spam seems to be much duller than yours - golf carts and labradoodle puppies rather than Viagra. :-)

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  18. Oh dear - snow in May is like an insult!
    Don't worry about the word verification - it's become quite a bit easier, and for you.....well.....It's not a big deal to be able to comment.

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    1. And that coming from a Canadian with 6 month winters. :-)

      I was so relieved when this latest word verification system was implemented as I found the last one so difficult and off-putting. It's still a nuisance to have to use it, but thankfully not a big one.

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  19. Such a bother to contend with, Perpetua. I'm sorry to hear you've been so ruthlessly spammed and hope it clears out soon. I also hope that snow stays far, far away. Keep your chin up - and remember the hares.

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    1. I've never had so many of the dratted things at one time, Penny, so I decided enough was enough and put up the barrier to it. The snow was thankfully an overnight wonder and vanished in the heavy rain yesterday afternoon. Now I'd really love a bit of sunshine and warmth....

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  20. I hope the snow has melted and the spam is being deterred by turning on word verification, Perpetua.

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    1. The answer to both your hopes is in the affirmative, Linda. :-) The snow melted very quickly when the rain came and i haven't had a single spam message since I switched on the word verification.

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  21. There is one certain thing ... it is too late for snow for you Perpetua. Is this what they call climate change?!
    I have no problem with spam, and do not mind having to verify I am not [a robot?] if that helps others keep their site spam-free. I often wonder what else those spammers do? They do appear to have far too much time to waste in idioticy!

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    1. It certainly is far too late, Shirley, and I hope it will be many more years before we get unseasonal snow again. I'm not sure whether it's climate change, but it isn't welcome.

      I'm glad spam isn't a problem for you, but it is a terrible nuisance all over the online world. Looking at the standard of English, I'm guessing that people in the developing world are being paid a pittance to send this stuff for others. Presumably enough gullible people click on the links and actually buy things to make it worthwhile to keep doing it.

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  22. What is happening to the weather Perpetua.
    Its unbelievable.
    We had a week of hot 28 29 deg.. yesterday morning i had my cardigan back on. it rained until about 2pm.. the sun came out.. but it was windy. Now this morning i have my heating on..its windy and cold outside.. Its depressing. I can see the snow in the distance of your photo.
    My sister is fed up.
    I took off word verification.. because i can vet who sends comments on my blogger comment list before i publish.. i had some problemwith a couple of silly spammers or people that play about. but i just delete them.
    Its working fine now through comment moderation. you can see who's who then.
    hope it all works..blogger can be strange at times.
    happy Thursday Perpetua.
    val

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    1. I'd heard that the weather in southern Europe is as bad as it is up here, Val, and now you've confirmed it for me. I'm so sorry your lovely spring weather has vanished so suddenly. No more snow here, but it's still so cold and often wet and we could have frost tonight!

      I noticed that you have comment moderation on, which is of course the other sure way to get rid of spam. I like my readers to be able to read all the comments if they want to, even if I'm not there to moderate, so I've chosen to go with the word verification option. Either way we mustn't let the spammers win!

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  23. Oh spam! It seems to come come in waves and very often all goes onto one post. What I do is remove the spam-attracting post for a while and then when I re-instate it, it seems not to attract any more. I have done this with several posts and at the moment, don't seem to be getting too much.

    As for the weather - well, it was lovely for my mum but since she went back, we've been shivering and dodging showers! No more snow though...fingers crossed. Hope it's picking up for Janice!
    Axxx

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    1. Like the sea, Annie, though not as predictable. :-) It had never even occurred to me to take posts off then reinstate them, but for a while putting comment moderation on older posts did the trick. It was when the blighters started targeting my latest post in large numbers that I knew I'd have to do something more drastic. I'll leave the word verification in situ for a while and then see whether I can again manage without it.

      Really glad to hear that the good weather lasted for your mother's visit. This return to winter is just the last straw....

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  24. SNOW??? AGAIN??? You must be totally fed up with the crappy weather. When will it end??

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    1. My thoughts exactly when I looked at the view yesterday. :-) Thankfully this time the snow hung around for just hours, rather than weeks, but it was a bit of a shock to the system while it lasted. Roll on summer......

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  25. Hahaha! I am the one who deleted my own comment, Perpetua. I didn't realize that you'd still get a comment about the deletion. LOL! I was attempting to leave a comment with Blogger...I had an old account. I thought it would be easier than what I go through with WP. But it ended up redirecting you to old blogs and information I am sure you would have found confusing. So I'm going to try again with WP. Or anonymous. Haha!

    I'm afraid none of us can complete beat the spurge of SPAM, my friend. They, whoever they are, unfortunately have the upper hand. I have recently acquired a few new "followers" I suspect are actually SPAM. Now that's really getting clever, don't you think? So I've had to think about whether or not I want to take the chance that I offend someone and "dump" them, or live with the comments that are just slightly askew! LOL!

    We are having a very "gray day" and a friend just called to tell me how much she is loving it. I laughed at that. I think it's a rather unattractive day, but we are all different in our responses to climate! I am glad she's happy. And you need sone sunshine to come back! ox Debra

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    1. I actually received your original comment, Debra, and guessed it was you. I've just removed the stub of your deleted version to spare your blushes. :-)

      Spam is an annoying fact of life and sadly we just have to deal with it. Luckily all mine has been obvious spam, with the exception of a reasonable comment from someone whose username linked straight through to an online business, which I therefore chose to classify as spam. It must be uncomfortable to get odd comments like the ones you mention, which aren't obviously spam, but are just not quite right.

      Not being a fan of very hot weather, I can sypathise with your friend who welcomes a grey day. Sometimes even blue skies may pall a little and the occasional touch of grey provides a nice contrast. I'm sure it won't last..... :-)

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  26. The Blogger spam filter is simply not working. At least not for me. I get loads of it, and even though I hate comment moderation, I'm stuck with it for the time being. It's such a nuisance.

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    1. The problem with the Blogger spam filter is that even when it does work and the stuff ends up in the spam folder, we still have to delete every last bit of it. If, like me, you don't want to ban anonymous comments from people without Google or other blogging accounts, it's either comment moderation or word verification or drown in spam. Sigh....

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  27. I think you have to use word verification, for your own sanity.
    It has become easier now they have got rid of the number element, and in any case, it wouldn't put off many people, not those who really value the chance to leave a comment, anyway.
    I prefer it to the comment moderation option, as I like to see my comment straight away, in case I have dripped a clonger !!!

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    1. After the past few days, I've been forced to agree with you. The decision was made easier by the fact that word verification has become so much easier. Those numbers were dreadful!

      I'm with you in preferring word verification to comment moderation, not only because I can vet my own comment, but so that I can read other people's before commenting, if I want to.

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