My hosting provider has disabled all new Web site comments because spammers are trying super extra hard to spam my blog today. Here’s what they wrote:
Dear Travis Smith,
The perl script /var/www/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi is causing high CPU loads on the server. Please take appropriate measures to fix the issue. I have removed executable permissions from this script because of the problems it’s causing. This is so it won’t run but you will have access to the file.
Please do not add executable permissions back to the script until the problem has been fixed. If this happens again, we’ll have to suspend apache services.
Sincerely,
Jumpline.com Support Team
I will be changing shortly to the Expression Engine blog tool instead of Movable Type, which still has not shipped with a working spam blocking interface (yes, there’s plugins you can install to fight spam; yes, I installed them; no, I think it’s unacceptable to ship with no spam blocking tools in 2005.)
I hope we’ll be back to normal within a week. For now, you can always email me.
“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)