Tuesday, September 6

Anyone For Spam?


No Thanks, I'm A Vegetarian

I didn't think so. Unfortunately, some ever-clever computer people have begun surreptitiously serving up enormous quantities of the stuff--disguised as blog comments that are actually advertisements usually linking to an unrelated site. They are known as "comment spam," and the problem seems to be expanding more rapidly than yeast cells in a batch of very happy bread dough.
And so, like many of my fellow food bloggers, I have been forced to activitate the Word Verification Option offered by Blogger. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, I will swipe Blogger.com's explanation:
"People leaving comments will be required to complete a word verification step. . . What this does is prevent automated systems from adding comments to your blog, since it takes a human being [or a chicken or a cat or a sheep] to read the word and pass this step. A lot of comment spam is done automatically by software which can't pass the word verification, so enabling the option is a good way to prevent many such unwanted comments."
So what does this mean for you? It means that you will have to decipher and type in a short series of very odd-looking letters (that never actually spell anything) before you can leave me a comment. What does it mean for me? That I have to hope you will put up with this extra step and still continue to leave your wonderful comments on Farmgirl Fare.
It's really not that bad. It's almost kind of fun (for about the first three times you do it). And if you find that the letters look so strange that you simply cannot figure them out, you have two options. 1) You can go ahead and enter the wrong answer and then be given a new set of (hopefully easier) letters to decipher. Or 2) You can start leaving all your blog comments late at night when you are very tired and have had a glass or two of wine because for some reason at that time all the letters are absolutely crystal clear. Of course, this may not be the best time to be leaving comments. . .
Thanks for your understanding. Your comments are an integral (and very entertaining) part of Farmgirl Fare. I hope to hear from you soon (yes, even if it's only to gripe about my activating the Word Verification Option).

14 comments:

  1. Oh Man! I think this is it...
    no more comments from me, stoopid word verification!

    Ha ASIF! :)

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  2. Yup, I had ta do it as well on my 'lil blog. It's actually very sad though because I see a comment and get so excited .. only to see it's an adv. :-(

    *giggle*

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  3. I kind of like it.

    I agree; sometimes the letters are too difficult to decipher, but I keep trying to turn the string of vowels and consonants together to form words!

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  4. Oh, I had to join the word verification ranks...
    I have had a couple G&T's and a few glasses of vino tonight ~ does this mean the letters will be legible for a change?

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  5. It's getting tempting to turn it on with mine as well - but i'm holding out! They usually come around when I first update but then nothing.

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  6. hey there...no worries about the word verification. do you get to pick the word?!?

    just caught up with that last few weeks of posts ... they are the most amazing pictures. i'm someone who yearns for the farm life too. {married a sailor though ... ocean view farmland is a "bit" out of my reach} thanks for sharing.

    best,arc

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  7. dear farmgirl,
    i think i came upon your blog from the smallfarms blog set in california. or maybe it was through the cat weekend photos.

    in any case, i'm glad i found you.

    i am full of questions. (how?)
    and enchantment. (wow)



    to gardens and farms,
    sarajane

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  8. Yup. Quel drag, eh? I had to do this same thing on my blog quite some time ago.

    -Elizabeth

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  9. Hi Clare,
    It would take a lot more than word verification to keep you from leaving comments!

    Hi Cherrybegonia,
    Good idea. No point in getting all giggly and excited over an ad for poker games and ceiling fans.

    Hi Stephanie,
    I told you it could be fun!

    Hi Linda,
    You should have no problem!

    Hi Joe,
    I figure that maybe if we all start doing it, the spammers will get the hint and stop. Or am I being totally naive?

    Hi arc,
    Always nice to hear from you. Glad you were willing to brave the word verification to say such nice things.

    Well, you never know about the farm thing. My guy is (was) a sailor, too, and he's been landlocked for 15 years. I was never into sailing, but I sure do miss living near the water. Oh, "ocean view farmland"--now wouldn't that be a dream! Just as soon as I win the lottery. . .

    Hi Sarajane,
    Welcome to the farm! I'm glad you found me, too. Take your time visiting--have a look through the archives, and maybe you'll find the answers to some of your questions. Thanks for your kind words. Looking forward to hearing from you again. Yes, to gardens and farms!

    Hi Elizabeth,
    Hopefully it won't be too bad. I actually turned it on a week or so ago but got so mad at it I turned it off after about two hours! It kept giving me really hard ones over and over even though I was signed in. Haven't had a problem since then, though, and in the interim, seems like everybody else has jumped on the bandwagon so it's quickly becoming the norm.

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  10. Is is so wrong that I just want to run and hug Dan? I just love him.

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  11. Oh Leigh,
    What timing! I was just thinking about how there are so many comments on this post and yet not one person mentioned Dan. Two seconds later your comment popped up!

    Silly girl. Of course it's not wrong to want to run up and hug him. Finally, after months and months (and months), he lets me hug him. And it was well worth the wait (though that is a story in itself that I will have to tell one of these days). Now I even get to play with those big, soft ears. And last week he blew me a kiss!

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  12. i just wish they'd do a better job with the "q" v. "g" thing!

    although the "words" are amusing--now mine is boirf...

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  13. I had some of those. My daughter was quick to point them out to me, but I was tickled to get any response the first week.
    Meantime, I saw your blog on so many foodie blog links lists that eventually I had to come and see. Who knew Missouri was so beautiful?
    PS I have a three-legged boy cat named Other Guy who looks like your new marmalade cat. He had a farm accident that required amputation, and he still hasn't learned not to sleep in fields. When he walks he is pitiable, but he runs like a streak and you can't even tell.

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  14. Hi Judith,
    Welcome to the farm! I'm so glad you decided to come have a look. Yes, Missouri can be very beautiful (and that comment spam can be very annoying).

    Other Guy sounds like a great cat (and he even has a "New Cat" sort of name, too). I love the term "marmalade cat." I actually considered changing New Cat's name to Marmalade the first time I heard the term, but New Cat it stayed.

    Other Guy seems to do the same thing my sheep do if they are limping for some reason (rock between their hoof, etc.). Can barely walk and act like every step is torture until you try to catch them up to have a look. Then they , too, run like a streak to get away from you. : )

    Thanks for taking the time to write and say hello. I look forward to hearing from you again.

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!

Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.

I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!