Another possible alternative for blog spam is using a CAPTCHA method (where a human sees and types back in letters/numbers in a graphic which a spambot is unable to read). CAPTCHA methods are being used commercially, but someone has worked up a straightforward way to do it with blog comments.
Nothing I’m installing yet, but I wanted to make a note of it for possible future reference.
(via GoaF)
UPDATE: The gent who programmed the CAPTCHA solution above has also come up with a Bayesian comment filter for MT, similar to what POPFile does for e-mail. Hmmm. It’s certainly an idea worth considering, though the need to train, and the prospect of false positives and negatives is still an issue. Heck, I run across that with POPFile, but there’s it’s faster and easier to spot both of them than through an MT web interface. Still, interesting stuff.
I know that CAPTCHA is considered undesirable because of its impact on visually impaired people. But it still looks like the best solution to me.
I’m following along discussion of MT-Blacklist; I’ve heard that it’s very easy to install and configure, but I think I’ll wait to see how easy it is to crack.
UPDATE: Why running out and installing v1.0 of anything is often not a good idea.
We are thinking along the same lines here. Wizbang already has a hack for the MT-Blacklist beta which speeds it up. I think that rather than hamfistedly trying to install any of this stuff I shall muddle along until the collective intelligence of the blogosphere points the way.
I am tempted to install the graphic/number interface just be for being so fricken’ cool looking.
Well, yeah. I hear that. I think I’m going to wait until something dire happens, though, or until there’s more of this sort of thing going on. So far, I think I’m pretty much under the radar (knock on virtual wood).