Anti Trackback and Comment Spam Methods

by: Bobby Masteria
What is spam ?
Spam is text or URL, in one or several exemplars, neither being waited nor wished, not having, neither directly nor from its shipper, no relationship neither with the recipient nor with a possible
resource related to the recipient.
How does spam appears in blogs ?
Through the comments’ body and commentator’s URL.Through trackbacks’ excerpt and permalink’s URL
What are the anti-spam methods?
Authentication by connectionCAPTCHABlack ListBayesian Filter
Other methods to minimize spam :
Time Interval between submissions / Number of submissions per hour.DDD.Secure Form Mode : force page and submission to be manual.Rank Denial : Directs hyperlinks an intermediary server.Autoclose after N days: entry stops accepting comments or trackbacks.
Which data are analyzed by these methods ?
Active methods do analyze the shipper to check if it’s:a spamer by coparing its IP address with blacklisted ones. authorized by authenticationa human by CAPTCHAPassive methods do analyze : comment’s data:nicknameeMail addressURLmessagetrackback’s data (concerning the shipping blog):blog’s nameentry’s titleentry’s excerptpermalink’s URL
What are the limits to these methods ?
Cross use of several of these methods allows excellent results concerning comments, but weak results concerning trackbakcs.
Difference between comments and trackbacks is that comments are sent from the recipient’s blog, which allosw all above methods to be used, whereas trackbacks are sent from the shipping blog (this avoids the use and need of 2 interfaces).
Consequently it’s not possible to use CAPTCHA, authentication and Secure Form Mode methods with trackbacks.
Another big problem, when all the trackback’s data are unknown, especially the IP address, it is quite impossible to avoid spam, mainly because the blacklist and the bayesian filter are becoming inefficient.
Last inconvenient, trackback autodiscovery is usefull for bookmarklets but also to spamers to who it gives the trackback URL.
Glimpse on futures anti-trackback-spam methods
About The Author
Bobby Masteria
Webdesigner - WebMaster - MetaBlogger - Multi-Blogger - BlogMaster
Copyright ? 2004 - Bobby Masteria - Reflexive-Blog
This work is already licensed : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
Permalink : http://www.multi-blog.net/Reflexive-Blog/index.php/anti-trackback-comment-spam-methods/
Always use the URL Associated with this article.
There's a French version available too.
Always use and mention my full name.
Never mention my eMail address.
Detail about my Blog : http://www.multi-blog.net/Reflexive-Blog/index.php/the-blog/

Communal Blogging - Who Will Win?

by: Jon Watson

My recent quest to understand and implement trackback on my blog has left me with more questions than answers. It seems that in an attempt to bring relevant blog entries together, there are (surprise, surprise) competing technologies.

First there is the issue of bringing relevant blog entries together. What's the point and should we bother?

I believe that although blogging is primarily a sole pursuit, the ability for people to comment, refute, correct, or admire a blog entry more deeply than a simple commenting system allows is the next step in making blogging more meaningful, and possibly more accountable.

So how do we do it?

The three main players (it seems, feel free to add someone if I've missed them) seem to be Technorati (http://www.technorati.com), Haloscan (http://www.haloscan.com), and native blog commenting systems.

Technorati seems to be popular amongst the established blogging community - the users who understand the Technorati 'Cosmos' and what it means. I think that Technorati is deliberately vague about what their system does and how it does it as there is no documentation that I can find on the Technorati site (other than an 'About' page obviously written by a marketer). I assume that the name Technorati is a play on the word Illiminati which perhaps gives us a hint to Technorati's lack of explanation on how they work. Maybe we're just supposed to 'get it'. While Technorati seems solid and has a large subscriber base, I think (again, no documentation) that only Technorati subscribers are considered part of the 'Cosmos'. There are millions of blogs out there that aren't participating in, and therefore not accounted for by, Technorati.

I just ran across Haloscan yesterday and implemented their trackback system into my blog. Haloscan offers a central commenting and trackback facility for any type of web page, not just blogs. The idea is that the comments and trackbacks of a page are kept in one central repository rather than scattered all over the blogsphere on each individual blog. When considering blogs specificially, I don't see the logic in this. Since all comments must reside somewhere - what's the difference between having them reside on my blog or on some other server? Unlike trackback, I think all blogware supports comments.

The trackback part is interesting because it actually provides a service to people (like me) who don't have trackback available natively on their blogware. It works well, has some features such as moderation, and generally provides what it promises. The only change I would like to see is the ability to implement the trackback code right into my page rather than having it in a pop up window. I really like the commenting/trackback ping layout of Blizza Blizza (http://www.chrislawson.net/blog).

I also ran across a somewhat related technology called Gravatar (http://www.gravatar.com) which stands for Globally Recognized Avatar. As near as I can tell, the idea is that you upload a small 80x80 avatar and then Gravatar supplies you with the link to that image. You can then use that image anywhere on the web that you wish. It's a neat idea: creating a sense of continuity for users between blogs and websites, but in the end - it's just a small bit of webspace. Anyone with a blog can probably upload an avatar and use it in the same fashion.

Finally, the last little bit of magic is Google. Google has many 'operators' and one of them is the 'link' operator. Typing 'link: www.somesite.com' into Google will reveal all the sites on the Internet that link to somesite.com. The data returned by Google for my site is much more extensive than Technorati, but it is also very out of date. I know I am linked to (by using Technorati and by discovering it through surfing) yet many of these links do not show up on Google.

So which technology will win, if one does at all? I'm in favour of trackback. It's easy, all the big blog platforms support it, and it has a good format. By that I mean that a typical trackback entry contains a 200-ish word summary of the entry so a visitor can decide whether they want to bother reading the whole entry before clicking on it. As well it breeds inter-linking between blogs of a like nature, or at least between blog entries of a like nature.

Just because I like it doesn't mean trackback is going to win, there are problems with it. Roy - the administrator of a large blogging site called Tabulas (http://www.tabulas.com) - for example, feels that even if he were to implement it natively on Tabulas that very few users would have the technical savvy to figure out how to use it properly, and most users wouldn't bother with it at all. Roy knows his stuff when it comes to blogging, so perhaps he's not only correct - but also echoing the sentiments of many blogware authors.

I guess only time will tell, but for now I'm hoping for trackback as the victor in this little skirmish.

About The Author Jon is an Internet observer and technology enthusiast. He holds a diploma in Computer Information Systems, has spent time sailing the world in the Canadian Navy, and has been actively web developing and blogging for several years. http://www.theheatsinkbbs.ca heatsink@theheatsinkbbs.ca

Blogging - what's it all about?

by: Inka-Maria Kunz

A blog usually is a web page that contains brief, discrete hunks of information called posts. These posts are arranged in reverse-chronological order (the most recent come first) and each is uniquely identified by an anchor tag which is marked with a permanent link that can be referred to by others who wish to link to it.

A blog is a means of communication and there are many different types of messages carried by blogs. Some are nothing but pointers to other web sites, while others run long essays, some are personal diaries, others feature technology, and some are edited by one person, others by teams.

There are hundreds of thousands of blogs on the Internet, and new blogs are created every day. Can anybody and more importantly can you blog? Yes, there are bloggers of all types, equipped with all levels of technical skills. Bloggers approach their sites with as much variety and passion as the general Net public approaches the Web itself.

The most commonly used blogging tool is Blogger. It requires the least amount of commitment in time or resources, allowing you to go from wanting a blog to having one in about five minutes and at no cost. The Blogger software is the property of Pyra Labs (www.pyra.com). Blogger is often credited as the reason for the explosion of blogging that's occurred in the last couple of years. It is a web-based tool, requiring no installation of software on your personal computer or on your server if you happen to have a web site. You access the tool through the Blogger web site (http://blogger.com) and the blog pages are posted to your web site or to Pyra's BlogSpot (http://blogspot.com) community blog server. For more detailed information on this see O'Reilly's Essential Blogging.

Re-read anything before you publish. Electronic text can expose unintended meaning easily and it will also make what you say a lot more focused. If nothing else, it should help you catch spelling mistakes! Blogging is a way to share your opinions and thoughts to the rest of the world. If you post interesting things, share links with other bloggers and post comments on other blogs. Linking is the way of the Web that is the key of successful blogging.

In order to keep your blogs really fresh, invite a group of your friends / colleagues and give them blogging access. That way you will have several reporters blogging information and you won't end up killing yourself, trying to keep your blog populated with good information. If you use Blogger, upgrade to Blogger Pro. You can have your team post to the blog from email, create and syndicate your blog as an RSS feed, and a whole lot more! Adding the ability to post comments on your blog extends interactivity and usefulness to the blog itself. Blogs are about community and information, and commenting is a real way to gauge your viewer's blogging efforts. Blogging is one of the quickest ways to update your site. Syndicating others blogs into your own site is another. There is a wealth of information out there just tap into it!

About The Author This article was written by Inka-Maria Kunz, CEO of a flourishing multilingual translations agency with offices in Germany and New Zealand. This article may be printed or used in its entirety with full author contacts and details. For more information, translations or purchases of a new website/e-business, contact the author thru the official website www.linguatransl.co.nz or the blog www.linguatransl.blogspot.com.

The Benefits of the New Firefox Browser

by: Jakob Jelling

You probably heard of the new Firefox browser version 1.0 recently released by Mozilla. If you are currently using Internet Explorer or Netscape, you are probably wondering if Firefox is better and why is it better. In order to answer these questions it is necessary to take a look at all the benefits that Firefox offers you as a user.

First of all, Firefox is free, which is definitely a plus. It is an open-source web browser based on the Mozilla code foundation and will work for Windows, Linux and MacOS X operating systems. These are the technical specification, but what is more interesting to you as a user is that Firefox is very fast, secure, and is easy to use and navigate. The user interface is straightforward and uncomplicated.

There are numerous benefits that Firefox has. One of them is the popup blocking capability. You no longer have to see all those frustrating popup windows since the browser will take cake of them. You also don't need an alternative popup blocker program. Firefox also allows you to use tabs to open new web pages instead of using a new window. This feature is similar to the one that Netscape offers. However, with the Firefox, you can also open web pages in the background.

If you are trying to download some file, it will be automatically saved to your desktop. If you are using Google search engine for your search needs, you will appreciate the built in Google toolbar. Your Firefox toolbar will also include usual features like bookmarks, history, and text size and is customizable to include additional tools and features. If you would like to have an access to an email client you will need to download the Mozilla Thunderbird mail client software.

You don't have to be a computer professional to install this new browser. The installation and setup are very simple and straightforward and were designed to minimize the amount of work that needs to be done by the user. All your settings will be imported into Firefox. For example, you will see the same favorites as you saw when using Internet Explorer. Firefox is also available in several languages so if you prefer to use some other language then English, you can just install your language version of this browser.

In addition to all the benefits described above, Firefox browser is also offering you a higher level of security. For example, spyware and adware programs cannot automatically install in the Firefox browser.

About The Author Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.centernet.dk. Visit his website for the latest info on search engine optimization.

Looking for home entertainment equipment?

One of the great things about the online world is the ability to get just about anything you want at a fair price. As an example your new home entertainment equipment is never more than a few clicks away.

A great site for this type of equipment is wize.com who are specialized in providing luxury items for you or your home. Say you are looking for a dvd player/recorder this site has just about every product on the market.

This site even has an excellent ranking system that easily allows you to see if you can be confident in this product. They are not afraid to give products a less than good ranking, which is critical for this type of website.

That's it from me today. Happy shopping!