Comment Spamming

I guess the release of PolarBlog V1.4.0 was timed just right…

This morning when I checked my email I had a message that a comment was posted to my Ski Masks blog entry.  Initially I thought there might be another bug because the message was just a URL, not a text message.  Upon further review I must proclaim that PolarBlog is now officially "mainstream" as this is the first known incident of comment spamming.  It came from 218.79.133.250 located in China.  It says it's an assigned address so I'm going block it by the full IP and see if I need to block a range or not.

The next major milestone for PolarBlog is making it to "Big Time" status.  That's when your PolarBlog installation starts getting flooded with automated comment spamming…which at this point I don't believe this to be.  We shall see if the rogue returns.

PolarBlog V1.4.0 Released

PolarBlog V1.4.0 has been released.  This release contains…

Enhancements

  • Display Disable Notice - When logged in, a notice is now displayed in the entry header if the entry is not set to display.
  • Topic Links - A list of topic links is now displayed in the right navigation menu.
  • Comment IP Blocking - All comments now record the IP address from which they were posted.  Additionally you can block IP addresses and IP ranges.
  • Topic Icon Sizing - The ability to allow for different topic icon images sizes has been added.
  • GZip Output Compression - The ability to compress the output from your blog to the browser has been implemented.


Bug Fixes
  • Updated entries display the creation date for the updated date.


Configuration Changes See the PolarBlog Changes file for more information.  Please see the PolarBlog Upgrading documentation for information on upgrading your installation.

Transformer Man

You really need to check out Neogentronyx.  I'm a bit too old to have played with Transformers as a kid, but this guy apparently did.  And it would seem that he never outgrew them.  This whole project is obviously the culmination of years of childhood daydreaming.  Actually I'm glad that this guy has "way too much time" to work on this, because I don't.  But I'd love to have one of these!  ;)

Parental Malfeasance

Anyone who really knows me surely know that I don't like Wal-Mart because of their "Always Low Prices (at any cost to supplier companies and exploited third-world workers)!" motto.  But I have to take there side in this one.  If a company follows the laws that govern gun sales, you can't sue them for selling your adult child a gun that they then used to kill themselves.  I'm sorry.  It's tragic, but Wal-Mart didn't shoot them!  What's next?  If some nut job jumps in front of my car and I run them over, do I get sued for "wrongful death" because I could have taken an alternate route to my destination?  The only things I see coming out of this case are two parent who are prolonging the agony over the death of their child, and a group of lawyers with jinglier pockets!