The Debris Drifting on My "Computerized Desert Spring"

It's there by somebody's intention... and it's also obviously, well, a *mistake*. So far.

[The baseball is the focal point: it’s the only coherent “thing” in the photo, and yet it’s almost certainly there by accident. No human being would drop the damned thing right there within a couple feet of the path: they’d have thrown it into the distance. There’s also a tennis ball there but it’s not quite so eye-catching.]

Over at Ye Olde Blog, I have received a comment which I almost (almost) regret having sent straight to Ye Olde Spam Pile:

JohnESimpson is a computerized desert spring, where words hit the dance floor with expressiveness and innovativeness. Praise to John E. Simpson for his unfaltering commitment to creating accounts that reverberate profoundly. The site is a demonstration of his dominance of narrating, offering a scholarly sanctuary for the people who value the excellence of words. An estimable stage where each snap makes the way for a universe of creative mind, intelligence, and significant bits of knowledge. Roots for to JohnESimpson being a virtual safe-haven where stories wake up, making a permanent imprint on the hearts and psyches of its perusers.

Expressively and innovatively shared words have been hitting the dance floor there for over 15 years. Like many — most? — WordPress-driven blogs, mine makes use of a spam-filtering utility so I don’t have to pay much attention at all to the junk mail; as of a moment ago, so the cumulative stats tell me, it had blocked (i.e., sent to the Spam folder) over 575 thousand spam comments. (It and I have both okayed over seven thousand legitimate comments in the same time span.) Here’s a selection from the more recent ones:

• Thanks for always existing when we required you. Your support as well as compassion have been a real blessing. (from someone presenting themselves as “Ethyl Lingerfelter”)

• You incorporated data as well as research study with stories and also anecdotes to include depth to your message. (“Demetrius Zidzik”)

• Greetings, Could I grab your own photograph and make use of it on my own blog page? (“Omega Triggs”)

• Hi, I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbledupon [sic] it ;) I may return once again since I book marked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people. (“Serafina Mclennon”)

• This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something that helped me. Appreciate it! (“Carley Artiaga”)

[Aside: I made a point of selecting only “comments” which make some pretense of being legitimate ones. There are of course plenty of “comments” consisting only of hyperlink dumps — offers of wonder drugs, winking sexual invitations, etc. Somehow I haven’t fallen under *their* spell yet.]

Now, to leave a comment at the blog, you must provide something which at least looks like a valid email address. The spam, like the legitimate comments, almost universally claims to come from Gmail addresses. This makes sense, I guess, but of course since the junk is almost entirely bot-generated, there’s almost no chance that the email addresses are legit… or if they are, that they’re from the people whose bogus names they claim to represent. For example, there’s an “Emilio Longanecker” whose Gmail address, allegedly, points instead to somebody named “Whitney Whitcraft.” Like that.

Somewhere, I guess, there still exist blogs with no spam filtering at all — neither by the blogger nor via spam-whacking software. Maybe they’ve been abandoned by their proprietors, voluntarily or otherwise. It’s, well, it’s weird. I guess the spammers are getting something out of all this? Even if they’re just phishing for the rare entry point to people’s logins, their financial and credit data, their social media contact lists, even then they surely must realize how feeble and unappealing the bait they’re using?

That, I guess, is the barrel of this particular gun we’re looking down: eventually, the bots they use will get smart enough not just to form complete sentences — they’re already doing that — but also to form complete and relevant sentences. All the fake fawning compliments and requests for help will go away, and the comments will start to make real sense.

As a blogger, of course one, welcomes the chance to hear from honest and well-meaning strangers… but… but… Are we so desperate for human contact that we’ll make plans to lunch with unknown others at a diner in the Uncanny Valley?