Goodbye and thanks for all the spam
July 18, 2006 by upyourego
I don’t like comment spam or comment spammers - they’re horrible horrible people and should be ashamed of themselves - however - one thing I do like about comment spam (as Askimet catches the LOT) is that it gives me a very rough idea of how popular the blog is.
The way I see it - the more links coming in, the more spammers find me, the more popular I am - or something like that anyway.
That’s not the point of the post though, I’ve blogged enough about spam lately and really am not that interested in the subject - the point of the post is to say that there won’t be many posts for a week or so.
I’ll be spending the next two weeks visiting my family, becoming a godparent, turning 25 (ouch!) and generally trying to keep away from blogging, computers and the internet - although I expect there will be one or two posts while I’m away - I’m only human after all.
Ben Metcalf is turning 25 this month as well and where I’m going on ‘holiday’ to Hemel Hempstead, he’s getting ready to move to San Fransisco - still I do get to live year round in Jersey so ho hum.
I do like the concept of a pre-mid life crisis though, I sometimes feel that way and have been feeling it a lot more recently where I’m starting to think of moves to London and getting more involved with developing new media concepts instead of spending my working day writing about ’stuff’ in Jersey for the bbc.co.uk/jersey site.
The problem is leaving Jersey when my wife and two children are Jersey born would be a massive leap of faith AND then to possibly leave the BBC (don’t know how easy it is to get into the more ‘up in the sky’ areas of BBC New Media) would be a tough decision.
But I am desperate to get back into development and new media concept work - I miss the buzz of coming up with a new idea or seeing something you thought up/created being used in the real world - so might be a risk worth considering (if it wasn’t for the family being so tied to the island).
If you’re really interested I’m going to Hemel Hempstead, back to my old home town - within two weeks I’ll be longing for lunch on the beach in Jersey but I’m going to see the family not the sights - so it will be great fun.
Anyway - Goodbye for now and … thanks for all the spam.
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I’m not sure about using spam comments to index popularity. According to Technorati, my blog is in the mid-700,000’s of blogs. I receive 20-30 spam per day. I think it’s likely that harvesters just check the major blog indexes (Google, Technorati, etc.) and pick up recently updated blogs. The frequency of spam comments does seem directly related to frequency of updates to the blog itself.
A blog as well as flickr huh? Anyway, I’m in my mid thirties, married and have a little boy as well. But stay in Jersey. No way. I really don’t think this is a great place to bring up kids. Sure, great lifestyle, beaches, food, and very safe. But they’re too protected from the realities of life here. Too self assured - until they leave the island. The cost of living is extortionate, getting on the property ladder is only possible if you have a decent job. Plus the island isn’t exactly bulging with opportunities these days, finance excepted. No, there’ll be a boat in about 3 years time, and myself and my family will be on it, heading for Canada.