Comments on: Um, say what?

By: kuhnigget

kuhnigget — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:53:41 +0000

Oh, my! What if…I am a bot?

That would certainly explain the irrational behavior when dealing with creationists and UFO nutters.

But, wait…would I question my bottitude if I were a bot? I could have been written to ask the question, I suppose…but then, I would also have to be written to question my question. Could a bot question the question he was written to question? I suppose he could if he were stuck in a do loop of some sort.

Oh the shame! The horror! Mom, Dad…I have something else to tell you….

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:27:04 +0000

The truth has been uncovered at last, you closet Aussie!

By: Am I a Bot? My Mom says NO « A Man With A Ph.D.

Am I a Bot? My Mom says NO « A Man With A Ph.D. — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:42:37 +0000

[...] I a Bot? My Mom says NO May 13, 2009 — Richard by à voir etc… Um, say what?: [Via Bad Astronomy] I’m always curious about who links to this blog; it can be very helpful [...]

By: Richard Gayle

Richard Gayle — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:32:58 +0000

Yes, and I purposefully spelled my name wrong to see if any one noticed. Just to prevent any snarky comments.

Richard

By: Ricard Gayle

Ricard Gayle — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:15:27 +0000

Well, with regards to Steve in Dublin , I guess I’ve failed the Turing test because I am a human being that has been writing the A Man With A PhD blog under my own name since 2002. I have posted comments on material there from the Bad Astrnomy site with, I hope, a much more coherent voice than demonstrated by the obvious spam from the original link.

In a weird bit of redundancy, I only found out that my blog’s name was used because I too have a Google alert set up so I saw the Bad Astronomy link. Thus Google Alerts also permiited (obvious misspelling that a bot would have corrcted?) me to try and clarify this gross canard (Would a bot use such a fancy German-derived word?)

(Yes, I know it is French. Would a bot purposely put such an error and then try to correct it, all in a humorous tone?)

I guess my question is how does my site, which has obvious commentary, pictures and actual syntax, look like a spam site? Have I been doing it wrong for the last 7 years?

Please be gentle

Richard

By: Lars

Lars — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:30:44 +0000

BA, quick, pull your feet up from the mud before the leeches get too fat. Unlink!

By: HJ Hornbeck

HJ Hornbeck — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:13:41 +0000

A quick Whois for “blogs.cine.com” lists an IP hosted in the US, but “cine.com” is based out of Spain. The admin and tech contacts look legit, and I can snag an abuse email address if anyone wants it.

Amusingly, the domain expires in 2012. Someone is planning ahead…

By: Jeffersonian

Jeffersonian — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:44:53 +0000

Not only are these sites generated BY bots, they’re generated FOR bots.
It’s weird; but maybe someday somebody will see them as a form of AI meta art!

By: El Jefe

El Jefe — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:41:03 +0000

After reading that I’d guess that the Forces of Darkness are sniffing at the ramparts, Master Phil. Turing level is probably low, so I’m thinking you’re safe for now. Careful what you link to………..

By: JB of Brisbane

JB of Brisbane — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:07:11 +0000

This sounds to me like Bill Cosby’s assertion from decades ago – “Henry Kissenger is from Alabama”.

Okay Phil, repeat this line:”That ding-goe aite moy bay-bee!”

By: nichole

nichole — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:40:17 +0000

I think it’s just random text. Some people use latin, or a random text generator to fill a web page with copy if you’re mocking it up for a client who hasn’t provided the real content yet. I would guess more that you have an admirer in the web design field. (People will pay you to design a blog for them. They’re the sort of people who have a hard time figuring out how to check their email and don’t know what an operating system is. And they always refer to their computer as “the” computer. I don’t know why.)

By: Elian Gonzalez

Elian Gonzalez — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:04:02 +0000

Well, it’s a pretty site, at least.

By: ccpetersen

ccpetersen — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:38:03 +0000

yeh. I get links from these a lot.

and spam.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:37:32 +0000

Yeah, gotta agree with Moth Eyes, it’s a Markov chain. I wonder what they used as source material.

By: Molly

Molly — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:27:08 +0000

First of all, Aussies are a bit strange in the best of times, but there’s a severe water shortage there and whatever it is that makes them a bit strange is probably condensing. Let’s hope not to fatal levels:)
Actually, we should all make good wishes that they’ll get the rain for the livestock and farms.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:26:54 +0000

This is a total bot thing.

My guess is its just looking for crap to pull in hits.

They just find trending topics (perhaps using twitter?) and shove them into a blog to get lots of hits. Why, not really sure. experiment maybe? Marketting idea of somekine? Idk

If its not fully computer generated, I would suspect someone who does not speak english very well trying to read computer-translated materieal, then writing, and re-translating. Something of that sort.

In anycase, I would just take this as a compliment that your material is trending and popular enough to be spoofed in spam – like a Razr phone, or viagra.

By: fluffy

fluffy — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:53:39 +0000

Markov chains used for pagerank-boosting spam. Very common, very forgettable, very much nothing to worry about.

By: WhySoSerious

WhySoSerious — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:53:14 +0000

Skynet is ALIVE

By: TomF

TomF — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:46:28 +0000

This is an automated attempt to manipulate the flow of Google-juice by generating links to and from popular sites, and putting them along with links to and from their chosen sites. Like others, I recommend removing the direct link to their site (which is exactly what they want) otherwise search engines tend to think you are also a Markov-bot. Welcome to Information Warfare 2.0 – please keep your limbs inside the car at all times, and don’t feed the trolls.

By: eyesoars

eyesoars — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:20:51 +0000

Good on ya, mate!

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:14:18 +0000

@kuhnigget

Beats my faux French… wee wee mon-sewer. Parly voo Fran-sayzee? Vere iz zee dunny mon mate eh?

By: kuhnigget

kuhnigget — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:08:14 +0000

@ Shane:

Hey, my fake British accent is even worse, wot? Blimey. Scotland Yard, innit? Tally ho.

Maybe ah’ll jess stick with th’ talk whut with I was raised.

By: Greg Fish

Greg Fish — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:06:15 +0000

It’s a spam bot assembling shreds of different blog posts and peppering it with links to whatever sites its owners have out there to increase traffic, rank and be able to send out spam comments on other blogs with more links to their content.

By: John Powell

John Powell — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:03:44 +0000

Somebody is off their medications.

By: Steve in Dublin

Steve in Dublin — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:02:02 +0000

Phil, hi,

Just to add to what LMK and Shane said… it has to do with the the way Google PageRank works. Not only is the amount of incoming links important to your PageRank (BA has a PageRank of 7, BTW), but also the PageRank of the sites those links come from. As you know, PageRank determines the order search results are displayed in. So what is happening is:

1. A spam bot discovers that your blog has a high PageRank, and that no registration is required in order to post comments.
2. Spam bot posts a comment here on your blog that links back to the blog he wants to boost the PageRank of.
3. Profit!

It’s a really despicable practice, but one I think you are in a good position to combat. I thought your moderators had to approve all comments with links in them. If so, just tell them to not allow these ones that are obvious spam to get through. For instance, I see a lot of them linking back to this ‘amanwithaphd’ blog over at wordpress :-\

Regards,
Steve