SPAM!

The ease and power of personal computing and modern communications technology provides an unfortunately easy route for the degenerates of society to represent a disproportionately high percentage of internet traffic (specifically email).

Lately, this little nothing of a blog has received attention and spam comment posts from automated web crawlers. I've since turned on the comment moderation and image verification processes to prevent, or at least inhibit that.

To be online these days it's almost required to have good email filters in place - as well as virus and adware checkers for those on target operating systems (pleasantly exempt here), and a healthy dose of skepticism and some technical savvy against phishing practices. This means that those few people who have an interest in promoting this abuse of technology and fellow members of society have made us have to exert considerable effort in an arms-race to remain unscathed.

I don't like someone else making me work without my consent, and rather resent the flippancy with which they regard their activity. They are criminals, though - I don't suppose I could expect them to put the same effort into some legitimate act, since one of the defining criteria of the thug (cyber or otherwise) is laziness and a belief in quick, easy riches (or at the very least, comfortable living).

Still, it amazes me how hard some people will work to be lazy. And for now at least I'll still be tolerant based on my belief in the independent agency of man, and the fact that if I want to work in the wired world it's best done with eyes open about the nature of that environment.

Hold my breath and jump in, I suppose.