Vikings Abound!
When we made the decision to allow comments (you probably noticed the buttons), we also decided that, because comments are essentially fan mail, they should be moderated. If you make a comment here, we read it, and decide whether or not to “approve” it for public display. (Bill, I didn’t approve yours because I felt it appropriate to protect you anonymity a little. Yes, Beacon Hill Blues was a lot of work, largely due to the editor I was working with at the time.)
Because we use a common content management product, there are spam bots specifically designed to try to leverage us for their agenda.
What amazes me is not that spam bots specifically attack this product, but that they’ve gotten sophisticated enough to use decent English (even the ones driving content to Portuguese sites), and are kind of flattering. I’ve gotten some really lovely messages about how pleased they are with the quality of work we do here at PTC.
Flattery, of course, is the first tip off that it’s spam. Famously, one of our favorite fans introduced himself to us in San Diego by telling me that he hated [our] work… then slobbered adoringly over Marc for two hours.