I’ve said it before: Comment spam sucks. What’s comment spam? Messages that are posted by bots to blogs in the hope that links to weight loss or penis enlargement sites or whatever will remain in the blog’s comments area and raise the profile of those sites one more notch.

It’s simple enough to keep this junk off your blog by setting all comments to “moderate.” But it’s really obnoxious to wake up to a crapload of comments that need to be moderated. Not to mention the mailbox that needs to be cleaned out and the server that needs to be cleaned up.

Comments used to be pure junk (see this image for an example). Now blog spammers are creating comments that look a lot more real and probably slip into blogs a lot more often. The contrast between what’s being said and what’s being “advertised,” though, can be striking, sorta like reading a fortune cookie in a peep show booth. Here are a few recent examples from spam hurled LOHAD’s way:

“Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, and robes the mountain in its azure hue.” (penis enlargement pills)

“It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.” (adult dating online)

“Do some selfless service for people who are in need. Consider the whole picture, not just our little selves.” (hiv home test)

“I think music is what takes the experience off the screen into your soul, into your head.” (weight loss)

“For every judge we sow, we reap six magistrates, two clerks of court, four scriveners, five lawyers and five thousand businessmen, and that, let it be said, is our daily tally.” (penis enlargement patch)

“Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.” (sytropin)

That last one appears in Google 19,400 times. Of course, many of those results are on legitimate quotation sites like this one. But many are examples of comment spam in action, like here and here and here.

Takeaway for marketers: If you’re blogging, set your blog comments to “moderate all” and keep this junk off your public site.

This is a site worth bookmarking: aggregate information about browsers, operating systems, screen resolutions and more.

Takeaway for marketers: Firefox has fully 25% of the browser market and 800×600 commands just 11% of the overall screen resolution settings out there, both important tidbits if you’re a Web designer or a marketer managing a Web design project.

“Patience is passion tamed.”
—Lyman Abbott

Dan Rather leaves CBS. Charlie Gibson leaves Good Morning America. Katie Couric leaves Today. Star Jones leaves The View.

And now: Amanda Congdon leaves Rocketboom.

It may not seem like a big deal, but Rocketboom is probably the best-known vlog (video blog) out there, with about a quarter-million viewers daily, according to Engadget. Mediabistro has posted some updates suggesting Amanda may be headed to MTV. Whether she is or not, she’s been replaced by Joanne Colan, a former MTV Networks Europe VJ. Here’s a story about it all from The Ottawa Recorder, and here’s one from Podcasting News that claims Joanne was found from an ad on craigslist.

I had occasion to work with Amanda briefly about a year ago, when I helped get some exposure on Rocketboom for Twist of Faith. She interviewed the director, Kirby Dick, who was quite happy with the segment, which you can see here if you like.

Good luck, Amanda, wherever you wind up next.

Back in April, I blogged about Kyle MacDonald, a guy who was using his blog to trade a red paperclip for a house. It took him 14 trades, but he did it, with the final trade scheduled to happen today. Brilliant.