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Okay, I've been playing Sniper Elite 5 on my computer, all work and no play makes Sarge a dull boy. We wouldn't want that now, would we?
I have been kept busy fighting the ongoing wave of "Sarah Elizabeth" spam attacks, ya know, this one -
As you can tell by the picture, this isn't coming from a real person, it's also coming from someone for whom English is definitely not their native tongue.
I blanked out the bogus website, which probably hands your bank account and credit car data directly to Isis, or Al Qaeda, or maybe even the Department of Injustice, one of those terrorist organizations.
Just when I thought I was out of the woods, BAM! Four more showed up in the spam filter as I was checking the comments Saturday night But at least they were all in the spam filter, Gargle and Bugger haven't been very good at screening spam lately, but by Jove they'll let you know this -
Yup, reCAPTCHA (no, I don't use it), the Privacy Policy, and (if you're still confused), ya gotta play by Gargle's rules or by golly they'll shut ya right down.
Okay, I complain a lot about Gargle and Bugger, but hey, the product is free, I should be quiet and keep coloring. (They are responsive to fixing bugs, but when their feature is your bug ...)
Anyhoo, sometimes a loyal reader (even the Sarge himself) will sometimes fall into the spam filter. Funny thing was, this morning I found a Rob comment in the spam filter, I fished it out but noted that his comment was in there with not one, but TWO Sarah Elizabeth spam comments.
I know she's cute bro, but ...
All kidding aside, the fight goes on.
The editors have been selected and I expect The Fab Five to do a sterling job on working over my first attempt at a novel. If it does get published, your names will be mentioned as editors. For a small fee I can leave your names out ...
Kidding, I'm kidding.
But seriously thanks to all those that volunteered, and here's hoping you like the finished product and that I didn't screw it up too bad.
Oh yeah, about the pictures, there are none in the draft copy. I am not yet a famous author who can afford the staff to get permission to use all of those photos. Especially necessary if one expects to make money from the exercise. The photo owners would, quite rightly, want a cut of the proceedings.
The pictures help me write, they also help to set the tone and the mood, hopefully the lack of photos won't damage the book too much. But I've been visited by the copyright monster before, so "Once bitten, twice shy."
Carry on, we'll get back to the war on Tuesday.
Enjoy your Sunday and ...
Be seeing you.
too bad someone dosen't develope a "return to sender" progran which would do just that... return spam and unwanted email to the originating address. bet two things would happen... the amount of spam would greatly decrease, at least until the spammers found a way around the app, and the developer would get rich.
ReplyDeleteSign me up.
DeleteIt would just end up like how the telemarketers are using spoofed or cloned phone numbers to body-slam you.T
DeleteI call back 2-4 numbers daily and get "this number is not in service" which is weird, because it called me, or actually get real somebodies who have no idea who I am and didn't call me.
It's too bad we have legislators in this country (at all levels) who are more interested in enriching themselves and getting re-elected than doing their jobs. Like cracking down on the scammers, who primarily victimize the elderly.
DeleteBut no, that won't happen.
Sarge, it won't matter. Even if it was a felony, whose going to put in the time to solve the case and prosecute? They'll just go through multiple relay sites and it will be practically impossible to catch them. The costs of doing business are so low and the scammers are often in south Asia. For every one they manage to shut down, ten more arise.
DeleteMaybe if they raided the places and killed everyone in there, it might but a dent in it. But that won't happen.
I know, wishful thinking.
Delete(I do like your last idea.)
A pity spam overtook snail mail (and that modern printers can put a unique traceable bar code on a "postage paid" return envelope). Otherwise in the old days, particularly obnoxious junk mail was dealt with by neatly wrapping a brick, taping the return postage paid envelope to it, and depositing in a mailbox. The junk mail sender would have to pay the first class postage on it.
DeleteThose were the days ...
DeleteCommendable post. Appreciate your position and predicament on this infestation old AF Sarge.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Tuesday
Franknbean
Moi aussi!
DeleteI saw two of them earlier on here. I get them on mine, too. But I've gone to full-moderation on my blog, so I see far less. On the other hand, you must get fifty or more comments a day, so it would be a significant time sink to have to read and approve all of them. (Me, it's a big day if I see ten on my blog.)
ReplyDeleteIronic isn't it? Just as I thought they were tapering off, BAM, I get more, on a post complaining about it.
DeleteI am sore-tempted to go full moderation. But yeah, it's time consuming and some folks want to see their comments immediately, you also lose the interplay between the commenters. Ah well, guess I'll just tolerate the "Sarah Elizabeths" of the world and take delight in deleting their nonsense comments.
Personally, I think pictures & photos, possibly even cartoons & caricatures are all very well in comic books; in a serious novel they can detract from the story flow, as well as create another major problem. The aforementioned illustrations can imprint the author's visualization of a particular character upon his reader; the reader OTOH, until seeing the picture, may have pictured an entirely different person: then again, in such a case, what is the author's intention?
ReplyDeleteA very good example of this is Lord Peter Wimsey. Dorothy L. Sayers builds up a very distinct person and leaves it to her readers to visualize him: OTOH whoever did the casting for British TV quite obviously never read any of her novels.
Good point!
DeleteMayhaps if you really want the photos, an appendix with them and a note as to why they inspired you.
DeleteThat's just it, I don't want them that much.
DeleteI've found the photos to be valuable in reading here -especially since they have rarely been "the usual" photos I've seen for all of the years I've been reading on the topic. I completely understand their absence in the draft.
ReplyDeleteI started to write a number for "the years I've been reading" and it scared me a bit.
Boat Guy
Been there, done that. The other day a co-worker asked how long I've been working, the answer scared us both.
DeleteBe nice to know who does this latest round of spam and where they live.... :-) When I see a comment (in my email) is from the spammer I just delete it, if it's one of many I look... I've had as many as 3 separate but same spam comments at a time.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Sunday!
Yeah, it's like a spam wave attack, no matter how many you delete, they just keep coming!
DeleteSarge, I find that the pictures help me in terms of an instant picture for where the story will be going - but yes, they can be a bit distracting in actual books.
ReplyDeleteI am not yet at the "scary number for how long I have been working", although it does seem to raise eyebrows even now at my fairly young company...
I'm actually at the stage in my career where the new hires hadn't even been born when I started.
DeleteWild!
Images in the book are immensely helpful in setting the scene. Us olde pharts grew up with books with little but text on pages, but anyone under 50 has grown up with the internet and smart phones and can barely cope with mere text and no graphics.
ReplyDeleteMany of your wonderful images are from government archives or are otherwise public domain.
I strongly encourage you to use as many as you possibly can with minimal vetting to avoid copyright issues.
Even if in some cases you have to downgrade from a specific scene (as in yesterday's PzKpfw III) to a more generic view of the same vehicle less the crew.
I bet one of your kids might be willing to work on imagery public domain status for you, especially if allowed to count that in lieu of an actual post of their own...;-)
John Blackshoe
As she is busy as Hell mother of two) I doubt she could find the time.
DeleteAlso, pick up a printed novel, or even one online, no pictures or minimal at best.
I like 'em but ...
(The Bundesarchiv photos are not free.)
Hey Old AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteSorry about the SPAM, i can relate,(Why am I thinking of that Monty Python skit...) after I got bit several years ago, try getting a 1000 of them in one morning on my blog...beats coffee lemme tell you, LOL . I wanted to volunteer to be a beta reader but my job is running wide open and I am hit or miss right now and I couldn't do it justice. I have proofed books for other people and I do enjoy the process so keep me in mind :)
Will do.
DeleteYou can't do it with the historical photos, but you have somewhat of a large audience who might be willing to take some photos of the current locales- polish towns, battlefields, French country sides, etc. Are there WWII photos in the National Archives that are free to use? I did a quick search (Free photos from WWII without copyright) and found some sites that have some photos. Not sure they'd be useful, but maybe.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tuna, but I'm not really worried about the photos. How many novels have photos? The photos help spur the writing along but once it's written ...
DeleteI'll think about it.
Of course- good point. I was thinking about the blog, and not a book!
Delete👍
DeleteI'm surprised none of you gents have stepped up to the plate! I asked Sarah to marry me to alleviate her financial woes. She hasn't gotten back to me yet. I picture a small, intimate ceremony with a few thousand of our invited friends. You all are invited! I'll get back to you when we've set a date! ; )
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DeleteI have made a random comment or two on this site concerning the story. My question is how much it would cost to be listed as an editor for the story?
DeleteHH.
vegcook24@hotmail.com
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