…and this is a 
People keep writing to me to complain that the goddamn stupid comment registration system doesn't work, so they can't comment. Yes, you can. Just ignore registration and fill in the blanks with name and email (which isn't shown), and you can comment.
This is especially irritating since I turned off the comment registration system some time back, and have been dealing with all the spam that's been pouring in for the last two weeks just so people would be able to freely comment. I'm still plowing through all the comments that accumulated over my long weekend away, too…and was thinking I should have turned it back on while I was gone.
Comments
Posted by: PGPWNIT | November 2, 2009 12:53 PM
The real idiotic thing about this is that this problem has been solved on the internet thousands of times. IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE....or biology.
Posted by: Clemens | November 2, 2009 12:54 PM
Exactly. Why not just plug in some effin open-source commenting stuff?
Posted by: momentofsciencetx | November 2, 2009 12:55 PM
I comment therefore I am.
Posted by: DemetriusOfPharos | November 2, 2009 12:59 PM
I don't often get to quote Airplane, so here it goes:
"Thats exactly what they'd be expecting us to do!"
Posted by: Cody | November 2, 2009 1:02 PM
I was pretty sure this didn't work before, but maybe I was mistaken? In either case, excellent blog PZ, I've been reading for some time, but I don't believe I've ever commented.
Posted by: Newfie
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November 2, 2009 1:03 PM
I've found that sometimes when I go to sign in, there's no icon for typepad, but if I come back to the thread, and click the sign in link again, or a third time, it will appear and let me sign in. Using firefox.
Also, when I click the post button, I don't wait for the comment to post, I just wait a few seconds, click the stop button, and then refresh the thread, and voila, my post is there.
I hope this is useful.
Posted by: Glen Davidson
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November 2, 2009 1:12 PM
The thing is, when the registration was turned off the implication was that it was only temporary--or at least that's how I took it. Wasn't it going to be turned off for the weekend, or some such thing?
In fact, I've tended not to be sure whether I needed to login or not, and have just continued to do so, even though I've seen comments saying it wasn't necessary. I can usually login with either Movable Type or Typepad, and it is convenient. I had trouble mainly when I was only registered with Typepad, and it's better to have both.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Posted by: Ray Moscow
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November 2, 2009 1:13 PM
The registration feature is still a bit unreliable. I've learned to save a copy of my comments before posting them in case the system kicks me out and loses my comments.
But it does work, if one is persistent.
Posted by: nichole | November 2, 2009 1:15 PM
This poll says "pls fuck with me."
http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/component/poll/43-do-you-believe-the-holy-spirit-manifests-himself-in-drunken-behavior-
Posted by: Lauren Ipsum | November 2, 2009 1:16 PM
I did notice that registration was still off and I am and have been quite grateful, PZ. I know you have a ton of crap to extract, and I doubly appreciate your efforts to allow HTML polloi to comment.
Posted by: lysander | November 2, 2009 1:20 PM
Atheism? Opps! Wrong site. Sorry, I'm not into religion ...
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | November 2, 2009 1:22 PM
Yep, PZ wrote explicitely he would turn it back on when the weekend would be over. Fortunately (for us), this didn't come to pass.
Posted by: jojodancingbear | November 2, 2009 1:25 PM
just checking.
Posted by: Walton | November 2, 2009 1:28 PM
Forgive my ignorance of technology, but is there any available means of appointing moderators/administrators for the blog, who would (when logged in) have the same power as the blog owner to delete comments? If so, you could simply appoint some of the OM-holders and other trusted regulars as moderators, and get them to help remove the spam. (I have no idea if this is actually technically possible; I'm pretty sure it isn't possible on Blogger, which I use for my blog, so I imagine it probably isn't on Scienceblogs either. But I thought it was worth suggesting, just in case.)
Posted by: True Bob | November 2, 2009 1:29 PM
Ahh, sweeet release! Um, I mean RELIEF, relief, yeah, that's it. I ASSumed the registration deal was temporary as well. The entire registration thing is my own personal hell. I for one am glad that the weekend never passed.
Thanks PZ, for having the sheer bull-headedness required to sort through spam and notspam.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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November 2, 2009 1:29 PM
Commenting while registered, however, makes your teeth whiter, your toes cuter, and your nipples firmer.
Posted by: ThirtyFiveUp | November 2, 2009 1:30 PM
Cuttlefish was so angry s/he was forced to use prose. LOL.
Posted by: Killua | November 2, 2009 1:31 PM
This comment will get through without registration?
What a weird strange world it is. I feel like I need to say something important though. Hum.
Cookies are not nearly as bad for you as people have been lead to believe!!!!
Posted by: True Bob | November 2, 2009 1:31 PM
While all true, Naked Bunny, I am quite envious at the firmness of your nipples. As I imagine them.
Maybe I DID mean sweet release after all...
Posted by: Sam | November 2, 2009 1:33 PM
Ooohhh! I can comment?!
I'm most pleased. I felt like I almost wasn't a minyan.
Posted by: Bryan | November 2, 2009 1:35 PM
If someone didn't realize that registration was off then either they weren't around when PZ made the announcement and/or haven't tried the Name and Email Address fields that are right there above the Comments box. Anyway, don't make PZ's effort at spam killing be in vain and everyone post some nice comments.
p.s. I have just finished catching up on the posts from the weekend, and I'm jealous that PZ got to spend time with Eugenie Scott and Neil Shubin. I took my kids to the Field Museum last year just to see the evolution exhibit with the Tiktaalik cast, but we spent the entire day roaming through the other exhibits also.
Posted by: True Bob | November 2, 2009 1:40 PM
I share that envy about Scott and Shubin (IIRC he's met Eugenie before). I gave my son Shubin's book for Saturnalia last year - so that I could read it! It's a pretty light read, not too involved in the meaty parts of the science, but more conversational and accessible.
I see that PZ now has not only a trophy wife but a cool crocoduck tie as well! Lucky bastard.
Posted by: Bone Oboe | November 2, 2009 1:56 PM
I too can comment. Cool. How about this shite?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/220296?GT1=43002
Posted by: Stephanurus | November 2, 2009 2:14 PM
It's alive! It's alive! I commented! I commented!
Posted by: David Horton | November 2, 2009 2:19 PM
Well, here's another one who thought it was going back on, but then I'm the sort of person who forms a queue if one isn't already present. And my experience with attempting to register this time was that livejournal, which worked last time for me, wasn't available this time and nor was vox. I've long given up even trying typepad. Hard to believe that a registration system can be so poor.
I suppose it's too late to comment on "sympatric speciation" now.
Posted by: Greg F. | November 2, 2009 2:21 PM
PZ,
It couldn't hurt to ask ScienceBlogs if there's a version of Akismet that works for the Movable Type or TypePad platforms.
That's what I use on my wordpress.org blog to have an open-door commenting policy and it mercilessly slams down thousands of spambots a month with a pretty amazing rate of accuracy.
Posted by: irenedelse.pip.verisignlabs.com
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November 2, 2009 2:21 PM
Testing, testing... Yay, I can has some commentz too!
Posted by: KyBoiler
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November 2, 2009 2:22 PM
It definitely didn't work a few weeks ago when I gave up trying (I tried to join 3 of the 5 log-in options). But today, Movable Type worked beautifully.
It's a true miracle!!!
...or someone fixed a line of buggy code.
Posted by: Bone Oboe | November 2, 2009 2:22 PM
N.B.W.W. said:
If that's the case then there are undoubtedly some here that could dial a rotary phone or cut glass, so steadfastly have they logged in.
Posted by: Don | November 2, 2009 2:23 PM
I can comment?
Posted by: drew | November 2, 2009 2:27 PM
sent pz a poll to crash about the comfort edition of origin. located here
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/index.html
Posted by: irenedelse.pip.verisignlabs.com
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November 2, 2009 2:30 PM
@ Bone Oboe #23: Weird. The painting chosen to illustrate the article makes the "near-death experience" look like a trip to Iran or Saudi Arabia.
(And it's sooo restful to be able to comment without loging in.)
Posted by: Evil Eye | November 2, 2009 2:34 PM
So simple a cephalopod can do it.
Posted by: Aratina Cage
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November 2, 2009 2:36 PM
Page Title: D'Souza's New Book Promises Proof of the Afterlife. No need to read any further than that. Talk about shite.Posted by: truth machine
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November 2, 2009 2:39 PM
I've never had a problem with typepad that a refresh didn't fix.
Posted by: Roadtripper | November 2, 2009 2:39 PM
This is my comment!
There are many like it but this one is mine!
Oh, never mind.
Is this working, or not?
Rt
Posted by: Drew | November 2, 2009 2:41 PM
well here the direct link to the poll
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/11/02/poll-will-you-read-creationist-take-on-darwins-origin-of-species.html
the one I posted above takes you to a front page and the poll scrolls with the page so it will eventually disappear off the front page.
Posted by: blf | November 2, 2009 2:43 PM
How many nipples do bunnies have again?
You'll be pleased to note I'm having some lapin for dinner tonight. Or, er, maybe you won't be that happy…
Posted by: the pro from dover | November 2, 2009 2:55 PM
This is a test.. I repeat: this is a test.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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November 2, 2009 3:03 PM
I certainly hope they will be well-behaved in your home.
Posted by: Soren | November 2, 2009 3:06 PM
Thanks PZ. You're the best!.....at least this year:
http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/09_nov_dec/Myers.html
Posted by: Queequeg | November 2, 2009 3:06 PM
Yay! Thank you PZ! I thought you only temporarily turned off the registration system, so I gave up trying to comment when I couldn't log in. I feel for you regarding all the spam, though.
I feel privileged :)
Posted by: Haris bin Ali
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November 2, 2009 3:08 PM
@ Greg #26: There is an Akismet plugin for Movable Type http://akismet.com/development/
Posted by: whatbluedot | November 2, 2009 3:16 PM
Some of us just gave up trying.
Posted by: llewelly | November 2, 2009 3:18 PM
Pharyngula: Atheism that makes your nipples hard.Posted by: JackC
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November 2, 2009 3:20 PM
You can ALSO comment here - in which Comfort makes a further fool of himself
You may not want to though. Reading BananaBoy's "response" to Eugenie is nearly painful.
No - I take that back. It is most certainly painful. Read with caution.
JC
Posted by: blf | November 2, 2009 3:29 PM
Damn rabbits are guzzling down the vin like there's no tomorrow. And it's a nice St Chinian too.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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November 2, 2009 3:44 PM
Make that six refreshes.
Posted by: Veko | November 2, 2009 3:51 PM
Have you ever considered getting mods for the comments? I'm not sure if you can but, assuming you could, I for one as a rare commenter, but constant lurker, would be willing to help weed away the spam.
Posted by: Art | November 2, 2009 4:03 PM
There are many reasons to not comment. The main reason for me is that your blog is so popular that so many people comment that I feel that my efforts at insight, humor, redress are just dust in the wind. Does anyone really read every single comment when there are several hundred of them? By the time there are fifty or sixty the main points that can be made have been made.
The requirement for registration didn't make much difference. It just provided a simple and easily stated objective reason to back an established subjective judgment.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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November 2, 2009 4:05 PM
Then you should eat them. It's harsh, but how else will they learn?
Posted by: Bone Oboe | November 2, 2009 4:09 PM
Posted by: Art | November 2, 2009 4:03 PM
I do actually. It's part of the reason I post infrequently. I tend to read through everything to see if anyone else has arrived at similar points, be they humorous or serious points; and if such is the case, I refrain from posting.
Posted by: mattand | November 2, 2009 4:11 PM
testing testing...
Posted by: Joseph Mulroney | November 2, 2009 4:13 PM
I can post!
Posted by: mattand | November 2, 2009 4:18 PM
Show off...
Posted by: Ben | November 2, 2009 4:24 PM
Hey PZ,
I'm a CS student with experience in website development. I was wondering how much control you're actually given over users and registration and whether there was a way I could help you fight spam. I've had to deal with comment spam before so I feel your pain.
Posted by: Dimitri | November 2, 2009 4:40 PM
Comments give me a headache.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDWNam7RtE
Posted by: Esa | November 2, 2009 4:55 PM
I am therefore I comment
Posted by: Endor | November 2, 2009 5:02 PM
testing.
Posted by: Endor | November 2, 2009 5:04 PM
huh. How about that. I kept getting a "forbidden" screen before. Thought I'd been sent to the dungeon.
Posted by: MikeM | November 2, 2009 5:13 PM
It's only a goddamn stupid registration system because it has more bugs in it than a disgustingly bad fast-food restaurant.
Test-plans, schmest-plans.
Posted by: eyesoars | November 2, 2009 5:48 PM
Couldn't get through the registration crud before Sylvia Browne came to visit MN.
Did anyone get out to skepticate her appearance at the local "gaming" Emporium here?
Posted by: Joffan | November 2, 2009 6:08 PM
I can't comment.
Any spontaneous appearance of comments by me will be proof of miracles, and hence prove God, Jesus, the bodily ascension of Mary, and transubstantiation. And fish.
;-P
Posted by: Silmarillion
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November 2, 2009 8:42 PM
I had the Typepad problem others were having - the login button just up and disappeared one day. I'm glad to see it back!
Posted by: Dax | November 2, 2009 10:11 PM
Oh goody comments on.
I don't have to buy anything ,do I?
Posted by: Pareidolius
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November 2, 2009 10:40 PM
@11
Opps indeed.
Posted by: Ben | November 3, 2009 12:29 AM
I don't know what all the hoopla is about. I've been commenting on this site for months and I've never had a problem.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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November 3, 2009 6:00 AM
@Ben: As have I, but others are having great difficulty with the registration system, and even I have seen the TypePad option disappear and reappear a number of times. The difficulty is widespread enough to indicate that it's at the server end, though it would interest me to find out if certain browsers/operating systems/security settings aggravate the issue. Sadly, it would not interest Seed's IT staff, since they don't have one right now, I've heard.
Posted by: Bob Harmount | November 3, 2009 6:55 AM
Just checking.
Posted by: GravityISJustATheory | November 3, 2009 7:30 AM
This is a test.
Posted by: Cosmic Teapot | November 3, 2009 9:18 AM
Perhaps you need to turn registration back on pronto.
The "New thread for Ken Hams old whines" is being spammed with medical products.
Of course, people stupid enough to believe what Ken Ham is selling are stupid enough to buy medical products sold in spam posts.
Posted by: BAllanJ | November 3, 2009 9:20 AM
Hey! I can comment now!
I have/had so much to say over the last weeks, but if I said it now, it wouldn't much sense out of context....for example, a few things I would have said in the last few weeks:
1) I agree
2) I disagree
3) WTF?!
4) bacon
See! (OK, that last one kinda always makes sense)
Posted by: blf | November 3, 2009 2:20 PM
The self-marinating bunnies are in the pot now.
Posted by: Aerik | November 3, 2009 5:32 PM
commenting, O rly?
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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November 3, 2009 5:56 PM
@blf: Hahaha, "self-marinating", "in the pot". I'm glad you enjoy metaphors as much as I do.
*feels a chill*
Posted by: momkat | November 3, 2009 6:32 PM
But if you eat them how will they learn? If no one has taught them to consume the host's libations judiciously, how can they be expected to be good guests? I think you intended to have them AS dinner all along, you big meany.
Posted by: SEF | November 4, 2009 5:16 AM
10 out of 10 of the most recent comments (when I refreshed the page, prior to posting this) were spam!
I realise that this is US down-time, with mostly only UK-ers and other Euro-zone people being up, but that's still something of a record (of the bad kind). That's what PZ is up against in the absence of enforcing registration.
Posted by: Rorschach | November 4, 2009 5:21 AM
We Australians are still around mate ! 920pm here.....
And yes, spam is 10/10 at the moment. I am for registration being turned back on.
Posted by: Tony S | November 5, 2009 12:23 AM
Screw Christians...
Gee... I sure hope my comment posts.