When I started my blog, I was afraid that hordes of marauding robots would hurl wingdingy spam at my fledgling blog, which would collapse under the weight of indiscriminate and meaningless robot-originated comments. But I have finally worked up the courage to turn off "word verification/captcha" on my blog.
Now, I'm not tech savvy. I don't know the difference between my proxy and my IP address. I only got an iPhone a couple of months ago. About two years ago I actually went out and bought the most basic Nokia phone I could find. This is how that shopping trip went:
Shop assistant: And what features would you like on your phone, madam?
Me: Features? I want it to make phone calls, when I'm out and about, mobile, if you will, for it is a mobile phone I need.
Shop assistant: Ok, do you have a preference for platform? IPhone, Android?
Me: Um, Telstra?
Shop assistant: *sigh* *superior roll of eyes* Ok. Let me show you this Nokia.
And I loved my new Nokia. It made phone calls. It also sent text messages, but mainly, I could use it to make phone calls while I was out and about. That's a great big tick, right there, because my mobile phone before that struggled with that very concept.
Just recently, my sister, Kitty, gave me her old iPhone. Now, I have been using mobile phones for almost 20 years. Really. So I was a bit anxious about moving away from the idea that a mobile phone is only useful for making phone calls. However, I succumbed to the siren-call of the iPhone, mainly because I can use it to take super-cute photos of my super-cute baby boy, Bunny, and email them to everyone I know, right from my iPhone. I was a bit nervous about leaving behind my beloved Nokia (and it is carefully stashed away in a drawer, with all its accessories in its original box, just in case). But I have hurled myself into the technological unknown and it has all worked out.
It is in the same spirit of technological adventure and exploring the unknown that, this very week, I have turned off word verification for comments on my blog. In so doing, I couldn't easily find any instructions on how to do it, so I thought I would pop some up on my blog. (And I note, my modest little blog has not been buried under a mountain of roboty spam comments... yet.)
How to turn of word verification for comments in Typepad blogs
Step 1: Go to "settings".
Step 2: Go to "comments".
Step 3: Uncheck/untick the box marked "require verification code"
Step 4: Click on "save changes" at the bottom of the screen.
And there you have it. Simples.
Happy sewing.
Amber x
