Trackback spam

There’s a new spambot circulating that hits blog sites via trackbacks instead of comments, thus evading most spam-fighting systems. I’ve been hit several hundred times in the past 24 hours myself.

How I fixed it:

1. Long ago, I turned off allowing pings/trackbacks. In WordPress, you can find this under Options and then Discussions.
2. That only helps with new posts. I can’t recall when I started with that, so going back and editing hundreds of previous posts to turn off pings all at once is a bit daunting for the middle of the work week. Instead, each time I shove the spam over to the moderation queue or just hit SPAM and kill it, I also edit the original post, deactivating pings/trackbacks, which slowly closes the security hole.

Jonah’s been getting hit with it, too. Evil bastards. (Apparently, the spam is coming from spyware that’s botting multiple infected users’ machines. Please use virus/spyware protection, folks!)

Good luck, fellow bloggers.

Koboldnomicon publication news

The Koboldnomicon creeps through the dungeon towards its ultimate goal of publication. Julie Dawson at Bards & Sages just sent out an update to contributors, and the big news is that in addition to PDF versions available in all the usual places this summer, print versions will be available from major online booksellers soon after that, which is a first for me, and a thrill. Firm release dates when I know them.

Joe and Fred hit the medium time, Fred wins award

Well, Joe Rice, who previously self-published a book of his students’ work has his own self-published book now: Why Won’t She Call Me Back?

Meanwhile, F. Chong Rutherford has one of his Mobile Ditty videopodcasts up for an NYU film award.

(What have I done exciting recently? Uh … two weeks of Hesperia Star podcasts in a row?)

• Update: Fred took second place and won beaucoup film equipment as a result. Awesome!

SPJ Awards 2005: The High Desert winners list

Well, Peter and I just got back from tonight’s Society of Professional Journalists award dinner in Riverside. It’s always interesting seeing all the journalists in attendance, particularly what everyone feels is the dress code; there were folks there who looked like they were at prom, while there were others in jeans and ratty sweaters. (I split the difference, myself.)

The Daily Press, Desert Dispatch and Hesperia Star all had winners at this year’s awards in the circulation under 50,000 division:

Peter won third place in the News Photo division for his memorable “Pacific Storm” photo, of a flooded Rock Springs Road:

I picked up second place in Best Feature Story for They Ain’t Scared of No Ghost, second place in Best Law Enforcement/Legal Affairs Story for High-Flying in Hesperia and third place in Government/Political Story for Is Hesperia Casino Really Terminated?

This is my second award for a law enforcement story in two years, which I suspect will give a deceiving picture of what I was covering at the Hesperia Star in years to come. It’s also my second casino-related award, which is more indicative.

I didn’t bring my notebook with me to record what all the Daily Press and Desert Dispatch reporters won for, but fortunately, someone from the DP did: Local journalists bring home awards. (The staff reporter missed that Justin Boggs got both second and third place in the cultural/diversity writing category, though — he was at our table.)

Judges’ comments should be up on the official SPJ site next week, and I’ll link to them when they’re posted.

Deadline to register to vote in June 6 election

A press release from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters:

The deadline to register to vote in the June 6 Direct Primary Election is May 22.

You must be registered within the county in which you live at least 15 days before the election. If you are registered in the county but have moved to another address in the county, you can request an address change in writing, or if you have changed your name, you need to re-register. Voter registration forms are available at DMV offices, Social Security offices, post offices, libraries, city halls, political party headquarters, and from the Registrar of Voters office.

Registered voters who wish to vote by mail must also apply for an absentee/mail ballot soon. It is not necessary to be “absent” to request an absentee /mail ballot. This option is available to all voters. All absentee ballot applications for the June 6 Direct Primary Election must be in the hands of the Registrar of Voters no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 30, 2006.

Absentee applications are available on the back cover of the sample ballot, on the Internet at http://www.sbcrov.com, or from the Registrar of Voters office Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In lieu of the pre-printed application, an eligible voter may send a letter of request that must contain all of the following information:

1. Voter’s Name
2. Name of the Election for which the ballot is requested
3. Voter’s residence address
4. Where the ballot is to be mailed if different from the residence address
5. Voter’s signature

Mail requests to: Registrar of Voters, 777 E. Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0770 or fax to: (909) 387-2022. For more information, call (909) 387-8300 / Toll Free (800) 881-VOTE / TDD (909) 387-2788.

I know that local and regional politics aren’t as sexy as national politics, but I strongly believe they have much more day to day impact on Americans. And since so few people tend to vote, one person’s vote carries quite a bit more weight.