A Comment on GSD Comments

I really appreciate all of you who stop by and visit.

And it is cool when I find that a blogger whose work I respect and enjoy reading likes me back.

It's kinda like the feeling I got as a kid when I began getting picked mid-draw for the recess kickball teams instead of being one of the last...pride that I might just be doing something right.

I hope you find my mix of family vignettes, technical tips and briefs, and admiration of many things Japanese, entertaining and educational.

There is so much content on the web, and all of our time is very limited, I value you choosing to share a bit of my reflections.

And for the few faithful who drop comments, I consider myself honored by your gifts. I honestly mean that.

I don't blog for comments. I don't blog for traffic. I write because I'm probably a compulsive writer, find it oddly relaxing and fun, and I hope to return the aid others have given me by their writings. Sometimes it is just a reduction of previously found and posted material. Hopefully sometimes it is original.

And just so you know about those comments that do get left, I try to keep a close eye on them.

There have been some comments by readers who have disagreed with my choices in some software applications...that's fine. I like a nice dialogue as long as it is respectful. I've learned valuable things from listening to those who disagree with me. They provide an important perspective that expands my knowledge.

And I'm not just saying that. Those who know me in person, know that is really how I am.

I really like the positive comments from folks who have found some of my posts helpful to them.

I will delete clear spam comments without any guilt or hesitation.

I don't mind, if in the course of a dialogue, a commentor drops a recommendation to a particular product...so long as it isn't harmful or destructive to someone's system or is a scam or a link to a malware infection. I will run links through a web-scanner to make sure that a visitor doesn't get led into something harmful when they come by my blog. I make every effort to ensure that software linked and/or recommended by me is "safe". I'm not a programmer so I can't ever be 100% certain, but I promise to do my very best.

I will also delete comments they are un-family-like. Alvis and Lavie listen to enough crud in the world we live in, and they don't need to see it here. Fortunately that hasn't been an issue.

I'm thinking about the responsibility of monitoring comments because the other day someone posted a very unusual and mysterious comment under one of my posts.

It was a solicitation to contact them to do a review on a product.

I try to do my homework, and after a bit of web-investigation work found the following post that perfectly described what I had encountered in the comment left on my blog post:

To the Panda Software article plant effort: this is not the article that you were hoping for

Bless your heart, "Erika." I appreciate the fact my little bitty blog triggered an desire to collaborate, but I'm not interested.

I don't get any income from this blog. No ads. No sponsors. If I mention or rave about a product or service it's because I am a customer or fan...I don't get anything in return. No Ferrari notebooks here!

So peace, love, and harmony to those who wish to accept it from us.

And a delete button press for those who bring gifts of comment spam, solicitations, and ick.

Claus