I allow comments on this Web site. In fact, I encourage them. In the past, I’ve had to shut down comments for fairly long periods of time because of “comment spam,” automated attacks that fill the comments section with plugs for whatever sleazy product you can imagine.
The comments are open again because I upgraded to the latest version of Movable Type and installed the latest version of MT-Blacklist, an awesome program created by Jay Allen. If you leave a comment here, it may get held for my approval. That’s a small price to pay, considering that MT-Blacklist has blocked more than a thousand pieces of comment spam since I installed it two months ago.
Via this thread at Brad DeLong’s Weblog, I learn that Jay is now working for Six Apart, the developers of Movable Type. Congratulations, Jay!
If you have a blog, the combination of Movable Type and MT-Blacklist is absolutely awesome. So here’s a public thanks to all the folks who made this software possible.
Ed Bott 
You might also like to install MT-DBSL from http://www.bradchoate.com/weblog/2004/11/05/mt-dsbl . It’s written by Brad Choate, another MT hacker who was recently employed by Six Apart, and blocks or moderates comments made through open proxy servers. It hasn’t made a huge difference but it appears to have caught some comments that MT-Blacklist missed.
You may also like to keep an eye on Elise Bauer’s guide at http://www.elise.com/mt/archives/000246concerning_spam.php – it’s being continually updated with new tips for stopping spam.
One way some blogs have cut down on comment spam is by forcing a visitor to preview before submitting his post. That extra step is often all it takes to drastically cut down on this idiotic practice. See the J-Walk Blog as an example at: http://www.j-walkblog.com/blog/
I’m testing this blog 🙂