Have a blog? You will almost assuredly get comments. Unfortunately, many of these comments will be from supposed pharmaceutical companies, personal enhancement firms and numerous get rich schemes. To give you an example, this morning I "cleaned out" the spam comments that had accumulated on the blog over the weekend (over 200 spam comments were deleted). Tonight - a mere 12 hours later nearly 60 more spam comments had been added. 

Spam comments make you look bad and can easily be considered offensive to your blog readers. So what is a blogger to do?

I'm glad you asked.

There is a simple solution that is supported on all major blog platforms, re-captcha keys. A re-captcha key is:

reCAPTCHA is a free CAPTCHA service that helps to digitize books, newspapers and old time radio shows. Check out our paper in Science about it (or read more below).

A CAPTCHA is a program that can tell whether its user is a human or a computer. You've probably seen them — colorful images with distorted text at the bottom of Web registration forms. CAPTCHAs are used by many websites to prevent abuse from "bots," or automated programs usually written to generate spam. No computer program can read distorted text as well as humans can, so bots cannot navigate sites protected by CAPTCHAs. 

For additional information go to http://www.google.com/recaptcha

I installed re-captcha in about 2 minutes and that included the time it took me to get the free code from their site. Simple and effective.

Now, when someone goes to leave a comment on the blog they are presented with a simple question that only a human could answer. The re-captcha inquiry looks like this:

Simple and effective, my comment spam will be virtually eliminated. As a side benefit, by having readers take just a moment to complete the re-captcha inquiry, we are all helping to digitize books.

What is your favorite way to stop comment spam?

Imagine walking into your favorite local grocery store, sliding your iPad into the shopping cart and having a map of the store appear showing you the most efficient route to take through the store to shop for your items. Not likely you say?  Just wait . . . and likely not much more than 24 months.

The iPad, as with many of Apple's past innovations is going to change the way we live life.

Let's take a glimpse into the future . . .

Through out the week, you use your iPad to make a list of the things you needed from the grocery store. You used to keep a notepad on the refrigerator.  Today it is much simpler to simply add them to your iGroceryCart app on your iPad.  As you sleep tonight, your iPad will communicate with your refrigerator, your pantry and your kitchen cabinets to determine what items you used this week. Yes, your pantry and kitchen cabinets keep track of what you put in them and take out of them (thanks to the new printable RFID tags that are used as labels on everything you buy).

Today, while at work, you decide that fettucine alfredo sounds delightful for dinner.  You check your iPantry app and see that you have everything you need - if you want to make things from scratch.  Cooking from scratch is great, although tonight your daughter has piano lessons after work and you are not going to have time to cook dinner from scratch tonight; you need some Alfredo sauce. You simply tap on the ingredient list and your iPad Pantry app connects to your iRecipe app and automatically adds Alfredo sauce (pre-made) to your iGroceryCart app. Tonight on the way to piano lessons you plan to swing by the grocery store. Five minutes and you will be ready for a quick and tasty dinner when you get home.

After work you pull in the parking lot of your favorite grocery store.  As you walk into the store your iPad, which is in your handbag, automatically receives the stores specials. You grab a shopping cart and put your iPad into the cart's iPad cradle.  Almost immediately, your shopping list from your iGroceryCart app is compared to the store layout and specials. Your iPad asks if you want just Alfredo sauce or if you want to shop for everything on your list. Being in a bit of a rush you choose to just grab the Alfredo sauce and some pasta and run. Your iPad lights up with an optimized shopping route through the store and you are on your way.

Your iPad directs you down the aisles like a seasoned logistics expert and as you approach the pasta and sauce section your iPad notifies you that the store has a new premium house brand of Alfredo sauce - and it is on sale.  You stop the cart in front of the Alfredo sauces just inches away from the new premium house brand and select it, thank you for the recommendation, and place it in your cart. The grocery cart, which is equipped with a RFID reader automatically records your selection as you place it in the cart.  Your iPad directs you to the pasta and, based upon your goal to lose weight (which you entered into you iGoals app last week) recommends a low carb pasta and provides recommendations from other consumers with a picture of the package to make it easier for you to find on the shelf, although your iPad tells you how far you are from the exact spot on the shelf where the pasta is located.

You grab the low carb pasta, place it in the cart and your iPad records your selection via RFID and directs you on the best route to the cashier's area.  Your iPad notifies you of various specials and store promotions that correspond to your shopping list as you go through the store although it manages to avoid being an interruption.

As you approach the cashiers area, your iPad prompts you to find out if you want to use self service checkout.  You choose to do so and your iPad directs you to the lane with the shortest line (your iPad determines which line would be best by comparing the items in the carts of each person in line and estimating how long it will take them to check out and bag their items.) Self checkout is easier than it used to be. You walk your cart up to the self serve checkout and push the cart through two upright panels. The self service checkout automatically reads the RFID tags on each of the items in your cart and your iPad prompts you for your payment preference. You chose to use your debit card, as a credit purchase (a default from the last time you were shopping at the grocery store) and your iPad and the checkout scanner complete your purchase and payment without any additional interaction on your part.

You walk out to your car, your groceries already bagged as you placed them in the bags conveniently when you were shopping. From entry to exit you were in the store for 5 minutes and 32 seconds. You get to your vehicle, toss the bags in your back seat and pick up your daughter early.

Back to the present . . . What do you think?