Jay Allen has released an update to MT-Blacklist, which includes an attempt at a centralized blacklist database. Having looked through the code for MT-Blacklist, I wondered how long it would be before Jay decided to move the default blacklist out of the code itself. By its very nature, having the blacklist embedded in the code is an unmaintainable nightmare; there’s no way to keep the default list up-to-date. I can appreciate a good reduction of effort hack when I see one, and this move should prevent Jay from going crazy quite as quickly.
More than saving a little effort on his part, though, Jay has created a clearinghouse to which everyone can submit URLs of blog spammers. It’s a smart way to stay one step ahead of the spammers; a community effort is certainly more effective than one irate programmer, no matter how talented.
