The Spam Folder Follies

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

They love my information in the spam comments folder. Apparently, the only thing my web site needs is some help with one of the following: loading in Internet Explorer or compatibility with Safari or help with ways of viewing it on a phone browser, but otherwise, my posts have “great information” and my writing is “useful,” according to Spam commenters.

Oh! and no one can ever find this web site. “Disgrace on the sseek engines for nott positioning this submit upper,” one recent comment (December 8) declared. At least, I think this has something to do with that. The writer seems to be offering help with search engine optimization (SEO), which no one actually understands but many claim to.

Anyone who has read Madeleine L’Engle’s novel A Wrinkle in Time may appreciate the above comment’s inadvertent resemblance to the character Mrs. Which’s statements: “I ffindd itt verry ttirinngg, andd wee hhave mmuch ttoo ddoo.”
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Today in History: Dec. 15

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, which most people simply call the Tappan Zee Bridge, opened on this date in 1955.

At 16,000 feet long, it is the longest bridge in New York State, and it spans the Hudson River’s second-widest point for reasons of bureaucratic disagreements.

As one can see in the photo at top, the bridge offers a dramatic swoop of a structure across the river; a long approach over the water carries a driver gradually to a classic suspension bridge in the center of the river and a similar length ramp brings one to the other side.
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Today in History: Dec. 14

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan blasted off from the surface of the Moon on this date in 1972 after spending three days exploring it. (Photo at top.)

The two explorers left behind a plaque which read in part, “Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1972. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.”

Gene Cernan remains the last human to stand on the Moon. A documentary about him, titled The Last Man on the Moon, was released to acclaim in 2015.
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