A hint for all the blogging world. Although turning on word verification and only allowing registered users can really cut down on spam comments, you'll still have a few lovelies trickle in. So, I've decided to send a "nice" e-mail to all the spammers. But how do you find a legitimate email address to send it to without risking a visit to their website?

Find the link in the spam message (don't click on it!), and mouse over it until the website address (aka domain name) appears in the status bar at the bottom of your web browser. Write the address down. Now, zip on over to www.whois.org. These folks register names and contact info for domain name owners. Type the domain name into the WhoIs search engine, and voila! You will have the information for the person who owns the domain name if it is public. Sometimes a second party (like the domain name registration company) will have you search their WhoIs database, but it's essentially the same process.

Here's a for instance. On my POTUS message from earlier today I received a comment from Melanie Alama telling me to go sell ads so I can buy stuff "like music." Blah, blah, blah. Ms. Alama's message had a link to www.credoninc.com (don't go there...they might install malicious software). So, I searched the WhoIs database (via NetworkSolutions), and came up with the registration information I need to send the owner a nice "Knock-It-Off-You-Dumb-Ass" letter.

A word of warning. Do not post the information you find, because WhoIs has a license agreement that states that you will not use the information in a manner that will allow the person to receive unsolicited mail or e-mail (ironically enough).

Now, take your e-mail address, and write your own note of spanks to the spammer.