The Spam Box

Posted on by Opher

Every now and again I like to take a look in my spam box to see what is ending up there. Occasionally I do find genuine comments that for some reason have become caught up with the junk.

Of course there are the people who are after selling you products or services. I can see where they’re coming from but some are less clear. Some are very cryptic.

One wonders why people send this stuff.

In my Spam Box today were a few completely blank messages from people whose address is random letters. What is that about? What can anyone hope to gain by sending those?

I have some in weird symbols that look Russian.

Just lately I have been receiving large sections of medical/biological notes. Why would someone send those? I get about ten of them a day.  I’ve tried to think of a reason but it’s stumped me.

There are some weird people out there!

Surprising range in most popular posts of last year!

Posted on by Opher

I think that at the start of the year it is a good time to review one’s life.

It is also a good time to review my blog. I started this blog in May 2014. So I suppose one could say that I’m into my sixth year of blogging! Yippppee!!

I’ve published 6622 posts! That’s quite a few.

The most popular ones last year show quite an amazing range. I was quite struck when I looked at them:

The God Helmet – Religion

A Senior’s perspective of Facebook – Humour

Linton Kwesi Johnson – All wi doin’ is defendin’ – Reggae

What is the perfect education – Education

Who am I? – The Blogger

Michael Smith – Mi cy-aan believe it – Reggae

About Opher’s World – the Blogger

Mark E. Smith Quotes – Rock Music

Poetry – My Culture – Poetry

The choice between Labour and Tories – Politics

George Bernard Shaw quotes – Literature

That’s quite a range isn’t it? I like that!

So thank you to all my thousands of followers. I appreciate each and every one of you! Please keep following, pressing the like button and commenting (particularly commenting – you don’t seem very good at that!)

Thank you for buying my books! If you enjoy them please leave a review on Amazon!

Your support keeps me writing!

Huge amount of SPAM!! How do we get rid of this annoyance?

Posted on by Opher

It seems that some troll has fixed it so that every time I put out a post my blog is bombarded with SPAM by a bot. Around 900 spam posts clog up my spam folder following a post.

Now it only takes the press of a button to get rid of them but it is annoying. Every now and again genuine replies end up in the spam box and require rescuing. I obviously cannot do that as it would take hours to wade through all the spam in the box to find them.

So – firstly – I always reply to any message left on my blog. If you haven’t had a reply then I’m sorry. It might have ended up in the spam box and been deleted.

Secondly, if anybody has any idea of how I could put a stop to this trolling bot clogging up my spam box please give me a shout.

Thank you! Happy blogging!

A Big Thank You!!

Posted on by Opher

I think a big thank you is in order!!

Posted on

Thank you to all the people following my blog. There are thousands of you and that is really incredible.

It is fantastic to think that people from 137 different countries are interested in what I am writing. Thank you for following me.

Secondly – thank you to all those people who leave ‘likes’ and comments. It is very rewarding and makes you feel like going on. Now I know stats don’t mean a lot to you but they are very reinforcing for me. They make me feel that it is worth doing. So thanks for the support. Blogging takes a lot of time, effort and thought. It’s nice to know there is an appreciative audience.

Thirdly – thank you to all the people who have taken the plunge and tried one of my books. Please leave some reviews. I know it is a pain but it is great for me to hear what you think and it is good for anyone who is looking to buy to know what to purchase.

If you like what I write and would like to try a book then I have 22 up on Amazon. You might want to have a look: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opher-Goodwin/e/B00MSHUX6Y/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1435313921&sr=1-2-ent

To start with I would recommend ‘Green’ if you enjoy a good Sci Fi read : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Opher-Goodwin-ebook/dp/B00YHN7UJU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

or ‘In Search of Captain Beefheart’ if you like Rock Music : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Captain-Beefheart-Opher-Goodwin-ebook/dp/B00TQ1E9ZG/ref=la_B00MSHUX6Y_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435436099&sr=1-4

Or ‘A Passion for Education – The Story of a Headteacher’ if you are interested in the inside story of a Headteacher. (It’s not just for teachers!)

https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_AsDWtcxxyLjySW&asin=B00NRC66E2&tag=kpembed-20

But there are a whole bunch to choose from. You might find something else that would take your fancy.

Thanks for the support and appreciation. It’s great!

Best wishes

Opher

The Joys of Blogging – into a fourth year!!

Posted on by Opher

The Joys of Blogging

 

I’ve been blogging for exactly three years now. It has been a very strange and time consuming experience. I was very naïve. I imagined I would put out my material and discover a small number of like-minded people who I could argue with, share views, befriend, laugh with, enjoy, discuss and debate.

I discovered that it doesn’t quite happen like that.

So what is my material?

Well, part of the reason I set up my blog was to provide a vehicle for promoting my books. So part of the content has been extracts from my many books. As a writer I enjoy writing and sharing my writing. The rest of the blog has been made up of my poetry, art, photography, and comment on current political, religious and social issues that I am interested in, people that have inspired me, books, travel, and Rock music – particularly lyrics – which is one of my great passions. I also feature humour and philosophy. So it is a varied fayre.

I tend to have some strong controversial views and a tendency not to hold back so I did expect some fiery exchanges. But that’s fine.

Somehow the book promotions got lost a little on the journey.

Well I did make some good new friends across the world and have greatly enjoyed the enriching interaction. I have now accrued 2140 followers on WordPress, 5000 facebook and 1500+ on twitter so I know there is an audience out there who must be getting something out of it. I get a good number of views and likes though very few comments. Most of my audience are amazingly quiet. It’s a bit like performing in a big theatre that is silent. I do find that a bit strange.

I have had some big fall-outs with people – mainly over Brexit, Trump, religion and immigration – which is par for the course. I was expecting that. I was also expecting to attract the odd fanatic, nutcase and unpleasant character – and I did.

I have been physically threatened, abused, personally belittled, arrogantly put down, told that I will be ‘sorted’, that kiddie porn has been put on my computer, that my bank details, paypal and other details have all been compromised, ridiculed and subjected to a barrage of unpleasantness. Sometimes rafts of obnoxious comments under different aliases. Honestly – what goes on in people’s heads? Some bullies really want to silence anybody who thinks differently to them.

FREE SPEECH – ONE EACH!!

I started with a policy of leaving all comments up on display. I worked on the principle that the obnoxious ones showed themselves up and that people could judge for themselves. I changed that. I took to deleting extreme nastiness because it was often directed at various commentators, as well as myself, and designed to upset and drive them away. Besides, I did not need all the negative vibes. Now I delete posts that have personal abuse or nastiness. I don’t mind disagreement or debate but disrespect is unnecessary in my view. We can surely disagree intelligently without unpleasantness, can’t we?

So these three years have been a mixed bag. Has it been worthwhile? Well I don’t know. Like all things there is the good and the bad. I have published 5423 posts in three years and am still blogging.

We’ll see how my fourth year of blogging goes.

 

Thank you to all my new friends and followers across the world. You make it worthwhile.

 

Don’t let the trolls win!

 

Thank you to all those of you who bought my books. You fill me with joy. Please leave a review on Amazon!

 

I look forward to interacting with you through my fourth year of blogging!! I wish you all the best!!

 

Opher 26.5.2018

The Reason for Blogging.

Posted on by Opher

My first impetus to start a blog was to promote my books.

I thought it would be good to share some of my art, writing, photography, music likes, philosophy and thoughts.

Of course, that was before the unveiling of hatred resulting from Trump and Brexit and the division that ensued.

I thought it would be nice to have an exchange of views, arguments and make contact with people all over the world.

Well I guess all of that has happened.

Hackers on Facebook and WordPress – please beware of these people – Christopher Davies, Jessica Davies, Jayden K Smith and do not download the video ‘Dance of the Pope’.

Posted on by Opher
I received these warnings in my facebook. I do not know if they are correct but best not to take chances.
DO NOT ACCEPT A FRIEND REQUEST FROM A CHRISOPHER DAVIES AND JESSICA DAVIES THEY ARE HACKERS. TELL EVERY 1 ON YOUR LIST BECAUSE IF SOMEBODY ON YOUR LIST ADDS HIM, HE’LL BE ON YOUR LIST TOO. HE’LL FIGURE OUT UR COMPUTER’S ID AND ADDRESS , SO COPY & PASTE THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE EVEN IF U DON’T CARE. Please also Tell all contacts from your list not to accept a video called the “Dance of the Pope”. It is a virus that formats your mobile. Beware it is very dangerous. They announced it today on the radio. Fwd this msg to as many as you can!
Please tell all the contacts in your messenger list not to accept Jayden K. Smith friendship request. He is a hacker and has the system connected to your Facebook account. If one of your contacts accepts it, you will also be hacked, so make sure that all your friends know it. Thanks.
Why do these horrible people do these things? What motivates them?

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam – I’ve been abandoned by the Russian girls!!

Posted on by Opher

I am intrigued by my spam box. I find all manner of interesting things in it.

A while ago there were numerous Russian ladies who were eager to make my acquaintance. They seem to have transferred their romantic inclinations to someone else. How I miss them.

I also miss the Chinese ladies who want to be my Asian girlfriend. I wonder if anyone ever takes them up on their kind offer? I felt so mean refusing them all.

Then there were various gambling opportunities. I was offered hundreds of free spins or bets. They were playing the percentages and hoping I’d get hooked. I’ve seen the big cars the bookies drive and the large houses they own. I took a chance and refused.

Then there are a number who congratulate me on writing such brilliant informative posts. I think I might type out and frame some of those. They are great for the ego. Unfortunately the posts they attach they too are not related to the object of their praise. I feel let down. If only they had tailored it a little.

Then there are the religious ones who inform me that god is watching me and quote various chunks of bible at me. I remain unsaved. I am sure they are devastated.

The most strange of all are the ones which have a string of nonsense. Long rambling extracts of nonsense. I can’t see what their game is? Are they bots? Are they just being annoying?

Lately I have been inundated with offers of psychic readings. It just shows that they aren’t psychic. If they were they’d have known I wasn’t going to respond.

The annoying thing about spam boxes is that you have to check them because sometimes real messages get put in with the spam and need rescuing.

Spam. It is intriguing isn’t it? A whole world of weird motives. It gives you an insight into the unsavoury minds of people on the fringes.

Spam and deception. What makes people do these things?

Posted on by Opher

Every day I have to empty a number of messages out of my spam boxes. They are irritating and annoying.

I cannot for the life of me think why people send this stuff. They fall into a number of categories.

  1. There are adverts for all manner of goods. Would any sane person click on one of these products and buy them? Even if you wanted the thing you’re not going to purchase it off a cold call.
  2. There are all manner of sex services, products and relationship organisations. Likewise – if you wanted to purchase sex, products, operations or join a partnership scheme would you do so from one of these? I doubt it.
  3. There are scams which want you to put in your bank details. Is anyone that stupid?
  4. The one that I can’t figure out are the others leaving meaningless messages saying they like your blog, or want to set up their own or like the layout, or just a big section of gobbledegook. What is that all about?
  5. Then there are the people who pretend to be friends just so that they can deceive you with flattery and try to make a fool of you. They don’t like what you say or stand for but pretend to. Why go to all that trouble?

People are strange.

This minority of anti-social or destructive people create huge problems for the rest of us. Just think how nice and simple the world would be if we didn’t have to put in expensive police, security checks and all the anti-theft paraphernalia. It would all be so much quicker, cheaper, faster and better.

The tiny percentage of criminals, psychologically disturbed, violent and malicious people create disproportionate problems for the rest of us.

What we need is a Love Gun that puts their brains right!

If you would like to purchase a book visit my Amazon page:

In the UK:

In the USA:

How to write the most Popular Blog – the definitive answer.

Posted on by Opher

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Having been blogging for two years now and had the opportunity to look at a great number of highly successful sites I think I now have a handle on what it is that makes a blog popular or unpopular.

Here are my observations:

  • Do not write anything controversial
  • Avoid Religion and Politics
  • Write about celebrity trivia
  • Write about food, fashion, shopping and what you had to eat last.
  • Write about hanging out with your mates at the mall
  • Write about love
  • Write about fate that always finds a way through
  • Do not write about war, starvation, inequality or environmental destruction
  • Write about heart-warming stories of love prevailing over evil
  • Write about comedy films, light reading and TV soaps
  • Avoid heavy literature, Arty films or anything with depth
  • Write upbeat poems
  • Put in cartoons
  • Have lots of humour – slapstick and silliness
  • Write about current Pop Music
  • Do not mention viruses, guns, rape or scary stuff
  • Write about winning lots of money
  • Write about style, make-up and being trendy
  • Do not mention illness, disability or misery
  • Avoid swearing and real sex
  • Write about sexy boyfriends/girlfriends and stars – but in a ‘nice’ way
  • Write about nice homes and fast cars
  • Do not mention death
  • Be aware that most people want to live in a bubble that is nice, shallow and shared, where everything is pleasant, fun and romantic. They are happy being entertained and consuming. They do not want the real world to intrude.

Well that’s me done for! Can’t say that I do anything right in terms of gaining popularity.

But then I can’t see the point of blogging if all you ever do is trivial and pointless.

If you ain’t got PASSION and PURPOSE you’re wasting your life!!

TUNE IN TO OPHER’S WORLD FOR A DOSE OF REALITY!!!!