After a second day of hundreds
of visits, I contacted the automated help
on my Word Press site to see if it
could stop my German bots.
Initially, I asked to speak to a real
person, but the automated help
was, how do I say, insistent about
giving it a go. Why not, I said.
Together, we learned a lot
concerning my German bots.
They originate from a region called
Sashen and from a city named
Falkenstein. Falkenstein, it’s true.
My automated help was almost
joyful in its response to our discovery.
Yes, Falkenstein is notorious for
this kind of shenanigan. Then it
(she, he, them?) gave me some
helpful advice and some comfort.
There are ways, she said (and here
I regret not asking her to identify
her pronouns), there are ways,
she said, to distinguish between
real visitors and fake ones, and the
best news is that these bots
from Falkenstein are most likely
innocuous. They mean you no harm.
And I said, I should just wait them out?
Again, her response was downright
gleeful, giddy: Exactly! she said.
Ultimately, when I was asked by
my support assistant, was this helpful,
I had to give a big thumbs up to this
bot helping me against another bot.
michael jarmer 