TypeKey is coming

Hello all. A little bit of housekeeping. As you may know, SixApart, which publishes the software MoveableType, is coming out with a new, majorly updated version soon -- 3.0. B2I will be upgrading because it looks to have a lot of great features that will make everyone's lives a bit easier. One of the features is TypeKey, a "free, open system providing a central identity that anyone can use to log in and post comments on blogs and other web sites." The reason that I'm encouraged by this is comment spam, against which I'm fighting a rearguard action. I can't tell you how many propecia or other pharmacopian spam I have to delete on a daily basis. Jay Allen's MT-Blacklist helps, but it still requires maintenance. And when I'm in Iraq, I'll be less inclined to deal with buttheads like gigi@gigi.com. (Hey, gigi: Keep you vimax pills off my site!) What TypeKey will do, according to the FAQ, is "ensure that people who comment on a site have a verified identity, keeping conversations on track and helping to prevent abusive or offensive content (comment spam) from being posted. Sites that enable TypeKey have better accountability for the content that's being published." What this means is that sometime when TypeKey and MT 3.0 are rolled out, you will have to register to comment. This is a one-time deal only and you'll be good to post on every TypeKey-enabled blog on on the Net, not just B2I. You also will have control over how much information you want to give out. It will be free, according to SixApart. And from reading the FAQ it sounds like it will be a fairly non-intrusive process. I hope it will be anyway. I'm not thrilled with the idea of registering for comments, but the spammers are leaving me with little choice. Don't worry; I won't be banning anyone for the content of your posts -- except for spammers such as gigi, of course. As the date for the release gets closer, I'll have more details, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up.