[Jack Land]

A previous post here at General Talk had to do with some sort of glitch involving Google. I know nothing about it.

There is another glitch at Erato. That’s the hit counter. In the four years I have been here, it’s been obvious that the hit counter is fake news. My introscimible post has racked up 8000 hits since March 25. As W.C. Fields used to say: “A poem should be at least as good as a joke.”

Erato has been around for 25 years and I’m guessing that global bot-nets have learned to home in, those spam-bots incrementing the hit counter. In other words, its not a deliberate plot on the part of Erato.

[Carl Copeland]

Yeah, there was a period of about a week when several of my translations were being swarmed by Pushkin lovers—hundreds at a time. I think the current “most users ever” record was set then, and one of the poems got over 80,000 views. If bots are into Pushkin, there’s hope for them yet.

[E. Shaun Russell]

Realistically, it's 25-year-old software. It's had a longer life than Keats. It's a minor miracle that it hasn't lost all functionality whatsoever. Patching holes is about the best we can hope for at this point, as there's clearly no getting rid of the bots.

[Jim Moonan]

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A few wild thoughts...

What's a bot? To be or not? Grains of sand, those little bots are. Billions and billions of them.

It's no matter. I like thinking... I like thinking there are hordes of people posing as bots, silently reading my meager poetry. Now you tell me they are not? Who are you? Are you a bot? Am I a bot? Who bot? Why bot? U Bot! I Bot! Welcome them with wary eyes even though they are not. Should this fiefdom of Eratosphere collapse like a house of cards when the cold bots blow, I will go somewhere else.

Is this what you were smuggling with your introscimible post on drills and amusements? (You never answered). Where you smoking out bots? Aren't bots an intrinsic part of cyber amusement? A player? To paraphrase Joni Mitchell: I really don't know bots at all.
The question is, if we know them to be bots do they cease to exist?

We are all lurkers.

You should be thrilled! 8,000+ hits!* You've attracted the bots! More than once I've had a poem sink under the weight of a mere few hundred hits.

I'm partly pulling your leg, Jack. We are focused on poetry here. Put some down for us to devour and spit out. Or do your own devouring of poems here and tell us what you taste.

One more thing: Are you Jack Land?
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[Carl Copeland]

Jim, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask the moderator to move your post to Non-Met. I’m still not sure what a prose poem is, but I’ll eat my hat if this isn’t one.

[Jim Moonan]

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Originally Posted by Carl Copeland

Jim, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask the moderator to move your post to Non-Met. I’m still not sure what a prose poem is, but I’ll eat my hat if this isn’t one.

Ha! Just having a little fun with bots : )

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