New Comments?

Note the question mark in the headline, because, well, I'm not sure what this means.

I've turned off the Blogger comments, and have signed up for Haloscan. I'm going to have to get used to this system, so bear with me a little bit. We'll figure it out together. What it does mean, however, is that I should be able to track IP addresses of commenters (thanks, Derek, for the info).

I won't use your IP address for anything but banning you if your comments get to be a bit, you know, too much. So, cracker, faygoluver (I appreciate the kind words at fitchburguncensored. Don't worry, buddy, the family is making it even though my career at the Sun fizzled. I'd say you should all go check it out, but the racial sewage in one post is truly horrifying.), big420, and all the rest, you're officially on notice.

I don't know if "anonymous" comments are acceptible or not (like I said, I'm learning this one here), but in any case I should be able to track IP address and put unwanted commenters on the sideline. I'm not going to warn people, I'm just going to bounce you (I think for most people for whom this really applies, I'll be able to figure out it pretty quickly).

I don't know if by finding an IP address, I can find your name. If I can (and I won't be actively trying to do that), I will never use it publicly. I just want to ban the people who need banning. (UPDATE: I can't, so the above paragraph doesn't really matter).

This is an unfortunate and perhaps big step, but I think it's an important one. This site still generates great conversation, and I don't want that to end, especially a month before an election and a year before council/mayor elections. I'm sure some of you will scream bloody murder and talk about what a censoring ass I am, but I've spent a good chunk of the last nine months asking people to act like adults, and some haven't done it. If you're not going to respect my wishes and play nice, forget it.

This site is doing better than ever. Since the September debate, the page has averaged over 400 hits a day. I really appreciate it. Thanks for reading, thanks for participating, and let's keep trying to Save Fitchburg.