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November Update

Image of an unopened can of SPAM.

It's been well over a month since my last post and I haven't done much with the website recently either. The only updates that have been done over the last month are better logging, and tweaking the keyword filter for spam filtering. I have over 100 keywords with different weights being applied to every comment field; this includes the name, email, and homepage fields since one spammer was crafty and was using a ten word body and only linked their site in the homepage field. The new list does have some tight restrictions: you can't use the domain suffix of .biz or .info (until I see a legit site, this is the easiest way), if you use bbcode [url=...][/url] it'll be blocked instantly considering I mention you can use standard HTML tags. It now keeps a record of every post blocked (by the keyword filter only, if you are blocked via the Http:BL or by my ranges, tough luck) and the content. If I see a legit comment I will take the time to repost it and tweak the filter to allow the comment (if applicable). Since I don't get many real comments, I don't expect this to be an issue (yet).

Most of my time has been consumed by work and by doing some overtime for work. I am in the middle of creating an Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to Exchange 2007 calendar connector. This task, while fun, has been one huge headache after another trying to account for all of the small and large differences between the two. I do have one thing to say though...

I HATE RECURRING APPOINTMENTS!

Ok, not really, but they are one huge pain in the ass to handle - especially when you have exceptions to the recurring appointments! Aaaargh! I'll figure it out soon... though if I had my way I'd just disable recurring appointments considering I do have at least a one way synchronization working from SharePoint to Exchange for basic appointments. I am currently researching on how to tell if a list in SharePoint requires moderation or not (basic Approve/Reject stuff) and allowing meeting invites is soon on its way.

Working behind the scenes with SharePoint and working with Exchange 2007 Web Services (EWS) has been fun though and I can't wait to see the project complete. I only have a deadline of four weeks from now...