T.W.Ratana
Who is Ratana? He or she or it has been knocking on the doors of Blogland for a while now but he or she or it suffers the same fate day after day - deletion. No matter what he or she or it says, we press the delete button and Ratana is gone.I felt that is was nigh time that I found out more about Ratana so I turned to The Holy Oracle for guidance. Who might this mysterious being be and where might it reside? Has he or she or it left its mark in history?
Google suggested that Ratana might be the founder of a mashed up Maori-Christian sect in New Zealand. He was Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana and he departed this earthly life in 1939 but back on 8 November 1918 Rātana saw a vision, which he regarded as divinely inspired, asking him to preach the gospel to the Māori people, to destroy the power of the tohunga, and to cure the spirits and bodies of his people.
The Ratana religion still continues in New Zealand and has exercised significant influence in the nation's politics. Below there's a picture of perhaps the most photogenic Ratana church in the country:-
Maybe I was on the wrong track. Maybe the Kiwi religious visionary was not the Ratana I needed to pursue, not our eminently deletable Ratana. Thus I went in search of other Ratanas. Could it be the North American outdoor furniture supplier: "Ratana signifies elegance in timeless design and exceptional quality of outdoor furniture. Ranging from traditional, to transitional, and contemporary, Ratana can cater any style and setting that truly enhances the enjoyment of home and casual living experiences." Perhaps not.
Perhaps I needed to focus on the Ratana restaurant in Milan, Italy: "Great place with an industrial style. Tables are nicely spaced, which isn’t a given. Food was amazing, very simple ingredients, but prepared in an unusual way or paired unexpectedly. Drinks were very good.Staff was very attentive and competent.All together made for an excellent evening."
The more you research "Ratana", the more avenues you discover. Ultimately, I deduce that our Ratana is almost certainly a Cambodian business venture called "Ratana Gaming". They have their own Facebook page and maybe one of their tech-savvy geeks discovered a way to invade Blogland with their unwanted spam. That in itself should be enough for Facebook to take them down in my opinion or should we instead applaud their entrepreneurial ingenuity?
I certainly do not applaud their entrepreneurial ingenuity. I also do not applaud the handling of spam comments on our blogging platform. No matter how many times I declare Ratana (or someone/something else like it) as spam, their comments still appear under my posts. That filter clearly does not do what it is supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Blogger should appoint you as head of the SDS (Spam Deletion Services). Ratana has been appearing for far too long.
DeleteOh, and I thought that Ratana really wanted to be my friend 😥
ReplyDeleteYou could have a girlie night out together - a couple of bottles of wine and a pizza. Put the world to rights.
DeleteDo you think that the whole world of bloggers gets Ratana popping up? Certainly appears on all the people I read!
ReplyDeleteLike American grey squirrels, Ratana gets everywhere. By the way Frances, I whizzed through Harpenden on the train last Tuesday. You ought to keep your curtains closed when you are doing that!
DeleteThank you for your useless research. I assumed it was Hindi script but yes, Cambodian perhaps. I can only guess Google employees don't blog and so have not encountered the unwanted Ratana. But as her comments are being openly discussed now, I expect she will soon disappear.
ReplyDeletePS I received a comment from a tax accountant. Are you in need of such a service?
Gulp! How did you know? (re. post script). I wish I could bombard Ratana with spam.
DeleteWell researched. They are a nuisance and idiotic as well of course. Do they really expect us to start gambling in far away countries?
ReplyDeleteIf they can hook a handful of "fish" it will have all been worthwhile.
DeleteI wonder how long Ratana spends each day commenting on blogs. They might be posted automatically. One way to check that would be to look at the times the comments are made to see whether they occur ove a long or short period. She(?) visited me at 05.23 this morning. Some impudent prat even responded to her.
ReplyDeleteThat impudent prat was me. I haven't been called that since 1965. Are you in fact my old French teacher - Mr Skull? Christ, you must be bloody old by now. I hoped you'd be six feet under the sod.
DeleteOui, Theasby, imbécile impudent, c'est moi. Surprise surprise.
DeleteL'étoffe des cauchemars.
DeleteThe Ratana I had in class was male and of Cambodian ancestry. A very nice young man. I'm sure it's not him. :)
DeleteI am no a fan of ratana. In fact, I would go so far as to say the Ratana sucks donkey dink, but that may be the cold medications talking.
ReplyDeleteYou can say whatever you want when taking medication for a cold.
DeleteMy first experience with Ratana was just a simple comment saying they liked my blog. No imbedded links to spam or anything. I left it alone. But everyone since then I have marked spam. I figured since Ratana kept getting through the spam filter, they were an actual person working in some dingy computer café getting paid by the comment to imbed those links, probably in some poor Asian country.
ReplyDeleteBut now that you mention it, perhaps this is the awakening like in Terminator when machines became aware and gave themselves the name Ratana. Perhaps total nuclear anhelation is just around the corner. At least that would solve this pandemic problem.
You could be on to something Ed. A blockbusting sci-fi movie - "Rise of The Ratana" starring Ed The Shed as The Liberator.
DeleteWhatever Ratna is, it's a pain in the but. You can delete it and a short time later it's back on. It's a stupid way to get business when they just bother people.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many "comments" Ratana leaves on blogs around the world each day.
DeleteI had a very nice student named Ratana who was of Cambodian descent. Your Ratana is not as benign.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how the name "Ratana" pops up in different countries.
DeleteThey have bombarded my blog with nonsensical comments too
ReplyDeleteIf only we could fight back and drown their websites in spam.
DeleteLOL -- nice detective work on Ratana! I love the photo of the church in New Zealand. But yeah, Cambodian gaming definitely sounds more likely.
ReplyDeleteThat church is certainly eye-catching. Its turrets are topped with star and crescent moon symbols of the Ratana church - wrongly suggesting a link with Islam.
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