Preventing comment spam

Comment spam is one of the great scourges of the internet, which is why there are so many measures available to counter it. Some are more effective than others, some introduce more problems than they fix. Here I outline a few of the techniques that seem to have worked on this particular blog.

Feb 24th 2010 16:19 // Web Design // 2 comments

Beating the blank page

Here's a quick tip that might help you if you have that age-old writer's problem: fear of the blank page. It's a very simple, practical way of making sure your encounters with the blank page are as brief and painless as possible.

Feb 21st 2010 13:18 // On Writing // No comments

Make the right choice, Mr Conroy

The following post is an open letter To Senator Stephen Conroy on the subject of the proposed mandatory internet filter. I will be sending slightly modified versions of this to Conroy, to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to my local representative and to anyone else with a significant influence upon the internet filter.

Feb 17th 2010 13:28 // Miscilliness // 2 comments

The Gamer: defamed, defiled, reviled

Partly a response to Caroline Overton's ill-judged defamation of every single gamer on the planet, but also a look at the way twitter, and the internet in general, enables readers to hold journalists, writers and other publishers of irresponsible and objectionable material to account.

Feb 15th 2010 22:20 // Miscilliness // No comments

On writing (or not)

In which I pledge to write more, make excuses for not writing enough, and (almost) marvel at those occasions when writing stops being the mere act of hammering out words and becomes something more

Feb 11th 2010 16:05 // On Writing // 2 comments

Words as Weapons

(or why Tony Abbott is an enormous knobend*)

Feb 9th 2010 20:57 // Miscilliness // 1 Comment

Why I don't watch broadcast TV

A somewhat extended whinge about why TV in Australia is so awful and I why I don't bother watching it anymore.

Feb 2nd 2010 12:48 // Miscilliness // No comments

Piracy: The Good, The Bad and The Indifferent

Here's a piece I wrote a couple of months ago and then more or less discarded due to the rapid pace at which issues surrounding copyright theft seem to develop. However, given Bono's recent attempts to alienate whatever proportion of his fanbase might still hold some dwindling respect for him, I've decided to finally post it. It's a bit out of date, and there will inevitably be points I've missed, useful links I haven't included, arguments I've skipped - so, if you've got anything to add, correct or even counter then please leave a comment and let the debate commence...

Jan 11th 2010 09:43 // Miscilliness // No comments

Converting integers to monthnames in PHP

It's a new year and a whole twelve months of brand new dates, so what better than a quick and easy tutorial all about converting months from integers to proper month names?

Jan 4th 2010 08:51 // Web Design // No comments

Debugging CSS in multiple browsers

After several torturous years trying to debug websites in different browsers using hacks, virtual machines and all manner of inconvenience I’ve finally arrived at a setup whereby launching multiple versions of IE and Firefox is about as easy as it could possibly be. What follows is a simple tutorial on how to set up your PC to do the same. I’ll also mention a few crucial tools that no web developer should be without.

Aug 26th 2009 13:01 // Web Design // No comments