Month: January 2012

  • Block WordPress Registration Spam with a Custom Captcha

    The WordPress platform is a great way to run a blog or website, but it is under constant attack from spammers. Even if you prevent anonymous commenting, require user registration and implement the WP-reCAPTCHA plugin, you might find yourself – as I did – receiving dozens of automated, spammy registrations per day. However they’re getting…

  • Lies, Damned Lies, and Daily Mail Headlines

    Every so often I receive an email from the Press Complaints Commission with a list of its latest adjudications. As a tech journalist it’s not as useful as the ASA’s list*, but it is interesting reading nonetheless. And last week, while scrolling back, I came across a really remarkable bit of work. Witness this headline…

  • Zombie News: ‘Facebook Causes Divorce’ just will not die

    Pic: The Telegraph covers the original press release Back in March 2011 I wrote about a sudden flood of news articles claiming that Facebook was being cited in 20% of US divorce cases. After doing a little digging it transpired that the whole thing had sprung from the continual re-hashing, muddling and alteration of a…