hackbash

I’ve just noticed that Hackbash is one and a bit, having had its birthday on 3 August. The year’s gone quickly – far too quickly, and a lot’s changed for me in that time. I wasn’t sure why we started Hackbash, except that it might be a useful dumping ground for the discussions Charlie and [...]

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Word processor: job number one = display text clearly on screen. Word 2007: fail. Is that two spaces to the left of the dash, one to the right? One space left, no spaces right? In fact, it’s a space on each side: But of course. Is it me? Is it Calibri? Has anyone found a [...]

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Now look, I’ve been turning a blind eye to this but enough is enough. Copywriters everywhere, please pay attention. Iconic means relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon. An icon is something ‘that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it’. I think one can, perhaps, describe the [...]

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Click here to go straight to step-by-step instructions. Anyone who’s used Word will know that, by default, it replaces bog-standard straight quotes (and here I’d demonstrate what they look like, but our theme will change them to curved ones) with curved ones. It also changes hyphens (-) to en dashes (–). No big deal, you’d [...]

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You might have noticed I’ve been a bit quiet of late, sorry about that. In fact, it’s not just Hackbash that’s suffered, I’m feeling distinctly off-form at the moment, and I’m not producing the quantity or quality of writing that I’d like. I’m not sure why. Like many writers I seem to go through phases, [...]

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Hi, it’s 2008. Just wanted to remind you, because BBC News thinks it’s discovered a security flaw in Facebook applications. Yes, apparently they can gain access to your and your friends’ profile information, so a malicious application could pose as a legitimate one and harvest profile details, even if they’re not public. I had to [...]

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I’ve had this post on the back burner for a while, because I planned to fill it with examples as they occured to me. As I was adding the third, I thought to look on Wikipedia which has plenty, so now I can put this thing to bed. You see, I have to confess to [...]

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I can’t help it. I’ve trained myself to overlook a bit of apostrophic abuse here and there, and I’ve come to accept that people have to be left to stew in their own lax capitalisation and dreadful grammar, but this is just too much: Nnnnnnnng. Nnnnnnnnnnnng. Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

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Right, I’ve sussed out this internet thing. We’re all turning into Smash Hits. Bear with me. A colleague sent me this a while back: a survey of US journalists’ attitude to and engagement with blogs. I’ve been meaning to write about it for a while now, but hey, I’ve got time on my hands this [...]

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Kind of a note-to-self: editorial process is a Good Thing. And although blogging is all conversational and flexible and 2.0, it’s sometimes handy to ask a friend (or, what the hell, journalistic colleague) to cast their eagle eye over your draft. Especially when you’re planning to post at the end of the day. So, Handolio: [...]

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