A lot of spam

I’m currently getting a lot of spam, and the default WordPress configuration doesn’t do much about it. Thankfully, the Akismet plugin is available – it’s just not enabled by default. Now that I’ve enabled Akismet, the bots seem to have stopped attacking me – or perhaps I’ve inadvertantly broken the comment functionality. Time for some regression testing! I’ll be right back…

Regression testing complete! No, the fact that there have been no comments since enabling Akismet is yet another proof (if one were needed) that correlation does not imply causality.

However, once comments (legitimate and otherwise) start to trickle in once more, I’m not sure Akismet will have solved my problem or not. I’ve enabled spam filtering because I don’t want to have to do it myself. However, spam filtering is imperfect, and Akismet can’t guarantee that there won’t be false positives. To guard against this, one presumes that some sort of manual process is in order. Net gain: zero. Alternatively, I can embrace the risk that I may miss out on considered, thought-provoking feedback whose only fault is a higher-than-average use of trademarked names for erectile disfunction medicine.

Relaxing in Leuven

I’ve spent most of this week relaxing in Leuven. Riding to Mechelen, around 24 kilometres away, was a particular highlight. There’s a canal that runs between Leuven and Mechelen, and then beyond, so the riding is pretty easy. I did briefly consider riding back along the unsealed path along a nearby river that runs through Dilje, but time was short and my bike is rickity, so I rode back the same way.

At the same time as relaxing, though, I’m trying to make some headway on this site, as well as catch up on all the news and current affairs. Progress is slow on both fronts, although I am devoting considerable time to current affairs. Having the time to leisurely read the paper everyday over coffee is wonderful. The exact form that this site will take will emerge slowly. I’ve got small projects underway at the moment, and time will tell what fruit those projects bear. In the meantime, I hope you’ll bear with me.