12,000 comments

I know they say you should never read the bottom half of the web. This blog has existed in one form or other since 2004. Since then, I've approved TWELVE-THOUSAND comments.

Most comments - but by no means all - are delightful. People wanting to share their own stories, add something to the discussion, or politely disagree.

I moderate heavily. If someone is rude or abusive, their comment isn't published. Unless it's really funny.

In all the years of running this site, I've only had to shaddow-ban one person from commenting. After the 10th(?) pointlessly snipey comment I decided that if they didn't enjoy what I'd written then I wasn't obliged to read their criticism.

Yes, there's a fair bit of spam to wade through. And sometimes it's hard to tell a genuine compliment from someone seeding a spam link. But I think I've mostly got it right.

Along the way, there have been some delightful moments. I documented How to take solar export readings on the Honeywell AS302P smartmeter and now the post is full of people thanking me for teaching them something that their energy provider couldn't. I wrote a silly post about bad morale boosting gestures and was rewarded with people sharing their own grimly amusing anecdotes.

With a mix of Bridgy and WordPress WebMentions I also get a lot of comments from social media. If someone shares one of my posts online I usually get notified about it. Sadly, Twitter killed the ability to get this data from their API.

I was trying to think what my favourite comment was - but that's futile; I love them all. I just like chatting to people, hearing their stories and - yes - reading their praise.

So, here's an objective list of the posts which have received the most comments. I don't claim that each is my best work - but they've certainly attracted a lot of attention.

Top 20 posts by number of comments.

285 comments on Hacking Around With Network Cameras (2013)

I found a way to reset and repurpose some IP cameras. People used the blog as an ersatz discussion forum.

258 comments on Review: Elonex 511EB from Waterstones (2009)

One of the earliest non-Kindle eInk readers. As there was no official discussion forum, my blog became the unofficial home of people wanting to understand its capabilities.

155 Why bother with What Three Words? (2019)

A good rant never goes amiss on the web! W3W stumbles on and every day brings new interest.

142 comments on 3G Internet on Raspberry Pi - Success! (2012)

Ah! Back when it was somewhat easy to get hold of. I don't know if I was the first person to get it online via a 3G dongle, but the post certainly resonated.

137 comments on Waterstones Elonex 511EB Review - Part 2 (2010)

People were asking a lot of questions about the eReader so, rather than adding yet more comments, I produced a new review. Which generated yet more comments.

122 comments on I've locked myself out of my digital life (2022)

People keep telling me blogging is dead. But they are mistaken. A horror story always attracts attention. Most - but not all - of the comments came from social media.

99 comments on The absolute horror of WiFi light switches (2016)

The Internet of Things is always fruitful for people getting their knickers in a twist. Especially when it's a shitty product we can all laugh about.

90 comments on Elonex 511EB Firmware Update (2010)

When the above eReader finally got a software update, people returned to discuss it.

83 comments on A year of going cashless - and where it hasn't worked (2020)

Money is a curious subject - and this was full of people sharing their stories.

81 comments on Are Designers Crazy? (2013)

This is mostly full of people either violently disagreeing with me or sharing their stories of incomprehensible design tweaks.

79 comments on HOWTO: Make a Doctor Who "Bells of St John" Style WiFi Name (2013)

I think I published this the night this episode of Doctor Who aired - it was full of people asking for tech support!

68 comments on CAPTCHAs don't prove you're human - they prove you're American (2017)

Everyone hates CAPTCHAs and gets to vent a little.

67 comments on I Don't Want To Be Part of Your Fucking Ecosystem (2012)

Perhaps my earliest ire-filled rant. Again, a large number of people who delighted in telling me how wrong I was. Perhaps that's the secret to attracting lots of comments?

64 comments on Nitdroid: Installing Android on the Nokia N810 (2009)

Back in the halcyon days of Nokia. Up until 2017, this was still attracting comments from people wanting to know how they could upgrade their shitty Symbian phone to Android.

63 comments on WURFL and Database Copyright (2012)

Possibly the most heated discussion I've hosted. Many pixels were spilled arguing in these threads. Ultimately it was helped by the antagonist repeatedly making baseless claims and getting thoroughly refuted.

57 comments on There is no HTTP code for censorship (but perhaps there should be) (2012)

This one struck a chord. Certainly a lot to be said for blogging something which hits the zeitgeist.

52 comments on Tado API Guide - updated for 2019 (2019)

Again, in the absence of an officially provided forum, people turn to blogs for tech support and to share what they've built.

51 comments on The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML (2021)

Another one which was a hit on social media. Again, people love sharing their own stories. Perhaps that's the other secret to getting comments - give people space to share their memories.

48 comments on How I became Leonardo da Vinci on the Blockchain (2018)

Everyone hates the Blockchain! What's even more incredible is that this blog post was cited in dozens of academic papers.

47 comments on Google's AMP is a gilded cage (2016)

Google doesn't provide tech support - and tends to tick off people. So this post provided a little bit of catharsis for people frustrated with Google.

Thank you

If you've ever left a supportive comment on this blog - or any other - I'd like to thank you. Blogging is a sometimes lonely task and you never quite know which post is going to resonate with people.