From the Blog

A prelude to insanity

‘He was talking very excitedly to me,’ said the Vicar, ‘about some apparatus for warming a church in Worthing and about the Apostolic Claims of the Church of Abyssinia. I confess I could not follow him clearly. He seems deeply interested in Church matters. Are you quite sure he is right in the head? I have noticed again and again since I have been in the Church that lay interest in ecclesiastical matters is often a prelude to insanity.’

The Vicar of Llanabba: Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall I.8

Jonathan Ive on Blue Peter

Sir Jonathan ‘call me Jony’ Ive on Blue Peter. Ive’s name has now become so recognizable that no one is too surprised that he’s featured like this on a general-audience show like Blue Peter—he’s ascended beyond just being the unknown designer of all those gadgets we like. In my first semester at COFA one of our tasks was to write a profile of a designer, but (because …

Five Factoids about Popes and their Appointment

With Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement that he will be resigning from office at the end of February, news organizations the world over will be scrambling to provide their audiences with interesting titbits about the Pope and the Holy See. I therefore have compiled this list for the benefit of media outlets everywhere, and fully look forward to seeing it reproduced in newspaper sidebars everywhere:

  1. Before going into the conclave all cardinals are measured by the official tailor to the Holy See, Sticciuppi, so that the turnaround between election and announcement and appearance of the new Pope is not delayed by the production of the necessary white cassock, socks, Popemobile seatbelt, etc. While being measured before the last conclave, Joseph Ratzinger was gesticulating …

Sydney Harbour heliport: collected news coverage

The fall-out continues over Newcastle Helicopters’ proposed floating heliport/helipad in Sydney Harbour, the application for which was abysmally mis-managed by the NSW Government. The project was finally declared ‘indefinitely on-hold’ on Saturday afternoon after residents and other interested parties had begun to kick up a stink.

What was telling about the whole project was how little information was made available to the public until it could be announced as a fait accompli. I have been gathering together all of the reports from local newspapers on the project,1 and give links to them below. I have also made PDFs for posterity.

Pre-history: before the floating heliport plan was announced

Rosetta Stone: Bad at Languages

Rosetta Stone (the language-peddling company, not the stone of the same name) has embarrassed itself with its Christmas advertising campaign this year:

[They use] the song “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” with “snow” translated into German, Dutch and Swedish, respectively. …They’ve taken the noun form of “snow” in all three languages, rather than the verb.

What is interesting though, and on reflection not surprising, is that Rosetta Stone spends more than seven times as much on its advertising as on the development of its core product, language-learning software.

Sorry, Broken Hill

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In Apple’s world-view South Hedland is more important than Port Hedland;1 Canberra doesn’t warrant its own label; and the western division of New South Wales and north-western Victoria are not quite civilized enough for day-one delivery.2 The fact that Hobart doesn’t get a label (nor Launceston) makes it look like in fact some of these iPhones are shipping from Antarctica—otherwise why are there those darker bands at the south of Tasmania?

Apparently Google hasn’t heard of phishing

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I was surprised to get this email this morning.

  • ‘Important information’ in the subject-line? Check.
  • No mention of my name, just a generic user-title? Check.
  • Poorly-defined threats of accounts being disabled if I don’t take action? Check.
  • Pleonastic not-quite-English jargon phrases like ‘confirm your home address where you reside’? Check.
  • Links to make it oh-so-easy to …

A question of priorities

If you can remember all the accessories that go with your best outfit, the contents of your purse, the starting lineup of the New York Yankees or the Houston Oilers, or what label ‘Hang On Sloopy’ by The McCoys was on, you are capable of remembering the difference between a gerund (verb form used as a noun) and a participle (verb form used as an adjective).

Stephen King, On Writing (2001)