Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
AP accepts “website” as one word
This is old news (in more ways than one), but the AP Stylebook now officially endorses “website” as the one-word term for, you know, websites. The Wired Epicenter blog has a nice write-up:
Of course, the cool kids have been tossing around “website” for at least a decade. But that’s the way it is with usage: Even when it does happen, it takes a while for language disruption to become a middle class value.
The added emphasis is mine.
High-end and consumer UAVs
I recently wrote two articles for Gizmag about UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). The market for these small, maneuverable drones is really taking off (OK, pun intended). The CyberQuad is a high-end industrial model designed for surveillance in areas that may be too dangerous for humans. For example, the CyberQuad has been used to investigate a burning oil rig.
The other UAV I wrote about is the AR.Drone, a hobbyist gaming drone that you control using your iPhone with augmented reality!
Writer avoiding crash blossoms
I just read a great post on the New York Time’s On Language blog about misleading headlines. I’ve always loved those humorously ambiguous headlines such as “Man helps dog bite victim,” or “Local high school dropouts cut in half.” It turns out there’s a term for these bloopers, and they’re called “crash blossoms.”
Mike O’Connell, an American editor based in Sapporo, Japan, spotted the headline “Violinist Linked to JAL Crash Blossoms” and wondered, “What’s a crash blossom?” (The article, from the newspaper Japan Today, described the successful musical career of Diana Yukawa, whose father died in a 1985 Japan Airlines plane crash.)
Check out the rest of the piece for more info, including the dangers of removing “little words.”
I once saw a party gorilla do it
Great post on The Oatmeal called “How to use a semicolon – the most feared punctuation on Earth“.
The article pretty much covers it all and in an easy to understand way. Also available as a poster. Two opposable thumbs up!
I made Gizmag’s Top 20 list for 2009
The article I wrote about Honeywell’s new Windgate wind turbine made Gizmag’s Top 20 for 2009!
The article originally ran in June, and according to Gizmag’s database logs it was one of the top 20 most read articles during 2009.
Thanks to everybody who clicked through to read the article. I enjoy the work I do for Gizmag, and it’s nice to be noticed when folks find my work interesting.