All those diseases we thought we’d eradicated, like mumps, rickets and whooping cough, are making a comeback, thanks to parents getting a lax with vaccination regimes for their kids.
Notes for paranoid journalists
Also on Slate today, handy hints for journalists worried that the government is out to get them.
Why are the Americans so interested in our sewers?
Don’t get me wrong – the articles are actually pretty interesting. Who knew Peter Bazalgette, the man behind BIg Brother in the UK, was so into sewers or that there’s such outstanding architecture at sewage treatment works? But why is there a daily series on London’s sewers on Slate this week? Are US readers really fascinated by London’s sewage system? Sewage systems in general? All aspects of UK or London life?
Odd. Very odd.
Tom and Katie: whoops
What is it about celebrities? They pick some foreign-sounding name for their kid or get a tattoo in a foreign language, and every time they get it wrong. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes chose to call their baby Suri and guess what? It means nothing like what they thought it meant. Is it really so hard to call someone before making these life-ruining choices? It’s all thoroughly amusing, anyway…
The Umlaut is artistic
Möben, the Manchester-based kitchen appliance maker, should be able to keep its Umlaut according to the Advertising Standards Authority. Apparently, some people thought that they were trying to mislead consumers into thinking they were a German company.
Möben’s stout defence: the Umlaut doesn’t represent anything – it’s artistic.
Do you believe that for even a second? Me, neither. But fair do’s to them. If the most research you’re going to do before buying a product from a company is to check to see if there are accents on its name, you’ve only got yourself to blame if your purchase isn’t as good as you thought it was. Besides, if you’re going to go after Möben, you’re going to have to take down Häagen Dazs as well.
Playstation 3 cat fight breaks out
Hexus.gaming (ed: who they?) is “spitting blood” and wonders how the “so-called” journalists at Imagine’s Play and Future’s PSW can sleep at night after claiming to have played on the new PlayStation 3, even though they haven’t.
I’m guessing pretty well. But don’t you just love it when mags start questioning each other’s journalistic integrity?
UPDATE: Already, Hexus.gaming‘s forums have started to froth with amusing gamer indignation in response to the article.
Bugger
I’ve been summonsed for jury service. Wonder if I can defer it from the oh-so-busy June to the oh-so-quiet January?
Some interesting ideas on how to improve airports
Salon’s regular Ask the Pilot feature highlights some of the best features from airports around the world that should be made universal.
Your brain needs a different shape to be good at languages
The Beeb reports that those who are good at languages tend to have more white matter in the part of the brain that processes sound.
Don’t bother with interesting headlines: Google won’t like it
The New York Times has a piece of interest to web subs on how various newspapers are ditching clever headlines in favour of the prosaic, since Google News and various other bots can’t cope with nuance. It’s basic search engine optimisation theory, of course, but it’s interesting to see it having an effect on sites such as the BBC’s and older school newspapers.