One of my pet peeves is misleading advertising. In some cases it's a matter of reading the fine print. In other cases it's simply a matter of the advertiser "chancing their arm". At present this site, and several others I run, are displaying adds from a particular company that claim to offer "the best", "the cheapest" etc., etc. Of course they don't, but it does make you wonder … [Read more...] about Don’t Make Price Promises Unless You Can Keep Them
Linguistics
Confusing Signage – Literacy Test
Most people have literacy problems. They won't admit to it, but they don't really understand a lot of what they see before them. Can you imagine if all toilets were to start using this style of signage? (click to enlarge) … [Read more...] about Confusing Signage – Literacy Test
ENN P0rn? Typo fun!
Words are powerful if wielded carefully. The choice of words can make all the difference, so it was with much amusement that I read a snippet on ENN earlier today: Listen up banks: Women are worth IT In a lesson no doubt relevant to Irish banks, Britain's banking sector has been told to jizz up its customer databases to effectively target the female market. full text is … [Read more...] about ENN P0rn? Typo fun!
Putting the accent into .ie – Should IDN Be Allowed?
IDN (internationalised domain names) was one of the hot topics at the last ICANN meeting in Lisbon. In Lisbon the discussions were quite complex, as they were discussing the scope of IDN withing gTLDs ie. domains that are completely international in their nature. When it comes to a ccTLD ie. one for a particular country a lot of the more "off the wall" topics can be safely … [Read more...] about Putting the accent into .ie – Should IDN Be Allowed?
Irish Government Anti-Irish
I had to do a double-take on the news piece on RTE.ie. Yesterday was April Fool's day, so this has to be either true or badly timed: Local authorities have refused to allow members of the public to use addresses in Irish in the new Register of Electors, which is being compiled at the moment. Come again? You mean that they're rewriting the rules to suit themselves … [Read more...] about Irish Government Anti-Irish