-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER --------
Number 101 - February 2005 - ISSN 1470-1863
Research - Literature - Diaries - Blogging
0----- "Student's Guide to Research Ethics" - new book
If you gather information from other people and
use it as part of a research project - then there
are moral issues involved.
This new guide will be particularly useful to
students in psychology, sociology, management
business studies, health care, or any of
the social sciences.
It centres on the moral issues concerned with
gathering information, particularly via interviews.
It's not at all proscriptive, but raises potential
ethical dilemmas and encourages you to keep them
in mind. It also offers solutions for those who
need them. Full review and details at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oliver.htm
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #1
What is the capital city of Alaska?
0----- Weird Facts #1
Bats always turn left when exiting a cave!
0----- "The Modern Movement" - new book
We still call writers such as Virginia Woolf,
James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, and E.M. Forster
'modernists', even though some of them started
their work a hundred years ago,
I think it's because they made such a
radical break with the previous century,
and introduced so many new ideas.
A new study by Chris Baldick will appeal
to anybody who wants to make a serious study
of this period.
It covers the novel, poetry, drama, and short
stories: but it also has interesting chapters
on themes such as writing for children,
detective stories, 'popular' fiction. and
new ideas of sexuality which were current then.
Full review and details at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/baldick.htm
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #2
What is the significance of Fahrenheit 451?
0----- Weird Facts #2
No word in the English language rhymes with 'month'.
[Go on then, find one ...]
0----- Online diary?
You can keep a diary on paper or on your
Palm Pilot - but if you forget or lose either,
you're stuck. Why not keep it online instead,
and have access to it from anywhere in the world?
Yahoo now offers this service. It's f.r.e.e,
and combines a calendar, address book, mail,
and notepad all in one.
You can choose to keep everything private,
share it with friends, and even allow special
friends (such as your secretary or personal
life coach) to edit the entries.
http://calendar.yahoo.com/
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #3
What is mixed with copper to create bronze?
0----- Weird Facts #3
The praying mantis is the only insect
that can turn its head!
[She's behind you!]
0----- "Windows XP Personal Trainer" - new book
Windows XP is now the world's most used operating
system. It's certainly more stable than its
predecessors - but it's a lot more complex.
There are all sorts of powerful tools hidden
under the default comic-book surface, but you
have to dig to find them.
If you'd like someone to hold your hand and take
you through a one-step-at-a-time tutorial, this
new book from O'Reilly does just that.
It starts literally from switching on and off,
then works its way through all the ways in which
you can customise the system. Full details and
review at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/customg.htm
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #4
What dish is known as a London particular?
0----- Weird Facts #4
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled
without repeating a letter is 'uncopyrightable'.
0----- "PC Hacks" - new book
This is a technical guide on how to configure,
customise, and upgrade your PC. It cover how
to crank up the speed at which your CPU runs;
how to make your memory run a bit faster, and
how to optimise your memory usage.
It's for those people who actually fancy
taking a screwdriver and opening up the box.
Author Jim Aspinwall even tells you which
ools you will need and provides good clear
photos of what you're looking for inside.
For advanced users, he show you how to
configure and partition hard disks; and
how to protect yourself by making backups
and safeguard your system against viruses
and spyware. Full details and review at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/aspinwall.htm
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #5
Which country was the first to use concentration camps?
0----- Weird Facts #5
There are no rivers in Saudi Arabia.
0----- Blogging - start here
You've heard of blogging, right? But have
you ever thought of starting your own?
Like many skills in IT, it's easy once
you know how. But I don't know anybody
who hasn't had problems starting up.
So here are some guidance notes to help
you through the initial stages. They also
let you in on the secret of how to make
money from it.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/blogging.htm
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #6
What is the world's highest waterfall?
0----- Weird Facts #6
Earth is the only planet not named after a God.
0----- Russian computer art
Got a few moments to spare? And a
broadband connection? Watch this
drawing twist and change in front
of your very eyes.
http://fcmx.net/vec/v.php?i=001787
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #7
Which country used to be called Siam?
0----- Weird Facts #7
George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.
[I cannot tell a lie.]
0----- Blogging - how to find it
How do you find blogs which might be of
interest to you? Until now I've just
followed my nose and clicked through
links on other people's blogs. Now there's
a portal offering a directory of blogs at -
http://quacktrack.com
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #8
Which film has 'Moon River' as its theme music?
0----- Weird Facts #8
Panama hats come from Ecuador not Panama.
0----- Guido Fawkes - Blogspot
If you like UK political gossip, you
might be amused by this blog. It dishes
out embarrassing information on members
of parliament and speculates in a very
radical manner on abuses and absurdities
within the House of Commons and the Lords.
Occasionally, the author claims he would
like to blow up the place with gunpowder.
Hence the title.
http://5thnovember.blogspot.com
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #9
What do Bangladesh, Brunei, and Fiji have in common?
0----- Weird Facts #9
While performing her duties as queen,
Cleopatra sometimes wore a fake beard.
[Politically incorrect to comment.]
0----- KingKong - Catalogue of online books
People are always asking where they can find
details of long-forgotten authors and their
obscure, out-of-print books.
This amazing collection of information
contains a list of old authors and the
titles of their books, and where to find
tens of thousands of those books on the Net.
It also has author anniversary lists,
suggestions for short reading, a nerdish
list of international car registrations,
and links to a Frank Zappa meta-site.
http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk
0----- Pub Quiz - Question #10
Who composed 'Chelsea Bridge'?
0----- Weird Facts #10
'Dreamt' is the only English word
that ends with the letters 'mt'.
0----- Readers' Letters - [was Feedback + Corrections]
*** WWW ***
Writing consultant Elizabeth Murphy writes
from Canberra, Australia to comment on one of
last month's weird facts:
W is the only letter in the English alphabet
to have not one but three syllables.
"Depends which dialect of English you're speaking.
In one place I can think of, it's definitely only
two syllables -- DUB-YA !!!"
*** Shooting Stars ***
Geoff Lee writes from Basingstoke UK (as did Liam
Boyle from Galway, Ireland) to point out:
"Sorry to be a pain. A shooting star is a meteor.
A meteorite is the remains of a meteor that does
not completely vaporise and reaches the earth's
surface."
*** A Question of Conception ***
Teacher Heather Wilson writes from Nottingham UK
to reflect on the conception of Jesus Christ:
"In Luke though, it says 'In the sixth month,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth'.
So if the sixth month is like ours, (June) then
that's when he was conceived! And it would fit
that would be the spring time when he was
born, and that would make sense as the shepherds
wouldn't have lambs in December.
However, the calendar might have been different,
the seasons may be different in Israel, and Mary
didn't actually conceive in a natural way, she
was given a child by God. And some people just
think we associate Christmas with late December
with the winter solstice.
One of the most contentious pub quiz questions
after 'Is Elvis dead?'- I think so!"
Andrew O Baoill from Galway, Ireland puts another point:
"There is no 'Year 0'. The year immediately before
1 A.D. is 1 B.C. If Jesus was born on the 25th
December prior to the start of 1 A.D. then nine
months previous would be 25th March 1 B.C."
*** The Dance of Death ***
Further to our item about the undergraduate course
in ballroom dancing, Ruth Heller writes from London UK:
"University of Minnesota also has a university
course in Ballroom Dancing, which I have taken.
I enrolled with my boyfriend who was doing a four year
degree in Mortuary Science, which he subsequently
completed to become a Mortician."
*** The Great Grammar Debate ***
Susan van Druten writes from Duluth, Minnesota:
"While Andrew Wylie is right about the number of
m's in Mamet, he is wrong about subject/verb agreement.
In general, ignore the object of the preposition
when deciding whether the verb should be singular
or plural. The exceptions are when an indefinite
pronoun (such as all, some, none, any or most) is
the subject of the sentence or when a collective
noun (such as number or majority) is the subject
of the sentence. Only then can the object of the
preposition help determine the verb.
All is well. OR All the flowers are pretty.
The clear majority believes that Damian Grant
should be vindicated. OR The majority of us believe
that Andrew should be spanked."
[That's enough grammar. Ed]
0----- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS
#1. What is the capital city of Alaska?
ANSWER: Juneau
#2. What is the significance of Fahrenheit 451?
ANSWER: It is the temperature at which paper burns
#3. What is mixed with copper to create bronze?
ANSWER: Tin
#4. What dish is known as a London particular?
ANSWER: Pea soup
#5. Which country was the first to use concentration camps?
ANSWER: Britain (Boer War)
#6. What is the world's highest waterfall?
ANSWER: The Angel Falls (Venezuela)
#7. Which country used to be called Siam?
ANSWER: Thailand
#8. Which film had 'Moon River' as its theme music?
ANSWER: Breakfast at Tiffany's
#9. What do Bangladesh, Brunei, and Fiji have in common?
ANSWER: Traffic drives on the left.
#10. Who composed 'Chelsea Bridge'?
ANSWER: Billy Strayhorn
0----- COMING SOON
'Word Hacks'
'Web Services Essentials'
'Dictionary of Design since 1900'
'Oxford Spellchecker and Dictionary'
'Graphic Design School'
'Kafka: A Very Short Introduction'
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News-101-Febuary-2005
ISSN 1470-1863
The British Library
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