-------- 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' (c) Copyright 2004, MANTEX All Rights Reserved PO Box 100 Tel +44 0161 432 5811 Manchester Fax +44 0161 443 2766 M20 6GZ UK www.mantex.co.uk If you like this newsletter, PLEASE FORWARD IT to friends and colleagues. New subscribers should register at the following address -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm BACK ISSUES featuring news items, reviews, and product details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/archive.htm Please retain the copyright and list-joining information. It may be posted, in its entirety or partially, to newsgroups or mailing lists, so long as the copyright and list-joining information remains. If you have any requests, observations, or items you would like to be included in our next issues, just mail us at -- news@mantex.co.uk You receive the MANTEX newsletter because you subscribed to it. If you wish to leave the list, go to -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm News-101-Febuary-2005 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library