-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER -------- Number 102 - March 2005 - ISSN 1470-1863 Literature - Design - Online Media 0----- "Kafka: A Very Short Introduction" OUP have just brought out a new series of pocket-book introductions to important writers and ideas. Kafka wrote in a way quite unlike any authors who preceded him, and this study offers a guide to his life and background. Short chapters, well illustrated, and lots of suggestions for further reading. Full review and details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/robertson.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #1 Which Roman emperor made his horse a senator? 0----- Weird Facts #1 This is the shortest sentence that can be written using all the letters of the English language: "Blowzy frumps had quit vexing Jack." [I didn't make this up myself.] 0----- "Graphic Design School" - new book This is a very glamorous production from Thames and Hudson, offering a guide to the basics of graphic design. First it deals with the elements - space, colour, type, pictures - and how to arrange them to good effect. Then it covers the principles of creating attractive pages through the choice of appropriate typefaces and the use of grids. Finally it shows examples of good professional design in magazines, books, web pages, and other digital media. Stunning page designs. Full details and review - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/dabner.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #2 What is the original family name of the British royal family? 0----- Weird Facts #2 Bach wrote his 'St Matthew Passion' on a piece of wrapping paper. 0----- Animated Typography - see it now! Fontaholics might enjoy this video presentation giving the history of a famous typeface - Cooper Black. http://www.veer.com/ideas/btt/ 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #3 When was the Berlin Wall built? 0----- Weird Facts #3 Vanilla has a pleasant aroma but no taste. 0----- "Grammar Monster" - f.r.e.e online guidance Craig Shrives writes from Wigan to alert us to his free on-line e-book designed to answer English grammar queries. Try it to sort out those who/whom queries. http://www.grammar-monster.com/index.html 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #4 What is Port Salut? 0----- Weird Facts #4 The oldest parliament is Iceland's Althing, founded in AD 930. 0----- Listen Again - on line I'm a BBC Radio 3 man myself, but lots of my friends are enthusiasts for Radio 4 - and they're often moaning about good programmes they have just missed. Weep no more, mes amis. The BBC has a "Listen Again" online service where you can catch the 'Book at Bedtime' and documentary on badgers or blue whales you missed. It's amazingly comprehensive. Programmes are listed A to Z by title, and there's a search box if you're not sure. There are even links to programme's own websites. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml For instance, whilst typing this I am listening to a live broadcast of "From Arial to Wide Latin" - a programme about fonts and typography. It includes an interview with Neville Brody. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/fromarialtowidelatin.shtml The BBC are also broadcasting a dramatisation of Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time", which is one way of dealing with one of the world's great but long novels. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/classic_serial.shtml However, if you want to listen with a copy of the original on your lap, there's a wide range of options available. Here's our take. http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/proust-1.htm 0----- Fonts and Design And speaking of Neville Brody, I came across his very stylish Research Studios web site recently. If you are interested in modern graphic design, be sure to click through to his projects to see some stunning art work and great web design. http://www.researchstudios.com/ Neville Brody is one of the most-requested topics at the Mantex site - after Virginia Woolf. Any typophiles and fontaholics who want to discover more about his influential designs need look no further than - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/brody.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #5 What do Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt have in common? 0----- Weird Facts #5 The 1900 Olympics in Paris had competitions in billiards, checkers, and fishing. [Maybe smoking was allowed too?] 0----- TV Help for Teachers A new TV channel has been launched in the UK to help train teachers. "Teachers' TV" is the first government-funded, public service channel and is billed as an on-the-job training tool and window allowing teachers to see 'warts and all' what is happening in classrooms. The channel, funded by government money but editorially independent, will cost 20 million pounds (29 million euros) of taxpayers' money each year. Over 500 teachers have been filmed at work for the first set of programmes, which are designed to help teachers plan lessons and develop their work. The station will broadcast weekly education news and current affairs, as well as professional advice and curriculum-based programmes. Each 15-minute programme, within a one-hour cycle, will be shown 18 times over a three-week period. 12 production companies have been involved in its production thus far. http://www.teachernet.gov.uk 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #6 What is the capital of Australia? 0----- Weird Facts #6 The @ sign used in email addresses is five hundred years old. 0----- BBC again - Language Survey The BBC is also hosting an interactive website which is mapping regional accents and language in the UK. It's a combination of fun and serious linguistics. I checked out the region where I live, and sure enough, there are lessons on how to speak like a Mancunian in ten minutes, http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/ Actually, Manchester also features in an item I spotted recently on the amusingly nerdish Pathetic Motorways site. This lists motorways which are hidden, secret, unfinished, unbuilt - and in Manchester's case the shortest in the UK - a 300 metre stretch of the Mancunian Way flyover. http://pathetic.org.uk/ 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #7 Who wrote 'The Master and Margarita'? 0----- Weird Facts #7 The world's population increases by 237,748 people every 24 hours. 0----- F.r.e.e Text Editor Buckshee text editor from NoteTab features: open and edit many documents at once; edit huge text files; text drag-and-drop; AutoCorrect/Auto-replace mode; clip tool for quick and easy text insertion; capture text sent to Clipboard. http://www.notetab.com 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #8 Who composed 'A Little Night Music'? 0----- Weird Facts #8 The first leap year was 46 BC. 0----- 'Word Hacks' - new book If you would like Word to behave itself better, or make use of some of its hidden power features, Andrew Savikas has a new book which shows what's available just under the bonnet. With a few tweaks and a careful choice of menu options, you can get it to do all sorts of tricks for you. His tips are graded, so you can choose your level of difficulty. Easy ones include forcing Word to show you more recently used files and showing you what fonts look like instead of just listing names. The more advanced hacks include some extremely powerful macros which will help you to edit long documents and projects. Full review and details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/savikas.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #9 Where is Salamanca? 0----- Weird Facts #9 The first computer program was written by Augusta Lovelace - Byron's daughter. 0----- The Editorium - free newsletter If you do a lot of writing and editing using MS Word, you might be interested in the free weekly newsletter from The Editorium. They provide tips and tricks for Word users, and even have some f.r.e.e downloadable software. http://www.editorium.com 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #10 Which is the correct spelling - Yogurt, Yoghurt, or Yoghourt? 0----- Weird Facts #10 Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from sand. 0----- Readers' Letters *** Readers' Rhymes *** Regular correspondent Damian Grant writes from Lille to comment on Weird Fact #2 in the last issue. Monthieur: there ith no rhyme for month? Not tho, monthieur; I wath in Parith wunth, Wath treated to a thucculent coelacanth. The bill wath pothted to me on the nth Oth lath Theptember. The man mutht be a dunth Who cannot find a thimple rhyme for month! *** Camping it Up *** Sidney Allinson writes from Victoria, Canada. #5. Which country was the first to use concentration camps? ANSWER: Britain (Boer War) "Not so. This is historically not correct. In fact, the first concentration camps were set up by the Spanish government in Cuba in 1897 - also whence the origin of the name 'concentrado'." *** Pain in the Neck *** Geoff Lee writing from Southampton observes: "I think that you'll find that dragonflies have a considerable range of head movement." and makes this further linguistic observation. "Esoteric means 'likely to be understood by only a small number of people' while exoteric is the opposite, meaning 'likely to be understood by the general public'. In my experience that makes esoteric exoteric and exoteric esoteric." 0----- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS #1. Which Roman emperor made his horse a senator? ANSWER: Caligula #2. What is the original family name of the British royal family? ANSWER: Saxe-Coburg #3. When was the Berlin Wall built? ANSWER: 1961 #4. What is Port Salut? ANSWER: A French cheese. #5. What do Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt have in common? ANSWER: The river Nile #6. What is the capital of Australia? ANSWER: Canberra #7. Who wrote 'The Master and Margarita'? ANSWER: Mikhail Bulgakov #8. Who composed 'A Little Night Music'? ANSWER: Stephen Sondheim #9. Where is Salamanca? ANSWER: Spain #10. Which is the correct spelling - Yogurt, Yoghurt, or Yoghourt? ANSWER: All three are correct. 0----- COMING SOON 'Virginia Woolf: Authors in Context' 'The History and Power of Writing' 'Speed Reading for Success' 'Word Myths' 'Web Services Essentials' 'Dictionary of Design since 1900' 'Oxford Spellchecker and Dictionary' 'Internet Annoyances' (c) Copyright 2005, 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-102-March-2005 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library