-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER --------
Number 114 - March 2006 - ISSN 1470-1863
Technology - Fonts - Fiction - Fun
** - Sponsor's AD comes here - **
WRITERSWORLD - The leading book publisher in
self-publishing, print on demand books and
book reprints in the United Kingdom, Spain
and the Netherlands.
http://www.writersworld.co.uk
** - please support our sponsors - **
0--- 'Google Advertising Tools' - brand new book
Do you want to make money on the Internet?
It could be easier than you think. All
you need is a bunch of good web pages
and an account with Google Ads.
You give Google permission to put adverts
on your pages - and they choose companies
and services which are directly targeted
at your site to match its subject.
Harold Davis's new book tells you how to
do it - all in easy stages. How to get the
ads onto your pages, and even how to make
them blend in colourwise - or stand out.
Google does all the work. You just collect
the money at the end of the month. It's
sometimes called "making money whilst you
are asleep". Full details at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/davis.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #1
Which country has the shortest coastline?
0--- Latest Technology - Mashups
What's a 'mashup?' (I hear you ask). Well,
it was a term first used in pop to describe
a song composed entirely of parts of other songs.
In the online world of Web 2.0 technology, it's
a website or a web application which combines
content from more than one source.
So, at a typical mashup you might have a
three part page offering popular links from
del.icio.us, news from Yahoo!, and photos from
Flickr. If you want to see this in action go
to have a look at the Daily Mashup.
http://dailymashup.com
0--- Pub quiz - Question #2
Which was the only full-scale naval
battle of World War I?
0--- Modern Fiction Reviews - new feature
The latest titles to feature in the new section
of our site are Ian McEwan's 'Saturday' and
Alice Sebold's 'The Lovely Bones'.
Guest reviewer Bill Jones takes a break from
his political blog at http://skipper59.blogspot.com
to look at McEwan's dark study of contemporary
Britain.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/mcewan-01.htm
His colleague and fellow teacher Heather
Pollitt takes a break from project management to
enthuse about the sensational debut novel from
the American writer whose book is being adapted
for the screen even as you read this.
The film is due to be released in 2007. It's the
story of a child who has been brutally raped and
murdered, told by her as a first person narrative
directly from heaven.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/sebold.htm
** WANTED Reviewers **
We need more reviews to fill out this section, so
if you want to send us your reflections on recent
modern fiction, get fingers to keyboard right now.
And if you need guidance on how to write book reviews,
we have just added guidance notes on exactly that topic -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/reviewing.htm
If you are interested in contributing a review,
email us at -
reviews@mantex.co.uk
0--- Pub quiz - Question #3
Which country was the first to use car number plates?
0--- 'Open Sources 2.0' - new book
This is a collection of articles on the latest
developments in the f.r.e.e software movement.
It's a combination of technology and e-commerce,
showing how some people are actually making
successful businesses from offering support
services to those using the f.r.e.e software.
The politics of open source software gets
consideration - particularly where it is
being heavily used in countries such as India
and China.
It's also being used more commonly in Europe too,
where local and national governments are trying
to keep costs down by switching to programs
such as Linux, Apache, and Thunderbird.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/dibona-2.htm
If you want to know more about Open Office,
the completely f.r.e.e alternative to Microsoft
Word, have a look at our review at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/weber.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #4
What is the 'It' in the drink 'Gin and It'?
0--- 'Designing Interfaces' - new book
Interfaces can be anything from what you see
on a mobile phone screen to the pilot's control
panel in a Boeing 747. But most of the time in
Jenifer Tidwell's new book they are web sites
viewed in a browser.
However, the principles she discusses are general,
and can be applied to any instance in which a human
being has to interact with a machine or input data.
Her approach is refreshingly logical. The designer
*must* start from the large overview first, then
gradually work down through the details.
Contrary to what you might imagine, the graphic
design of what it all looks like on screen comes
quite late in the design process.
The book has full colour designs and screenshots -
something of a rarity from O'Reilly publishers.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/tidwell.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #5
What was the ancient name of Iraq?
0--- F.r.e.e Fonts
Keith Bates, a near-neighbour in south Manchester,
runs a small independent type foundry. He offers
both f.r.e.e fonts and ones for sale at the
ridiculously low price of UKP 6.0 [USD 10.00] a set.
They include fonts which make reading easier for
children, ones which are developed from car number
plates, dingbats, and one I particularly liked
called 'Dalek', which is based the lettering used
for the Dr Who TV show. Download without obligation.
http://www.k-type.com
0--- Pub quiz - Question #6
Into which river was Achilles plunged
to make him invulnerable?
0--- Pop Trivia - you heard it here first
"The tattoo in the small of a woman's back
(typically just above the whale-tail of a
visible thong) is also known as the tramp-stamp."
0--- Bloomsbury Updated
The ever-popular Bloomsbury section of our
web site has been updated, with new items on
some of its artists and writers.
Virginia Nicholson is the grand-daughter of
Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf's sister. Her study
of bohemian life-styles looks at their avant-gard
manner of loving, their attitudes to poverty, food,
clothes, and even raising children.
See "Among the Bohemians" here [scroll down]:
http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/bloom-03.htm
Amongst the portraits of Virginia and Leonard Woolf,
Dora Carrington, Lytton Strachey, and others we have
added a note on the writer David Garnett. He entered
the Bloomsbury group as the lover of artist Duncan
Grant, and exited from it when he later married
Vanessa Bell's daughter Angelica. [The family
disapproved of her marrying her father's previous
lover. Gets complex, doesn't it.]
http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/dgarnett.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #7
What is a frigatoon?
0--- Blog your Videos - and Make Dosh
Victor Keegan, reporting in the Guardian's
shrinking IT supplement, points us in the
direction of video blogging.
You record an event on your video camera or
mobile phone, upload it to revver.com, and
share the income generated from clicks through
to adverts tagged to your submissions. The deal
is a 50-50% split, which sounds good to me.
Ideas? Film anything you want. On the day I
visited the site there were kids doing tricks
on skateboards, an amazing game of high speed
drafts, a guy playing two guitars at the same
time - oh, and a teenage girl stripping for a
webcam. It holds your interest, I must say.
http://www.revver.com
This is a development of the post your photos
and get paid scheme which we reported in an
earlier issue. Don't say we didn't tell you
how to make a fortune on the Internet!
If you missed it, that was at -
http://www.scoopt.com
0--- Pub quiz - Question #8
What is the principal island of Japan?
0--- Print on Demand - A Word to the Wise
Graham Cook from WritersWorld passes on
these words of advice to authors contemplating
the print-on-demand option of publishing.
Whether you use WRITERSWORLD or any other print
on demand company, you should insist that:
(1) The ISBN number is issued in your name and
you appear on the imprint page as the publisher
(2) when your book is published you have a direct
account with the printer. This will cost you
nothing and you will end up with 100% of the
royalties and the ability to purchase copies
of your books at cost.
Yes, you get 100% of the royalties on sales
of your book! You will get exactly the same
distribution rights as the print on demand
publisher and a monthly e-mail letting you
know what your sales are.
With respect, do not leave your book in the
hands of any print on demand book publisher
and be dependent on the publisher to know what
your sales and royalties are and allow them
to profit from the sales of your book.
http://www.writersworld.co.uk
0--- More F.r.e.e Fonts - from Latin America
Twenty very grunge fonts at zero cost,
from a site that's worth looking at too.
Eduardo Recife operates Misprinted Type
out of Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
Surrealist drawings, photos, fonts, and
flash animations served up against a montage
of retro graphic design.
http://www.misprintedtype.com/v3/fonts.php
0--- Pub quiz - Question #9
Who hoisted himself on Sinbad the Sailor's shoulders?
0--- Virtual Street Reality
If you have not seen them before, Julian Beever's
anamorphosic street drawings are quite amazing.
He creates an effect of three dimensions - in two.
The images have to be viewed from a certain angle,
and the camera has done the job for you in this
small selection. Worth seeing, believe me.
http://rense.com/general67/street.htm
0--- Pub quiz - Question #10
Who would have been granted a ticket of leave?
0--- Fun Stuff - Swap Sketches
You go to this site, make a drawing using
your cursor on the screen, and then press
'Submit'. In return, you get to see a
picture which someone else drew. The one
I got in return was definitely better than
the one I sent.
http://www.sketchswap.com/
0--- Pub Quiz News - Extra feature
Fans of the pub quiz (and we know who you are)
might like to know that we're making an archive
of back issues. It starts with a fairly easy
quiz from back in December 2001. Head over to -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/pubquiz/quiz-001.htm
0--- F.r.e.e Writing Resources
I came across a site devoted to tips and
guidance on writing skills. It's run by
Gary B. Larson. Don't think you've arrived
at the wrong place when you get there,
because he combines no-cost writing advice
with a vigorous anti-war stance and critical
commentary on George W. Bush.
[If you're a supporter of Bush's and Blair's
illegal war, don't bother writing to me to complain.]
http://garbl.home.comcast.net/
0--- Quotable quotes
"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring,
close-knit family - in another city." George Burns
0--- Readers' Letters + Corrections
--- Horsey-Horsey ---
Charles Johnson writes from Mells in Somerset
to point out that "What sort of animal is a
Lipizaner?" should be 'Lipizzaner'. He cites
as his authority the Austrian http://www.lipizzaner.at/
Obviously this is one of those words which is spelled
in a number of different ways - especially as it seems
to be a foreign import.
And in fact even Lipizza is a re-spelling of the
original place 'Lipica', which is in Slovenia.
"Along the border between Italy and Slovenia,
in the vicinity of Sezana and Trieste, lies the
Horse Stud Lipica, a green oasis in ..."
--- Euro-Drachmas ---
David Malarkey from what he describes [ironically, I
take it] as "the beautiful non-city of Croydon" was
the first person to point out that the Greek currency
is now the Euro, not the drachma.
The question should have been 'What *was* the currency
of Greece?'. Well, that's my excuse anyway.
G R Oliver from Wuerzberg in Germany offered this note:
"Greece joined the Economic and Monetary Union of the
European Union, on 1 January 2001, and exactly one year
later, the drachma was officially replaced by the Euro
at a rate of 340.75 drachmas to the Euro.
The coins continued to be exchangeable into Euros
until March 1, 2004. The banknotes will continue
to be exchangeable until March 1, 2012."
And Melina Sardi writes from Athens to add:
"Indeed it was a sad day four years ago when we said
goodbye to the drachma (which, by the way, had been
with us since 1832) and joined the euro club. In the
beginning we felt that the very essence of "Greekness"
was under threat - so many idioms and expressions just
didn't sound so poetic any more, let alone the shock
we got when we converted euro prices into good old
drachmas! But then again, it does make travelling to
(most countries in) Europe all that easier..."
0--- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS
#1 Which country has the shortest coastline?
Answer: Monaco
#2 Which was the only full-scale naval battle of World War I?
Answer: Jutland
#3 Which country was the first to use car number plates?
Answer: France
#4 What is the 'It' in the drink 'Gin and It'?
Answer: Italian vermouth
#5 What was the ancient name of Iraq?
Answer: Mesopotamia
#6 Into which river was Achilles plunged
to make him invulnerable?
Answer: The Styx
#7 What is a frigatoon?
Answer: A ship
#8 What is the principal island of Japan?
Answer: Honshu
#9 Who hoisted himself on Sinbad the Sailor's shoulders?
Answer: The Old Man of the Sea
#10 Who would have been granted a ticket of leave?
Answer: A convict
0--- COMING SOON
'Bloomsbury Recalled'
'At Home with Books'
'Dictionary of Rhymes'
'Among the Bohemians'
'Google Advertising Tools'
'Podcasting Pocket Guide'
'PCs the Missing Manual'
'Synonyms and Antonyms'
'Web Services Essentials'
'Oxford Spellchecker and Dictionary'
'eBay - The Missing Manual'
'Penguin Dictionary of Jokes'
'Yahoo! Hacks'
'Word Origins'
(c) Copyright 2006, 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.
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/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-114-March-2006
ISSN 1470-1863
The British Library