---- MANTEX NEWSLETTER ---- Number 78 - February 2003 Writing + Design + E-Learning ---- ISSN 1470-1863 ---- 0----- 'Schott's Original Miscellany' [new book] This book became a cult gift amongst my friends over the Xmas period - and it's now on offer at half price at Amazon. It's printed to look like an old encyclopedia, but in fact it's a brand-new collection of the most amazing - and amusing - trivia. It starts with the length of shoelaces you need according to the number of holes in your shoes, goes through who's eligible and ineligible for jury service, how to tie a bow tie, to who won post war British elections. My favourite for the dinner table quiz was how to pronounce British toff surnames such as Featherstonehaugh, Cholmondley, and Fiennes. There's serious stuff too - such as typographic terms explained, Greek deities, and commonplace terms in Latin and German - but it's the fun items which give the book its zest - such as Cockney rhyming slang terms, untimely celebrity deaths, and a schematic diagram of Dante's Inferno. I guarantee it will make you laugh. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/schott.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #1 What is the opposite of 'euphemism'? 0----- 'Windows XP Annoyances' [new book] If you have upgraded from an earlier version of Windows to XP, you'll know that there are a lot more features - but they are hard to find! David Karp is an XP guru. His latest book explains the new operating system in full. He shows you how to customise it to suit your own preferences, and he provides lots of tips and tricks for getting the best performance from your system. This is another good-value reference guide from the O'Reilly publishing house - packed with technical details but written in a user-friendly manner. It got me out of a fix within the first few pages, and it's been on my desktop ever since. Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/karp-2.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #2 Which part of your body is affected by emphysema? 0----- 'Information Architecture' [new book] This is a very easy-to-read introduction to the main concepts in Information Architecture. Christina Wodtke takes you on a relaxed and humane tour through the structure of information design, navigational principles, and usability. All her arguments are illustrated with examples from current web sites, and the suggestions she offers point to intelligent design. Designers will be interested to note that the tools she recommends most firmly are - pencil and paper. "Think first. Design second." Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/wodtke.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #3 What is a Blenheim Orange? 0----- 'E-Learning in the 21st Century' [new book] Most universities are now pushing online learning, hoping it will save them time and money. Few of them realise that to be successful, it takes a lot of planning and resources. Anyone involved in the development of online courses who would like theoretical backup for their enterprise will find plenty of it in Garrison and Anderson's new book on E-Learning. The authors are unashamed enthusiasts, and they cover all aspects of devising and running online courses. The go from dealing with students to coping with the organizational problems which arise as colleges and universities struggle to keep pace with digital technology. Review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/garrison.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #4 In which country is Mont Blanc? 0----- New page layout A regular subscriber wrote last month requesting a wider column of text. He suggested that the narrow column forced him to scroll too much. So here's a slightly wider column. What d'you think? 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #5 What is the name of a bell tower when it is not attached to a church? 0----- Spelling-checker [buckshee software] tinySpell is a small spell checking program that automatically spell checks a selected word that is copied to the clipboard. You can also set tinySpell to check your spelling on the fly while you are typing and alert you by sound whenever it detects a misspelled word. The program runs in the system tray and suggests correct spellings via the right click menu. Additional features include a private dictionary and an auto-replacement feature. Unique and compact, great for quick spell checking, but limited to check a single word at a time. Download at - http://www.mywebattack.com/gnomeapp.php?id=105898 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #6 What type of food is Gravadlax? 0----- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS What is the opposite of 'euphemism'? ANSWER: Dysphemism Which part of your body is affected by emphysema? ANSWER: Your lungs What is a Blenheim Orange? ANSWER: An apple In which country is Mont Blanc? ANSWER: France and Italy What is the name of a bell tower when it is not attached to a church? ANSWER: A campanile What type of food is Gravadlax? ANSWER: Fish 0----- COMING SOON 'A Pattern Language for Web Usability' 'Literacy in the New Media Age' 'How to Plan and Manage an E-Learning Program' 'Visual Language for the World Wide Web' (c) Copyright 2003, 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 FREE 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-78 Febuary-2003 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library