-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER -------- Number 82 - June 2003 - ISSN 1470-1863 Style Guides + Dictionaries + Language 0----- 'The Oxford Style Manual' - new book This huge style manual is the result of putting together in one volume the 'Oxford Guide to Style' [formerly 'Hart's Rules'] and their 'Dictionary for Writers and Editors'. The first deals with everything you could possibly imagine about the presentation of words on a page. It's a major guide to style and editing for writers, editors, publishers, and anyone concerned with the finer points of how text is presented on page and on screen. The second part is a specialist dictionary which provides rulings on words and spellings which are commonly problematic. It covers the names of well-known people and places, foreign words and commonly-used phrases such as 'petit-bourgeois' and 'persona non grata'. If you are serious about writing, or you need to know about the finer details of presentation - you will find everything here. This is the ultimate style guide and writer's reference work. The single volume is even 25% cheaper than buying the two books separately. Fantastic value. Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-sman.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #1 How many teeth do human adults have? 0----- Netlingo - online dictionary + thesaurus This is an award-winning online dictionary of Internet terms. It contains thousands of words and definitions that describe the online world of business, technology, and communication. "We're here to educate and entertain you about the lingo used in the online world." It also has lots of novelties thrown in - chat acronyms and TXT MSG shorthand, a list of international country codes, and even a web design colouring book. And if you think you know a new piece of jargon, you can add it to their site. Do you know what the expression "the farmer died" means? No - neither did I. Go to - http://www.netlingo.com 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #2 What sea does the River Jordan flow into? 0----- 'Oxford Guide to Word Games' - new book If you like any sort of word play (puns, palindromes, acrostics) or even unusual facts about words - you'll love this book. It's an interesting mix of scholarly information about word histories, tips on how to improve your score at Scrabble, and useless bits of fun such as the fact that 'synthetic cream' is an anagram of Manchester City. There are details of some amazingly complex word squares - the forerunner of crosswords - and games such as charades, hangman, tongue-twisters, and twenty questions. And what do you think is the longest legitimate word in English? It's used in 'Love's Labour's Lost' - 'Honorificabilitudinitatibus'. Great fun, and lots of amusing surprises. See - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-game.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #3 What name is given to the base of your spine? 0----- 'Silicon Literacies' - new book This is a collection of academic essays which look at the new skills generated by work which is produced on a keyboard, transmitted via computer networks, and visible by the user on screen. The general argument is that even schoolchildren these days are developing new conceptual and navigational skills as they click around the screen. These should now count as a form of literacy - alongside the ability to read and write. There are reports of practical experiments - teaching video games in Australian schools, taking an MBA via distance learning, reviving local languages in Hawaii, Egypt, and Singapore. This compilation will appeal to teachers working in IT, educational theorists, students and teachers of media studies, and anyone interested in the educational implications of The New Media Age. Full review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/snyder.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #4 What is fired by a crossbow? 0----- 'Designing Web Graphics 4' - new edition This book covers lots more than just graphics. It's an excellent general guide to web design - from first concepts and structure, through to style sheets, animations, and site promotion. It's lavishly illustrated, written in a friendly, style with no jargon, and it features lists of no-cost resources at the end of each chapter. Lynda Weinman is a guru of web design, and this is one of her best-selling productions. Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/weinman.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #5 What was the former name of Turkey? 0----- 'Small Business Websites that Work' If you want to dip your toes into the waters of eCommerce, but you don't have a big budget - this book will tell you how to do it. Sean McManus covers everything you need to take into account - from the purpose and design of a web site, through the details of how to market whatever it is you wish to sell, to the techniques of getting yourself noticed by the major search engines. And it needn't cost you much. He shows you where free resources are available, and even spells out the advantages and disadvantages of DIY business. You will need to follow his leads to get some of the details, but this provides a very good overview of the whole process of setting up your stall in the digital marketplace. Full details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/mcmanus.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #6 Rhodes is the largest of which island group? 0----- 'Digital Magazine Design' - new book Modern computer technology has given us more and more control over the layout and design of the printed page. First desktop publishing via word processors, and now control and manipulation of images - plus even the possibility of publishing the same materials in a variety of formats (using XML). This new guide to digital publishing techniques goes through the principles of successful layout and design using digital techniques. It then analyses examples of popular magazines, showing how they apply these principles. There's a strong emphasis on typography and the control of body text which will be the substance of most magazine production. You will learn about tracking, line-spacing, kerning, and all the techniques required for producing attractive pages. Full review and details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/honey-2.htm 0----- Pub Quiz Question #7 Which seeds are used to make Halva? 0----- Proust discovery - News item PARIS (Reuters) - A questionnaire filled in by celebrated French author Marcel Proust at the age of only 14 sold at a Paris auction on Tuesday for 102,000 euros (73,750 pounds), more than three times its pre-sale estimate. Proust's replies gave a foretaste of key themes in 'Remembrance of Things Past', his seven-volume semi-autobiographical novel in which he expounded in sensuous detail on topics including art, politics, history and love. The list of 24 questions, ranging from favourite authors, composers and colours to 'Your idea of happiness', was printed in souvenir albums from Victorian England that became popular among the bourgeois youth of late 19th century France. Contrary to popular belief, Proust did not invent the questionnaire, but his precocious and literate replies to it, published posthumously in 1924, were considered so extraordinary that it has been associated with him ever since. A brainy, slightly fey young boy, Proust gave his favourite occupations as reading, dreaming, writing verse, history and theatre. The depth of misery was 'to be separated from Mama' -- he had an almost neurotic attachment to his mother. Full details of three translations of Proust's great novel "In Search of Lost Time" are available at our site. Go to - http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/proust-0.htm 0----- Pub Quiz Question #8 In which Dickens novel does Uriah Heep appear? 0----- The Internet police never sleep Filters on the Internet are always on the lookout for subversive and offensive material. Our last newsletter was bounced back by one Internet Service Provider - with the following cautionary note: SMTP error from remote mailer after end of data: host shield.surf-ici.com [209.100.145.9]: 550 Banned text appeared in header or body: Banned text - 'Lolita' So now you know! And if you want to read the work of the writer who made this term so infamous, go to the Vladimir Nabokov pages of our site at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/nabo-00.htm 0----- Pub Quiz Question #9 How many years was Nelson Mandela held in prison? 0----- Short Stories - update We have updated the notes on short stories in the downloadable tutorials section of our site. New material includes James Joyce's 'Dubliners' http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/resource/story-00.htm 0----- Pub Quiz Question #10 Which dessert is named after a famous ballerina? 0----- News Extra I - Buckshee jargon detector Deloitte-Touche are giving away jargon detector software. It works with Microsoft Word or Powerpoint in Windows 2000 or XP. It detects expressions such as "A value-added, leverageable global knowledge repository." "Repurposeable, leading edge thoughtware that delivers results-driven value." http://www.dc.com/bullfighter/ 0----- News Extra II - Virginia Woolf find A lost notebook covering three months of the novelist Virginia Woolf's life in her 20s has been found after lying in an academic's bottom drawer in Birmingham for 35 years. The notebook will be on display at Sussex University library on July 22. The university is holding a seminar on the material that day. Readers wishing to attend should email Dorothy Sheridan, head of special collections, d.e.sheridan@sussex.ac.uk Woolf enthusiasts (like me) will have to stomach the fact that the notebook contains unpleasantly snobbish and even anti-semitic material. For details of her work see - http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/woolf-00.htm 0----- Quiz Corrections Subscriber Sue Burnett from University of Glamorgan sent us this sharp-eyed sartorial detail. "Following in the footsteps of Dave Eyre - 'In the spirit of friendly accuracy' - Rupert Bear's trousers are not yellow, but yellow and black check." We stand corrected. 0----- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS Question #1 How many teeth do human adults have? ANSWER: Thirty-two Question #2 What sea does the River Jordan flow into? ANSWER: Dead Sea Question #3 What name is given to the base of your spine? ANSWER: The coccyx Question #4 What is fired by a crossbow? ANSWER: A bolt or quarrel Question #5 What was the former name of Turkey? ANSWER: Asia Minor Question #6 Rhodes is the largest of which island group? ANSWER: Dodecanese Question #7 Which seeds are used to make Halva? ANSWER: Sesame Question #8 In which Dickens novel does Uriah Heep appear? ANSWER: 'David Copperfield' Question #9 How many years was Nelson Mandela held in prison? ANSWER: Twenty-seven Question #10 Which dessert is named after a famous ballerina? ANSWER: Pavlova 0----- COMING SOON 'e-Business Fundamentals' 'Designing with Web Standards' 'WriteItNow' - novel-writing software 'XPath and XPointer' 'Design Through Digital Interaction' 'Creative Content for the 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 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-82-June-2003 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library