-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER -------- Number 83 - July 2003 - ISSN 1470-1863 Language + Web design + Style Sheets 0----- 'Orality and Literacy' - reissue of classic Walter Ong's book discusses the relationship between spoken and written language. He takes you through the essential differences between them - then explores the important advantages of writing. He argues that writing enables us to think more analytically, and that the technology of writing has an effect on the way we think. It was first published in 1982 - just in time to include observations on computers, but not in time for the Web. Nevertheless, this is a profound study of the theory and practice of writing, and if you haven't already read it, don't miss this new chance. It's been out of print for ages. Grab a copy now. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/ong.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #1 What's an animal without a backbone? 0----- 'Designing with Web Standards' - new book Jeffrey Zeldman is one of the new wave web design gurus. His views are radically traditional. That is, he thinks that web pages should be designed so that everyone should be able to see them - no matter which browser they are using. That's easy to say and agree to - but hard to achieve. But he shows how it can be done. The essence of his argument is that the structure of web pages should be kept separate from their appearance - as far as possible. This means using XHTML and style sheets. His new book is in two parts. The first offers an account of why 'web standards' are important and useful. The second part shows how to design pages using XHTML and style sheets. Lively, well-informed, and lots of free downloadable examples at his web site. Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/zeldman-2.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #2 Which is the oldest university in the USA? 0----- 'Style Sheet Design' - new book To give the book its full title - 'Eric Mayer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design'. This is a series of tutorials in how to use style sheets. It assumes you already know HTML and shows you how fonts, spacing, and even the positioning of page elements can be controlled using style sheets. Why bother? Because you can reduce the size of pages for quicker download; because you gain finer control over every element of your site design; and because an entire site can be changed by one line of code in the style sheet. This is the future of Web design - the total separation of page style and content structure. You don't have to go down this road yet, but Eric Meyer explains it all in easy stages when you feel the time comes. Full review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/meyer-3.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #3 Of which African country is Lusaka the capital? 0----- 'e-Business Fundamentals' - new book This is a collection of academic essays on various aspects of e-Business - such as what is the difference between e-Commerce and e-Businecuss [Answer - not much, really] Topics covered include legal aspects of e-Commerce, business ethics, globalisation, data management, and government legislation. This is a good introduction to a wide range of approaches. It will fit usefully as a set text into any course covering e-Commerce. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/jackson2.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #4 Who directed 'The Maltese Falcon'? 0----- Twentieth Century - Literary timeline We have updated our timeline of the major events of the twentieth century - and their relation to literature. The focus is literature in English, but we are adding entries from around the world all the time. See the results at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/a319-15.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #5 Which is the third largest city in France? 0----- The Secret Life of Documents - OR - Blair's Iraq-gate Computer Mistakes If you create documents - did you know that every time you write or edit files you leave a trail of information revealing what you did and when you did it. And if you pass on those files to somebody else, their editing is recorded too. That's how the British government was found out to have composed and tinkered with a document about Iraq's 'concealment' of weapons of mass destruction. The document log reveals the names of four of the people who prepared the Iraq document for publication and the government Communications Information Centre for which some of them work. The central part of the document was plagiarised from an American student's PhD thesis - which was twelve years old. The government quickly began to replace Word documents on their web site with PDF versions - which do not. Full details of the government's dodgy doings and all the documents involved at the following two sites - http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/blair.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3037760.stm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #6 Which Greek hero killed the Minotaur? 0----- Greetings cards Diana Byrne, a Somerset artist, has produced some attractive greetings cards, printed on good quality board, from her oil paintings. These are excellent value for money, particularly when bought in bulk. I was given a set as a present, and I particularly like her Mediterranean scenes. They have been very popular with friends. Have a look at the collection at her web site - http://www.duckinc.co.uk 0----- Pub Quiz Question #7 Who wrote 'A Hero of our Time'? 0----- Harry Potter Mania Just in case you have been living on another planet or have been released from jail in the last couple of weeks, you might wish to know that the latest Harry Potter book was released recently. 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' is selling like wildfire, and is on offer at a huge fifty percent discount at Amazon. Go there direct - and keep the URL all on one line - http://www.Amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0747551006/ref=nosim/mantexinformatio 0----- Pub Quiz Question #8 Who discovered the circulation of the blood? 0----- Language Security Police - Strike Again The last issue of our newsletter ran foul of the moral vigilantes in Further Education. "This message has been Quarantined by Stockport College as it has been detected that it contains language which is against the College policy." And what WAS the offending language? Here's their report. Scenarios/Detect English Profanity found the following search expressions: The phrase 'black' was found at the location(s): 43. The phrase 'bottom' was found at the location(s): 41. The phrase 'l o l i t a' was found at the location(s): 29. 0----- Pub Quiz Question #9 What was the language of the Aztecs? 0----- Quotable quotes "I'm on a whisky diet. I've lost three days already." Tommy Cooper [for non-UK readers, a comic magician] 0----- Pub Quiz Question #10 What does ISBN stand for? 0----- Correction Newsletter subscriber Ranko Mastilovic writes: "Asia Minor is still Asia Minor, a rather large peninsula with the Mediterranean on one side, the Black Sea on the other and lots of interesting things in between, including modern Turkey which used to be called in the times of sultans (The Great Turk, their seat being called The Sublime Porte) The Ottoman Empire, covering of course much more than Asia Minor." 0----- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS Question #1 What's an animal without a backbone? ANSWER: An invertebrate Question #2 Which is the oldest university in the USA? ANSWER: Harvard Question #3 Of which African country is Lusaka the capital? ANSWER: Zambia Question #4 Who directed 'The Maltese Falcon'? ANSWER: John Houston Question #5 Which is the third largest city in France? ANSWER: Lyons Question #6 Which Greek hero killed the Minotaur? ANSWER: Theseus Question #7 Who wrote 'A Hero of our Time'? ANSWER: Mikhail Lermontov Question #8 Who discovered the circulation of the blood? ANSWER: William Harvey Question #9 What was the language of the Aztecs? ANSWER: Nahuatl Question #10 What does ISBN stand for? ANSWER: International Standard Book Number 0----- COMING SOON Summer reading suggestions Design Through Digital Interaction Creative Content for the Web Designing Web Graphics (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-83-July-2003 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library