-------- MANTEX NEWSLETTER -------- Number 97 - October 2004 - ISSN 1470-1863 Writing - Journalism - Scriptwriting - Research 0----- 'Oxford Guide to Plain English' - new book This is the first in a new series from OUP. It's a pocketbook of guidance on how to produce good, clear English. The author is research director of the Plain Language Commission, and he certainly practises what he preaches. Here are quick tips for clear style, and better grammar, punctuation, and layout. He also shows you how to avoid jargon and legalese, and offers lots of 'before' and 'after' examples to show you how it's done. Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-cutts.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #1 In the UK, where is Poets' Corner? 0----- Weird Facts A crocodile always grows new teeth to replace its old teeth. [Have a look!] 0----- 'The Art and Science of Scriptwriting' - new book If you are serious about writing scripts for television or the cinema, you need to know two things. One: how the industry operates. Two: how to present your ideas. This book tells you how to do both. Peter Parker talks you through what's required to become a professional scriptwriter, and gives you valuable insights into how cinema and television work as they do. There are also hands-on, scene-by-scene analyses of TV and cinema scripts, showing you what can be achieved and how it should be written on the script. This is a successful book, already in its second edition. If you want to make it in TV or the movies, start here. Full details and review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/parker.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #2 Who captained Jules Verne's submarine "Nautilus"? 0----- Weird Facts Porcupines float in water. [Try it!] 0----- 'Design in the 20th Century' - new book Taschen books produce a series of very cheap yet well-produced paperbacks on art and design. This one offers a selection of classic designers and design companies of the last century. It covers industrial design, furniture, ceramics, household equipment, and interior decoration. Well-known names are mixed with some lesser-known, and the book is beautifully illustrated in full colour. Full review and details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/fiell-1.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #3 Which colour is worth six points in snooker? 0----- Weird Facts The average person walks the equivalent of twice around the world in a lifetime. 0----- 'Information Age Journalism' - new book Do you want to know how news is constructed, written, edited, manipulated, and syndicated in today's conglomerates of news and media companies? Vincent Campbell is a senior lecturer on the subject at De Montfort University, and this is clearly bidding to be the set text for any course related to contemporary journalism. He knows his stuff, and the best part of this book is that it's illustrated by recent examples from newsprint and television throughout the world. If you want an account of the latest state of play in the mass media, this is very authoritative. He deals with ownership of the media; newsgathering ethics and practicalities; presentation and TV scheduling; chequebook journalism; and freedom of the press. All points of his presentation are illustrated by recent (and often scandalous) examples from the British and international press. Full review at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/campbell.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #4 What is the Brown Bear's main source of animal food? 0----- Weird Facts The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's chewing gum. 0----- 'How to Design and Build the Coolest Website in Cyberspace' - new book There are lots of web design guides on the market, but not many come as stylishly designed as this one. It puts the best in modern digital print production to work, and every page is a visual treat. Nick Nettleton takes you through the whole process - from what software you need, and how to set up your first site - through to advanced techniques of making the site interactive, including audio and video files, and even finally how to make money from it. Full review and details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/nettleton.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #5 Which country has a .GT email address? 0----- Weird Facts A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute. 0----- 'Content Syndication with RSS' - new book You may have noticed buttons or icons on web sites saying 'News Feed' or 'XML Feed'. These are services offering to send you regular headlines, news reports, and site updates automatically. All of this is free of course. Ben Hammersley's new book shows you how to send and receive syndicated content in this way using relatively simple XML. He describes the range of competing standards, shows where to download all the necessary software. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/hammersley.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #6 In corned beef, what are the corns? 0----- Weird Facts Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone! 0----- Short Stories - update We have updated our guidance note on short stories - with the inclusion of entries on Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever, and Nadine Gordimer. http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/resource/story-00.htm Great writers - update We've started a guide to the writing of William Faulkner. His star may have dimmed a little in recent years - but he did win the Nobel Prize. /http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/faulkner.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #7 Which animal has the longest pregnancy? 0----- Weird Facts A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off. 0----- 'The Doctoral Examination Process' - new book PhD research is a complex and taxing business about which much has been written. But it leads to a live examination about which the opposite is true. The Burnham committee report described the process of the Viva as 'one of the best kept secrets in higher education'. This book is an account of the whole process from both the examiner's and the candidate's point of view. It is based on research in twenty British universities, and non-UK readers may be surprised to know that the rules vary according to which university you attend. At the University of Glamorgan for instance, you can pass the Viva even if you are dead. And I'm not kidding. Penny Tinkler and Carolyn Jackson do a good job in de-mystifying the whole process, and they give some very interesting real-life case studies which anybody engaged in PhD research would do well to heed. Full review and further details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/tinkler.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #8 What can be solo boxing, round timber, or a mineral? 0----- Weird Facts You're born with 300 bones, but as an adult, you only have 206. [Where do they go?] 0----- 'The Renaissance Computer' - new-ish book The title is a bit of a publishing tease. This is actually a collection of scholarly papers on the state of information architecture and technology in the immediate post-Gutenerg period. It's interesting to note how many of the retrieval, navigation, and structural systems we take for granted now in most printed matter were once novelties as writing was stored in the printed book (the codex) instead of scrolls. Jonathan Sawday and Neil Rhodes discuss the many ways in which this early period of print parallels the modern state of digital technology, with the book index, title page, marginalia, and contents page as early examples of hypertext and navigation. This is one for the scholar or the departmental library. Full review and details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/rhodes.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #9 Who wrote "The Princess Cassamassima"? 0----- Weird Facts The state of Florida is bigger than England. 0----- Newsletter: Back issues now available We've updated our archive of almost 100 back issues of the newsletter. All of them (with just a couple of missing issues) are now available, and the pages all have clickable links. You can look through a list of contents or use the SEARCH button to dig for all those offers of f-r-e-e software, past book reviews, and useful web sites. http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/archive.htm 0----- Pub Quiz - Question #10 How many cards are in a Tarot pack? 0----- Weird Facts Slugs have four noses. [Count them!] 0----- B-e-l-l-e d-e J-o-u-r - blog In the world of literary criticism, there are some people who believe that women write differently than men. If you are inclined to believe such notions, you can put them to the test by reading "B-e-l-l-e d-e J-o-u-r: the diary of a London c-a-l-l girl". It's an award-winning blog written with a fair amount of polish and style. The customers and their habits; life in contemporary London; the boy friend; k-n-*-c-k-e-r-s and l-i-p-s-t-i-c-k. But it's written 'anonymously' - so you can't really tell if it's genuine or not. There's plenty of evidence either way. Convincing female point of view; male foibles well analysed; and plenty of g-y-n-a-e-c-o-l-o-g-i-c-a-l detail - all well recounted. But it's the content I find suspicious. Secks with clients; secks with the boy-friend; secks with ex-boy-friends; secks with pickups; secks with herself - and it's ALL good. Too good. Actually, the blog has paused now - because it's being published between hard covers in the new year. By Wiedenfeld and Nicolson - and that makes me a bit suspicious too. You can expect a flurry of publicity soon, and attempts to reveal the 'real' author. It *could* be written by a woman of course - but is it genuine? Have a look for yourself. http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com 0----- Quotable Quotes "President Bush says he's very excited about Cat Stevens. He says that we are winning the war against singer/song writers." David Letterman 0----- Feedback + Corrections Carel Kuitenbrouwer writes from Utrecht to comment on Question #3 in the last issue: [Who wrote 'The Garden Party'?] "The Hungarian author Gyorgy Konrad also wrote a book called 'Garden Party' (1989)" and to remind us all a propos of Question #7 [Which language dos the term 'anorak', come from? ANSWER: Eskimo] "Eskimo is the politically less correct name for Inuit." Ooops! 0----- PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS 1. In the UK, where is Poets' Corner? ANSWER: Westminster Abbey #2. Who captained Jules Verne's submarine "Nautilus"? ANSWER: Captain Nemo #3 Which colour is worth six points in snooker? ANSWER: Pink #4 What is the Brown Bear's main source of animal food? ANSWER: Salmon #5 Which country has a .GT email address? ANSWER: Guatemala #6 In corned beef, what are the corns? ANSWER: Salt #7 Which animal has the longest pregnancy? ANSWER: The elephant (22 months) #8 What can be solo boxing, round timber, or a mineral? ANSWER: Spar #9 Who wrote "The Princess Cassamassima"? ANSWER: Henry James #10 How many cards are in a Tarot pack? ANSWER: 78 0----- COMING SOON 'A-Z of Grammar and Puctuation' 'Dictionary of Design since 1900' 'A-Z of Spelling' 'The Modern Movement 1910-1940' 'PDF Hacks' 'Web Search Garage' 'Handwritten' 'Web Services Essentials' 'We the Media' (c) Copyright 2004, 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-97-October-2004 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library