Spellcheck: Watch your P’s and Q’s.
The Gripe
More and more I see spelling errors in major news articles. Some are glaringly bad. One writer for AP Entertainment Weekly posted a article recently that would cause a English teacher to drop a big red “F” on it. Five words misspelled. Words that a 6th grade student should have caught.
And the culprit of this ? Spellcheck. Some reporters, in the rush to get a article out will hit auto correct in their writing program and not bother to check the article again before hitting the send button.
So Spellcheck runs, finds misspellings and corrects the word and moves on.
The Problem
So why all the misspelled words ? The problem lies in the “learn” feature inside of Spellcheck features. Through years of use, we tend to hit the learn button when up against unique words or names of people that you want Spellcheck to remember.
The Example
The AP writer published this sentence: Attorneys were scheduled to update Feess on the settlement Friday morning. Clearly Feess should be Fees. Somewhere down the line his Spellcheck was taught the word Feess and let it pass as correct.
The Fix
Very few Spellcheck programs allow you to dump all the taught words in its dictionary. If you have a spellcheck program that has that feature, use it. The other way is to erase your writing program on your hard drive and its preferences and install a fresh replacement. Make sure everything you wrote using the program is in a separate file outside the applications folder.
The Maintenance
Use the learn feature in spellcheck sparingly. Be aware of taught words that closely resemble common conservational words and pass on the learn button. And always proof read your writings with the sole purpose of checking the spelling after you run Spellcheck.
McCall area snowmobile refuses to carry fat people any more.
A Tragic Event
Following years of abuse from fat people riding local area snowmobiles, one snowmobile declared “enough is enough” yesterday afternoon. In a final act of protest it blew itself up during a sponsored group ride. Spokesman for the Blue Haze Snowmobile Club said they are reviewing it’s policy of unrestrained weight limits for it’s members.
A similar event took place during hunting season last Fall, when All Terrain Vehicles started taking it’s passengers over cliffs. Two major factors weighed in heavily as to the cause of this event. Abuse of the manufactures recommended weight limit and the fact that most of the hunters were blind drunk at the time.
Lowing Cows: A Very Private Affair
I"m not lowing. Go away.
As to cows “lowing” in fields, I have no clue. Finally I ran across this in a dairy cow forum. As to a picture of this taking place, I tried google image search to find a “lowing shot” with no luck. I guess it’s a very private affair.
“We all know from elementary school that cattle are known to low. We’ve seen the drawings of the cows on their bellies with legs stretched out in front and behind. Few, if any of us, have actually seen a cow perform this lowing feat. Here’s what I have been able to establish to date:
- Lowing appears to be restricted to the last three weeks of December and the first week of January each year.
- Lowing is only known to occur when there is snow on the ground. There are no reports of Florida cattle ever lowing.
- A lowing cow actually creeps and slips across the ground slowly while keeping their profile as low as possible.
- Cattle are very secretive about lowing.
I discovered early on that lowing cattle will immediately get up and act nonchalant if they feel people are observing them. A field of lowing cattle will quickly move to the standard cow stance if they hear a car or truck approaching. Over the years I’ve been able to observe cow lowing by building a snow blind in a handy drift. It is truly exhilarating to observe a herd of cows lowing in unison. It’s not unlike synchronized swimming. The most stunning lowing I have witnessed involved a herd of black and white Holsteins. It was like watching a swarm of disembodied black spots undulating across the snowy field.”
The unresolved mysteries of lowing are still troubling. What exactly are they trying to sneak up on? Why are they so secretive?
Just in time for Halloween: Smell like hell.
Tried to get Digg format to accept link, but kept refusing it. So the link out is here. Scroll to bottom of page.
What does Space smell like ? Hopefully not like old people.
Smell Outer Space. Click here.
McCalls New Legacy Park Project
Legacy Park is starting to show it’s future beauty. See live shots here.
My friends are a micro google
My friends are a micro google: In our small town by a lake, which we prostitute the area to tourists every summer, there a is a special moment in September when all time stops and the locals are allowed to experience the reason why we live here year around. The lake is still and quiet. One can make a left hand turn anywhere in town without a wait. Sounds and sights seem to freeze in moments of beauty again. And now, the gatherings start. As a example, I learned tonight that the women who played June Cleaver in the show Leave It To Beaver always wore a pearl necklace to cover up a scar on her neck that was from a car accident.
Why Corn Syrup Is In Everything (Except Jones Soda)…..
Archer Daniels Midland,Corn Industry Lobbyists and the Federal Government have put together fat bombs for every American. Here’s a quick experiment you can try next time your at your local supermarket. Pick up any processed food item on the shelf and check the ingredients. See a recurring ingredient in the items ? Yup, high fructose corn syrup is in everything from ketchup to yogurt. Want to know why ? Click here. Read about the great benefits Corn Syrup has on kids….. click here.
Meccano Spyke Robot Photo Gallery
Spyke the cool wi-fi and camera enabled robot kit is scheduled for release in September for Europe and October for the US. The robot can be assembled as Lunar Lander, Scorpion and just as a plain robot.
Got iSight or a Web Cam ? Here’s a Quickie way to make a Quicktime movie……..
Got a web cam ? Got a Mac ? Got Quicktime Pro ? If yes, you have the necessary ingredients for a Quickie Movie: click here for the info.
One Password, That’s it…………
The best password integration program available, bar none. Check out the video demonstration.
Free TechTool Deluxe App. With AppleCare Protection Plan
Do you have a AppleCare Protection Plan ? Apple support has a free app waiting for you if you do. Click here.
Moving From a .Mac Account To a Free Google Account.
Why pay Apple for a .mac address and only 1Gig of storage when you can have a Google mail account and 2 Gigs of storage for free ? There are rumors that Apple will offer there .mac accounts free in the near future. Why are people slow to get rid of their .mac accounts ? It could be that they don’t want to give up their address’s with the .mac signature. Or they have spent a lot of time making a .mac web page and don’t want the hassle of moving it elsewhere. But if your considering the move here is a nice article by Matthew Russell on a O’Reilly Report page.
Microsoft Announces Mac Mini Killer (Picture)
Picture of Microsoft Mini killer. The design alone will floor you.
