Nicole points to a grammar quiz, while Pashmina is conducting a love affair (one, two) with the Economist Style Guide, which also has its own quiz.
I scored middlingly on both quizzes and, much like Pashmina, I think I’m a better person for it. You see, while I’m proud to take a relaxed, non-prescriptive approach to [...]

We spent last night trying to do these puzzles. I can do the bottom one consistently. I’ve done the nail one once or twice, but it’s still baffling. The male/female one is completely beyond me. If you’ve got any clues several of us would be very grateful.

Tags: puzzles, frustration

I’m in the strange position of feeling insulted, but slowly realising that I’m utterly wrong about this.
The first time I came across the term leftist it was in right wing blogs during the November 2004 US election. For instance, the Captain’s Quarters says:
The problem for Kedwards is they have no original proposals and can only [...]

Today I was planning to post “How to organise a terrorist attack”, but I’ve just found a much more worthy topic: the Daily Mail Doulton fine china offer.
I don’t recall reading anything else by Stephen Brook, and I have no idea how he managed to persuade his editor that he should spend time writing about [...]

The World Tonight just began a story like this:
Now, France’s largest ever child abuse trial has ended with five people at the centre of a vast paedophile ring being sentenced to a total of more than 100 years in prison.
Which struck me as odd, because it’s not as if those sentences are going to be [...]

The Guardian’s Corrections and Clarifications column yesterday picked up on a distinction which — much to my shame — I have never made:
In a report headed Tories still in decline, warn modernisers, page 8, July 21, we spoke of a decline in support for the Conservative party among women from 45% in 1992 to 32% [...]

Because this kind of thing prevents innocent deaths.
Because his neighbour’s flat might be under surveillance.
Because he might have sympathies with other countries. Like Brazil.
Because wearing a heavy jacket in July has to be wrong in some way.
Because the first seven shots to the head might not have done the trick.

Tags: murder, terrorism, [...]

Much discussion on Jane Perrone’s commentary of a Vincent Maher article in which he says
Journalists are expected to get up and physically go there, take a photo, do something and get back to post the story … bloggers seem to get away with armchair journalism and its getting worse and worse.
However Jane says
Maher’s right that [...]

Yesterday I went to Open Tech 2005, one of the few conferences where you could reasonably expect the queue for the gents’ to be longer than that for the women’s.
The general opinion seems to be that it was a terrific event. (See here, here and here — though three of those are from participants.)
Well, I’m [...]

I’ve been inundated with a letter from a Mrs Trellis of North Wales. She writes “Dear Gillian, I have just discovered this hitherto-unnecessary breakfast device. Will it oxygenate the chlorophyll in my red blood cells?”
According to the site, the Egg & Muffin Toaster cooks up “a convenient and tasty morning meal that’s both familiar and [...]