The Joss Group

Nice to know I am not the only one...

I am not making fun or pointing fingers, but it's nice to know that even big companies screw up sometimes since I know I do all the time.

Just got an e-mail from a big name company with this subject line: "Press Release :: [Insert Release Title]."

Ohio Teacher to Get the Death Penalty Over Duct Tape Flap?

You've probably read about the teacher who posted a photo online of some of her students with duct tape on their mouths and a caption something like, "Now I know how to keep them quiet!" She says the students were just messing around and so was she. They agree. No one is claiming she abused them in any way.

Okay, then. Here is a quote from the Yahoo.com story about this that was posted today: "The Akron school board is considering whether to terminate her."

Seriously?

Yes and No. And Yes.

Yes, this is a real quote. You can reach the full story here: http://gma.yahoo.com/teacher-posted-facebook-photo-students-duct-tape-141840410--abc-news-topstories.html

No, the writer of the story did not mean to convey the idea the school board might kill the teacher.

Yes, the sentence is a good illustration of just another case of when the "employment" of an editor (as in a living human being) is a good idea.

By the way, the teacher probably will lose her job over this, but one of the burning questions the article says the school board is bent on answering is, "Why was there duct tape in the classroom?"

The Onion Reports on Continued Violence Between Rival Gangs of Copy Editors

Shameless, totally shameless...

To read the Onion's report, click here

Chocolate Printing Technology Perfected!

Choc Edge has perfected a method of 3-D printing involving not plastics, but chocolate! The company has visions of 3-D chocolate printers in every retail candy shop. And, it turns out the folks at the MIT Media Lab have developed a prototype for such a device, too. This is an open invitation to the UK scientists and the MIT Media Lab folks to get in touch with me about exhibiting the technology at the Seybold Report Reunion Conference next year in Boston. Chocolate and printing--sign me up!

Addicted to Your Smart Phone?

If you can pull yourself away from your smart phone long enough to watch, well, it's LOL funny--make sure to read the comments below the video after watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWWCt3ia88Y&list=PL96CA474D23E252C0&feature=view_all

 

 

More Than Half Web Site Traffic is Non-Human

Somebody sent me a link to a site referencing this press release, and my first thought upon reading the title of the piece was, "I knew it! I knew it! It's cats!" No, not cats, but since mine seem to love treading the keys of the laptop every time I put it down for a minute, I could still be right. But, Incapsula says the non-humans are really Web bots, in many cases, malevolent Web bots. The company also includes hackers and spies in the mix, which makes me wonder if they consider hackers and info spies to be human...

I like my idea better. Cats. Definitely.

 

The Font of Truth

I was reading one of those mainstream espionage thrillers the other day, a potboiler without a doubt. I like potboilers because you can read along and get the fun of seeing text and not really have to pay attention. I tripped over one line, though, in which a character described a source as not exactly a "font of truth."

Of course, this is an example of where book publishers have cut back on proofreading and so mistakes like this are not caught often enough (careful, Molly, glass houses and all that). The author must have meant "fount of truth," a phrase tortured enough as is. But, that aside, the phrase "font of truth" has amused me ever since.

I found myself musing what an actual font of truth would look like. Would it have serifs, I wondered? Or would sans serif be more in keeping with the idea of verity? Would it be available only in bold? Etc. Etc.

Next on my reading list is Just My Type by Simon Garfield, a book I am reviewing for the next issue of the Seybold Report. I wonder if I will find tales of fonts of truth and deception inside the covers of that book.

Article of the Day

A friend of mine is an editor for a local daily newspaper. We joke sometimes about what passes for newsworthy content these days. Recently, she sent me this ditty--her take on a behind-the-scenes conversation between editor and writer Henry Alford at the New York Times which resulted in yet another bit of journalist fluff. This particular bit of fluff was written by Alford under the title of Is Anyone There?

As an Editor and Publisher, I know coming up with new things to write about can be difficult, particularly in July and particularly when it is really hot and you would rather be on vacation. But still...well, I guess the title of the piece begs the question.

Suggestion--if you haven't read the article by Alford yet, read that article first and then come back to read the scenario.

***

Here's how I see it playing out:

 

HARD-NOSED CITY EDITOR: We got a bunch of calls about people not responding to e-mails. Alford, I want you to get off your haunches and go check it out. Talk to some actors, talk to some Buddhist monks, talk to your friends at the Outside Inn. I want you to get to the bottom of this pronto!

 

HENRY ALFORD: Right away, boss! Just businesses or people with romantic involvements who would do exactly the same thing on the telephone or by smoke signal and get exactly the same response of chilly silence?

 

H-N C E: That's right, bright boy. And make sure you get some comments from writers and life coaches this time. I don't want the desk to be making these calls for you.

 

H.A.: Absolutely, boss! I'm all over it like gumballs on a hot sidewalk!

 

H-N C E: Just get it done or it's back to the mailroom with you. You're on probation, you know ...

 

*door slam*

 

H.A. (muttering) Yeah, right. I've been on probation for the past 25 years. Hasn't anyone told that guy this isn't "Front Page?"

 

H.A.'s friend: Yeah. Hey look, someone just tweeted me a great video of cats playing!

 

H.A.: Let me see ...

 

*laughter*

***

Bad Spelling Can Cost You Sales

This just in from the BBC: bad spelling can cost you money on the Web. According to independent research, incorrect spelling is probably costing businesses millions of dollars a year in lost sales. Well, to be honest, the research was done in Britain, so the lost business is in pounds, but with the value of the pound against the dollar...anyway, good to see some research underscoring the importance of correct spelling. I wonder if anyone has done a similar study on the business losses associated with incorrect grammar?

By the way, in addition, the article points out most sales on the Web are achieved by the power of the written word--an irony since so many people feel the Web is displacing publishing. Tee-hee!

To read the article on the BBC News Web site, click here.

2011 a Puce Kind of Year?

Okay, so here is the story. On December 11, 2010, the Seybold Report (which the Joss Group publishes) added a news brief to the newsletter's site about Pantone's selection of Honeysuckle as its pick for the color of the year for 2010. I am good with that. I can see picking a cheerful color. Well, a few days ago we get word of another 2011 color choice--this one from DayGlo Color Corporation. And this one is Magenta.

So, I send a brief e-mail message remarking on this latest news to our editors and production staff. I said, "I guess we are in for a Puce kind of year."

What?? A little too off color for you?

S

P

O

I

L

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R

Yeah, that was the reaction around here, too.