2020 has been marked by multiple anniversaries commemorating events from World War Two. The VE Day celebrations on 8 May, marking 75 years since the end of the war in Europe, could not go ahead as planned because of lockdown. It was a Bank Holiday, but with schools closed (and pubs, restaurants and most shops)… Continue reading A World War Two story, about timing
“Word Perfect” is a book by Susie Dent published recently here in the UK. Unfortunately the initial print-run was based on an early version of the text and was full of typographical errors. As you can read in this piece from the Guardian (“Susie Dent ‘gutted’ after new book Word Perfect printed with host of… Continue reading Word of the week: WordPerfect
Do you remember air mail letters? They were single sheets of paper that could be folded in three, stuck at the sides (thanks to three pre-gummed flaps at the top of the page) and mailed to anywhere in the world. The paper was lightweight, white or light blue. The postage was pre-paid, so there was… Continue reading Air mail letters
What’s your favourite biscuit? You may recall that this question got Gordon Brown into a bit of trouble when he was UK prime minister. I couldn’t remember the details and have looked them up so that you don’t have to. It was late 2009 and the question was one of many asked on mumsnet, the… Continue reading Word of the week: biscuit
For the last year, my life has been affected by a dodgy E. The consequences are felt most days. I am referring here to a specific key on my Yamaha P-105 digital piano, the E that sits just over an octave above middle C. The piano is otherwise working just fine, although I had to… Continue reading A Dodgy E
In recent weeks I have noticed a couple of instances of “ß”, the German letter known as an Eszett. As you may know, it is pronounced like a double “s”, and it has appeared in relation to two things that take up much of my time: sport and TV quizzes. Pascal Groß is a German-born… Continue reading Word of the week: Eszett
Throughout my time at school there were two roads that I always walked down: the one I lived in, as you’d expect, and another that ran from north to south. At the southern end was a passageway that led to my primary school. At the northern end was the High Road, and my route to… Continue reading Another local landmark gone (#36)
The Monday night quiz marathon is back. As reported here in March, BBC2 has modified its schedule over the last year and now broadcasts 90 minutes of serious quizzing from 7.30pm on a Monday. This comprises three shows that are due to build up to Grand Finals next spring. “University Challenge”, which now has a… Continue reading Word of the week: Angstrom
Have you noticed how frequently characters in films and on TV open and close their laptops? Often, if someone is working away and is interrupted by another character, however briefly, they simply close up their computer. They don’t save their work, they don’t have to deal with any prompts onscreen, they simply flip the screen… Continue reading Flipping laptops
The Compartments 