g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets
Brian Tiemann
Silicon Valley-based purveyor of a confusing mixture of Apple punditry and political bile.

btman at grotto11 dot com

Read These Too:

InstaPundit
Steven Den Beste
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As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
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Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue
Ravishing Light
Rosenblog
Cartago Delenda Est




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Saturday, January 26, 2008
09:32 - The collapse of civilization continues apace

(top)
What is it with the plummeting standards of grammar, spelling, and general editing literacy among people who are allegedly professional writers and announcers lately?

Just yesterday and today I've noticed three examples:

• In this Macworld article on the Microsoft Office 2008 permissions problem, Dan Frakes uses the phrase "free reign" rather than "free rein". Not an uncommon error, but when I posted a comment alerting him to it, he deleted the comment and left the text intact. Butthole. [UPDATE: The comment has been reinstated and replied to, it seems.]

• Autoblog has a post on the Hummer H3T which points to a scan from Truck Trend posted on HummerGuy.com.net, in which the title contains "Sneak Peak". Originally I thought this was something that actually appeared in the print magazine in question; but turns out it was just the site's header for the scanned sidebar, and Autoblog kept a screenshot just in case the post gets pulled. But even so, it's been immortalized now in raster graphics, and that's another bunch of readers who'll think "sneak peak" now has some form of legitimacy.

• On "How It's Made" last night, the announcer was describing the process of making wax dolls by melting various kinds of wax in a crucible... "...until it's homogenous." Not, as would be correct, homogeneous. Come on, guys. There are five syllables: Ho-mo-GEE-nee-ous.

Is the profession of "editor" one of those fading avocations that we'll one day look at with bemused nostalgia, like traveling salesmen or gas station attendants?

UPDATE: Gaaaaahhhhh!

UPDATE: Mark sends this scan from Car & Driver:

Not only are its sinews "taught", it apparently taps the ground with its tires at the edge of the parking space.


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© Brian Tiemann