The note on the link below reads...
Dated, but sometimes still used for humorous affect.
"affect"? Really? Such a basic error in a dictionary? The war against English has been won.
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Showing posts with label error. Show all posts
Showing posts with label error. Show all posts
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Thursday 15 January 2009
Public Service Announcement
If you discover that your bank has erroneously credited your account with a large sum of money, don't spend it. In fact, report it immediately before you get some cockamamie idea in your head.
Case in point: A Pennsylvania couple is behind bars after police say they failed to call the bank when a glitch put an extra $175,000 in their account. What did these normal, hard-working people decide to do instead of reporting the error? Why, they both quit their jobs, moved to Florida and were in the process of buying a new home when the law caught up with them. Now, they each have a new home. With a courtyard. I mean an exercise yard. I think it's best that they're segregated from the general gene pool, anyway.
What's even more remarkable (there's always something more remarkable in cases like this) is the woman's defence. She said her husband, who is a roofer, often gets big pay cheques and she was unaware of any error. I guess quitting their jobs and buying a new home is pretty routine for them.
The Story.
Case in point: A Pennsylvania couple is behind bars after police say they failed to call the bank when a glitch put an extra $175,000 in their account. What did these normal, hard-working people decide to do instead of reporting the error? Why, they both quit their jobs, moved to Florida and were in the process of buying a new home when the law caught up with them. Now, they each have a new home. With a courtyard. I mean an exercise yard. I think it's best that they're segregated from the general gene pool, anyway.
What's even more remarkable (there's always something more remarkable in cases like this) is the woman's defence. She said her husband, who is a roofer, often gets big pay cheques and she was unaware of any error. I guess quitting their jobs and buying a new home is pretty routine for them.
The Story.
Thursday 1 January 2009
Need another reason to hate banks?
On Wednesday, I sat down to do some important online banking. As I tried to get to my bank's website, I got a browser message saying it was unreachable. After a couple more attempts, The familiar green home page appeared. I typed in my password and after an unusually long delay, I got a message indicating some problem and to try again and if it persists, to call the help desk.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts, I called the number listed. I got a busy signal. I figured I wasn't the only one experiencing the problem. Several more calls (and log-in tries) over the next twenty minutes proved unfruitful. I let it go.
About an hour later, there was no indication the problem had occurred. Now, I'm no genius--ok, I am, but it doesn't take a genius to see something wrong with this picture. Rather than advise possibly thousands of clients to try again or phone a line that will either be busy or else unanswerable due to volume and frustrate them further, why not update the log-in error message as soon as they realize there is a widespread problem and indicate NOT to try again and NOT to call the help desk as they are aware of the situation, and possibly give an estimated time to resolution? I'm just sayin'.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts, I called the number listed. I got a busy signal. I figured I wasn't the only one experiencing the problem. Several more calls (and log-in tries) over the next twenty minutes proved unfruitful. I let it go.
About an hour later, there was no indication the problem had occurred. Now, I'm no genius--ok, I am, but it doesn't take a genius to see something wrong with this picture. Rather than advise possibly thousands of clients to try again or phone a line that will either be busy or else unanswerable due to volume and frustrate them further, why not update the log-in error message as soon as they realize there is a widespread problem and indicate NOT to try again and NOT to call the help desk as they are aware of the situation, and possibly give an estimated time to resolution? I'm just sayin'.
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Mmm, mmm, good
If you ever wondered why kids' writing skills have been deteriorating for, well, quite frankly, decades, this blog entry may shed a little light on the situation. What follows is a letter copied verbatim that my daughter brought home from school about ten years ago. I just happened across it today and decided to post it. The teacher who wrote it committed an error in virtually each and every sentence in it, sometimes making three or four errors in a single sentence. In fact, she wastes no time in her assault on the English language by screwing up the salutation!
Parent and Guardians
The school council had become aware of another fund raiser that is no cost to you but could be a great benefit to the school.
Unlike the Kellogg’s fund raiser where it was for a short time span, this is one that continues over every year. Campbell’s food has a program that can benefit the school in many aspects. They ask us to collect soup labels (the entire label in GOOD condition). This includes all soup labels form Campbell’s, Chunky Soups, Classic Soups, Hearty Request, Half Fat, Special Selections, and Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Crackers snacks. This also includes their larger size can of 48 oz cans of soup.
The labels must be sent in by May 15, 1999, but we can continue to collect them to put them into out 1999/2000 year totals. We will be notified in early spring 1999 with details on how to register for the years 1999/2000 program. This program has been running 25 years in the U.S. and is now launched across Canada in the fall of 1998. The program runs from September to May every year with the labels’ count carried over to the next year.
With the help of friends, relatives and the school in whole we would be able to make a big dent in collecting the labels Here is some of the merchandise categories:
Computers, Sport & Equipment, Musical Instruments, Electronics, Videocassettes, CD-Roms, etc.
Please forward your entire label in good condition to the school so we can get started on a great fund raiser with nothing our of your pocket except the food you would put on your table.
If any questions please do not hesitate to call or talk to one of the school council representatives. Thank You for your support in helping your school get better for the sake of all the students in St. Stephen.
Parent and Guardians
The school council had become aware of another fund raiser that is no cost to you but could be a great benefit to the school.
Unlike the Kellogg’s fund raiser where it was for a short time span, this is one that continues over every year. Campbell’s food has a program that can benefit the school in many aspects. They ask us to collect soup labels (the entire label in GOOD condition). This includes all soup labels form Campbell’s, Chunky Soups, Classic Soups, Hearty Request, Half Fat, Special Selections, and Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Crackers snacks. This also includes their larger size can of 48 oz cans of soup.
The labels must be sent in by May 15, 1999, but we can continue to collect them to put them into out 1999/2000 year totals. We will be notified in early spring 1999 with details on how to register for the years 1999/2000 program. This program has been running 25 years in the U.S. and is now launched across Canada in the fall of 1998. The program runs from September to May every year with the labels’ count carried over to the next year.
With the help of friends, relatives and the school in whole we would be able to make a big dent in collecting the labels Here is some of the merchandise categories:
Computers, Sport & Equipment, Musical Instruments, Electronics, Videocassettes, CD-Roms, etc.
Please forward your entire label in good condition to the school so we can get started on a great fund raiser with nothing our of your pocket except the food you would put on your table.
If any questions please do not hesitate to call or talk to one of the school council representatives. Thank You for your support in helping your school get better for the sake of all the students in St. Stephen.
Monday 27 October 2008
Grammar policing
It's becoming more and more difficult to find someone who can compose even a simple sentence, anymore. This promotion is hosted by a popular Toronto radio station on their website:
Sky Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge is in Mississauga at 2680 Skymark Avenue. From award-winning jumbo wings to signature salads. Comfortable, elegant dining.
The second and third "sentences" are invalid. There's no action/verb. I would change them thusly:
We serve award-winning jumbo wings to signature salads. Enjoy comfortable, elegant dining.
I suppose it's not as egregious as an error appearing in the New York Times or other prestigious publications. I've seen errors in many of them. Sometimes two or three in the same paragraph. And I'm just a lay person who didn't even finish high school. I finally decided to get my GED when I was in my forties.
Sky Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge is in Mississauga at 2680 Skymark Avenue. From award-winning jumbo wings to signature salads. Comfortable, elegant dining.
The second and third "sentences" are invalid. There's no action/verb. I would change them thusly:
We serve award-winning jumbo wings to signature salads. Enjoy comfortable, elegant dining.
I suppose it's not as egregious as an error appearing in the New York Times or other prestigious publications. I've seen errors in many of them. Sometimes two or three in the same paragraph. And I'm just a lay person who didn't even finish high school. I finally decided to get my GED when I was in my forties.
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