The Proof of the Blogging

Bloggers fall into three categories.

• Those who don't proofread their entries before posting because it's a blog
• Those who don't proofread their entries before posting because they've never heard of proofreading
• Those who don't proofread their entries until after posting

The proof of the blog is in the posting; something about the act of committing something changes the state of mind of the author, and he can suddenly spot errors much more easily. Outside the blogosphere this generally manifests itself as the discovery of glaring errors in your document when you see it, upside down, printed out on your boss's/customer's desk, or indeed when your customer has approved it for publication.

At least in a blog we can go back and make corrections to something already published at almost no cost at all.

I therefore advocate proofing of blog entries, but only after publication.

A Little Writing

Well folks, NaNoWriMo is almost upon us again. I began something last year, and then slipped a disk and spent three months on my back. This year, I'm going to go for it once again. I hope I don't get another serious injury. Writing isn't usually all that dangerous, no matter how much mightier than the sword the keyboard may be.

A9n

I didn't know how happy I was, until I discovered that I had been living without knowing of the existence of "i18n" and "L1on".

These abominations are what I think of as tertiary jargon. Primary jargon arises organically, by accident, often from slang, corruptions, abreviations and audibility adjustments (a lot of printing jargon uses words that are easily distinguished against a lot of background noise). Primary jargon has a certain nobility; its very existence justifies its existence. Secondary jargon is a conscious invention in the presence of a need for a word - usually to differentiate between concepts or items where no differentiation is needed in other domains or contexts. Sometimes it is created in response to an innovation. Tertiary jargon is invented by people who think that jargon is cool, and is used by people who want to show that they are with it, fab hip and trendy, and generally on the bus. Primary and secondary jargons can both enrich language, provide extra meaning, and give practical benefits - even if in some cases the benefit is restricted to those using the jargon, such as nautical and theatrical jargons. Tertiary jargon is a form of weaseling; it leaves us with less meaning and less understanding.

True, it takes less time to type, and to say, "i18n" than to type or say "internationalization" (although if you type at up to 100wpm who cares?).

Well I've just been handed an internationalization project and you can be sure that on all communications and documents I shall be writing it in full. I can't think of a reason why I would ever want to write it in a text message; I think if I had a word like that to say to someone that I'd call them and say it aloud.