interrobang (‽)

For U.S. bands, the traditional way they would know they had ‘made it’ was when they were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone (witness Cover of the Rolling Stone, by Dr. Hook - yes, I’m embarrassed I know it, too…). For UK bands, it was when they performed on the now defunct Top Of The Pops. For me, I always thought that the pinnacle of achievement was getting a book published. Or, more specifically, getting a real book with an actual ISBN published. Many years ago, I worked on the Torchum Never Stops books, but these were self-published [by […]

I have a bad habit of writing in books.  Only textbooks, and only my own books, but it’s still a bad habit. I highlight key passages, make notes in the margins, and underline important concepts.  I even cross out bits I disagree with.  I know that you shouldn’t deface books (lord knows I had my knuckles rapped for it often enough at school) but I read a lot of textbooks, and this makes it easier to find back key information when I’m looking for it.  Plus, I find I actually retain more of what I read this way.
An extension of this (and probably […]

I know it’s hard to believe from the truly amateur feel of this blogsite, but this isn’t my first foray into Web development.  In fact, this is the fourth or fifth website I’ve put together.  My first (and most widely-read) website was BeerScene.  I still get asked about this every so often, so for historical record, here’s the full story.
Back in the day (some 15 years ago), I was involved in the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in England.  This is a consumer organization that promotes ‘real’ beer - i.e. not the mass-produced, over-chilled, artifically-carbonated beer that dominates the industry.  Being […]

My wife is the Events Coordinator for the Parents’ Association of our childrens’ school.  This means that I’m effectively involved too, doing anything that involves touching a PC instead of the ‘phone.  This week I had to deisgn and print some tickets for their Summer Ball.  Being short on both time and patience (and unpaid) I cut/pasted the text from somewhere else, threw in some clipart, and hit Print.
Unfortunately I committed the cardinal sin of not proofreading, and the tickets went out on general release with the title “Parent’s Association Summer Ball”. [*] (For the less-eagle-eyed, the apostrophe is in the wrong place - it should […]