Speaker For The Diodes - September 26th, 2009

05:26 am - QotD

Florence Ambrose (suffering artificially induced short-term memory impairment): "Sorry. For a moment I had the strangest feeling of déjà vu."

unnamed damaged robot: "YOu Are pRobaBly jUst reLoAding a pAge from cAche. HApPens to me All thE tiMe."

-- from Freefall by Mark Stanley, 2008-10-06 (but it's probably worth jumping into the story arc a bit earlier and working forward)

10:23 am - You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

Dear Porn Authors[*] Who Think Spellcheck Is A Substitute For Proofreading[**],

Regarding anatomy ... perineum ≠ peritoneum. Really. When you pick the wrong one, even when you spell it correctly so the computer doesn't flag it for you, and even if I'm pretty sure which one you mean, wow is that ever distracting.

If you're really confused, wikipedia has pictures that make the difference clear. Spare future readers the kinds of mental images that kept popping into my head when you used the wrong word, okay?

sincerely,
-- not a doctor but I might dress up as a lexicographer for Hallowe'en

[*] Deliberately un-named.

[**] I'm not really sure whether automated spell-check is being used as a substitute for a proofreader, as a substitute for a dictionary[***], or both.

[***] ... or Google or Wikipedia or m-w.com or ...