ODDLY ENOUGH, quite a number of readers persist in reading emotion into
factual signs鈥攁s in 鈥渢his door is alarmed鈥� (22 September). Following the
medical tradition that two cases a syndrome make, and that everyone feels much
better when you repeat their symptoms back to them in cod-Greek, we bring you
鈥渟emiopathy鈥�. You can translate this as 鈥渟ign-sensitivity鈥� or 鈥渟ign-suffering鈥�,
depending on whether you like the experience.
Continuing in the vein of emotional architecture, Colin McLeod reports from
Dundee that church towers occasionally bear the warning 鈥淐aution鈥攖he bells
are upset鈥�. Apparently a trained campanologist could explain why they left the
bells finely balanced, 鈥渟et up鈥� on their pivots. The risk is real: a visitor
casually tugging on a rope could not only be deafened, but also, if they
neglected to let go, hoisted smartly heavenward. But we agree with McLeod that
鈥渢he image of a belfry full of tearful and bad-tempered bells is particularly
肠丑补谤尘颈苍驳鈥�.
THE BBC has pioneered digital radio as a way of delivering better sound
quality over the airwaves. The British government has now rewarded the
corporation with permission to spend public money on five new digital radio
services. But there are no new frequencies. Spoilsport engineers warn that more
services and no new frequencies mean fewer bits per programme, so sound quality
will be compromised.
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But the BBC鈥檚 spin doctors are thinking about other things. 鈥淥ctober and
November have ones and zeros in their dates, so we鈥檝e called them digimonths,鈥�
says the head of internal communication in a note to staff. 鈥淟ook out for
invites to events, especially on digidays.鈥� We have yet to hear what exciting
events took place on 01.10.01.
TELECOMS COMPANY BT is going green, claiming it will save 730 tonnes of paper
a year. How? By not listing every call on the bills sent to 21 million
subscribers. 鈥淭his is just one of the ways we are listening and responding to
our customers,鈥� says Angus Porter, managing director of BT鈥檚 consumer division.
鈥淲e look forward to hearing what people think.鈥�
It is now 10 years since BT did something really green by putting all
Britain鈥檚 phone numbers on a single CD-ROM, to save the paper needed to print
153 different paper phone directories. But the Phone Disc cost over 拢2000,
and you needed a new one every year. So very few people bought it. The price
went down to 拢400, and then it sank without trace.
Feedback recently found the Phone Disc mentioned in the small print at the
back of a paper phone directory. We called the inquiry number, and extracted the
information that you can buy the Phone Disc CD-ROM by mail order for around
拢40. But if BT really wants to be green, why not promote Phone Disc
properly? Damian Peachey of BT鈥檚 consumer division says, 鈥淧eople still expect a
phone book to drop on their doormat.鈥�
Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that BT charges 40p each
time you phone directory enquiries to get a number that is not in the local
paper directory? 鈥淭here is an element of that,鈥� admits Peachey.
A LITTLE TALE of how stories change in the retelling. Back on 10 June last
year, 麻豆传媒 reported Marc Levoy鈥檚 finding that the eyes of
Michelangelo鈥檚 statue of David diverge
(p 9).
We called this a 鈥渟quint鈥濃�攐n
the authority of Moorfields Eye Hospital, and to avoid the off-putting
alternative term 鈥渆xotropia鈥�. The effect 鈥渨ould be a typical Michelangelo
trick,鈥� Levoy told us. We sharpened that up to 鈥淚t鈥檚 a typical Michelangelo
trick,鈥� and left the distinction to qualified grammarians.
News agency Reuters picked the story up, and presumably sharpened it a little
more. By the time it appeared in The Guardian newspaper, 鈥淭he trick of
perspective鈥攚hich has taken 500 years to rumble鈥� had become 鈥渁 typical
stroke of Michelangelo genius . . . Levoy suspects it went unnoticed for so long
because David鈥檚 more obvious attribute鈥攈is genitalia鈥攂linded
successive generations to the 鈥榝law鈥�.鈥�
鈥淣eedless to say,鈥� Levoy says, 鈥淚 never said any such thing [about David鈥檚
genitalia].鈥� That, we think, is the price of your story reaching an audience
beyond the safe precision of the specialist journals. Be thankful it鈥檚 not been
Hollywoodised.
SOFTWARE companies鈥� lawyers are notorious for sneaking nasty things into the
鈥渂oilerplate鈥� text of the licences that allow you to use their products. After
all, who actually reads them before clicking 鈥渁ccept鈥�?
At least one reader of the weekly trade paper Infoworld did, when he
bought a copy of Microsoft FrontPage 2002. Under Section 1, Grant of License,
they found buried in a paragraph on 鈥渞estrictions鈥� the warning: 鈥淵ou may not use
the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC,
Expedia, or their products or services, infringe any intellectual property or
other rights of these parties, violate any state, federal or international law,
or promote racism, hatred or pornography.鈥�
This clause apparently isn鈥檛 present in all versions of the license, but it
still leaves a curious Feedback wondering what the sequence of warnings says
about Microsoft鈥檚 priorities. Is it more worried about being disparaged than
about violations of state or federal laws or the assorted other evils the
licence tries to ban?
ON A BOTTLE of Silicea Herbal Remedy: 鈥業f seal is broken or missing, do not
use.鈥� Trouble is, it鈥檚 written on the seal
THIS IS quite possibly the ultimate product warning: 鈥淭his device is capable
of killing you without warning鈥�. And it鈥檚 true of Canada-based company Jetsam
Tech鈥檚 鈥淜ISS rebreather鈥�, a variety of scuba-diving gear that absorbs carbon
dioxide from exhaled air. The reason, George Sassoon reports from the Isle of
Mull, is that there is no fast-acting, reliable sensor for CO2 levels,
so if you don鈥檛 want to die you have to change the rebreather well before it
runs out of oomph.
In response, Feedback is issuing an untypically serious appeal. Can our
resourceful readers come up with a technical fix that will allow Jetsam Tech to
put a somewhat less brutal warning on future models?