Interesting Information
- A study found that chewing cinnamon-flavored gum or just smelling cinnamon enhanced cognitive processing. Test subjects had improved attention processes, virtual recognition memory, working memory, and visual-motor speed while working on a computer-based program. I now have Big Red in my desk drawer at work. (Yes, I think it helps!)
- Toxins like BPA and phthalates can make you gain weight. There are phthalates in recycled pizza boxes and fast-food wrappers. So it's the packaging that is making us fat, not the food, right? Right?
- You know how your fingers get wrinkly when they're wet? That gives us a better grip and allows the water to drain away.
- The word "vamoose" actually came from "vamos" which means "let's go" in Spanish. Those crazy Americans messed up the pronunciation and adopted it into the English language.
Editing Errors
- "Information can be stored in a variety of different mediums." I think you mean "media" there. Unless you are trying to sell an ad for psychics, in which case this is the wrong magazine for that!
- An ad said "Enjoy...whine country...There truly is something for everyone!" Enough said! That one speaks for itself.
- Another ad, this one about raisins, said "fiber containing fruits and vegetables" instead of "fiber-containing fruits and vegetables." Though the humble hyphen is but small, I think we can all agree that it makes a huge difference! I marked it, but I don't think the company bothered to fix it. (No wonder the grapes are humiliated!)
- M-W (the online dictionary) has a Word of the Day. One day I noticed that their word of the day was MISSPELLED! (That's awkward for a dictionary!) They left the "n" out of "preprandial." I emailed them about it so they could fix it, which they did, and they also thanked me and called me "sharp-eyed and correct." Booyah! And then they said "Thanks again for brining it to our attention." *facepalm* They must have a shortage of consonants over there.
Wicked Websites
- Extormity (www.extormity.com) is a website of a fictional company that is a satirical, hilarious parody of an EHR vendor. The whole site is great, including their press releases. Since our magazine For the Record talks about EHRs a lot, this was work-related. Oh, EHR stands for electronic health record.
- Uncyclopedia (http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) is "the content-free encyclopedia." It parodies Wikipedia. They'll take a real topic or news item and make it funny and ridiculous. They have a new featured article everyday, so that's a fun one to check regularly. I discovered this one at work, but not because of work.
- www.unnecessaryquotes.com is the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks. Haha! That is so "funny"! Hey, what's more fun than mocking people who abuse punctuation? Doing it in a public forum! Yay! Dear everyone, when you want to emphasize something, don't use quotation marks. That's what italic and bold or even ALL CAPS are for.
- While the last website points out writing errors, there's also a website for errors in my last job too. Cake Wrecks (www.cakewrecks.com) posts photos of cake decorating gone so very wrong. From innapropriate images to misspelled messages, this blog proves that not just anyone should be a cake decorator. But there are also photos of amazing, gorgeous, or adorable baked goods, so it's fun all around.
- www.dorkly.com/article/19437/the-four-houses-of-hogwarts-school-of-nerdery I discovered this article on the Four Houses of Hogwarts Nerdery, which are Larpindor, Ragenclaw, Nooblepuff, and Lulzerin. (I like Nooblepuff best.) I haven't checked out the rest of the website yet, but it's probably pretty cool.
