David Porter » Archive
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG)
SPAG errors cost money. They also look bad if your written communications to the public and customers are badly presented and littered with basic English howlers! A July 2011 report on BBC News Education and Family suggests that businesses trading on the web are losing millions of pounds through bad grammar, poor spelling and misunderstood punctuation. Charles Duncombe, in travel, mobile phones and clothing websites, pointed out how online errors cost sales, because they diminish the credibility of a site. He said that he had been ‘shocked’ by poor written English in many job applications, too. Head of Education and Skills at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), James Fothergill, agreed by stating that many employers invested in remedial English for staff. In autumn 2010 it was reported that the Leeds Building Society … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business English
World Water Wars: Next Mega Conflict or Next Big Scare Story?
People can adapt without their earth-changing oil, plastic, gravel; but without water, there is no life. Concerted action is the next world challenge ahead. Water as liquid, ice, vapour and steam occupies 71% of the earth’s surface. Virtually all forms of life depend on it. Every cultural, historical and human landscape is locked into it, either plentifully or in shortage. The earth’s entire economy is finally balanced on H20’s continuing supply: it’s essential in everything from manufacturing to power generation and cooling, food preparation, sewerage and agriculture. History shows that whenever there is a shortage of an in-demand commodity, first the price goes up. Then the conflicts to own it start. That is the doomsday scenario occupying scientists, some politicians, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Soccer and Politics: The Beautiful Game is a Political Football
English football and politics have always been closely aligned. Today, as football industry and market demographics change, they are still intermingled. The 2010 Football World Cup has opened debates about the state and future of football in a global economy under pressure, the top echelons isolated from the lower, who should own clubs, all driven by the media in a time of cultural diversity, environmental change and new entertainment demands. Barney Ronay writing in The Guardian in April 2007 2010 asked what happened to the workers’ game now football is awash with TV money; where are the old socialists? He cites Brian Clough and Bill Shankly, who were not only footballing legends, but known firebrands of left-wing politics. Clough is best remembered as manager … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Olympic Games and Politics: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Inspirational, high-minded, competitive, controversial – sports and politics are not separate entities, but are in fact inextricably interwoven. Former President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, writing in Thesis, a Journal of Foreign Policy Issues in Autumn 1997, said the history of the Olympic movement provides examples of how “sport and politics influence each other, directly and indirectly”. Diplomatic heights are often scaled in compromises, negotiating between factions, to get as many nations as possible to compete, leaving differences aside, albeit temporarily. This common interest, the IOC claims, enabled better relations between USA and China in the 70s, allowed People’s Republic of China and Chinese Taipei to be recognised equally; secured South Africa’s return to international sporting arena … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Music Videos Make Claims to be Real Artistic Statements
Often derided as sales gimmicks for songs, music videos have become controversial, experimental and challenging. They are now a serious, accepted art form. Popularised on MTV and elsewhere during the 1980s, music videos are short films that accompany songs. They are basically a marketing/promotional tool, designed to exhibit a song in a visually interesting way, in the hope that more copies will be sold. However, they are older than the 80s. Music videos might contain a mini-narrative to parallel song lyrics or enact them. They can use animation, abstracts, still image sequences, surrealism or be unconnected with the song. They may be documentary, or docu-drama. Some are deliberately mysterious; a few set out to be provocative. Some History Historians reckon ‘an illustrated song’ … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Blog Writing Is A Different Art
I am a guest blogger on some of the blogs for MailBigFile, by way of feature articles about the world of cloud futures, technology, cyberspace and the world we live in through all that technology. On their first anniversary, May 2012, they wrote: ‘A big thanks must go to David Porter, who has worked tirelessly on the blog these many months. His contributions to the blog have been nothing short of brilliant, with his posts being insightful, original and well-written. If you’re not already subscribed to the blog for Porter’s posts, he writes three pieces a week, then you really ought to be. They are typically posted on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.’ Sometimes the work for others caries links to the research I do, as in the one about virtual holidays, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogs: For Others
Hit Popular Songs Worth Their Weight in Gold in Successful Movies
Many song hits aren’t written specifically for cinema soundtracks, but songs and their writers get a new lease of life from being part of a profitable film. Music/song reinforces movie action, stokes emotion, heightens terror. Popular songs increase chances of a hit movie, especially if soundtracks are released. Dirty Dancing (1987) soundtrack success surprised the record company, but “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes wasn’t a hit before the film. Most film-hits, though, are already song-hits. Most Popular Artistes Some artists see several songs featured in favourite lists. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” shot to Billboard Number 2 twenty years after release: it was in Wayne’s World (1992). Their “Don’t Stop Me Now” (1978) played in British horror comedy … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
The Unintended, Unforeseen Consequences of Legislation
Good intentions in law-making to solve a problem are not always enough. Sometimes new laws can actually make things worse. From battling oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, to the British government considering further gun bans after the latest outrage in Carlisle, to the dilemma of raising taxes/cutting expenditure by itself threatening further recession, rarely has the question of legislating out of a problem been so sharply in focus. Every legislature churns out regulations, prohibitions, procedures and restrictions; most people assume a perceived injustice, error or outdated rule will be put right. US president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) defined democracy as ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’. People expect laws to right the wrongs. However, Cass R Sunstein writing in Columbia … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
The Diaries of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Reflect All of Life
For centuries people from every walk of life have kept accounts of their daily lives, which are at once historical masterpieces and exercises in hubris. Mae West said: ‘Keep a diary, and some day it’ll keep you’. Oscar Wilde quipped, ‘Inever travel without my diary. I like to have something sensational to read on the train’. Both remarks suggest diaries are not only kept for private thoughts/remembrances, but may also be read in the future by others. This applies to the famous or those close to events, like politicians or creatives. English 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) set the standard. He lived in interesting times, but also was privy to workings of the English crown restored in the person of Charles … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Comedy of Errors
RoughCast Theatre Company, at The Cut, Halesworth Review published in Eastern Daily Press, 27 June 2011 Purists might gulp, but RoughCast took liberties with Shakespeare’s fiendishly complex plot of absurdities, coincidences and unlikely encounters to make a hilarious night out. They plunged headlong into the box of theatrical genres and tricks. Director Paul Baker cleverly shaped lots of character quirks and movements, at times somewhere between the physicality and slapstick of commedia dell’Arte and manic farce, with a nod to panto. The story is the often imitated one of noble twin brothers separated years ago and twin servants who didn’t know about each other. Aiding confusion, the nobles are called Antipholus, while both servants rejoice in the name Dromio. The lords (Steven Phipps and Mark Burridge) conveyed the increasing insanity convincingly. The zany naivety … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews