Friday, May 29, 2009

Words in the street


Thanks to the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre for this link.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Branding oxymoron


The new kettle in our department is all wrong. A Frigidaire is a fridge. It has to be cold.

Oddly enough, I kept trying to turn it on by pressing the switch down (I think every other kettle works that way), but you had to pull it up. I thought it was because Frigidaire is an American brand and their light switches work the opposite way to ours (up is on). Paul Luna had a more ingenious idea - if Frigidaires normally get cold when you switch them on (ie, push the switch down), to get them to be hot you had to do the opposite (ie, pull the switch up).

Waiting for...


Perhaps I’ve seen it a million times before, but I’ve only recently noticed this sign at Liskeard station. I love the icon. You could set a short story contest around it.

"Waiting for the one o'clock train, now approaching Saltash, St Germans next, Jim wonders (proudly sitting in his union jack flares, head curiously detached) how he will lift his heavy well-strapped case, armless as he is. "

Easy Read not easyRead

A quick quiz. What is Easy Read?

1. Easy-Read is an ergonomic book holder that makes it easy to hold a book and turn the pages.

2. EasyRead is an application that lets you enlarge web pages to make them easier to read.

3. Easyread is a system for teaching dyslexic children

4. Easy Read is a way to write simply for people with learning difficulties, using pictures in support of clear language.

Hint - it’s all in the capitalisation. And it’s nothing to do with Stelios. That would be easyRead.