Language, Linux, Open Source
Posts tagged social media
Olive oil – a definition
015 hours
If you have ever wondered about the derivation of olive oil, here is the ultimate definition courtesy of my Twitter feed.
No further comment is required.
.
LibreOffice 7.0.6 released
05 days
The Document Foundation (TDF), the German non-profit organisation behind the free and open source LibreOffice productivity suite, has today announced the release of LibreOffice 7.0.6, the slightly less bleeding edge version of the suite intended for enterprise deployments and more conservative users.
LibreOffice 7.0.6 is the sixth minor release of the LibreOffice 7.0 family and is available for immediate download.
According to the LibreOffice Twitter account, this new release contains over 50 bug fixes. TDF also states this will be the final release of the 7.0 branch, with development efforts being concentrated henceforth on maintaining the 7.1 branch and working towards readying LibreOffice 7.2 for release.
For commerical deployments, TDF strongly recommends seeking support from its partners so as to obtain long-term supported releases, dedicated assistance, custom new features and other benefits such as SLAs.
Anyone who’s willing to contribute their time and professional skills to LibreOffice is advised to visit the dedicated supporters’ website.
Finally, all LibreOffice users, free software advocates and community members are invited to make a donation to support The Document Foundation.
Twitter: a correction
02 weeks
The media and social media today are awash with the result of yesterday’s Hartlepool by-election which was surprisingly won from Labour by the Tories*.
However, some of the language being used to describe the victory is prone to error, such as the example below from Twitter’s trending topics.
As the winning Tory was not the sitting MP, the correct way to describe her is as a candidate, not an MP. She only becomes an MP upon winning a parliamentary (by-)election.
In times past such a basic error would have been picked by a sub-editor or similar, but they were all dispensed with some years ago. 🙁
*= Hartlepool hasn’t had A Tory Member of Parliament since it was represented in Westminster by Peter Mandelson. 😉
Alleged Prime Minister pwned
4 weeks
Yesterday, which was Earth Day, US President Joe Biden organised a two-day virtual climate summit bringing together dozens of world leaders.
Apart from world political leaders, Biden also inexplicably invited one Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Britain’s part-time alleged Prime Minister, to participate.
Besides his propensity never to let the truth escape from his lips, Johnson is well known for his lack of attention to detail, his loose tongue and gaffes; and true to form he didn’t fail to embarrass the country of which he is supposed to be the highest elected public official, as shown in the following video clip.
Yes, you did hear that correctly – “politically correct green act of bunny hugging“!
Needless to say, Bozo the Clown had half of the country’s social media users rolling their eyes in despair, condemning his cavalier attitude and wondering what the blonde buffoon was going to sully next with his reverse Midas Touch.
However, it wasn’t just Britons who reacted to Bozo’s gaffe.
Amongst them was one Greta Thunberg, an 18 year-old Swede whose name is not exactly unknown on the world stage where climate change is concerned.
Greta very quickly changed her Twitter bio to reflect Johnson’s words.
Nice work, Greta! 😀
As for the embarrassment that is part-time alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, you can consider yourself well and truly pwned.
Friday afternoon update: the Green Party has now joined in the general mockery of Johnson’s remarks.
One word English street glossary
1 month
Spotted earlier this week in Stratford, London and arriving on my screen via social media.
It is believed to have been created by London-based conceptual, video and installation artist Jeremy Deller, whose work has strong political overtones.
Given the current Conservative government sleaze and “chumocracy” scandals, no further comment is necessary.
You tell ’em!
A Scots terminology question
1 month
One Twitter account I follow is Miss PunnyMany for her insights into Scots English. She’s just asked a very important question of manners and terminology in this tweet, as shown below.
Well, is “hen” rude?
Let us see.
An accurate definition would be a good place to start.
A general glossary of Scots vocabulary posted on Stirling University’s website provides the following definition:
hen: vocative term for a woman (e.g. ‘It’s aw richt, hen’), or a general term of endearment for anyone.
Note the phrase “general term of endearment“. That’s a big clue, indicating that its use is confined to close friends and acquaintances.
This view is largely borne out by the tone of the responses to Miss PunnyMany’s tweet.
Furthermore, a few respondents rightly point out that, like “pal” south of the Border, “hen” may be used in a pejorative or threatening manner to people outside one’s immediate social circle.
You don’t talk shite, hen!
An example of this can be found in a place a fair way from Scotland, namely the chamber of the House of Commons in Westminster.
Back in March 2017, SNP Member of Parliament Mhairi Black gave rise to comment in the media and on social media when appearing to mouth the words “You talk shite, hen” to a response by Tory minister Caroline Nokes, then the Under Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Ms Black had just made an impassioned speech that criticised a Government proposal to withdraw housing benefits for 18-21-year-olds. Her silent, but lip-read comment denoting her clear displeasure came during Ms Nokes’ reply which naturally defended the government’s cruel proposal.
So there you have it, use “hen” sensibly and restrict it to family, close friends and acquaintances, you shouldn’t go too wrong.
Shabby? Not me, says PM
1 month
Worzel Gummidge, the British Prime Minister, has responded to criticism in the press regarding his “shabby” and “disrespectful” appearance, and that he “couldn’t even do his hair” when making a statement in Downing Street about the death on Friday of Philip Mountbatten-Windsor, aged 99.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the scruffiest of them all?
Speaking from Chequers, a visibly shocked an astounded Worzel Gummidge apologised to those who had expressed their anger on social media and added: “Anyone would think I always looked as if I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards, like former London Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson!”
Marg’s 10K steps a day for Felix Road
2 months
Local councillor Marg Hickman, who is also one of the trustees of Eastside Community Trust, has launched a crowdfunder to raise funds for Felix Road Adventure Playground, one of the Trust’s 2 sites in Easton, Bristol.
Felix Road Adventure Playground. Photo credit: Eastside Community Trust
Felix Road has been in existence for nearly as long as I’ve been in Bristol and provided a much-needed safe space for generations of local children to play, socialise and develop.
Marg writes:
Felix Road Adventure Playground is an inner-city playground supporting some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and families in Bristol. Felix Road is an inspiring beacon of inclusive play, a space where children and families can come together and celebrate diversity.
We need resources to continue to run our busy kitchen staffed by volunteers and providing much needed healthy and nutritious meals for children and families every day, and to help run a girls’ group for Somali young women.
I plan to walk or dance 10,000 steps each day in March. I would so appreciate you sponsoring me to reach my goal. Follow my progress on my Facebook page. Much love.
If you would like to support Marg, please visit her crowdfunding page and kindly give what you can.
Update: Marg’s efforts ended up raising over £2,500 for Felix Road. Well done if you also contributed.
Amazon customer couldn’t post review in Welsh of Welsh book
2 months
Amazon was forced to apologise and blamed a “technical error” for a customer being unable to post a review in Welsh of a novel written in Welsh, Wales Online reports.
Cathryn Sherrington of Cardiff had submitted a Welsh Language review which she then translated to English of the book Lladd Duw, by Dewi Prysor.
The book is described by its publisher as a “hefty, ambitious novel set in London and an imaginery [sic] seaside town. It deals with the destruction of civilisation from the standpoint of the working class. An intense, dark novel but with the usual humour from Dewi Prysor.“
Cathryn’s review reads as follows:
Gwych Brilliant. I haven’t read a Welsh book for years – sometimes the formality of written Welsh puts me off – this is brilliant though.
Hawdd i ddarllen, stori gyffroes, cymeriadau diddorol. Wedi joio fo gymaint dwi’n mynd i ddarllen mwy o lyfrau Cymraeg.”
In English the review’s second sentence reads: “Easy to read, exciting story, interesting characters. Have enjoyed it so much I’m going to read more Welsh language books“.
However, Amazon which employs 1,000 people in Swansea, emailed Cathryn implying her review might have broken its guidelines.
There then followed a social media and email exchange between Cathryn and Amazon at the end of which the latter relented, stating: “This was due to a technical error for which we apologise. It has now been resolved.”
Proofreading failure dumps elderly in river
0Courtesy of my old college friend Paddy, I’ve been sent the following clipping from the dead tree edition of the Evesham Journal via social media.
It relates to problems on the River Isbourne, a tributary of the Warwickshire Avon.
Even though the elderly have had a bath thanks to ambiguity and poor proofreading in the Evesham Journal’s dead tree version, this age discrimination has thankfully been eliminated from the paper’s online version of the report.
No pensioners were harmed – or dunked – in the drafting of this blog post.