Sideswipe

Mark Boyack of Te Atatu Peninsula is fed up with taggers. He writes, "A new breed of graffiti artists/taggers appear to have taken to leaving their marks on the footpaths around Auckland. This particular example is on the corner of Symonds St and Newton Rd. The tagger is prolific and appears to go by the name of T/com, though he leaves a bewildering array of strange symbols, lines and arrows. He is obviously still operating, as new tags have appeared on the council's brand-new paving stones on the corner of Karangahape Rd and Pitt St. One would hope that the council is doing its best to track down the disrespectful people responsible for this defacement of public property and seeking restitution once they find these delinquents."

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Dr Brian Edwards suggests the use of the word "disinterested" has simply evolved and is therefore okay in the teacher recruitment TV ad. "Language is a living thing and highly democratic. What is 'right' or 'wrong' is decided not by grammarians or lexicographers but by ordinary people. If we use a word or meaning often enough, it becomes right. 'Disinterested' provides a good example. Its original 17th-century meaning was 'not interested'. In the 18th century the meaning changed to 'unbiased' or 'impartial'. The 20th century has seen a revival of the original meaning and the two now should happily coexist."

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In Takapuna a few weeks ago, a car was parked with a note on the dashboard. It read: "I've lost my keys, I'll move my car as soon as I find them. Please don't give me a ticket." Needless to say, at the end of the day the owner had three or four tickets which seemed justified ... The parking wardens must've wondered how did he/she get the note inside the car when he/she had lost the keys?

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Now Google has forked out $1.6 billion for YouTube what will it be called? GooTube? Or Yoogle?

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A reader wonders if anyone stopped to consider the issue of free tap water for customers from Movenpick's view? "It costs a business $1.29 for 1000 litres of water, so a glass of water ends up costing around $0.0003. Just like any business, Movenpick must make a profit to survive. What right do we have to drive this company into the ground, with our baseless requests for a glass of water?"

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Tony Cooper shares an old mathematical joke, slightly modified, to solve the lunching problem at the Courthouse Cafe: "Two hungry mathematicians walk into the Courthouse Cafe in Alexandra and order $80 of food and drinks. While waiting they bring out their own packed sandwiches. The manager sees this and comes over to them saying, 'Hey, you can't eat your own sandwiches here'. The mathematicians look at each other, shrug their shoulders, then swap sandwiches."

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A Welsh mum who kept forgetting her five kids' birthdays has had the dates tattooed on her arm. Vanda Jones, 49, said she now knows exactly when to buy presents for Alwen, 18, Grace, 16, Rhian, 14, Lowri, 13, and Vernon, 12. The mother said: "Whenever I took my kids to the health clinic, I could never remember their birthdays off the top of my head, so I had their initials and date of birth tattooed on my arms. It's much easier because I just have to look at my arm and I don't forget." She also has the Welsh dragon and the words Wedi'i wneud yn Nghymru ("Made in Wales") across her chest, reports the Daily Post. (Source: Ananova.com)