Slow down for us because we're not wearing a safety helmet! A reader writes: "Auckland Transport has good intentions with these new signs on Waiheke Island ... But last time I looked it's the law to wear a safety helmet. Oh and it saves your head whensomeone doesn't slow down for you."
Texts with tone
A full stop at the end of your text doesn't show your good education or pedantry, it shows you are cold and rude. According to the Washington Post, researchers at Binghampton University asked undergraduates to rate a series of sample messages, including texts and handwritten notes. They judged each tone depending on the context of the message. Text messages featuring full stops were deemed to be "insincere". Apparently, the speed of response and the fact that the conversation is always ongoing means that texts are closer in nature to face-to-face speech. This means certain cues normal in most forms of writing, like full stops at the ends of sentences, seem sarcastic or rude in text messages. "Texting is lacking many of the social cues used in actual face-to-face conversations. When speaking, people easily convey social and emotional information with eye gaze, facial expressions, tone of voice, pauses and so on," researcher Celia Klin explained. "People obviously can't use these mechanisms when they are texting. Thus, it makes sense that texters rely on what they have available to them - emoticons, deliberate misspellings that mimic speech sounds and, according to our data, punctuation."
In reference to yesterday's "Santa detained" item, Neil from Whangarei informs us there is more than one Christmas Island. One "is the well known former nuclear test site where England tested its atomic weaponry on its scenic shores in the 1950s. Santa and his Dolphin friend may actually be enjoying its irradiated shores in the Sylvia Park activity book."
Faces of Steve Twitter account.
Picture this:
Any fan of Coronation Street knows that the actor who plays Steve McDonald is a ham. His facial contortions are so renowned that there exists a Twitter account called
, where all the distinctive facial gestus the actor has pulled out over the years can be viewed en-masse. Genius.
Local: Les from the Mount has no time for the poor. "Lazy b*****ds!" says old Les in disgust at the very thought of the beggars who've appeared recently on the streets of "his" patch, Mount Maunganui. He and his mates at the Mount RSA don't want that sort of thing going on in the streets of The Mount. So he called The Weekend Sun to vent...
