In the same way that British public servants will stop using the phrase “War on Terror” because it makes terrorists feel part of something bigger, the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales says groups of youths involved anti-social behaviour and petty crime shouldn’t be called gangs.
TagCrowd: visualising writing
Tag clouds have emerged as a great way to visualise what some text is _really_ about — whether it be a political speech or anything else. Now TagCrowd (still in alpha) allows you to create tag clouds from any arbitrary text.
Here’s a tag cloud of my post Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals:
achievements affect amnesia animals civilization construction cultural democracy die doesn economy essential fighting freedom generation global government harder herald hindsight hitler howard hypocrisy immorality impact james liberal life lives minor money obvious people possible re rise says sir stern sydney talk though threat today toiling vast war warming won years
created at TagCrowd.com
Meaningless IT marketing words
The following words are meaningless and should never be used in marketing material: world-class, solution, business-grade, leading, flexible, fully-featured, next generation, multi-tiered, dynamic, intelligent, unique, client-focussed, integrated, complete.
End of the “War on Terror”?
British ministers and civil servants have decided to stop using the phrase “War on Terror.” Apparently it gives terrorists a “shared identity”, according to Hilary Benn, Britain’s Development Secretary, and strengthens disaffected groups by making them feel part of something “bigger.” How long will it take GWB and JWH to follow suit?