Cars that drive themselves.

First published on Linked In on the 19th July 2017.

They seem fine, we read or see so many articles describing how the writer is reading a newspaper or waving at other drivers whilst his or her car gets on with driving along, keeping a safe distance, lane discipline, and making progress to their destination etcetera.

Everything in the garden is rosy, or is it?

Then we come to what I call the Sat Nav problem.  When you are nearly there, the Sat Nav blithely announces “You will reach your destination in 100 feet.”  Then, a little later, announces “You have reached your destination.  The destination is on your right.”  And switches off.  In the middle of the road.

Now in most instances I am ready, prepared for this and can see where to go to park the car or move on to another destination.  What happens if the driver is not ready or capable of taking over control of the car at that point?  I have given this situation a good deal of thought and am somewhat concerned if manufacturers release this too prematurely onto the market.  What safeguards are there going to be to direct the car to and into a safe, appropriate parking space rather than, say, “Selfridges, London”?

When on my own, I am perfectly happy to park some way away and stroll to my destination; but my wife is disabled and when we are travelling together, I will be looking for a disabled bay or some other, legal space close to the physical destination.

I do hope that this element of the “Journey experience” is being carefully considered.

The Five Golden Rules of Computing.

First published 31 March 2000.

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People think that there are only Three Golden Rules for working on computers.  I feel that they are wrong and there are, in fact, Five Rules - and here they are:

1. Save.

2. SAVE.

3. SAVE!!

4. If you foul up a document completely: File and Close the document without saving any changes, go to Windows Explorer or File Manager and re-open the document in its earlier, saved, correct manifestation and start again.

5. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER print an Excel spreadsheet unless you are absolutely, positively, 100% certain that you know exactly how the entire document is going to look on paper when sent to print and you are content with the result.

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There is, however, a way to prevent problems with documents in Number 4 and I may address this in a future article, if there is any interest.

Why “The Pedants Revolt”?

I use Pedants to chime with the Peasants’ Revolt in the late 14^th century.  But I have missed out any apostrophes in the title or the URL.  This is purely to make it easier to type in the name or to appear in search engines.  If I did put in an apostrophe, should I make it Pedant’s or Pedants’?  With the former, it means that this is just me speaking; but with the latter, it means that I am speaking on behalf of the larger Pedant community.  Let’s just leave this as an enigma shall we?

Well, I am not very pedantic, but I do see so many websites and so forth where the writer has just typed away and not checked the spelling, the grammar or the punctuation before committing to the live environment.

I must admit it often makes me wince, as I am sure many of you do, when reading something with such obvious spelling mistakes; but I am not going to use this blog to expose spelling mistakes etcetera.  This is for me to post articles from time to time on matters which interest me, and may interest you as well, on a diverse range of subjects.

My aim is to try to produce articles which read well and are fairly constructed, although some of you may go: “Pshaw!  What an awful piece of tosh that man has committed.”  Oh well, you cannot please them all.  Criticism is welcomed and, if I am wrong about something, I always appreciate being put on the right track - and thank you.

If you enjoy what I write, please leave a comment and pass on the address to anybody you think may enjoy or appreciate the content.

Now, complete non sequitur, don’t forget: “Pictures are Hung, People are Hanged”!

A Counterblast against Open-necked shirts.

First published on Linked In on the 24th October 2017

As you are all aware, there are many, many posts and articles on Linked-In about business practices and related subjects.  I feel we need something a little more sartorial from time to time to refresh our perspective on Office Life generally.

A Counterblast against Open-necked shirts?  Well, that is a bit strong.  Open-necked shirts for gentlemen are more and more de rigueur these days, and quite right too.

But … then again … a good crisply-ironed shirt with a carefully knotted tie really does cut the mustard – don’t you agree?

Ties come in various sizes, shapes, materials and patterns to allow YOU to express your personality, feelings or demeanour most effectively.

You can go from a thin-bladed dark-hued conservative tie to a flamboyant kipper from day-to-day if you wish – and who hasn’t?

Now, these days, many gents sporting open-necked shirts will pop up just about anywhere with a dash of insouciance; but, you can go anywhere wearing a tie (as part of your outfit) and you will always feel “right”.

With a good suit or jacket, a nicely-knotted tie will always look the bees-knees (business).

Look around at leaders in various communities: business, science, political, military, academic and other sectors, when they are “on parade” the gentlemen will invariably be wearing a tie.  The ladies will have their own dress code and will always step up to the mark admirably.  As can be seen, the tie is the centre-point of the ensemble and, properly selected, can set the tone faultlessly.

So, go to it, gents, have a look in the back of your wardrobe, dig out the pile of old ties lying there (dry-clean the most frowsty) and select the one which tells the world that you are here and are a force to be reckoned with.

Dress right, feel right, go to it – or should I say: get knotting.

Not a Windsor knot if you are in the Armed Services by the way (but that’s another story).

Hats and umbrellas next.