Obscure Box

I’m growing increasingly puzzled by the comments that are allowed on some news stories posted online. Sometimes there are none. Does that mean no one really cares about the story? Sometimes there are many. Too many. Hundreds. When you read through a few it’s quite clear that the majority of commenter’s have not read any [...]

Who hasn’t cursed at the automated telephone answering systems that have infected many organisations today? Press 1 for rage, press 2 for even more rage and press 3 if you would like to swear at our automated response system in another language. “I just want to talk to someone,” a very forward UK bank advert [...]

The Australian Government’s Department of Ageing and Health is asking some probing questions of people who complete the consent for the H1N1 influenza vaccine. After the usual name and date of birth questions, it then asks for your sex. But there are three tick boxes to that question (see picture). How very forward of the [...]

Too often these days you call an organisation looking to speak to someone for a story only to be told you’ll be sent a media release. Sometimes the protesting works and you get to speak to a human being, sometimes it doesn’t and you are left with a statement that claims to be the words [...]

The ABC’s Media Watch television show is always keen to highlight the blunders of the media, so nice to be able to return the compliment. Last night’s episode on ABC1 brought the ABC audience up-to-speed with the rest in its coverage of the Kyle Sandilands saga – the shock jock who’s sparked outrage by a [...]