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 of the other comments as the same points are often repeated ad nauseum.

Sometimes the comments provoke debate. Sometimes that can be useful. Sometimes it can act as a huge distraction away from the original story.

Then sometimes the comment can be so off the mark as to make you wonder how it got there in the first place.

Take this offering from the Times Online in the UK on the story headlined "Google Earth helps find El Dorado" (January 10, 2010).

The story's about a possible lead to the discovery of the legendary lost "golden city" in South America.

So why this comment?

Ken Lancaster wrote:
Ferguson doesn't deserve the respect he gets. One decision, which was clearly offside within the laws of the game went for his team - which he supported, one (where the renowned dirty Darren Fletcher) was red carded for a foul was apparently very wrong. Had exactly the same decisions been made for and and against Birmingham his position would, without a doubt, be reversed. Ferguson should be a leader in the game yet he does his level best to undermine officials decisions at every opportunity. Until the FA take a proper stance against Ferguson people will conclude that there is one rule for Ferguson and another for the rest. In other words there will be a perception that no only Ferguson is a cheat but the FA are complicit in his antics. The FA need to develop some backbone and give this man the punishment he so richly deserves.
January 10, 2010, 3:34 AM GMT

What has a comment on UK soccer got to do with lost civilizations (don't tempt me)?

Others were obviously equally puzzled.

Marcus Brain wrote:
Ken lancaster is obviously a very bitter and jealous Liverpool fan who feels he has to comment about Manchester United on any story, even one about the Amazon!
January 11, 2010 10:32 AM GMT

Then there was this one.

Alex Penn wrote:
After reading this article and comments:

i) Hopefully this is El Dorado - what a find that would be!

ii) Yes, Ferguson doesn't deserve the respect he gets.

January 11, 2010 12:50 PM GMT

Is there no gatekeeper checking the comments for relevance?

But then a glance at some other comments reveals some strays about the possible use of Google Earth to track missing UK child Madeleine McCann who disappeared from a holiday home in Portugal in 2007.

Again, not relevant and an unwelcome and ill-informed distraction from the original story.

I think it's time for those involved in publishing comments to clean up their act.

Just like the letters published in a newspaper and the talkback callers on radio (or TV these days), there needs to be some sort of editorial control involved to publish only the relevant comments, or all comments on stories will just become an irrelevance themselves.

It's a brave sub that opts for a headline with so much potential for mispronunciation.

So it was that the ABC posted a story it headlined "Cup punt not child's play" on Melbourne Cup day (Tuesday November 3, 2009).

Read the headline with care

I'm sure the linguists have a name for it; that move from the first word to the second requires some care when reading aloud.

The vocal move from "cup" to "punt" requires an extra pause to stop the words running into each other, and that pause can make the second word come out all wrong.

Broadcast blooper tapes are full of such unfortunate mispronunciations.

Those Google ads need a close watch.

Look at this highly inappropriate ad that appeared on on a story posted on the Brisbane Times website, originally from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Iron lung or furnace?

The story "Dead after 60 years in iron lung" (Saturday October 31, 2009) told how June Middleton had died at a Melbourne nursing home and had spent 60 years in the iron lung.

Not sure it's a good idea to talk about a furnace - even if as the ad says it's a fat burning furnace - when talking about an iron lung.

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 once said many decades ago.

Amused then to find this message on the About section of the Grandparents Information website.

Are they 'real'?

Why the speech marks on real?

Partial quotes have their place but they can also convey some doubt or uncertainty over what is said. It 'may' be true.

Surely better for Grandparents Information just to say that when people call they will speak to a real person.

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.

How many genders?

But there are three tick boxes to that question (see picture).

How very forward of the department to recognise that there are women and men in this world, and some people who consider themselves in between.

The transgender community must be delighted.

However, since the federal government's stalling on any recognition of same sex marriages I rather suspect this is some bureaucratic blunder and there's probably been some harsh words said to those who should have proof read the document before it was sent to the printers.

Staff at the health centre I visited say some cheeky people are simply putting "yes" in the first box, before declaring they're either "Female" or "Male" status.

Amused!