[thesite] [bug] t.e.o. - Other Articles Written by this Author

[Madhu Menon]

At 07:08 AM 11/19/2001, Rudy opined:

(the language geek returns :)

>(perhaps this semantic blur results from the phrase "i could care less"
>which is actually a good example of irony... or sarcasm... or something...)

Um, no. The phrase "I could care less" is merely incorrect usage. The 
correct form is "I *couldn't* care less".

Reference: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/care.html


>the pic on the article makes us look like zdnet, webmonkey, et friggin
>cetera

I don't agree with you. It adds humanity to the site, and humanity is 
sorely missing on the Web.

It also helps put faces to names. Now you have an inkling of who [xyz], the 
guy who answers all those questions on [abc], is. It reinforces the 
community feeling. We're all (I hope) friends here, and I like it when 
people post pictures of themselves in outrageous Hawaain shirts (Hi 
aardvark!) and weird bunny ears (Hi Isaac!) and even supposedly tickling 
chimps (Hi to me!).

Newspapers and magazines carry pictures of their columnists. This is 
because columnists don't have to restrict themselves to the bland, "just 
the facts, ma'am" type of writing style that reporters usually have to 
follow. This makes their writing more interesting. Over time, readers may 
begin to identify with a columnist, and may even start saying, "That guy 
thinks just like me". Without a face to match with a voice, this process is 
much harder.

If an author doesn't *want* his photo up there, he's perfectly within his 
right. If they do, however, we should encourage it. There's a good reason 
that all those other sites you mentioned follow it.

Regards,

Madhu

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Madhu Menon
User Experience Consultant
e-mail: webguru at vsnl.net

Weblog: http://madman.weblogs.com