There are some pretty creative solutions people are resorting to in response to protecting themselves from the coronavirus. Mixed messaging continues around the need for the public to wear face masks. However, in one area there appears to be alignment – masks are not a substitute for social distancing and staying inside. I think my invention has potential merrit.
…especially when travelling or simply having a bit of cartoon fun.
I used Google translate to see what would happen if I entered a simple english sentence into Google translate and then take it through the 103 languages on offer.
I started with the cartoon whisper of, “What would happen if we were to put this whisper into Google translate?” and then translated it in alphabetical order, starting with Afrikaans and ending in Zulu. I checked the english translation each time so I could see the jump for each language and took the best ones for cartooning purposes – English, Arabic, Dutch, Lithuanian and Zulu.
If you’re feeling inspired as to what else Google translate can come up with, why not watch YouTuber Google translate sings, singing Africa by Toto. Enjoy!
you should have fallen asleep from boredom before you reached this sentence. But if you’re still awake, let’s discuss prefixes, shall we?
English is a funny language that is full of rules that seem to work about 80% of the time. Take prefixes for example.
A prefix as defined by the Oxford dictionary is “a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.” So dis means not and by placing it in front of say like, changes the meaning to not like. The key thing to note here is that when you remove the dis from dislike, you end up with a recognisable word – like. But here’s the 20% catch – you can’t take this approach to all words starting with dis. Take the following:
In creating this cartoon I explored all those little things in day to day life that drive you crazy or simply make you feel that things could be better.
Obviously, my life is rather tough (not) when the first thing that comes to mind is to list decaf instant coffee as a day breaker. However, I do think that the ‘no data and no wifi’ is a breaker when I reflect on my children’s response to the internet being down.
Fear not – no breaker is too small!
…especially a cartoon gifYou’re probably familiar with this proverb, but did you know its origin stems back to Benjamin Franklin?
Yes, rather surprising, as Franklin was known for his contributions to science and pot staring neither hastens nor slows the boiling process. But as you are probably aware, Franklin had many bows to his cap, including the publishing of an almanac under the pseudonym of Poor Richard. Filled with improving proverbs, below are a snippet of some sayings from the Almanacks that were published from 1732 and 1758.
And if you want to read more, click here to visit wiki for the full listing.
We probably have all experienced that gut wrenching moment when the computer unexpectedly freezes right smack bang in the middle of something you really can’t afford to lose. And no matter what quirky computer freeze image the coders come up with to dull that pain – the latest Microsoft blue screen with sideway old school unhappy face emoji in font size 160 pt (no Microsoft, size of emoji does not express greater empathy for the predicament) or the Apple ‘happy’ rainbow spinning wheel (no Apple, there is no happy pot of gold at the end of this rainbow) – there are those few seconds of dread as you fully absorb the impact of the crash and no imagery will soften the blow.
So, can there ever be a funny ending to a computer crash? Well, possibly when you can see it from an even worse outcome beyond the loss of time and data.
I recall the time at work (over 15 years ago now – Eek – has it been that long?!) when I was confronted with the blue screen of death. In despair I called the IT Helpdesk, which had recently been moved to an offshore service provider who spoke english as their second language. The story went a bit like this…
I’m not sure if Aldi operates the same way across the globe, but here in Australia, it’s always this frantic packing process as the sales assist speedily scans items and flings them to the modestly sized ‘non-packing’ bench for you to pack on the go. I use the word ‘non-packing’ bench deliberately, as it’s not a packing bench – The Aldi preference is that you place all your groceries back into the trolley and then wheel over the ‘proper’ packing benches and take your time to properly pack. However, I can’t stand the notion of double handling; so I subject myself to this hurtling of groceries and hope for the best – sometimes you win, sometimes you lose 🙂
Let’s end with a bit of mandatory and possibly useless Tetris trivia…
Chances are, if you’re male, you lost the first round as experiments have shown males have a tendency to throw a rock on the first move, hence, I played paper in round one – sneaky, huh?
Yes, I did my Google homework in constructing this gif. Searching ‘how to win at paper, scissor, rock’ lead to a bumper search result of 968,000 hits, with a plethora of strategies and tips to win. Here’s a summary of winning moves:
So now you know as much as me, let me know how your next paper, scissor, rock challenge goes.
PS. I find I revisit topics every now and then, and paper, scissor, rock is one of them. Check out my last take on the game.
