I’m sure every freelance or contractor has reliable, predictable clients who are easy to deal with. The ones from left field can be another story. Just had one woo me for days, then reveal at the last minute they refuse to pay more than half the going rate.
It's best to use said when reporting someone's words
When reporting someone’s words, it’s best to use said in most cases.
Newspaper and other style guides disagree over whether to use past tense (said) or present tense (says).
It doesn’t matter which. Pick one and stick with it. At times you may need to write someone says this now, but said something different in the past.
While you can use said even with written words - if you are quoting what someone wrote in a mail or in tweet - it is better to make it clear the person wasn’t talking at the time.
Alternative verbs are mainly pompous or value-laden. I once worked with a journalist who sprinkled his copy with words like averred or commented because he thought said was too dull.
Neither word adds useful information. The pompous language may frighten off some readers. To me it read like something from Edwardian times.
##Not using said sows seeds of doubt
Your readers may interpret any alternative to said as suggesting the speaker is lying, misinformed or doesn’t know what they are talking about. Think of claimed or according to.
It is perfectly OK to used claimed or according to when you want readers to understand there may be some doubt.
One alternative I allow myself is the verb ask. This only works when someone is clearly asking a question.
##How about when writing fiction?
Fiction writer Elemore Leonard has another perspective on this. In his excellent Ten rules of writing he said:
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.
Leonard wrote fast-paced fiction with terrific dialogue, if sticking with the one word was good enough for him, it is good enough for the rest of us.
Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed I wrote: Elmore Leonard said not says. The writer died in 2013, that’s definitely past-tense.
I always file my bi-monthly GST return and personal income taxes on time, but because my registered company is a one-man band and all the profits are paid as salary I never remember to file the business income tax return on time - it’s always zero.
On the whole the move from using Gmail for my own domain email address to using iCloud Mail has gone well. The only problem is some persistent spam is not picked up by iCloud while the more marketing-oriented yet legitimate incoming mail gets sent to the spam bin.
PimEyes, Chorus fast fibre, fake photos, telecoms merger
On Thursday I was on RNZ’s Nine-to-Noon programme talking about technology.
Segment covers fears of Pimeyes, a service that can find people’s photos on the internet and has an ethically troubling business model.
Also talk about people being more comfortable with fake faces than the real thing.
Cover Chorus' move to introduce 25 Gbps fibre broadband and the merger that means 2degrees is able to challenge the telecoms market leaders.
So it turns out the Google Docs file I spent a day working on and thought was lost was stored in a different client’s workspace. I only two clients who use Gsuite and forget to log-in and out of accounts at the right moments. Is there a workaround for this problem?
Apple’s voice recognition struggles with my accent.
I’m a pom who has lived in New Zealand for 25 years, was in Australia for 10. The British version doesn’t get me at all. The New Zealand option does better, but the Australian works best of all.
No. I can’t explain it either.
DIgital subscriptions that autorenew claim to be ‘convienent’ for customers. Yeah right.
On the other hand they are super convienent for the companies if their customers don’t keep a close eye on renewal dates.
Zoom works first time every time when I’m invited to a video conference meeting. Microsoft Teams generally requires a software reinstall and a MacOS reboot before a meeting can get underway.
This came today: 15 years with WordPress.
I switched to iCloud mail hosting because I can use my domain name.
On the whole everything works well, it’s at least as smooth as Gmail.
Except for spam. GMail is so much better at spotting spam. iCloud Mail misses half of it and censors too much genuine mail
Sometimes the best computer is a tablet.
My NZBusiness column.
Yeserday I was thinking “I haven’t had post-Covod brain fog for days now, perhaps it has gone for good”…
… no such luck.
A test post to see if Microblog is cross-posting to Twitter. It wasn’t earlier.
Had to print a document for the first time in at least a year. Amazing how awkward this feels in 2022.
The Download Weekly - latest edition of my newsletter covering New Zealand telecommunications
My weekly New Zealand telecommunications newsletter resumes after an Easter (and Covid) break.
Download Weekly - UFB leg secures West Coast network resilience
Moving mail from G-Suite to iCloud
At the start of the year Google gave notice that the grandfathered G-suite accounts that let people use their domain name in Gmail addressess was about to stop.
I moved my own-domain-name email account to iCloud, my familiy storage subscription means it is a pro-account and can be used with the domain name at no extra cost.
The move went relatively smoothly, there was a heart-in-the-mouth moment at the switch over where nothing happened for an hour or two but then it worked perfectly well.
On the whole it is good. What is curious, but should not be a surprise, is that a different type of spam gets through iCloud’s filters. The spam that made it through Google’s filters has gone, but now I get at least two spams a day telling me my never-existed McAfee software subscription has lapsed and my computer is vulnerable.
iCloud filters a lot of junk mail, but I’ve found it’s more agressive with incoming sales email. Most of the time I’m good with that, but it did mean I missed my insurance premium when the letter and the reminder both ended up in my junk folder.
Updated post about Wi-Fi 6 on my website:
“Upgrading your home network to Wi-Fi 6 will give you the full benefit of a fast broadband connection.”
Project Auckland: All you need is . . . love
Here’s a feature I wrote for the NZ Herald about a new approach to urban planning. Michala Lander wants to create places we love.
Project Auckland: All you need is . . . love [Read archived version]
On reflection, “an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters” sums up the modern internet rather well.
Exciting. My copy of the ITP book has arrived. I wrote the chapter on New Zealand telecommunications.
This is interesting. I found as a journalist I need to be more thorough in my preparation and write more notes prior to a Zoom call, I find in-the-room interviews tend to produce better results.
Workers think less creatively in Zoom meetings, study finds - Psychology - The Guardian
One thing I will miss if Twitter crashes and burns is all the helpful expert advice and knowledge you can read there on every subject under the sun. The sheer volume of experts is astounding.
Wrote this for the Network for Learning blog.