Day: April 5, 2006

Ah, Irony

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April 5, 2006

10:28 pm

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On Writing

point d’acclamation
Cool, huh?
As reported by WriteGrrrl by way of the dubious compiler of information (or is that the compiler of dubious information?) Wikipedia, there has, for some time, been a such thing as… an irony mark.

Now, we know the evils of ALL CAPS and exclamation point abuse (many ranting web posts later), but we have to definitely leave it to the French to come up with a fabulous system of cues to make sure that everyone gets the wryly wrinkled brow, the ever-so-slightly sneering lips, the deadpanned expression, or the rolling eyes that make up our friend irony both here and abroad. Oh, why don’t they teach this stuff in school?! Why isn’t an irony symbol on everyone’s keyboard?

Apparently, French novelist Hervé Bazin came up with quite a few more symbols, including one for certainty, one for authority, and one that looks remarkably Spanish in origin for indignation. Now if only we can figure out how to make irony easier to explain…

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

™, © and More Ways to Protect Yourself

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April 5, 2006

9:17 pm

3 Comments on ™, © and More Ways to Protect Yourself

On Writing

There are all kinds of, well, urban legends about copyright law. I know I’ve heard more than once that you can mail yourself a letter — unopened — with a copy of your work in it, and voila, you’re protected. Unfortunately, that, and a bunch of other copyright promises that I’ve run across on the Web, aren’t true. There IS such a thing as implied copyright under the “medium of protection” law, but people who use cyberspace as an arena for their workshopping and critiquing open themselves up to court fees and headaches since one has to file for infringement rights within three months of the first time something is copied and stolen. It’s also very difficult to prove that elusive “significant harm” thing, so it’s not as expensive as you might think to have your work of art copyrighted. It sure beats paying lawyers…

How safe are you from copyright issues? Are your readers people you know and trust? Is your Wireless network encrypted and do you have firewalls in place on your computer system? Read more about copyrighting from a Bay Area legal expert, and be careful – writers tend to borrow storylines without meaning to. Protect yourself from intentional threat and only work with people you know you can trust.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.