Everyone has different skills. I can keep very basic accounts, but I’ll need to hire an accountant if things ever start getting complicated. In the same way, I can offer my services to write copy, but in practice everyone needs to get things down in writing themselves at times. Very often, people who can explain […]

Reblogged from Writer Beware®: The Blog Writer Beware is a blog mainly aimed at writers of fiction, but its latest post by Victoria Strauss is a chilling warning for both freelance copywriters and anyone who hires them to watch out for scams. I’m reblogging the piece in its entirety, but I’d recommend anyone concerned about

So what has ancient Greek philosophy got to do with modern approaches to business? Let’s take Epicurus, perhaps the most misunderstood of all the Greek philosophers. His doctrine is often portrayed as advocating pure hedonism, and his name’s become a byword for the extravagent gourmet lifestyle, but that’s a long way from what he advocated.

In my last post, I mentioned that Halloween was quietly replaced in the seventeenth century by Guy Fawkes Night, because it was seen as suffering from the double whammy of being both pagan and catholic. The fake sacrifice on the Samhain bonfires became an effigy of Guy Fawkes, and the night gradually became nothing more

It’s Halloween today, so here’s a very brief history of the holiday. A complete history would probably run to several volumes. Halloween’s a lot more than just a modern excuse for kids to get sweets. It goes back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, marking the transition of summer into winter and the night when

A spellchecker is a great tool – as long as it’s used in conjunction with a human brain. It’s main shortcoming, of course, is that it can’t read your mind. It doesn’t know what you meant to say; it can only tell you whether the word you’ve used exists. Even if it’s completely the wrong

I don’t suppose most people are aware that today, 29th September, is the feast of Michaelmas. It doesn’t loom large in modern life, but at one time it was one of the most important days of the year. In the church calendar, Michaelmas is the feast of the Archangel Michael, but it’s also one of

Some years ago, I went on one of those tourist-trap boats on the Thames. The guide kept up the usual cheery chatter, and one of the pieces of “information” he gave us was that the word wharf is actually an acronym, standing for Ware House At River Front. I was immediately dubious about that, and

I’ve just had an eye-test. I have them every two years, and this time, as usual, they’ve slightly updated the glasses I use for reading and screen-work. Since I spend a large proportion of my time staring at a computer-screen, it’s essential to look after my eyes. After all, it wouldn’t be so easy to

Copyright is everywhere. We all know what it is – more or less – but exact details are harder to pin down, especially since the internet has thrown up extra challenges and uncertainties. In essence, it says that the creator of any work (words, music, images, filmed material or buildings, among many others) should have