UTB/TSC Academic Journal Now Online

The first issue of the Journal of South Texas English Studies is now online. Check it out.

Gifting You With Curious Information

This from today's e-Newsletter by Grammar Girl:

People have told me they find the verb "gifting" annoying and wonder why others can't use the perfectly good word "giving."

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "gift" has been used as a verb for 400 years, but it had fallen out of common use until recently when it seems to have experienced a revival. The Seinfeld episode, "The Label Maker," in which Elaine called a minor character a "regifter," along with changes in the tax code that addressed gifting money may have been factors in "gift's" resurgence.  Although it's not technically wrong to say something such as "I'm gifting her a label maker this year," "give" is almost always the less distracting choice.

Site for Funny and Frightening Editing Errors

Regret the Error reports on media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press. It was launched in October 2004 by Craig Silverman, a freelance journalist and author based in Montreal.

Google Meets Harry Potter — Well Not Quite!

Nearly midnight on Saturday evening two weeks ago I was given a personal tour of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. I was at my cousin’s birthday party in the Divinity School, which was used as the infirmary in Harry Potter’s films – the Duke Humfrey’s Library was used as the Hogwarts library in the same films.

The Bodleian is one of the six (and was the first) copyright libraries in the UK. ...

Read more at Copyright and Technology